01Your water in 2026

Senior water rights come first, and most KID accounts will be on a wait list at some point this year. We anticipate wait lists for water orders to grow to several days by mid-July. Per District policy, water orders still require 24-hour prior notice.

To make the water last through the end of September, KID has cut its own daily draw from Upper Klamath Lake. That is part of why wait lists are needed, and those wait lists have already started.

Where you stand in line

1. VBDC (1883 right) — deliveries up to 50 cfs, including its 8 river pumps not wait-listed
2. Henley-Ankeny (1884 right) — up to 49 cfs not wait-listed
   Orders above these daily amounts go on the wait list while other contracts are filled.
3. KID 13(a) "A contract" holders (1905 right) — junior to VBDC and Henley-Ankeny. wait lists begin soon
4. Warren Act "B contract" deliveries — 13(b) & (c) (1911) — a daily flow cap is in place. capped / waiting list above the rate

On the Warren Act contracts, Reclamation directed KID to limit deliveries to no more than 0.75 acre-feet per acre under the Secretary of the Interior's authority. Because March and April were dry, KID made sure water reached those with real demand early in the season — early-season water generally means better crop yield and less total water needed over the summer. B-contract demand above the daily rate is placed on a waiting list until the full directed rate is met.

02Get paid to idle acres

Idling acres is the single most effective thing we can do together to keep water moving — and there's money to help you do it. Pick the option that fits your operation.

Drought Response Agency (DRA) programs

Idle ground through the Klamath Project Drought Response Agency (KPDRA) and get paid. Apply by 5:00 p.m. on June 15, 2026 at klamathwaterbank.com. Three programs:

View DRA programs & apply at klamathwaterbank.com

DRA questions: (541) 630-0752 · info@klamathwaterbank.com. Applications are also available at the KID, TID, KWUA, and Parks & Ratliff offices.

KID's Surface Water Abatement Program (SWAP)

03The rules — don't lose your water

Order water ON when you want it. Order it OFF when you're done. Every time. No exceptions. Not calling water "off" wastes a valuable resource; not calling it "on" takes carefully managed water away from other water-right holders and crops.

• Orders run on a minimum 12-hour set and require 24-hour prior notice. Place them with your ditch rider or the web ordering system.
• Why 24 hours? It's how the system is built. From Upper Klamath Lake, water can take more than 96 hours to reach the far end of some of our canals — and it moves slower at lower flows. Once water is on its way to your order, KID cannot put it back in the lake; and once it passes your turnout or pump, it is gone from your account as if it were delivered. That is the policy.
• Use water only on permitted acres, in a beneficial manner. Water running down roads, into drains, or sitting unused in ditches is a violation — addressed immediately.
• Waste water or break the rules and it costs you. Under Section 3 of the Water Delivery Policy, consequences escalate: written warning, then fines up to $5,000, then shut-off of delivery.

04What to do now

1. Place water orders through your ditch rider or the web system with the required 24-hour prior notice — and remember every order must be both "on" and "off." We anticipate wait lists growing to several days by mid-July.
2. Run at least a 12-hour set and use water only on permitted acres in a beneficial manner. Runoff, idle water, and out-of-policy use are violations.
3. Get paid: apply to a DRA program by June 15 at klamathwaterbank.com, or enroll in KID's SWAP before June 11 for maximum benefits (contact the KID office — first-come, first-served).
4. Not sure which option fits? Call the District office and we'll help you think it through.

05Why there isn't enough water

Over recent weeks we have met repeatedly with the leadership of our sister districts to make sure we share a clear, common understanding of the damage and harm facing the communities we all serve. Our assessment is direct: Reclamation's 2026 Operations Plan has failed.

The KID Board of Directors provided clear and adequate guidance throughout this process. Even so, the anxiety of the year led Reclamation to issue guidance that conflicted with our contracts, conflicted with Reclamation's own letters out of Washington, D.C., conflicted with Department of the Interior memos, and created confusion across districts — at a moment when capable managers and leadership are firmly in place in every one of those districts. Those conflicting edicts have since been rescinded, and the District has affirmed that any future conflicts of this kind will be addressed as our contract requires.

The Klamath Reclamation Project is operated by several irrigation and drainage districts. Each district is responsible for distributing and managing its own proportionate share of Project water, and each is planning its diversions according to its own authorities. KID cannot control every basin-wide program or every diversion in the Project — what KID can do is manage its own operations, reduce avoidable demand, account for every drop put to beneficial use, and enforce against waste.

06What KID is doing to stretch every drop

Beyond managing wait lists, KID is using every Board-authorized tool to reduce demand and prevent waste, consistent with the District's Water Delivery Policy and within federal Endangered Species Act limits and the currently applicable Incidental Take Statement:

• Self-regulating KID's daily diversion from Upper Klamath Lake, and managing the A Canal headworks and Miller Hill diversions to a KID-specific average rate — coordinating with the other diversion districts on a shared approach.
• Lowering the A Canal operating level by about 6 inches, where feasible, to reduce seepage losses through the canal banks.
• Transfers between accounts capped at 0.5 acre-feet per acre, per month; KID is also evaluating whether future transfers should be ineligible for DRA validation.
• Running every recirculation pump upgraded by KBID (KBID invested nearly $1 million; the pumps target 0.75 AF/acre).
• Incorporating equitable, periodic Return Flow adjustments to Diversion Works volumes, as applicable, throughout the season.

07Our shared path forward

Regardless of how the year unfolded, the districts are now working together toward a single shared vision:

• Keep water moving as long as we can. We will make every effort, and use every available resource, to keep water deliveries going through September 30.
• Stay within the lake's hard limit. We will not exceed the 221,000 acre-foot cap on Upper Klamath Lake water. Going beyond it would exceed the incidental take limits set in the 2024 Biological Opinions — crossing it would carry financial, legal, and political consequences the Project cannot afford.
• Use our best available tool. The resources of the Drought Response Agency are the best tool we have for reaching that goal. This is why enrollment matters so much this year.
• We are stretching every drop. The math does not work on paper. But we are using every resource we have to squeeze that math toward a better result for the Project.