A DIFFICULT YEAR, AND REASONS FOR HOPE: THE 2026 KLAMATH PROJECT IRRIGATION SEASON
The 2026 irrigation season will not be remembered as an easy one in the Klamath Project.
It began with extraordinarily poor snowpack, continued through a spring marked by damaging cold and frost, and unfolded against a backdrop of high production costs, uncertain commodity markets and a water supply well below what Project agriculture needs. Irrigation districts were required to operate within a federal operating framework that often limited the flexibility needed to respond to real-world conditions across the Klamath Basin.
Still, crops were grown, and water was stretched. District managers and producers adapted. And when an opportunity emerged late in the season to move critically needed water to the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges, agricultural water users joined Tribes, conservation organizations, counties and federal agencies to make it happen.
“What this year showed is that when local water managers have the tools and flexibility to respond to conditions on the ground, we can make a limited supply go a very long way,” said Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) President Scott Seus, who farms near Tulelake, Cal.
Gene Souza, executive director of Klamath Irrigation District, captured what may be the most important lesson of the 2026 irrigation season.
“The 2026 irrigation season was very difficult, but there is hope for the future,” he said.
A Short Water Year From the Beginning
There was little uncertainty by early spring that the Klamath Project faced a serious shortage. On March 31, watershed snowpack stood at only 4 percent of median, and inflows to Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) were expected to be far below normal. In April, the Bureau of Reclamation Reclamation) announced that approximately 221,000 acre-feet would be available from UKL and the Klamath River for Project purposes – far short of a full irrigation supply. Reclamation separately announced full 35,000-acre-foot supplies from both Gerber and Clear Lake reservoirs.
For thousands of farm families, that meant difficult decisions before the growing season was fully underway. The Klamath Project Drought Response Agency (DRA) implemented voluntary programs intended to reduce irrigation demand, and approximately 50,000 acres were ultimately idled as producers and districts worked to stretch the available supply.
Those who planted faced another challenge: an unusually cold start to June.
The National Weather Service issued a freeze warning and repeated frost advisories for the Klamath Basin and northeastern Siskiyou County, covering agricultural areas around Klamath Falls, Merrill, Tulelake, Newell, Dorris and surrounding communities. The June 7 freeze warning called for temperatures as low as 22 degrees, with the National Weather Service cautioning that freezing conditions could kill crops and other sensitive vegetation. Frost was again reported in portions of the area on June 10, followed by another frost advisory for June 11.
For a region with a short growing season, that kind of cold after planting added yet another layer of risk for producers already navigating a short water supply and difficult agricultural economy.
Water managers could do nothing about the temperature. Producers could do little about global fuel or fertilizer markets. But there were other factors they could influence.
“We can’t control the price of fuel, fertilizer or the crops we sell, and we certainly can’t control the weather,” said Mr. Seus. “But we can control how carefully we manage water, how well we maintain our infrastructure and whether we are willing to work with our neighbors. There were some very good things accomplished in those areas this year.”
Making Less Water Work
The story of the 2026 season is therefore not simply the amount of water Reclamation allocated. It is what Project water users did with it.
Districts increased recirculation and reuse of return flows. Klamath Irrigation District alone had re-lifted more than 14,000 acre-feet of return flow by early August, reducing the amount of new surface water needed. Supplemental groundwater was used where available. Producers participated in drought-response and surface-water-abatement programs. District managers closely tracked diversions and crop demand and adjusted operations accordingly.
By early August, approximately 141,500 acre-feet of the 221,000-acre-foot Upper Klamath Lake/Klamath River supply had been delivered, leaving roughly 79,500 acre-feet. At that point,
managers believed the combination of conservation, reuse, groundwater and disciplined operations could stretch Project water beyond September 30.
That did not make 2026 a successful water year. A system in which tens of thousands of productive acres must be idled is not a model for long-term agricultural sustainability. Nor can
extraordinary operational measures substitute indefinitely for an adequate and reliable surface- water supply.But the season demonstrated again that the Klamath Project is an interconnected water- management system, and not simply a collection of individual diversions.
That became particularly clear in August.
