Klamath Irrigation District · Annual Record
Water Year 2027
October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027. This page opens the year and will be filled in as the year runs.
Status: Year opened 1 October 2026. The 2026 irrigation season is still running to 30 November, so some early WY2027 figures are charged to the 2026 supply.
How to read this page
Water year. The accounting year runs from 1 October to 30 September. WY2027 is the year that begins 1 October 2026.
Acre-foot (AF). The amount of water that covers one acre one foot deep. About 325,851 gallons, or roughly three homes' water use for a year.
Cubic foot per second (cfs). A measure of flow speed, not volume. One cfs for a day is about 2 acre-feet, or about 450 gallons a minute.
Upper Klamath Lake (UKL). The lake that supplies the Project. Its level in feet above sea level is the number to watch.
Related pages
01 The year opens
WY2027 begins with the last of the 2026 season still running and a lake that finished the summer well below its April peak.
Where the lake stood on 7 October 2026
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Upper Klamath Lake elevation | 4,138.82 ft |
| Upper Klamath Lake storage | 210,758 AF |
| Peak storage, 5 April 2026 | 573,848 AF |
The 2026 supply that carries forward
The 2026 season ran on one supply of 221,000 AF, deemed available by Reclamation on 6 April 2026. Through 7 October, the season total stood at 205,025 AF, about 92.8% of that supply. The remaining 15,975 AF is committed to T.I.D.
Operating within an announced supply figure is not an endorsement of it. K.I.D. is a distribution agent under its 1954 Operations Contract.
Accounts that open the year
- Deferred Project Supply: the balance of 4,113 AF on 8 October is expected to be fully used in the 2026 season. Accrual restarts 1 November from Lost River Diversion Channel return flow and F/FF Pumping Station returns to the Klamath River.
- Flexible Flow Account: 557 AF accrued by 8 October. The account holds up to 35,000 AF. Water stored in the lake is released between 2 March and 30 June, and 7,000 AF is reserved for the boat dance.
00 Charts: the first week of WY2027
These charts use the daily Reclamation record for 1 to 7 October 2026. One week is not a trend. The charts fill in as each week's figures are added.
Lake level, 1 to 7 October 2026
Feet above sea level. The dashed line is the 1 April 2027 level that the 2026 plan needed the lake to reach.
Daily flows, 1 to 7 October 2026
Cubic feet per second, a measure of flow speed. Inflow is water entering the lake. Link River Dam is the lake's outlet. Keno Dam is further downstream on the Klamath River.
Source: Reclamation daily gage record, as carried in K.I.D.'s 2027 water tracker. Figures are provisional until they are final. Delivery charts will be added once the season's delivery records are final.
02 Two clocks
Two accounting periods run at once this autumn. Keeping them apart is the key to reading any figure on this page.
| Period | Dates | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Water year 2026 | 1 Oct 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 | Closed |
| 2026 irrigation season | 1 Mar to 30 Nov 2026 | Running |
| Water year 2027 | 1 Oct 2026 to 30 Sep 2027 | Open |
Deliveries made in October and November 2026 fall in water year 2027 but are charged against the 2026 supply. The 30 November season end follows Reclamation's 2026 Annual Operations Plan. Water year 2026 figures are final and do not change.
03 Conditions going into winter
The start of the year is set by the basin's condition, and the basin enters winter in drought.
Starting position
- The water year 2026 peak snowpack reached 4% of median.
- Water-year precipitation was 78% of median, while valley weather stations recorded 112 to 140% of median.
- Net inflow to the lake was about 77% of the 65-year mean.
- As of mid-September 2026, no part of the Klamath River Basin was drought-free, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. A year earlier, 54% of the basin was drought-free.
Outlook
NOAA's seasonal outlook carried drought persisting through November. The Oregon Department of Agriculture's September to November forecast leaned toward near-to-below-average precipitation, with El Niño expected to strengthen.
None of this is a forecast of the 2027 supply. A wet winter can change the picture quickly. In 2025, one refill season followed six dry years.
04 The question for 2027
The 2026 supply turned on one elevation reading. The same measure will matter in 2027.
Under the 2026 Annual Operations Plan, the lake had to reach 4,143.16 ft by 1 April to hold the planned Project supply. In 2026 it reached 4,142.56 ft on 1 April, about six-tenths of a foot short, and the supply was deemed at 221,000 AF.
Pending: Reclamation has not yet published the 2027 operations plan. The 1 April threshold above is from the 2026 plan and will be checked against the 2027 plan when it is released.
K.I.D. will publish the 2027 supply picture as it develops: snowpack through the winter, Reclamation's determination in the spring, and the season's operations as they run.
05 Maintenance and repairs
Dewatering follows the end of deliveries. The District plans a heavy maintenance season, and this section will list each job as it is scheduled and completed.
| Work | Timing | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Dewatering after deliveries end | Begins at shut-in | Planned |
| A Canal emergency repair | Fall 2026 | Scheduled |
| E Siphon emergency repair | Fall 2026 | Scheduled |
| B Canal emergency repair | Fall 2026 | Scheduled |
| Shot Creek work | October, possibly into early November | Scheduled |
| Highway 140 e-siphon repair | Winter, after shut-in | Scheduled |
To be added: the full repair list, sequencing and dates, what patrons should expect during dewatering, whether any work needs access across private ground, and cost and funding.
06 Rules and regulatory frame
The framework that governs the 2027 season, drawn from public sources.
- 2026 was the second year under the 2024 Biological Opinions from NMFS and USFWS. They moved the river compliance point to Keno Dam.
- On 9 December 2025, Reclamation gave notice of intent to begin new formal consultation with NMFS and USFWS.
- In June 2026, a Ninth Circuit ruling led Reclamation to reexamine its approach to consultation and long-term operations. The 2026 season continued under the existing framework.
- H.R. 8259, the Federal Water Projects Consultation Improvement Act of 2026, was introduced in April 2026 by Rep. Cliff Bentz, with Rep. Russ Fulcher as cosponsor.
- KWUA has described 2026 as a "bridge year" and said the consultation could be complete before the 2027 irrigation season.
- Pub. L. 118-246, the Klamath Basin Water Agreement Support Act, requires Reclamation to fulfil farmer contracts first. Its implementation timeline runs through spring 2027.
07 Season timeline
Key dates for the year. Each row is updated when it happens.
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 2026 | Water year 2027 opens | Done |
| 15 Oct 2026 | Target date for finishing deliveries and beginning maintenance | Next |
| 30 Nov 2026 | End of the 2026 irrigation season | Upcoming |
| 1 Nov 2026 | Deferred Project Supply accrual restarts | Upcoming |
| Dec 2026 to Mar 2027 | Winter snowpack and inflow build-up | Upcoming |
| 1 Mar 2027 | 2027 irrigation season opens | Upcoming |
| 1 Apr 2027 | Lake elevation measured against the 2027 plan | Upcoming |
| 30 Sep 2027 | Water year 2027 closes | Upcoming |
08 Terms used on this page
- Deemed available supply
- The Project supply Reclamation determines is available for a season. Reclamation determines availability; it does not allocate water to K.I.D.
- Deferred Project Supply
- Water not used in one period that is carried forward in an account, then drawn down later in the season.
- Flexible Flow Account
- A store of water held in the lake between October and March and released between March and June.
- Wait list
- The order in which patrons are served when water is available. Seniority decides position on the wait list; it does not exempt anyone from it.
- Water year
- The accounting year from 1 October to 30 September, named for the year it ends.