{"id":4423,"date":"2026-06-28T12:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T20:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/?p=4423"},"modified":"2026-06-30T14:29:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T22:29:22","slug":"dave-hamel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/2026\/06\/28\/dave-hamel\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Hamel"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container has-pattern-background has-mask-background nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1248px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><!-- ================================================================ -->\n<!-- K.I.D. FEATURED DIRECTOR  -  Dave Hamel  (Vice-President, Fourth Division) -->\n<!-- Paste into a single Avada Code Block on a NEW WordPress page.      -->\n<!-- Suggested URL: \/home\/home\/klamath-irrigation-district-our-featured-growers\/dave-hamel\/ -->\n<!-- All styles scoped under .kid-grower  -  search \"EDIT ME\" to update. -->\n<!-- ================================================================ -->\n\n<div class=\"kid-grower\">\n\n  <!-- Breadcrumb back to Featured Growers -->\n  <a class=\"kid-grower__back\" href=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/home\/klamath-irrigation-district-our-featured-growers\/\">\n    <span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u2190<\/span> All featured growers\n  <\/a>\n\n  <!-- ===== Header ===== -->\n  <header class=\"kid-grower__head\">\n    <span class=\"kid-grower__eyebrow\">Board Vice-President \u00b7 Fourth Division<\/span>\n    <h1 class=\"kid-grower__title\">Dave Hamel<\/h1>\n    <p class=\"kid-grower__hook\">A man of the road and the water \u2014 hauling the harvest, and standing up for the Basin\u2019s farms.<\/p>\n  <\/header>\n\n  <!-- ===== Magazine layout: left rail (photo + facts) + story ===== -->\n  <div class=\"kid-grower__layout\">\n\n    <!-- LEFT RAIL: photo + at-a-glance -->\n    <aside class=\"kid-grower__rail\" aria-label=\"Photo and quick facts\">\n      <figure class=\"kid-grower__figure\">\n        <!-- EDIT ME (photo + caption): I could not view these images from here, so\n             please confirm this is the portrait you want in this spot. To use a\n             different photo, swap the src URL below. Edit the caption text too. -->\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"kid-grower__photo\"\n             src=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DaveHamel.jpg\"\n             alt=\"Dave Hamel, Klamath Irrigation District Vice-President.\">\n        <figcaption class=\"kid-grower__caption\">\n          Dave Hamel, Vice-President of the K.I.D. Board of Directors.\n        <\/figcaption>\n      <\/figure>\n\n      <div class=\"kid-grower__card\">\n        <p class=\"kid-grower__card-h\">At a glance<\/p>\n        <dl class=\"kid-grower__facts\">\n          <div><dt>Role<\/dt><dd>Vice-President<\/dd><\/div>\n          <div><dt>Division<\/dt><dd>Fourth Division<\/dd><\/div>\n          <div><dt>Board<\/dt><dd>K.I.D. Board of Directors<\/dd><\/div>\n          <div><dt>KWUA<\/dt><dd>At-large director<\/dd><\/div>\n          <!-- EDIT ME: confirm the year Dave first joined the Board. -->\n          <div><dt>Past role<\/dt><dd>Board President (2023)<\/dd><\/div>\n          <div><dt>Business<\/dt><dd>Dave Hamel Trucking<\/dd><\/div>\n          <div><dt>Founded<\/dt><dd>1991<\/dd><\/div>\n          <div><dt>Based in<\/dt><dd>Klamath Falls, Oregon<\/dd><\/div>\n          <div><dt>Hauls<\/dt><dd>Hay, grain & ag freight<\/dd><\/div>\n        <\/dl>\n        <a class=\"kid-grower__btn\" href=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/our-team\/\">Meet the full team<\/a>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/aside>\n\n    <!-- MAIN STORY -->\n    <main class=\"kid-grower__main\">\n\n      <p class=\"kid-grower__lead\">\n        On the long roads between the Klamath Basin and California\u2019s Central Valley, and in\n        the meeting rooms and courtrooms where the Basin\u2019s water is decided, you\u2019ll\n        find the same man: Dave Hamel. For more than thirty years he has hauled the Basin\u2019s\n        harvest to market, and for the better part of a decade he has stood up for the water that\n        grows it. He understands both the patience of a farmer waiting on a head of water and the\n        urgency of a trucker watching the clock \u2014 and the Klamath Basin is better for it.\n      <\/p>\n\n      <!-- Of the road and the land (trucking) -->\n      <section class=\"kid-grower__block\" aria-labelledby=\"kid-road-h\">\n        <h2 class=\"kid-grower__h2\" id=\"kid-road-h\">Of the road and the land<\/h2>\n        <p>\n          Dave grew up knowing the rhythms of this corner of southern Oregon \u2014 the\n          irrigated fields, the volcanic buttes, and the canals that thread across the Basin from\n          the Oregon\u2013California line. In <strong>1991<\/strong> he founded\n          <strong>David Hamel Inc.