Klamath River Valley – Tulelake

Statistics

Basin Name

Basin Number

1-002.01

SGMA Basin Priority

Medium

Critically Overdrafted

Status

Subject to SGMA

DWR Region & POC

Northern Region Office
Erin Smith
(530) 529-7314
Erin.Smith@water.ca.gov

Number of Wells

260

Hydrologic Region Name

North Coast Hydrologic Region

Counties

Modoc, Siskiyou

Adjacent Basins

Klamath River Valley - Lower Klamath 1-002.02,

At-A-Glance

Located in California’s North Coast hydrologic region, the Klamath River Valley – Tulelake is 110,521 acres in size. This Medium priority basin is home to an estimated 2,407 people (2010 value), which have been at a rate of 1.12. Klamath River Valley – Tulelake is a(n) basin with approximately 260 wells, of which approximately 7 are water supply wells. Groundwater accounts for approximately 25 percent of the basin’s water supply.

2003: Bulletin 118 basin description

2014: Basin prioritization comments: “Interstate groundwater transfer issue. Strong surface water-groundwater interaction and fisheries issues. Potential intra‐basin issues associated with increased annual extraction” and “declining groundwater levels in lower aquifer. Local groundwater quality issues. On‐going high volume of groundwater being extracted associated with surface water cutbacks from Klamath Project and groundwater transfers associated with Klamath Basin Agreement.”

2016: Basin boundary modification
Revised basin boundary description
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Klamath Project
USGS study notes long-term groundwater decline.

The Klamath Tribes – Tribal Administration
2014 basin prioritization comments: “Interstate groundwater transfer issue. Strong surface water-groundwater interaction and fisheries issues. Potential intra‐basin issues associated with increased annual extraction” and “declining groundwater levels in lower aquifer. Local groundwater quality issues. On‐going high volume of groundwater being extracted associated with surface water cutbacks from Klamath Project and groundwater transfers associated with Klamath Basin Agreement.”

Klamath Basin agreements, Oregon.gov
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5050, Version 1.1, April 2010
USGS Upper Klamath Basin Studies

2018 draft basin prioritization comments: “Complex water rights system – other state, federal, and tribal interests competing with residents in Tulelake for surface water deliveries. Significant increase in groundwater dependence as a result. Basin has had significant amount of State funding and investments toward groundwater infrastructure.”

U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) studies and resources
Basin history, University of California, Davis (UC Davis)

2018 Basin Prioritization: Basin remains a medium priority basin.