As conditions deteriorated at Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges and the threat from avian botulism increased, Basin partners searched for a way to move water where it could provide an immediate ecological benefit. Agriculture, Tribes, conservation groups, counties, irrigation districts and federal agencies ultimately worked together to deliver water to the refuges.
“This year gave us a tangible example of what collaboration can accomplish,” said KWUA Executive Director Elizabeth Nielsen. “Project agriculture entered the season with a significant shortage, yet water users stayed engaged in finding ways to benefit the broader Basin. The refuge deliveries showed that agriculture and the environment do not have to be managed as opposing interests. With flexibility and cooperation, the same water-management system can support
farms, wildlife, fisheries and communities.”
Pressures Far Beyond the Farm
The water shortage also came at a difficult economic moment for agriculture. Like producers across the West, local irrigators faced continued pressure from fuel and fertilizer costs, labor shortages, trade uncertainty, drought, water scarcity and weak margins in important commodity sectors. Although the national agricultural trade picture improved later in the summer, those gains did not erase the pressures felt at the farm level.
Energy-market instability, tariffs and supply-chain disruptions all contributed to volatility in fuel, fertilizer, machinery and transportation costs, while labor availability and rising wages remained structural challenges.
For Klamath Project producers, water uncertainty compounds every one of those problems. Seed, fertilizer, equipment, labor and financing commitments are made well before harvest. When the reliability of the fundamental input – water – is uncertain, every other business decision becomes more difficult.
That is why stored water matters.
The reservoirs and infrastructure of the Klamath Project were built to capture and manage water over time, allowing an arid region with productive soils and a short growing season to produce food reliably. In a year when drought affected agricultural regions across the West, the value of stored water was especially visible.
The Project could have produced more in 2026. It could have contributed more food and forage at a time when agricultural supply chains remain vulnerable to drought, international instability and rising costs.
That broader food-security role deserves renewed attention. The Klamath Project is not simply a local water-delivery system. It is productive agricultural infrastructure capable of turning stored water into potatoes, grain, hay, onions, livestock forage and other commodities that move far beyond the Basin.
The Problem Is Bigger Than One Dry Year
Hydrology explains much of the difficulty of 2026, but not all of it.
The Project also operated under the Proposed Action and biological opinions adopted in 2024. Reclamation’s 2026 Annual Operations Plan attempted to maximize flexibility within that framework and identified a goal of storing up to 350,000 acre-feet for agricultural purposes, depending on hydrology. But the underlying regulatory framework remains highly prescriptive.
KWUA has consistently maintained that those constraints do not adequately recognize how the Project actually functions or provide the flexibility needed to achieve the best outcomes for agriculture, fish and wildlife across changing conditions.
The experience of 2026 reinforced that concern. Some of the year’s most productive outcomes—including the collaborative effort to get water to the refuges—required people to look beyond rigid assumptions and respond to actual conditions.
That experience comes at an important time.
In early 2026, Reclamation completed a reassessment of how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) applies to Klamath Project operations and based on that reassessment, initiated a new ESA consultation process. A June 2026 ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently changed the legal landscape, requiring Reclamation to shift its approach to the consultation and development of a long-term operating framework.
“That work continues,” said Ms. Nielsen. “The commitment demonstrated by Reclamation and the Department of the Interior gives us reason to hope that it can produce an outcome fundamentally different from, and better than, what the Klamath Basin has experienced in the past.”
She emphasized that KWUA and Project irrigation districts are actively engaged.
“This consultation cannot simply rearrange the constraints we have lived under in the past,” Ms. Nielsen said. “It needs to begin with an accurate understanding of Reclamation’s authorities and obligations, the physical realities of the Project, and the knowledge of the people who operate this system every day. Our goal is a durable framework that provides greater predictability for agriculture while creating better opportunities for fish, wildlife and the refuges.”
For KWUA, that means seeking an operating framework built around measurable outcomes, sound science and adaptive management rather than unnecessarily rigid prescriptions.
Lessons to Carry Forward
No one should look at 2026 and conclude that everything worked. It did not.
A large amount of productive farmland was idled. Farmers operated with substantially less water than they need. Producers absorbed frost risk and continued economic pressure. Wildlife refuges
again faced dangerous habitat conditions. Districts had to employ extraordinary measures to stretch limited supplies.