<\/strong> \u2014 Dave Hamel Trucking \u2014 a private\n          interstate carrier out of Klamath Falls, built on a simple premise: the harvest needs\n          to move.\n        <\/p>\n        <p>\n          For more than three decades, his trucks have been the connective tissue between grower\n          and market \u2014 carrying the Basin\u2019s hay, grain, and other farm freight from\n          the fields of the Klamath Project down to the processing centers and markets of\n          California\u2019s Central Valley. It is steady, unglamorous, essential work, done the\n          way he does everything: carefully, and on time.\n        <\/p>\n\n        <!-- Stat row -->\n        <ul class=\"kid-grower__stats\">\n          <li class=\"kid-grower__stat\">\n            <span class=\"kid-grower__stat-num\">1991<\/span>\n            <span class=\"kid-grower__stat-label\">Year he founded David Hamel Inc.<\/span>\n          <\/li>\n          <li class=\"kid-grower__stat\">\n            <span class=\"kid-grower__stat-num\">30+<\/span>\n            <span class=\"kid-grower__stat-label\">Years moving the Basin\u2019s harvest to market<\/span>\n          <\/li>\n          <li class=\"kid-grower__stat\">\n            <span class=\"kid-grower__stat-num\">Klamath \u2192 Valley<\/span>\n            <span class=\"kid-grower__stat-label\">From Project fields to California\u2019s Central Valley<\/span>\n          <\/li>\n        <\/ul>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <!-- A seat at the table (board \/ SCOTUS) -->\n      <section class=\"kid-grower__block\" aria-labelledby=\"kid-board-h\">\n        <h2 class=\"kid-grower__h2\" id=\"kid-board-h\">A seat at the table<\/h2>\n        <p>\n          But the road is only half the story. The other half runs through water. As Director for\n          the District\u2019s <strong>Fourth Division<\/strong> \u2014 elected by his fellow\n          patrons \u2014 and now as Vice-President of the Board, Dave has had a seat at the table\n          during some of the most consequential water fights in the American West.\n        <\/p>\n        <p>\n          His voice carries beyond the District, too \u2014 and has for years. Dave serves as\n          K.I.D.\u2019s elected representative to the <strong>Klamath Water Users Association\n          (KWUA)<\/strong> \u2014 the basin-wide alliance of irrigation districts and water users\n          \u2014 and as an <strong>at-large director<\/strong> on its board. He has been part of\n          that basin-wide work for years, putting him at the table not only for K.I.D.\u2019s own\n          farms but for the whole Klamath Project community.\n        <\/p>\n        <p>\n          When the federal government cut off Klamath Project irrigation water in 2021, leaving\n          fields unplanted and livelihoods in jeopardy, Dave was not a bystander \u2014 he was a\n          voice for the families who felt it first. And in <strong>2023<\/strong>, serving as\n          <strong>K.I.D. President<\/strong>, he led the Board\u2019s unanimous decision to carry\n          the District\u2019s case to the <strong>U.S. Supreme Court<\/strong>, asking the Court to\n          protect water rights that the State of Oregon had already adjudicated to the Basin\u2019s\n          farmers and ranchers.\n        <\/p>\n        <p>\n          He spoke plainly about what was at stake: a farming community built on self-reliance,\n          asking only that a promise made \u2014 a water right confirmed, a contract honored\n          \u2014 be kept. It is the same conviction that runs through everything he does.\n        <\/p>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <!-- Pull quote -->\n      <blockquote class=\"kid-grower__quote\">\n        <p>\u201cWe were compelled to take this step.\u201d<\/p>\n        <cite>Dave Hamel, K.I.D. President, on the District\u2019s 2023 Supreme Court petition<\/cite>\n      <\/blockquote>\n\n      <!-- Bringing the basin together -->\n      <section class=\"kid-grower__block\" aria-labelledby=\"kid-bridge-h\">\n        <h2 class=\"kid-grower__h2\" id=\"kid-bridge-h\">Bringing the basin together<\/h2>\n        <p>\n          Some of Dave\u2019s most important work doesn\u2019t happen in a courtroom at all. He\n          has a gift for bringing people together \u2014 connecting growers and communities across\n          the <strong>Upper Klamath Basin<\/strong>, through the farms and canals of the\n          <strong>Klamath Reclamation Project<\/strong>, and reaching downstream to build\n          relationships with the District\u2019s <strong>downriver neighbors<\/strong>.\n        <\/p>\n        <p>\n          In a basin where water has too often set people against one another, Dave keeps looking\n          for the common ground \u2014 the shared stake everyone here has in a healthy, working\n          Klamath that serves the whole watershed, top to bottom.\n        <\/p>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <!