Klamath Basin raises streamflow outlook

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Heavy rains in the Klamath Basin have boosted streamflow forecasts for the summer but concern about irrigation supplies remains high.

“It’s not going to be like this all irrigation season,” said Dave Solem, manager of the Klamath Irrigation District.

Storm runoff has pushed the summer estimate for Upper Klamath Lake inflow from 48 percent of normal to 65 percent, according to the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“A lot of that is due to the inflow we have seen this month,” said Jolyne Lea, a forecaster with the service, the U.S. Agriculture Department agency that estimates the volume of water flowing into lakes throughout the country.

Creeks, streams and rivers around the Klamath Basin have swelled in the last three weeks from showers that have occurred nearly every day.

The rain has pushed Klamath Basin precipitation numbers to above average at this point in the water year, which started Oct. 1. More rain is expected throughout the week.

“It’s better, but we were not in very good shape to begin with,” Solem told the Herald & News in Klamath Falls. “I don’t think we are out of the woods at all. Sixty percent inflow is still a long way from normal.”

The rain has delayed demand for irrigation water and provided water for crops already in the ground. But it has also delayed much of the planting of onions and potatoes because of muddy fields.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is still categorizing the year as dry for both the lake and the Klamath River.

“There hasn’t been enough serious moisture yet to change any of the conditions,” said Cecil Lesley, chief of land and operations for the bureau’s Klamath Reclamation Project.