But 2026 also showed what the Klamath Project is capable of.
It showed the value of recirculation and reuse. It showed the importance of experienced local water managers. It showed that agricultural infrastructure can move water not only to farms, but also to wetlands and wildlife habitat. And it showed that collaboration can produce results when people have enough flexibility to solve problems rather than simply administer shortages.
“The lesson from this year shouldn’t be that we learned how to live with less,” Mr. Seus said. “The lesson should be that this Project is incredibly valuable, and that when we manage it as a connected system, we can do remarkable things with water. Now we need an operating framework that allows us to build on that.”
As harvest approaches, the full economic story of 2026 is still being written. There will be time to count yields, evaluate losses and look more closely at the Klamath Project’s contribution to regional and national food security.
For now, the irrigation season leaves the Basin with both a warning and an opportunity.
The warning is that ingenuity cannot indefinitely compensate for inadequate water supplies and inflexible management.
“The opportunity is the ongoing consultation with Reclamation,” said KWUA board member Mike McKoen.
For Mr. McKoen and other Klamath Project producers, it is a chance to take what was learned in2026 and develop something better.
“Hope for the future doesn’t mean ignoring how difficult this year was,” said Tricia Walker, a KWUA board member whose family farms across the Basin. “It means learning from it. We know this Project works. We know what our farmers and districts can do. The task now is to create the conditions that allow them to succeed.”
Washington Meetings Put Klamath Priorities in Broader Western Water Push
Federal water policy decisions now taking shape in Washington could have significant consequences for Klamath Project agriculture, from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation underway for future Project operations to infrastructure funding, drought response, and a new five-year Farm Bill.
Those issues were at the center of the Family Farm Alliance’s annual Farmer’s Lobbyist Trip in September, which brought more than 30 farmers, ranchers and Western water representatives to Washington, D.C., for meetings with federal agencies, members of Congress and congressional staff.
Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) Executive Director Elizabeth Nielsen and Klamath Basin Improvement District representative Lane Roelle participated, using the meetings to place Klamath Project priorities within the broader Western debate over water reliability, federal regulation and the future of irrigated agriculture.
“The Klamath Basin has unique challenges, but we are far from alone in confronting them or in pursuing opportunities,” Ms. Nielsen said. “Sitting at the table with water users from throughout the West makes the common ground between us much clearer, and it allows us to bring that shared perspective to federal leaders.”
Klamath ESA Consultation Takes Center Stage
Among KWUA’s most immediate priorities is the ESA consultation now underway for the Klamath Project, a process expected to help determine how the Project will be operated in the future.
KWUA and Project irrigation districts are participating in that process while the Bureau of Reclamation works on near-term operations for the 2027 water year. During the Washington meetings, Ms. Nielsen emphasized to senior federal officials the importance of involving irrigation districts and water users with extensive operational and technical knowledge of the Project.
That issue is also behind H.R. 8259, the Federal Water Projects Consultation Improvement Act of 2026, introduced in April by Oregon Congressman Cliff Bentz with Idaho Congressman Russ Fulcher as a cosponsor.
“It was great meeting with the Family Farm Alliance last week,” Rep. Bentz posted on social media following the D.C. visit. “We had a productive conversation about the importance of my legislation, the Federal Water Projects Consultation Improvement Act of 2026, which would give federal water project users the ability to weigh in on water consultation.”
H.R. 8259 would give federal Reclamation contractors continuing opportunities to participate in ESA consultations, including access to timelines and draft biological opinions and opportunities to comment.
“Water users and irrigation districts bring decades of operational experience and an understanding of how the interconnected pieces of the Project actually function,” Ms. Nielsen said. “Bringing that knowledge into the process can lead to better-informed decisions.”
Family Farm Alliance Executive Director Samantha Barncastle made a similar point when the bill received a congressional hearing in April.
“This legislation ensures those most affected by agency decisions have a seat at the table,” Ms. Barncastle said.
The proposal also demonstrates how Alliance relationships can translate into policy. Experience from California water organizations helped inform both the legislation and KWUA’s approach to the current Klamath consultation.