-- Still showing up -->\n      <section class=\"kid-grower__block\" aria-labelledby=\"kid-serve-h\">\n        <h2 class=\"kid-grower__h2\" id=\"kid-serve-h\">Still showing up<\/h2>\n        <p>\n          Dave\u2019s leadership is not the kind that seeks the spotlight. It is the kind that\n          shows up \u2014 at board meetings, in hearing rooms, and at the end of a dirt road where\n          a problem needs solving. Through the most turbulent water years the Basin has seen in a\n          generation, he has kept serving: as a director, as President, and now as Vice-President.\n        <\/p>\n        <p>\n          In 2024, the District thanked Dave for arranging a flyover of the Klamath Reclamation\n          Project \u2014 a quiet act of stewardship that says a lot about him. He didn\u2019t\n          need to be asked. He saw a way to help his community see, from the air, exactly what they\n          were fighting for, and he made it happen.\n        <\/p>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <!-- Closing -->\n      <section class=\"kid-grower__close\" aria-labelledby=\"kid-close-h\">\n        <h2 class=\"kid-grower__h2 kid-grower__h2--plain\" id=\"kid-close-h\">Why we feature him<\/h2>\n        <p>\n          Dave Hamel is exactly the kind of neighbor this Basin runs on. He hauls the harvest that\n          feeds the country, he carries his community\u2019s water rights to the people who decide\n          them, and he keeps showing up \u2014 year after hard year. A man of the road, a man of\n          the water, a steady hand for the District, and a neighbor working to bring this whole\n          basin together. That\u2019s the spirit Klamath Irrigation\n          District is proud to stand behind.\n        <\/p>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <!-- More photos -->\n      <!-- EDIT ME (captions): I could not view these images, so they have no\n           captions yet. To add one, type a short description between the\n           <figcaption> ... <\/figcaption> tags. To swap or reorder a photo, change\n           its src URL. To remove one, delete its whole <figure> ... <\/figure> block. -->\n      <section class=\"kid-grower__gallery\" aria-labelledby=\"kid-gallery-h\">\n        <h2 class=\"kid-grower__h2 kid-grower__h2--plain\" id=\"kid-gallery-h\">More photos<\/h2>\n        <div class=\"kid-grower__gallery-grid\">\n          <figure class=\"kid-grower__gfig\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"kid-grower__gimg\"\n                 src=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260113_114631-scaled.jpg\"\n                 alt=\"Dave Hamel.\">\n            <figcaption class=\"kid-grower__gcap\"><\/figcaption>\n          <\/figure>\n          <figure class=\"kid-grower__gfig\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"kid-grower__gimg\"\n                 src=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260114_091435-scaled.jpg\"\n                 alt=\"Dave Hamel.\">\n            <figcaption class=\"kid-grower__gcap\"><\/figcaption>\n          <\/figure>\n          <figure class=\"kid-grower__gfig\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"kid-grower__gimg\"\n                 src=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260114_124742-scaled.jpg\"\n                 alt=\"Dave Hamel.\">\n            <figcaption class=\"kid-grower__gcap\"><\/figcaption>\n          <\/figure>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/section>\n\n      <!-- In the news (source stories) -->\n      <section class=\"kid-grower__news\" aria-labelledby=\"kid-news-h\">\n        <h2 class=\"kid-grower__h2 kid-grower__h2--plain\" id=\"kid-news-h\">In the news<\/h2>\n        <p class=\"kid-grower__news-intro\">\n          A few items that chronicle Dave Hamel\u2019s leadership on the District Board:\n        <\/p>\n        <ul class=\"kid-grower__newslist\">\n          <li>\n            <a class=\"kid-grower__newsrow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.klamathfallsnews.org\/news\/farmers-appeal-to-supreme-court-to-safeguard-western-water-rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n              <span class=\"kid-grower__news-src\">Klamath Falls News<\/span>\n              <span class=\"kid-grower__news-name\">Farmers appeal to Supreme Court to safeguard Western water rights<\/span>\n              <span class=\"kid-grower__news-desc\">K.I.D., led by President David Hamel, petitions the U.S. Supreme Court to defend adjudicated Klamath Basin water rights.<\/span>\n            <\/a>\n          <\/li>\n          <li>\n            <a class=\"kid-grower__newsrow\" href=\"https:\/\/klamathid.org\/home\/our-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n              <span class=\"kid-grower__news-src\">Klamath Irrigation District<\/span>\n              <span class=\"kid-grower__news-name\">Our Team \u2014 Board of Directors<\/span>\n              <span class=\"kid-grower__news-desc\">Dave Hamel serves as Vice-President and Director for the District\u2019s Fourth Division.<\/span>\n            <\/a>\n          <\/li>\n          <!-- EDIT ME: add any 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