There is not enough water for Klamath Project farmers to meet demand in 2026.
K.I.D. changed operations — effective after the May 27 Special Board Meeting — to make the limited supply last as far into the season as possible: there is 1 order on the water-order wait list, and the current projection carries demand into early October, beyond the end-of-September operational estimate, with the available supply committed in full.
At current diversion rates, the available supply is projected to be committed in full by early October — no surplus — beyond the District Manager's end-of-September operational estimate, though short of the October 15 delivery goal the Board adopted in April. K.I.D. holds daily diversions no higher than conditions and demand require. (Method: a comparable shortage year (2023) blended with the current ODA outlook.)
Enterprise Irrigation District, and the K.B.I.D. acres served through Enterprise, received the full 0.75 acre-feet per acre Reclamation directed for Warren Act contractors in 2026. With that directed volume delivered, the operator ceased pumping on Friday, July 31, 2026. See K.I.D.'s Warren Act of 1911 page for how Warren Act priority and delivery work.
Where the Project's water stands
Your water in 2026
Senior water rights come first, and most K.I.D. accounts will be on a wait list at some point this year. Wait lists can return and grow to several days as summer demand peaks. Water orders require 24-hour prior notice.
Where you stand in line
Seniority sets priority on the wait list — it does not exempt anyone from it. The most senior rights go to the top of the list when they are on it; everyone junior to them is first-call, first-served.
- VBDC (1883 right) — the most senior right (up to 50 cfs, including its 8 river pumps). May be on the wait list at times, but holds the top priority when it is.
- Henley-Ankeny (1884 right) — next in seniority (up to 49 cfs). Like VBDC, may be wait-listed, but sits at the top of the list.
- K.I.D. 13(a) “A contract” holders (1905 right) — junior to VBDC and Henley-Ankeny; orders are first-call, first-served.
- Warren Act “B contract” deliveries — 13(b) & (c) (1911) — a daily flow cap is in place; first-call, first-served, with a waiting list above the rate. (Why Warren Act lands are served in a dry year: see K.I.D.'s Warren Act of 1911 page.)
Where each ride stands
The wait list is managed by ride (your ditch-rider division). Here is where each ride stands as of August 3, 2026. The longest any order has been waiting is 2 days.
| Ride | Farmers waiting | Oldest standing order |
|---|---|---|
| Ride 1 | None waiting | — |
| Ride 2 | None waiting | — |
| Ride 3 | None waiting | — |
| Ride 4 | None waiting | — |
| Ride 5 | 1 | Jul 31 (2 days) |
| Ride 6 | None waiting | — |
| Ride 7 | None waiting | — |
| Ride 8 | None waiting | — |
“Oldest standing order” is when the longest-waiting order on that ride was placed. Orders are filled by seniority and, within that, first-call first-served.
The 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.
- The maximum length of a single water order is 8 days, so water moves through any wait list faster when demand rises.
- 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? From Upper Klamath Lake, water can take more than 96 hours to reach the far end of some canals — and it moves slower at lower flows. Once water is on its way to your order, K.I.D. cannot put it back in the lake; once it passes your turnout or pump, it is gone from your account as if it were delivered.
- 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.
Drought Response Agency (DRA)
The Klamath Project Drought Response Agency offered voluntary idling programs this year (No Irrigation, Limited Irrigation, and a Five-Year option). The 2026 application window closed June 15.
KWUA reports that the DRA's 2026 program exceeded its enrollment goal — the largest in the agency's history — with more than 50,000 acres enrolled — an estimate the DRA last updated July 28. The DRA is still reviewing applications, verifying enrollment, and finalizing acreage on its online public map, where you can check the parcels conditionally approved for your account (parcels not yet shown may still be pending review). Enrolled patrons will receive response letters directly and can review their submitted acreage once the map is updated. For details, see the KWUA July 2026 WaterWorks newsletter.
Through June, before either program's acreage was known, K.I.D. held diversions low and ran a wait list that peaked at 57 orders on June 23 — a hedge against over-committing the supply while demand was unsettled. As SWAP (1,022 acres, closed July 1) and DRA enrollment firmed up, the wait list was worked down. Enrollment concentrated in the one-year options rather than the Five-Year program — growers intend to keep farming, treating idling as a short-term bridge.
Program details remain posted at klamathwaterbank.com; for current status, contact the DRA at (541) 630-0752 · info@klamathwaterbank.com.
Refuge conditions — botulism and waterfowl mortality
Two things are happening on the refuges at once: an avian botulism outbreak at Tule Lake that has worsened sharply with summer heat, and the largest waterbird hatch the basin has seen in over a decade at both Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges. Water is the primary tool in both situations — for controlling disease and for keeping young birds alive to fledging.
Tule Lake Refuge — botulism outbreak worsening
Warm, stagnant water and low levels in Sump 1A have driven a rapid rise in avian botulism at Tule Lake. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates roughly 10,000 birds have died this year, and USFWS crews are removing dead birds daily to keep the disease from spreading further. Without more water movement through the refuge wetlands, the die-off is expected to continue climbing.