Infrastructure, Drought and the Farm Bill
Infrastructure investment was another major focus of the Washington meetings, with Western water representatives calling for both near-term drought assistance and sustained federal investment in aging irrigation systems.
Those efforts have parallels elsewhere in the West. Central Oregon irrigation districts, for example, have invested extensively in piping, automation and other modernization projects. Representatives of those districts brought their experiences into the Washington discussions.
The connection between Klamath and other Western water organizations has become increasingly important. In August, Oregon Water Resources Congress and other agricultural and water organizations from across the West joined legal briefs supporting KWUA in litigation concerning application of the ESA to Klamath Project water deliveries.
“Water users throughout the West understand that what happens in Klamath can affect us all,” Oregon Water Resources Congress Executive Director April Snell, who joined this year’s farmer lobbyist trip, said at the time.
The Washington trip also coincided with movement on a new federal Farm Bill. On September 16, while Alliance members were in Washington, the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the Agriculture Act of 2026, which includes provisions involving conservation, drought flexibility and rural infrastructure.
Alliance priorities include completion of a five-year Farm Bill and continued support for conservation and watershed programs used by Western producers and irrigation districts, including the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Program, commonly known as PL-566, and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.
For Western water users, those programs can provide the planning and investment needed to move irrigation modernization projects from concepts to construction.
Project Delivery and Watershed Health
Alliance participants also pressed federal officials on the time required to move water infrastructure and environmental projects through federal review. Western water managers said lengthy planning, permitting, and regulatory processes can add years to projects intended to modernize aging systems, improve efficiency, and produce environmental benefits.
The discussion also extended higher into Western watersheds, where forest health, wildfire and federal land management can affect water supplies and water quality.
Nadine Bailey, a Northern California representative on the Family Farm Alliance board and Chief Operations Officer of Family Water Alliance, said the Washington trip gives Western water users direct access to policymakers.
“It always amazes me that we can just walk around these marvels of architecture and talk to our legislators and be here with groups of people that want to make sure that government understands us,” Ms. Bailey said.
Bailey often describes forests as the West’s “first water storage facility,” underscoring the Alliance’s view that watershed and forest management are part of the larger water reliability discussion.
That connection between water and the agricultural economy was another recurring theme of the trip.
“Western water policy is also food policy,” Ms. Nielsen said. “The ability of family farms and ranches to continue producing food depends in no small part on reliable water supplies.”
Building on What Worked
The growing network of Western water organizations is also producing tangible results for Klamath. KWUA hosted Idaho water leaders in the Basin earlier this year; California water organizations have contributed experience and ideas to discussions surrounding H.R. 8259; and Western water groups have supported KWUA in federal litigation with implications beyond the Klamath Basin.
The Washington trip gives those organizations another opportunity to coordinate priorities while speaking directly with federal decision-makers.
“There is no single trip to Washington, piece of legislation or federal meeting that resolves the challenges facing Western agriculture or the Klamath Project,” Ms. Nielsen said. “Progress happens over time through relationships, persistence, technical work and coordinated efforts.”
Those relationships are increasingly connecting Klamath priorities to a broader Western water agenda.
They also bring a broader Western voice to issues affecting the Klamath Project.
TFG KWUA DC Report –
September was reasonably busy as the House and Senate wrapped up a series of actions and laid the legislative groundwork for the post-election "Lame Duck" session before adjourning to hit the campaign trail ahead of the November 3 mid-term elections. The executive branch also remained active, particularly on the Clean Water Act (CWA) and WOTUS, the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and Colorado River matters.
In Congress, in a sure sign neither party wanted a fight over a government shutdown, at least before the election, Congress passed, and President Trump signed, a stopgap funding bill (a continuing resolution or CR) that will keep the government open through December 11. The measure passed with wide bipartisan margins (90-6 in the Senate, 370-48 in the House). Congress is expected to return in November after the elections to complete work on the final FY 2027 budget.
Also, in preparation for the post-election session, significant progress has reportedly been made toward a permitting reform bill in the Senate (the House passed its narrowly tailored version in December 2025). A bipartisan group of Senate negotiators continues to close in on an agreement that would likely address the timeliness of federal permits under NEPA and the CWA, as well asthe timeframe for judicial review of project-related lawsuits, among other topics.
