{"id":4548,"date":"2026-08-01T13:41:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T21:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/?page_id=4548"},"modified":"2026-09-16T15:39:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T23:39:59","slug":"warren-act-of-1911","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/history\/warren-act-of-1911\/","title":{"rendered":"Warren Act of 1911"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n
\n\n
\n

From the History File<\/p>\n

The Warren Act of 1911<\/h1>\n

Two different things are called \u201cpriority.\u201d The State of Oregon has already ruled on which one governs.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

It is a fair question to ask the District: if Warren Act<\/a> contractors hold junior priority, why do they receive water in a drought year? The instinct behind the question is right \u2014 there is a hierarchy, and Warren Act contracts really are subordinate in a short year. But it is not a water right priority date, and this is not a matter of opinion. Claimants tried to turn their Warren Act contracts into water rights in the Klamath Basin Adjudication. The State of Oregon denied those claims and explained why.<\/p>\n\n

\n

The question<\/p>\n

Curious why Warren Act contractors get water when senior contractors are not guaranteed deliveries to the end of their water right date?<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

\n

Bottom line<\/h2>\n\n

Warren Act contractors are not junior in the State of Oregon's records. Claimants argued the opposite of that in the adjudication \u2014 that their Warren Act contracts carried water rights of their own \u2014 and the State denied those claims and placed the lands inside the Project claim on the Project's own 1905 priority.<\/p>\n\n

They are subordinate under their contracts, which is a different thing, decided by different documents. But subordinate is not the same as unquantified. Each of those contracts states what the contractor is to receive, and some provide for apportionment of the available surplus when there is not enough. A per-acre limit set in an annual operations plan is a third thing again, and it is not what the parties signed.<\/p>\n\n

Contracts govern delivery. The adjudication governs the right. Keeping the two apart is most of what it takes to follow water in this Basin.<\/p>\n

Every statement on this page is sourced where it appears, and the documents are listed in full at the foot of the page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n <\/section>\n\n