Water remains the primary tool for both botulism management and wildlife survival. A flow-through pilot is urgently needed to raise sump levels, keep water moving, and prevent a rapid escalation of botulism. K.I.D. proposed such an approach in 2023, as the Section 7(a)(3) Applicant for the 2024 Proposed Action; it was not adopted by the agencies.
Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges — the largest hatch in a decade
Both Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges are currently hosting the largest waterbird hatch our basin has witnessed in over ten years. Thousands of young birds are on the water — and we are in a critical race against time to support them. At Lower Klamath, Unit 3 is now nearly dry, and the habitat for those young ducks has been lost; many young birds there are reported as mortalities, and birds that cannot yet fly cannot move to water elsewhere. USFWS' immediate priority is securing and keeping enough water on the ground to sustain these nesting areas and ensure this historic generation of birds can successfully fledge.
The deficit is the whole story: the Thomas Transfer's 12 cfs delivers roughly 24 acre-feet a day, while evapotranspiration is estimated to take about 30 acre-feet a day off Unit 2 alone. The transfer is a helpful tool, but at that rate it does little more than hold a single unit even — it leaves nothing to raise water levels, nothing for Unit 3, and nothing for the rest of the refuge. The 30 acre-feet per day figure is a conservative estimate; actual losses across the refuge are likely higher, which widens the gap further. That gap is the urgent case for more robust water solutions on the refuges. K.I.D. continues to work with its partners toward solutions that maintain a healthy ecosystem.
What worked in 2025 — and why it matters now
Last season showed what proactive water management can do. After the 2024 botulism outbreak, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff used new elevation data to identify which wetland areas were most at risk at which water depths, and alerted Tulelake Irrigation District and Reclamation early. Operations were adjusted, and daily mortality at Tule Lake fell from 100–200 birds a day to one or two. It is the same principle K.I.D. has pressed for here: move water through the wetlands before the disease takes hold, rather than after. Ducks Unlimited documented that effort in Engineering a Comeback: How Science and Collaboration Offer Hope for Klamath Basin.
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Background — the full story Why there isn't enough water · what K.I.D. is doing · our shared path forward
Why there isn't enough water
Reclamation forecast the 2026 Project water supply from Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River at 221,000 acre-feet — well below the Project's full irrigation demand. That shortfall is why deliveries are managed the way they are this year.
The Klamath Reclamation Project is operated by several irrigation and drainage districts, and each district distributes and manages its own share of Project water under its own authorities. K.I.D. cannot control every basin-wide program or every diversion in the Project. What K.I.D. can do is manage its own operations, reduce avoidable demand, account for every drop put to beneficial use, and enforce its Water Delivery Policy against waste.
Operating within the supply figure Reclamation announced is not an endorsement of it. Under its 1954 Operations Contract, K.I.D. is a distribution agent: the contract contains no clause authorizing K.I.D. to apportion or ration Project water, and none authorizing Reclamation to assign K.I.D. a per-acre or volumetric share. K.I.D. is operating within the constraints placed on the 2026 supply while continuing to press — through its contract and the proper channels — for the water its patrons are owed. For the contract and water-right background, see K.I.D.'s Warren Act of 1911 page.
What K.I.D. is doing to stretch every drop
Beyond managing wait lists, K.I.D. is using every Board-authorized tool to reduce demand and prevent waste, consistent with the District's Water Delivery Policy and the constraints on 2026 Project operations:
- Self-regulating K.I.D.'s daily diversion from Upper Klamath Lake, and managing the A Canal headworks and Miller Hill diversions to a K.I.D.-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; K.I.D. 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.
In short, three things at once: cut the demand K.I.D. must divert, get more value from every acre-foot, and eliminate waste.
Surface Water Abatement Program (SWAP) — 1,022 acres idled (enrollment closed July 1)
SWAP is K.I.D.'s own idling program. It paid patrons who could take enrolled acres completely off K.I.D. surface water for the rest of 2026 using an alternate source they control — freeing up wet water, not paper water, so the District can keep irrigating later into the season. Enrollment closed July 1, 2026 with 1,022 acres signed up, and those acres stay off surface water for the season. Patrons already enrolled can contact the District office with any questions.
Our 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 for as long as the supply lasts. At current diversion rates, the available supply is projected to be committed in full by early October, beyond the end-of-September operational estimate.
- Stay within the announced supply. The Project will operate within the 221,000 acre-feet Reclamation made available for 2026.
- Use every tool we have. With the idling enrollment windows now closed, how far the supply carries turns on disciplined daily diversion management and the acres already idled.
- 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 — and that work is showing in the numbers.
Questions?
Questions about your account, your water, your wait-list status, or an existing idling enrollment?
District Office: (541) 882-6661 · Office hours 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Drought Response Agency: (541) 630-0752 · info@klamathwaterbank.com · klamathwaterbank.com
