Klamath Project Drought Response Agency

Klamath Project Drought Response Agency is a local government entity registered in SAM.gov since November 2018 and headquartered in Klamath Falls, Oregon. As an interstate entity and local government-owned organization, the Agency provides drought response and water resource management services to the Klamath Project, a major irrigation system in the upper Klamath Basin. The Agency specializes in developing and implementing programs that align water supplies with demand for irrigation water users, thereby supporting agricultural operations while maintaining flexibility for water allocation to fisheries, wildlife, and tribal interests.

The Agency has received three consecutive cooperative agreements from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation totaling approximately $9.2 million in its most recent award. These grants fund the development and implementation of comprehensive drought response programs focused on water supply alignment through multiple mechanisms: groundwater substitution and supplementation programs that contract with irrigation well owners to provide supplemental water; land idling assistance programs that compensate landowners per acre for reducing irrigation demand; and domestic and municipal well mitigation initiatives designed to resolve conflicts between agricultural and domestic groundwater uses. The earliest award, granted in February 2021 with completion in October 2023, targeted critical drought conditions in 2021-2022 by compensating farmers for not requesting project water and supplementing surface water supplies with groundwater pumping. Subsequent awards in September 2023 and September 2025, funded through the Upper Klamath Basin Water Supply Alignment program (CFDA 15.566), continue and expand these drought mitigation activities with completion dates extending through December 2030. Through these initiatives, the Agency directly supports over 1,000 family farms in the Klamath Project region while enabling Reclamation to manage water resources more flexibly on behalf of agricultural producers, fish and wildlife including endangered species, and tribal water rights holders.