A compromise deal would likely include language favored by GOP senators limiting states’ authority to reject projects under CWA Sec. 401 and restricting judicial challenges under NEPA and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), which protects
Native American cultural sites among other historical artifacts. Democrats are prioritizing provisions expanding interstate transmission lines and curbing the administration’s ability to cancel or delay projects, especially the Trump Administration’s continued refusal to issue routine onshore wind project approvals. Negotiators are keenly aware the final product must still clear the House, where priorities and vote margins differ, so permitting reform is expected to be closely watched when Congress returns.
On the executive branch front, the Trump Administration moved to significantly narrow one of the ESA’s core protections. In an internal memo dated earlier this month, Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik asserted that the ESA prohibits only the intentional killing of a protected species, a major departure from the more-than-50-year interpretation covering both intentional and unintentional harm. Because most protected species in the U.S. are killed unintentionally through development and other activities, the shift could sharply curtail the “incidental take” permitting program that has long required mitigation measures. Under the new reading, only “knowing” harm would violate the law; the memo illustrated the point with examples such as a vessel striking a whale or a tree felled with bats roosting inside, neither of which would count as a “take” absent intent to harm.
The memo builds on the Administration’s earlier rollback of ESA habitat protections (the “harm” rule), with both actions relying on Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissent in the 1995 Supreme Court case Babbitt v. Sweet Home. Environmental groups and Democratic states are already suing the Administration over the related habitat rollback. Expect ESA reform to remain a flashpoint into the fall.
The Administration also took another step on “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS). EPA and the Corps issued a supplemental proposal further narrowing which waters and wetlands fall under CWA protection, replacing a “wet season” jurisdiction test with a stricter “perennial” flow standard. The move responds to roughly 220,000 public comments on the original November 2025 proposal, which drew criticism from both environmental groups, industry, and conservative advocates who called the “wet-season” standard unworkable. The new option would cover only waters flowing continuously year-round, with narrow exceptions for brief interruptions, a change EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says offers “regulatory certainty” consistent with the Supreme Court’s 2023 Sackett decision. EPA is also seeking comments on how to define “perennial” and whether to effectively eliminate the current “adjacent wetlands” category. Public comments are due Friday, October 9.
Finally, on the Colorado River, new Interior Department operating guidelines will require California, Arizona, and Nevada to cut water use by 1.25 million acre-feet annually over the next two years, with Arizona absorbing the largest share. The cuts come as Lake Mead and Lake Powell sit at their lowest levels since being filled. The decision breaks a long negotiating deadlock but could trigger interstate legal fights, potentially reaching the Supreme Court.
Sponsor Highlight- Great Basin
Don’t Put All Your Risk in One Basket
Strengthening Protection for Klamath Basin Farms and Ranches
A Familiar Name. A Broader Network.
Great Basin Insurance has served Klamath Basin farmers and ranchers for over 100 years. Now, as part of HUB International Northwest, we bring that same community commitment and local knowledge together with expanded coverage options, deeper resources, and a broader team — all still right here in the Basin.
HUB Northwest works with Klamath Basin producers across every line of coverage — one trusted agency who knows your operation and who will grow with you into the future.
Farm and Ranch Coverage: Protecting the Physical Operation
The land, structures, equipment, and livestock that make up a Klamath Basin agricultural operation represent decades of investment and pride of ownership. Farm and ranch insurance keeps that investment working for you, covering crops, livestock, vehicles, structures, and the liability that comes with a productive operation.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
The best time to review your coverage is when things are going well — so that when the season throws you a curveball, you’re already ready.
Commercial Lines: When Your Farm Is Also a Business
Klamath Basin agriculture is diverse, and many producers have expanded well beyond a traditional single-crop operation into custom farming, grain storage and sales, agritourism, processing, or rental properties. That kind of growth is worth celebrating,
and commercial lines coverage is what protects it. General liability, commercial auto, and commercial property coverage work together to keep your business on solid ground.
