The lower klamath national wildlife refuge (lknwr) was the first refuge in the nation established specifically for the long-term protection of migratory waterfowl

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, through its Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance program (CFDA 15.664), awarded a $1,000,000 Project Grant to the Klamath Drainage District Inc. to conduct a feasibility analysis for hydrologically reconnecting the Klamath River to the historic Lower Klamath Lake. This effort aims to restore critical wetland habitat that was lost due to historical water management practices in the Klamath Basin. The grant will support the development of a conceptual plan for this restoration project, which will engage a collaborative partnership of tribal, state, federal, irrigation, landowner, and conservation stakeholders. The goal is to find innovative solutions that balance the needs of wildlife, agriculture, and regional water resources in the Klamath Basin ecosystem.

This cornerstone of the US refuge system critical to both pacific flyway waterfowl and threatened and endangered fish like the lost river and shortsnose sucker (c wamm and koptu) went completely dry in twenty-twenty one. Species that once thrived in the lknwr are now in decline across the entire klamath basin. The klamath reclamation project a one hundred plus year old water management project in the basin wants to be part of the solution. The railroad embankment and breaching the the keno reef under the project development in the early nineteen hundreds altered the hydrology of the area drying out and diverty the majority of the flows downriver resulting in the loss of functional wetland water storage and habitat. Recently with the drying of lknwr the klamath drainage district (KDD) has been providing critical migration habitat for waterbirds but there is not enough to go around. Agricultural lands cannot full meet the needs of the species and farmers have not been betting the water they need to make their operations financially sustainable.removal of four dams on the klamath river will drastically alter the hydrology of the area yet again. The impending return of the salmon to the basin is also invigorating tribal state and federal stakeholders to find innovatitve solutions to meeting salmon habitat and life cycle needs. Partners will need to work together to find a better way to balance human and wildlife needs in a place where historical practices had undermined the ability of the land to catch store and transmit water. A conceptual plan for restoration is being developed through a collaborative effort that has engaged partners from across the public and private sectors including tribes state and federal governments irrigation districts landowners and conservation non-profits. The goal of this plan is to hydrologically reconnect the klamath river to the historic lower klamath lake via the ADY canal to lower klamath lake NWR. In order to proceed with this concept a feasibilty analysis is needed.