Klamath Project

The Klamath Project is a water-management project developed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation to supply farmers with irrigation water and farmland in the Klamath Basin. The project also supplies water to the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. The project was one of the first to be developed by the Reclamation Service, which later became the Bureau of Reclamation.

The two main water supply sources for the project are Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath River. The main bodies of water in the Klamath Project are Clear Lake Reservoir, Klamath River, Link River, Lost River, Lower Klamath Lake, Tule Lake, and Upper Klamath Lake. The project fills these reservoirs from the spring runoff, peaking generally in March and April, and keeps the runoff from flooding the historical marshes that are a large portion of the present farmland. There are also many minor streams in the area. Lost River historically drained into Tule Lake, an endorheic lake. The project now diverts excess Lost River water to the Klamath River, allowing portions of Tule Lake to be reclaimed.

Some 225,000 acres (91,000 ha) of rangeland have been transformed into active farmland through the Klamath Project. Of that total, 80,000 acres (32,000 ha) were recovered by draining a portion of Lower Klamath Lake, a shallow marsh straddling the Oregon-California border between the California towns of Dorris and Tulelake. Tule Lake was also reduced in size by diverting water from Lost River to the Klamath River.^[1]

Farmers in the project raise barley, alfalfa hay, and other hay, oats, potatoes, and wheat. The Klamath Basin is on the Pacific Flyway and the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges Complex is visited by migratory game birds every year.

The project can be distinguished the Klamath River Hydroelectric Project, which is a set of hydro dams on the mainstem of the Klamath operated by for-profit energy company PacifiCorp. The Link River Dam belongs to both.