February 2026 Waterworks Newsletter
The February 2026 edition of the Waterworks Newsletter from the Klamath Water Users Association highlights key developments shaping the Klamath Basin, including progress on Tule Lake Flow-Through, major legal victories affecting water management, momentum from the Mid-Pacific Water Users Conference, federal policy updates, and community engagement through agricultural education. Together, these updates reflect ongoing efforts to advance practical, collaborative solutions that support agriculture, wildlife, and local communities.
Tule Lake Flow-Through: A Multi-Benefit Water Management and Ecological Improvement Approach for the Klamath Basin
You have probably heard the term “Tule Lake Flow-Through,” but what does it actually look like on the ground. Developed through collaboration among all Klamath Water Users Association member districts, Flow-Through is more than a concept. It is a basin-wide approach to managing water that reflects how the system naturally functions while delivering real benefits for agriculture, wildlife refuges, fish, water quality, and local communities.
KWUA is proud of the collaborative work that shaped this approach and is committed to continuing to carry it forward, championing Flow-Through as a practical, integrated framework for the Basin’s future. The overview below highlights the most important elements of Flow-Through and explains why keeping water moving through the Basin matters now and into the future.
Introduction and Purpose
Tule Lake Flow-Through is a basin-wide water management approach that builds on the historical operation of the Klamath Project while mimicking natural hydrologic conditions. Water moves continuously from Upper Klamath Lake through canals, drains, pumping stations[1], agricultural lands, Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges. Water is also returned to the Klamath River with better water quality. Flow-through integrates multiple objectives by supporting food production, sustaining wildlife and fisheries habitat, improving water quality, recharging the shallow aquifer, reducing infrastructure damage, and strengthening the resilience of the communities and counties of Modoc and Siskiyou (CA), and Klamath (OR).
Agricultural and Community Benefits
Maintaining live flows through irrigation infrastructure reduces damage to irrigation infrastructure, improves operational uncertainty for water users, limits reliance on groundwater infrastructure reduces damage to irrigation infrastructure, improves operational uncertainty for water users, limits reliance on groundwater pumping, and helps stabilize the well-being of local economies that depend on agriculture. Continuous soil moisture improves efficiency by lowering the total volume of surface water required to charge the system annually while sustaining crop and livestock production. This approach supports healthy soils and productive farmland, aids in dust abatement, pest control, strengthens rural communities, and enhances the overall resilience of Basin economies.
Environmental Benefits: Tule Lake and Lower Klamath Refuges
Managed as dynamic, functioning wetlands rather than static storage areas, these refuges slow water movement, filter nutrients, and provide essential habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife, helping address long-standing challenges such as poor water quality, dust storms created by dewatering wetlands, disease outbreaks (such as botulism), grasshopper infestations, while maintaining the refuges’ historic role in the Basin. Well-hydrated wildlife refuges also support recreation and waterfowl hunting, providing economic benefits to local communities and counties.
Native Fish and Water Quality
Flow-through benefits native fish, including salmon and sucker species, by improving water quality and expanding habitat availability across canals, wetlands, and managed waterways. As water moves through agricultural fields and wetlands, nutrient loads are reduced and temperatures are moderated, creating conditions more favorable for fish health and recruitment than direct, untreated releases.
Groundwater and Aquifer Recharge
Allowing water to infiltrate through fields, canals, and wetlands restores the shallow aquifer, which has been depleted in the last two decades due to surface water delivery curtailments. This recharge supports healthier soils and crops, stabilizes rural wells, maintains ground stability critical for infrastructure, increases springtime return flows to the Klamath River canyon, and contributes to overall Basin resilience.
Conclusion
Flow-through fosters a shared framework where agriculture, wildlife refuges, tribes, agencies, and communities work toward common outcomes rather than competing demands. By recognizing the interconnected nature of the Basin’s water system, this approach provides opportunities to develop durable agreements and long-term solutions that benefit both people and the environment. Tule Lake Flow-through offers a balanced, integrated water management approach that reflects both the Basin’s historical function and its path forward, demonstrating that multiple objectives can be met through thoughtful, landscape-scale water management.
