<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.heraldandnews.com/klamath/more-water-for-project-irrigators/article_5cf45980-2ab8-557f-b2c3-05be8434548a.html" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;">http://www.heraldandnews.com/klamath/more-water-for-project-irrigators/article_5cf45980-2ab8-557f-b2c3-05be8434548a.html</a><br></div><div class="qtdSeparateBR"><br><br></div><div class="yahoo_quoted" style="display: block;"><div style="font-family: garamond, new york, times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><div class="y_msg_container"><div id="yiv1807906944"><div dir="ltr"><br><div class="yiv1807906944asset-content yiv1807906944subscriber-premium">
<div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-preview"><div>Klamath Project farmland may get a little greener in coming weeks.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-preview"><div>According
to Terri Reaves Gilmore, deputy area manager for the Bureau of
Reclamation (BOR) Klamath Basin Area Office, a combination of improved
hydrologic conditions and conservation efforts by Klamath Project water
users, including voluntary land idling, has given the agency more
flexibility in making water available to the Project’s Warren Act
contractors.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>“At this time, BOR
has determined that up to an additional three-quarter (.75) acre-feet
of water per irrigable acre is available for delivery to Warren Act
contractors,” Reaves Gilmore said in a statement. “This amount is in
addition to the quarter (.25) acre-foot per acre that BOR made available
in June.”</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944hidden-print">
</div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>Fourteen irrigation districts
and several individual contractors make up 59,948 acres of Warren Act
land in the Klamath Project. According to BOR documents, Warren Act, or
“B,” contractors receive water secondary to Klamath Project contractors
who have “A” rights. Deliveries to Warren Act contractors are curtailed
when water supplies cannot meet the demands of “A” irrigators.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>In
April, the BOR announced that under the 2015 Drought Plan, Warren Act
contractors would not receive any surface water this year. Rain events
in May later helped Warren Act farmers get a small jump on this season’s
crops, according to Enterprise Irrigation District Manager Shane
McDonald. He said farmers with small lots, orchards and pastures and can
capitalize on the bonus water.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>“They’ll
be able to get a decent second cutting (of alfalfa) if I can extend the
water. Possibly a third cutting if the allocation can be extended
through the beginning of September,” McDonald said.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>McDonald
said in an effort to extend the water season, Enterprise will pump
water July 21-28; Aug. 5-13; and Aug. 19 until the water allocation
expires, which is estimated to occur Sept. 2. Water will not be
available between these dates because the district’s system will be shut
down for maintenance, he added.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>Luke
Robison, manager of Shasta View and Malin irrigation districts, said
irrigators in his districts farm potatoes and cereal grains, but the
vast majority of farmland is alfalfa. He said the extra water won’t
irrigate any new acres, but it will be helpful to folks who already have
crops in the works.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944hidden-print">
</div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>“That’s three irrigations — one more cutting of alfalfa,” Robison said.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>According
to Reaves Gilmore, the BOR will continue coordinating with Project
water users, and other stakeholders to seek out opportunities for
increasing water availability for Project agricultural and national
wildlife refuge lands.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>According to Gilmore, on July 19, Upper Klamath Lake was 62 percent full, with a volume of 317,395 acre-feet.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>Last year on July 19, the lake was only 45 percent full, she said.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944subscriber-only"><div>To
date, approximately 120,000 acre-feet has been diverted from Upper
Klamath Lake to Project water users, according to Reaves Gilmore.</div></div><div class="yiv1807906944hidden-print">
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