Biological Opinions - Bureau of Reclamation

1905, Ch. 567, 33 Stat. 714). The Project was authorized to drain and reclaim lakebed lands in
Lower Klamath and Tule Lakes, to store water of the Klamath and Lost Rivers, including water
in the Lower Klamath and Tule Lakes, to divert and deliver supplies for Project purposes, and to
control flooding of the reclaimed lands.
Starting around 1912, construction and operation of the numerous facilities associated with
Reclamation’s Klamath Project significantly altered the natural hydrographs of the upper and
lower Klamath River. In 1922, the level of UKL was raised by the construction of the Link
River Dam. Reclamation’s Klamath Project now consists of an extensive system of canals,
pumps, diversion structures, and dams capable of routing water to approximately 200,000 ac
(81,000 ha) of irrigated farmlands in the Upper Klamath River basin (Reclamation 2012).
7.7.2 Project Water Consumption
Spring and summer deliveries of irrigation water to the Klamath Project from UKL are trending
upward during the period of record. Historic and modeled April through November
(spring/summer in terms of the proposed action model parameters) deliveries to the Project from
UKL is shown in Figure 7.3 and Figure 7.4, respectively.
While the trends suggest increases in Project deliveries when considered in isolation, they may
also be examined with respect to other water-related trends in the upper Klamath Basin. As
described in section 7.3.1, Climate Change, average annual air temperature in the upper Klamath
Basin has been increasing over several decades and snow-water equivalent has been declining.
In addition, although the declining trend is not apparent in the past two decades, annual net
inflow to UKL has declined over the full 31-year period of record (POR) and the trend is
statistically significant (Section 7.10.2, UKL and Tributaries Water Quantity and Trend
Analysis). Therefore, it is reasonable to consider that the increase in Project deliveries could be
caused by changes in irrigation and cropping patterns, additional land under irrigation, decadal
shifts in weather, global warming, conjunctive uses of surface water and groundwater, or a
combination of factors. Many of these individual factors have not been examined rigorously in
the Klamath Basin and the relationships between them are poorly understood or have not been
examined at all. The trend of Project deliveries is one that must be evaluated more fully and
tracked more closely during the future.
62