KWUA ACHIEVES VICTORY IN “TEMPERATURE TMDL” LITIGATION
On January 22, 2026, the final court proceedings occurred in litigation by Klamath Water Users Association challenging the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s (ODEQ) 2019 total maximum daily load (TMDL) for water temperature in the Klamath and Lower Lost River basins in Oregon.
KWUA led a coalition that included Klamath Drainage District, Van Brimmer Ditch Company, Ady District Improvement Company, and Tulelake Irrigation District in the case, which was filed because of concerns that the Temperature TMDL could lead to major capital and operational costs being incurred by KWUA members, as well as threatened negative impacts to irrigation water supply.
The Marion County Circuit Court agreed with the petitioners, finding the temperature TMDL to be unlawful, and on October 8, 2025, the Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed this ruling.
At the January 22,2026 proceeding back in Marion County Supreme Court, all parties confirmed that the Temperature TMDL is of no effect.
The lawsuit by KWUA and KWUA members was one of a total of four cases that challenged two distinct TMDLs. The Court of Appeals’ rulings do mean that water management agencies can be assigned responsibilities regarding implementation in future TMDLs, but in the meantime, the Temperature TMDL, the target of KWUA’s case, is not in effect as a result of the litigation.
Momentum and Opportunity in the Klamath Basin: Progress at the Mid-Pacific Water Users Conference
In the final week of January, water leaders from across the West gathered in Reno, Nevada for the Mid-Pacific Water Users Conference. For KWUA, the conference was especially fast-paced and results-driven. We came prepared to have meaningful and productive discussions with agencies, and the discussions with agency representatives showed that they invested similar effort.
Several important meetings and discussions addressed critical issues facing the Project, and participants walked away with a shared sense that real progress had been made. Most notably, there was broad agreement that a clearer path forward is beginning to take shape for the Klamath Project and that advancing solutions is a priority for all involved. This was a welcome change for KWUA and Project irrigators after years of uncertainty that have often characterized these discussions. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and KWUA will ensure that this work takes gets done. The meetings in Reno left us with optimism and momentum to complete it.
KWUA extends a special thank you to the Bureau of Reclamation, including both Regional and local staff, and Acting Regional Director Adam Nickels, for the significant time and effort dedicated both ahead of and during the Conference to address key Project issues, including the forthcoming ESA reconsultation. Additional thanks go to Jen Quan and Penny Ruvelas of NOAA Fisheries, and Paul Souza of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for their in-person participation and meaningful engagement in meetings and discussions focused on the Klamath Project.
This momentum was reflected in one of the Conference’s most anticipated sessions, a panel titled Klamath’s New Chapter: Leveraging Legal and Policy Developments, Advancing Solutions, and Honoring Commitments.
This article focuses on that panel, which examined where the Klamath Basin stands today and what it will take to move forward.
Moderated by KWUA Executive Director Elizabeth Nielsen, the panel featured Brittany Johnson of Somach Simmons & Dunn (counsel for KWUA), Adam Nickels, Acting Regional Director for Reclamation’s California–Great Basin Region, and Scott Seus, KWUA President and Klamath Project farmer. Together, they offered legal, agency, and on-the-ground perspectives on recent developments that could finally bring greater stability to a Basin long defined by uncertainty.
Legal Clarity and a Reset on ESA Implementation
Brittany Johnson opened the discussion by outlining recent federal actions that are reshaping the regulatory landscape for the Klamath Project. Early in the Trump 47 Administration, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum directed a review of how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is applied to the Project. That review led to a May 2025, legal memorandum from the Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor, followed by Reclamation’s January 2026, reassessment of Project operations and its formal notice initiating ESA reconsultation.
