{"id":4645,"date":"2026-08-14T14:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T22:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/?page_id=4645"},"modified":"2026-08-14T14:44:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T22:44:29","slug":"policy_water-management","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/district-governance-accountability\/policy_water-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy_Water Management"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Effective 9 January 2025 \u00b7 By order of the Board of Directors<\/p>\n

Patron Water Management and Delivery Policy<\/h1>\n

Order water on. Order water off. Don\u2019t water the road, and don\u2019t touch the headgate.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n

\n \"Klamath\n
Klamath Irrigation District Ditch Riders are the experts on the ditch bank \u2014\n they know how the system operates; let them manage the water.<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

\n Most of what this policy asks of you fits in those four lines. The rest of it \u2014 twenty-six\n pages of it \u2014 is the detail behind them: how an order is placed, who may operate a\n structure, what counts as waste, and what happens when the rules are ignored. This page walks\n through the parts a patron uses in a season. It does not replace the policy. Where the two\n differ, the signed policy governs.\n <\/p>\n\n

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The document itself<\/p>\n

Patron Water Management and Delivery Policy, signed 9 January 2025 \u2014 twenty-six pages,\n four sections and a reference appendix. It rescinded the policy of 11 April 2019.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n Read the full policy (PDF)<\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n

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The whole policy in one sentence<\/p>\n

Your potatoes are just as important as everyone else\u2019s crop \u2014 which is exactly why\n no one gets to take water management into their own hands.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n \n

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The four rules that carry the season<\/h2>\n\n

The District moves water through more than four hundred miles of canals, laterals and drains\n to roughly 3,200 turnouts, on eight ditch rider rides. It works when everyone is running on the\n same information. It stops working the moment one place is running on its own.<\/p>\n\n

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Rule one<\/p>\n

Order it on<\/h3>\n

Every delivery starts with an order placed with your ditch rider or through the web\n ordering system. Taking water that was never ordered pulls carefully managed water away\n from other water right holders and other crops.<\/p>\n

Section 2-2.f(1)(a). No exception.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Rule two<\/p>\n

Order it off<\/h3>\n

The order that ends a set matters as much as the one that starts it. Water left running\n because nobody called it off is water gone from the system \u2014 and gone from the account\n of whoever was next in line.<\/p>\n

Section 2-2.f(1)(a). No exception.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Rule three<\/p>\n

Leave the structures to the ditch rider<\/h3>\n

Canals and District infrastructure are under the control of the Manager. Only people\n authorized in writing by the Manager may operate any part of the system. No one else has\n any right to operate it or interfere with it in any manner.<\/p>\n

Section 2-1.b and 2-2.c(4).<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Rule four<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t waste it<\/h3>\n

Flooding or sprinkling roads, vacant ground, a neighbour\u2019s property or land already\n irrigated is a violation \u2014 whether it was done deliberately, carelessly, or because a\n ditch or a field was not properly prepared.<\/p>\n

Section 2-2.f(6).<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n \n

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Placing an order<\/h2>\n\n

Since 2025 the District has accounted for orders in minimum twelve-hour sets. Web ordering is\n the preferred method whenever the system is available; orders must be in the system before the\n cut-off. Orders placed with a ditch rider need a conversation and a confirmation \u2014 a voice\n mail is not an order.<\/p>\n\n

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Next-day morning<\/p>\n

Ditch riders accept orders for the following morning between 4:00 and 5:00\n p.m.<\/strong> the day before use.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Same-day afternoon<\/p>\n

Ditch riders accept afternoon orders between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m.<\/strong> that\n morning.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Minimum set<\/p>\n

Twelve hours.<\/strong> This is how the District realizes water savings and keeps\n the rides schedulable.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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Your rotation<\/p>\n

The ditch rider tells you the date and time of your turn. If you don\u2019t take\n water when your turn arrives<\/strong>, you may be charged for the full volume ordered and may\n forfeit your place in the rotation.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n

The notice period is not paperwork. From Upper Klamath Lake, water can take more than\n ninety-six hours to reach the far end of some canals, and it moves slower at low flows. Once\n water is on its way to your order, the District cannot put it back in the lake. Once it passes\n your turnout or your pump, it is gone from your account as though it had been delivered.<\/p>\n\n \n\n

\n Order water online<\/a>\n Ditch rider schedules & ride map<\/a>\n <\/p>\n <\/section>\n\n \n

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Once it leaves the delivery point, it is yours<\/h2>\n\n

The District\u2019s responsibility runs to the point of delivery. From the moment water\n starts to the moment irrigation is finished, the landowner is responsible for it \u2014 day and\n night, attending to it and controlling it. That is the policy\u2019s language, and it is the\n part patrons most often forget between seasons.<\/p>\n\n

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Before the water arrives<\/p>\n

A responsible person has to be there, and the ground has to be prepared to take the water\n efficiently. An unattended set on unprepared ground is where most waste violations start.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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While it runs<\/p>\n

Keep your own record: the order, the diversion structure number, the rate, the number of\n twelve-hour sets, and the total acre-feet used for each irrigation, daily.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

Where it may go.<\/strong> Water delivered by the District may be applied only to land\n shown on the maps of irrigated land on file, within a property deed carrying water rights. It may\n not be applied to land under an idling contract or a similar agreement. Spreading water onto\n ground that is not approved is a violation, and the District regulates deliveries to no more than\n 3.5 acre-feet per irrigated acre per year \u2014 less where an individual or district contract\n says less. Water must be used only for irrigation, in a beneficial manner and without waste.<\/p>\n\n

The District tracks use against the water credited to the acres held within its boundaries. If\n a parcel has used up what is credited to it and you intend to draw against another parcel you\n own, that election has to come to the office in writing, with documentation, so the amount is\n deducted from the parcel with the remaining credit.<\/p>\n\n

Drains.<\/strong> Every discharge off a parcel goes into ground designated as a drain,\n and the quality of that discharge is the landowner\u2019s responsibility. Anyone who blocks a\n drain or puts unauthorized material in it pays for the District\u2019s repair. Reclamation and\n the District retain control of the water in the drains \u2014 water taken back out of a drain is\n charged to the account.<\/p>\n <\/section>\n\n \n

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Why nobody touches the structures<\/h2>\n\n

A headgate is not a valve on your own place. It is a measured point in a system that is\n carrying water for everybody downstream of it, and the ditch rider is setting the rest of the\n ride against what he believes is coming through it. Move it by hand and the ride is now being\n managed on a number that is no longer true \u2014 and the shortage lands on somebody who did\n everything right.<\/p>\n\n

So the policy is flat. No unauthorized person may:<\/p>\n\n