Paul and OWRD officials detailed estimated drought conditions for the Klamath Basin for 2018, and answered questions surrounding water rights and outlining how the state addresses calls to fulfill water rights.
OWRD officials hosted three interactive meetings for local residents last week, meeting in Fort Klamath on Tuesday, Chiloquin on Wednesday, and Sprague River on Friday.
The meetings also urgently addressed pending drought in the region, which has yet to be officially declared, but is expected soon.
Jason Miner, natural resources adviser to Gov.
Brown is planning a visit to the Klamath Basin within the next couple of months, likely related to the pending declaration of drought by Klamath County Commissioners anticipated for consideration this week.
An attendee also asked why water was shut off to some areas in the Upper Basin region in 2017 despite the good water year.
So we would start with the most junior water user and work our way toward the earlier dates until we could actually fulfill that senior water user’s water right.
If it’s an instream claim, then we have to measure.
There are numerous in-stream claims associated with each river, and we are mandated to measure the flow at the bottom of that instream claim.
As an example for the Williamson (River), we have to measure the lowest point on the Williamson for the claim.”