Johnson explained why this matters. Over time, ESA consultations have drifted from the Project’s authorizing statutes and contractual obligations, resulting in increasingly restrictive operations and chronic instability for water users. Reconsultation, she noted, offers a critical opportunity to reset—to clearly define the proposed action, align operations with the law, and better balance species protection with the Project’s core purposes.
What Comes Next for Reclamation and Water Users
Adam Nickels expanded on what this process looks like in practice. Reclamation will develop new operating criteria for the Klamath Project, intended for use beginning in 2027.
He emphasized Reclamation’s commitment to working collaboratively and transparently with stakeholders, including Project irrigators and KWUA.
Nickels explained that recent changes in federal statutory and case law require a fundamentally new approach to Project operations.
Because the proposed action will differ from those previously analyzed under ESA Section 7, Reclamation formally announced its intent to reinitiate consultation with NOAA Fisheries and U.S. Fish and Wildlife just days prior. Reclamation expects to begin development of a Biological Assessment (BA) in early 2026, with the 2027 irrigation season goal in mind.
On-the-Ground Solutions: Tule Lake Flow-Through
Scott Seus brought the conversation home with a focus on Tule Lake Flow-Through, a practical, multi-benefit water management concept rooted in the Project’s historical operations, and mimicking how the Basin naturally operated. Flow-through envisions water moving continuously through irrigation infrastructure, agricultural lands, and wildlife refuges before returning to the Klamath River with improved water quality.
Seus described how this approach would improve water reliability for farmers and ranchers, sustain wetlands and habitat in the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges, recharge the shallow aquifer within the Project, which has been impacted by reduced surface water deliveries, and benefit native fish species—all at the same time.
Drawing on lived experience, Seus reflected on years like 2021, when the Klamath Project received no surface water deliveries. The impacts rippled far beyond farms and ranches: wildlife refuges went dry, residential wells failed, dust storms intensified, pests exploded, and a devastating botulism outbreak killed tens of thousands of birds. These outcomes, he emphasized, were not isolated events but the result of decades of curtailed surface water deliveries.
Flow-through offers a real-world alternative—one that integrates food production, wildlife habitat, water quality improvement, aquifer recharge, infrastructure protection, and community resilience by keeping water moving through the system.
A Turning Point for the Basin
As the panel concluded, all three speakers reflected on why this moment feels different. Clearer legal guidance, evolving agency direction, ecological changes following dam removal, and shovel-ready projects are converging in ways the Basin has not seen in decades.
Looking ahead five years, the panelists described success as a Klamath Basin with productive farms, resilient fisheries, functioning wildlife refuges, and communities no longer locked in crisis management. Achieving that vision will require timely action, meaningful coordination, and a shared commitment to durable solutions. For many who attended the Mid-Pacific Water Users Conference, this year marked a welcome shift. Instead of leaving with more questions than answers, as has often been the case in past years, participants left Reno with a sense that meaningful progress is underway and that a clearer, more achievable path forward is taking shape for the Klamath Project.
The message from Reno was clear: after years of imbalance and uncertainty, the Klamath Basin has a real opportunity to chart a new course, and this time, the momentum feels real.
Special Report: The Ferguson Group Federal Update
FY 2026 Appropriations Update: What Congress Funded—and What’s Still Pending
Congress finalized most FY 2026 federal funding after a brief partial shutdown, passing the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 7148)—a package that funds 11 full-year spending bills through September 30, 2026 while temporarily extending Homeland Security funding through February 13, 2026, to allow further negotiations tied to DHS/ICE accountability measures.
Authored by The Ferguson Group, the report highlights major funding levels and policy provisions across key areas, from USDA and nutrition programs to science and law enforcement, defense procurement, energy and water priorities, housing and transportation investments, and FEMA preparedness grants, and flags notable riders and oversight requirements. Read the full FY 2026 Appropriations Review for detailed agency-by-agency breakdowns, funding tables, and key policy changes—click here to access the complete report.