Crop Insurance: The Foundation
For most Klamath Basin operations, crop insurance is the cornerstone of any risk management program. Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI), Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO), Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO), Pasture Rangeland and Forage
(PRF), and Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) work together to protect against yield and revenue losses across a wide range of crops and conditions.
Health Benefits: Supporting Your Team Year-Round
Offering health benefits is a powerful way to invest in the people behind your operation. HUB NW works with employers to find group health options that fit your workforce.
HUB Northwest serves the Klamath Basin across multiple lines of business — farm and ranch, commercial, workers’ compensation, crop insurance, and health benefits – all under one roof. One relationship, one team that knows this region and is here to grow with you. Whether you’re fine-tuning an existing program or building from the ground up, HUB is here to make sure your coverages work as hard as you do.
THE LONG VIEW
25 Years of Klamath Project Water:
Four Years Tell the Story
Twenty-five years ago, the Klamath Project entered a new era.
In April 2001, during a critically dry year, the Bureau of Reclamation announced that no water from Upper Klamath Lake would initially be available for Project irrigation.
The decision was made under new biological opinions intended to protect endangered suckers and threatened coho salmon. Some water became available later, but too late to prevent widespread agricultural and economic impacts.
The specific rules governing the Project have changed many times since then. But federal management of Upper Klamath Lake storage and Klamath River releases to meet Endangered Species Act requirements has remained a central feature of Project operations.
Drought-response program enrollment is not the same as total unirrigated acreage, and program rules differed among years. The 2021 figure remains under review; the 2026 figure is preliminary and includes the No Irrigation and Limited Season program numbers.
The numbers tell only part of the story. In 2001 and again in 2021, water shortages affected not only producers but employees, suppliers, processors and other local businesses. In 2021, the impacts also reached underground. With normal Project surface-water deliveries unavailable, reliance on groundwater increased, while hundreds of domestic wells failed and emergency water hauling became necessary.
By contrast, 2016 shows the value of an adequate Project supply—not simply in acre-feet delivered, but in the ability to plant, invest, hire, and make business decisions with greater confidence.
As this issue’s season review shows, 2026 season demonstrated something different. Reclamation made 221,000 acre-feet available from Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River, about 63 percent of a full supply. Districts and producers responded with substantial land idling and extensive use of conservation, recirculation, groundwater and other tools to stretch the available water. Basin partners also found ways to deliver water to the national wildlife refuges.
That represents real progress in the Project's ability to manage scarcity. But being better at managing shortage is not the same thing as having a reliable water supply.
That distinction is important after 25 years. KWUA has long questioned whether some of the lake-level and river-flow prescriptions imposed on Project operations are supported by the best available science or have produced their intended biological benefits. Federal fisheries agencies continue to view water-related measures as important to listed species, along with habitat, water quality and other factors.
What is clear is that the listed fish remain in serious condition. Federal assessments continue to identify major concerns about Lost River sucker populations, while Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast coho salmon remain listed as threatened. Meanwhile, Project agriculture and the national wildlife refuges have experienced repeated years of reduced or uncertain water supplies.
That history makes the new Endangered Species Act consultation for Klamath Project operations especially important.
KWUA believes the consultation presents an opportunity to take a fresh look at Project operations using current science and the conditions that exist in the Basin today. Much has changed, including dam removal, habitat restoration and reconnection, and the scientific information available to decision-makers. Water users hope the process will carefully examine those changes, reconsider assumptions that may no longer fit current conditions, and produce a more adaptive, durable and workable operating framework for the Project.
The Klamath Project of 2026 is far better equipped to manage shortage than it was in 2001. The challenge for the next chapter is larger: creating an operating framework in which managing shortage is not the defining feature of Project agriculture.
Life in the Basin –
KWUA is excited to congratulate Sarah Ramsey, winner of our September Agriculture Photo Contest!
Thank you to everyone who submitted photos, voted, and helped us celebrate agriculture in the Klamath Basin. Each photo offers a unique glimpse into the people, animals, landscapes, and everyday moments that make Basin agriculture special.
Sarah will receive a $75 Diamond S Meats gift certificate and KWUA merchandise.
Congratulations, Sarah!
And keep an eye out—you may see photos submitted through our contests featured in future KWUA newsletters, annual reports, social media, and other publications.