These projects will restore and/or enhance approximately: a 107 acre wet meadow and a 196 acre agricultural field in the lower klamath lake region along a stretch of the klamath river from keno, or to…

These projects will restore and/or enhance approximately: a 107 acre wet meadow and a 196 acre agricultural field in the lower klamath lake region along a stretch of the klamath river from keno, or to midland, or. Projects may include: rebuilding and constructing levees and water control structures to restore wet meadow hydrology, retaining flood irrigation tradition to maintain waterbird habitat and recharge groundwater, field leveling to increase irrigation efficiency, installation of water control structures, improvement of drains, installation and removal of fencing in association with levee improvements, altering agriculture practices to leave unharvested grain for wildlife food; and so forth. These projects will benefit numerous species of wildlife including deer, ELK, trout, waterfowl, and other federal trust species. In particular, with both tule lake and lower klamath nwrs being completely dry due to drought, these 2 project locations will continue to provide waterfowl habitat.1) lowland farms wet meadow:this project will continue to expand on the waterfowl habitat at this location. Flood irrigation is strongly linked to waterfowl populations in the basin, this 107 acre wet meadow is an important area that is retaining its' flood irrigation tradition. However, dilapidated infrastructure and an incomplete levee reduces the availability of waterfowl habitat and impairs wet meadow HAY production. This project will help to rebuild several dilapidated levees and water control structures and will provide flooded wet meadow habitat during september/october, a time where foraging resources for waterbirds are extremely limited. Old fencing will be removed and new fencing installed to prevent access by cows.1) irrigation efficiency project on klamath drainage district:in response to the drought many agencies have promoted the idea of irrigation efficiency, which generally translates to wheel lines and center pivot sprinkler systems. Several studies have shown that irrigation efficiency often amplifies the effects of drought by reducing ground water recharge, resulting in ground water declines. Laser leveling is an alternative water efficiency technique which reduces the amount of water needed for flood irrigation while maintaining waterbird and groundwater recharge benefits. Laser leveling uses precise survey technology to move soil from high areas of a field to low areas, creating a gentle even slope across a field. This process was used on area K in lower klamath NWR, an area CO-managed by the bureau of reclamation and the FWS. Laser leveling on lower klamath often reduced the amount of water needed to flood a field by 33% or more. We propose to utilize laser leveling techniques on a 196 acre field in KDD for the purposes of water efficiency. For our proposal, the landowner would leave a 1/4 of his grain field UN-harvested for 4 years as an in-kind match, and may assist with earthwork activities as needed. Incorporating UN-harvested grain leave would increase the carrying capacity of this field by nearly 10 fold. This proposal supports multiple objectives: 1) reducing the water budget, 2) increasing the amount of waterfowl supported on the landscape for a 4-year period, 3) increased ground water recharge, and 4) improved long-term agricultural production.