District Meetings
- Tulelake Irrigation District Board of Directors meeting will be held February 10 at 10 am at the TID office.
- KWUA Board of Directors meeting will be held March 11 at 2 pm at the KWUA office.
- Klamath Irrigation District Annual Board of Directors meeting will be held February 12 at 1 pm at the KID office. Public call-in access to the meeting is available by dialing (425)436-6347 with access code: 8826661#
- Van Brimmer Ditch Company Board of Directors meeting will be held February 19.
- Klamath Drainage District Board of Directors meeting will be held February 19 at 1 pm at the KDD office. To join via Zoom, click here. Meeting ID: 862 5518 6883
- Klamath Project Drought Response Agency Board of Directors meeting will be held February 13 at 9 am at the KWUA office.
Klamath County Farm Expo Open House – February 17, 2026
Agriculture is a cornerstone of Klamath County’s economy, yet many people never get to see how food makes its way from the field to the grocery store. The Klamath County Farm Expo Open House, co-sponsored by the Klamath County Cattlewomen and Klamath County Farm Bureau, returns February 17 at the Klamath County Fairgrounds.
Farm Expo is one of the most impactful learning experiences of the year, bringing 4th-grade students from across the county together for fast-paced, hands-on learning led by FFA tour guides—often described as “speed dating for 4th graders.” Students rotate through booths highlighting beef and beef byproducts, dairy, grain, sheep and goats, swine, horses, hay, potatoes, forage, small animals, master gardener, and the water booth hosted by KWUA. The supermarket booth ties it all together by showing how raw products become everyday food.
KWUA proudly donates staff time to support this event, with Chelsea Shearer spending two full days teaching students about water and its role in agriculture. Students visiting the water booth will also receive free potatoes generously donated by Unruh Farms.
The Open House runs from 4:00–7:30 PM and includes a 4-H & FFA Youth Iron Chef cooking contest, an animal health care presentation, and free door raffle prizes. Be sure to stop by KWUA’s water booth and join us for an engaging, educational celebration of agriculture in the Klamath Basin.
ESA Reassessment: What Now?
Driven by legal developments and bipartisan legislation, the Bureau of Reclamation has completed a reassessment of how the Endangered Species Act (ESA) applies to the Klamath Project, setting the stage for a significantly improved approach to ESA compliance. This is an important step in the complicated process of realigning What does the Reassessment Do?
Klamath Project management with ESA requirements and federal law. Reassessment: KWUA-Reassessment
What does the Reassessment Do?
- Establishes clear rules for federal government actions regarding ESA compliance, which will limit uncertainty and reduce the risk of arbitrary water reductions to agriculture and wildlife.
- Creates a pathway toward more reliable water deliveries, fewer legal disputes, and a management framework that supports agriculture, wildlife refuges, and rural communities alike, within the scope of the ESA.
What is Next?
- Now that legal guidance exists and the reassessment is complete, the next step is implementing these rules through an ESA reconsultation for the Klamath Project. Closely following completion of the Reassessment, Reclamation formally sent notice of its intent to reconsult to NOAA Fisheries and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Reclamation anticipates completing reconsultation ahead of the 2027 irrigation season.
- KWUA is committed to engaging fully with the relevant agencies during the reconsultation to advocate for our member districts.
The new ESA consultation will not be completed before the 2026 irrigation season, so in parallel, KWUA continues to work with agencies and stakeholders to manage the upcoming season in the best manner possible.
KWUA recognizes that Project irrigators are justifiably frustrated with the time it takes to correct the defective approach to the ESA that has harmed our communities for the last few decades. However, KWUA is encouraged to see the federal government moving forward according to legal processes that will create a defensible and durable plan for Project irrigators and our communities.
For more detail on the history and process, please refer to Paul Simmons’s July 2025, WaterWorks Newsletter article: ESA REASSESSMENT II.0: WHO, WHAT, WHEN?