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Physical ContextThe Klamath River basin in Oregon and California comprises approximately 9.4 million acres. The major tributaries - Wood, Sprague, Williamson, and Lost Rivers of the upper Klamath Basin (in Oregon) - flow into Agency Lake or Upper Klamath Lake and do not directly enter the mainstem Klamath River. Link River connects the southern end of Upper Klamath Lake to Lake Ewuana. The Klamath River begins at Lake Ewuana. Four major tributaries - Shasta, Scott, Salmon, and Trinity - enter the Klamath River in California. Upper and Lower Klamath Lakes are large, shallow, and eutrophic. Upper Klamath Lake has a mean depth ranging from 5.8 feet to 9.7 feet, depending on lake elevation. Both lakes are lined with large marshes that were once quite extensive. Snowmelt drives the basin, directly and indirectly recharging groundwater in the Klamath River basin. Current flows in the mainstem Klamath River flows are substantially less today than in the past. Human activities have modified hydrologic features and function in the basin for more than 150 years. In 1905, Congress authorized the formation of the Klamath Reclamation Project for the purpose of converting wetlands in the Klamath and Lost River systems to farmland. Wetlands adjacent to Upper Klamath and Agency Lakes were drained throughout the first 80 years of the 20th century. At least 110,000 acres of the watershed for Upper Klamath Lake have been converted to irrigated pasture and other agricultural uses. Today the Klamath Project supplies irrigation water to approximately 220,000 acres of farmland. Land Ownership in the Klamath Basin Total area of the Klamath Basin: ~10,000,000 acres Total Tribal land in Klamath Basin: ~ 90,000 acres Total public land in Klamath Basin: ~ 6,200,000 acres Total private land in Klamath Basin: ~ 3,700,000 acres 1. includes ~2000 farms on ~ 557,000 acres 2. 80% of these are irrigated 3. ~220,000 of the irrigated acres use Bureau of Reclamation-provided water Maps
NASA
Hydrology
Geography
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