- 7' -, > \ UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR B U R E A U O F R E C L A M A T I O N U N I T E D S T A T E S G O V E R N M E N T P R I N T I N G O F F I C E W A S H I N G T O N : 1936 FEDERAL RECLAMATION PROJECT OREGON - CALIFORNIA n )> >> GENERAL STATEMENT THEKla m- ath reclamation project comprises practically all of the agricultural land in the Klamath Basin, except a small area adjacent to Upper Klamath Lake, and is situated in southern Oregon and northern California. The extent of the area irrigated, or that may be irrigated by reason of Bureau of Reclamation activities, is approxi-mately 140,000 acres. This includes about 20,000 acres suitable only for pasture and approximately 12,000 acres of good land in the Tule Lake division not yet opened for settlement. Within the older developed sections of the project the soil is mostly of a sandy loam . type that is particularly suitable for growing potatoes and summer vegetables as well as all of the ordinary crops that thrive in a cool, tem-perate climate. The price of this type of land ranges from $ 100 to $ 200 per acre. The water- right cost, which origi- Klamath Falls, Oregon, the prolect office headquarters nally was about $ 55 per acre, is approximately half paid up. The balance has an average of about 25 years to run without interest. Operation and maintenance costs usually run about $ 1.25 an acre per annum. I R R I G A B L E L A N D S The Tule Lake division of the project, which will eventually comprise about 32,000 acres of agricultural land and about 5,000 acres of thin soil land good only for pasture, carries a construction charge of $ 88.35, with 40 years in A! Klamath : desert. Looking~ southwest up Lan Valley from a point 4 miles west of Lorella, Ore which to pay without interest. No payments have been required to date, but the Secretary of the Interior will soon issue public notice announcing the commencement of pay-ments, which will be approximately $ 2.20 per acre each year. In addition to the construction charge, there is an operation and maintenance charge which will probably run between $ 1.50 and $ 2 un acre a year. These lands are of lacustrian origin and are very fertile. They are particularly adapted to the growth of small grains, alfalfa, and pasture grasses. Patented land in this division sells for $ 50 to $ 100 per acre. Patented lands in private ownership, where of goc; d quality, well improved and conveniently situated, can be purchased for from $ 150 to $ 200 per acre. Good lands not so well improved nor so desirably located sell at around $ 100 per acre. There is very little undeveloped, privately owned good land on the project. Small tracts of 5, 10, or 20 acres, located along paved highways and within 6 to 8 miles of Klamath Falls, are obtainable at from $ 200 to $ 400 per acre. W A T E R S U P P L Y The Klamath project is ! ortunate in having an abundant water supply for all lands susceptible of irrigation. The map on the inside of the back cover page shows the location of the three reservoirs and their immediate proximity to the lands they serve. The irrigable project lands lie between elevations of 4,035 and 4,070 feet above sea level and occupy the Klamath Basin and the Valley of Lost River, situated in south central Oregon and north central California, about 150 miles east of the Pacific coast. The average annual pre-cipitation is 12.51 inches. SCHOOLS Klamath County schools are run on the county unit basis Public School in Klamath Falls and are fully up to standard. Busses run at county expense transport rural children to and from school, and there is no lost time on account of bad weather. Within the county there are 9,242 children of school age, 4,107 of these within the city of Klamath Falls. The high school enrollment for Klamath Falls is 1,156, and for the remainder of the county is 459. There are 9 high schools in the county that employ 62 teachers. The grade schools employ 185 teachers, of whom' 76 are in the city of Klamath Falls. : let of concrete flume, Canal C, of the main project structures R E C R E A T I O N No part of the United States affords more interesting and attractive recreational areas than are found near at hand and in all directions from the Klamath project. From 1 to 2 hours in any kind of an automobile is sufficient to land one on the banks of a cold mountain stream inhabited by many wary trout or alongside the shores of any one of a half dozen crystal lakes, where boating and bathing may be enjoyed to the full. Some of the lakes that are conven-iently located with reference to the project, and where many summer camps as well as extensive hotel and camp accommodations already exist, are Upper Klamath Lake, Lake of the Woods, Crater Lake, Diamond Lake, Crescent I., ake, Ode11 Lake, and Paulina Lake. The most distant of the lot, Paulina Lake, can be reached in 3 hours' driving from Klamath Falls. Some of the important recreational areas lying in convenient distances from the project are shown in the ilh~ strationsa ccompanying this chapter. The principal water supply is in Upper Klamath Lake, where regulation provides a possible storage of about 524,800 acre- feet, and this with the natural inflow insures the lands served from this source an adequate water supply at all times. Under the terms of the contract dated February 24, 1917, between the United States and the California- Oregon Power Co., the power company was given the right to regulate the outflow of Upper Klamath Lake, subject to existing rights and the prior rights of the Klamath project for water for irrigation. To regulate the outflow, the company, in 1921, constructed the Link River Dam at a cost of about $ 310,000. Storage for the lands on the west side of Langell Valley and a portion of the lands in the Horsefly irrigation district is provided by Clear Lake Reservoir. This reservoir, lying just across the line in California, is the source of Lost River and has a total capacity of 454,000 acre- feet, most of which was made available during 1931 by the construction of a channel from the outlet works to the deeper portion of the reservoir, a distance of about 6 miles. The reservoir is also used for flood storage for the protection of lands in the Tule Lake division. Gerber Reservoir, on Miller Creek, a tributary of Lost River, has a storage capacity of 94,000 acre- feet and fur-nishes a water supply for the lands on the east side of Lost River in the Langell Valley division. This reservoir also provides for the storage of flood water for the protection of lands in the Tule Lake division. Water from Upper Klamath Lake is diverted to the main or " A" canal from the east side of Link River, the outlet of the lake, several hundred feet below the lake and a few I I / Klamath River near Klamath Falls k River diversion dam Alfalfa field near Malin, Oreg. Two cuttings are grown, which yield 2- 4 tons per acre on the older project lands, and 3- 6 in Tule Lake section hundred feet above Link River Dam. Water for all lands in the main and pumping divisions and for a portion of the lands in the Tule Lake division are diverted through the " A" canal. Additional water for the lands in the Tule Lake division is diverted from the Klamath River, through the Lost River diversion channel ( reversing the direction of flow), and spilled into Lost River, frcm which it is diverted to the " J" canal at a point about 3 miles southeasterly from Merrill, Oreg. At this point the river level is raised about 12 feet by means of the lower Lost River diversion dam, a concrete structure of the Ambursen type, with a crest length of 204 feet. The Lost River diversion channel leads off from Lost River at a point about 10 miles southeast of Klamath Falls, Oreg., immediately above a hollow U- shaped concrete dam which raises the river level about 23 feet. Prior to the Irrigating a 65- acre field of potatoes; showing application of m irrigation season the flow of Lost River is diverted to the Klamath River and wasted; however, after the spring flood flow of Lost River has passed and water for irrigation in the Tule Lake division is required, the flow of Lost River is ~ assed through the dam and down to the " J" canal. This flow is augmented, when demand is heavy, from Klamath River as indicated ahve. Lands on the east side of Langell Valley division are served by the north canal, which diverts water from Miller Creek at the Miller Creek Dam, located about 6 miles below Gerber Dam. At this point the water surface in Miller Creek is raised by placing flashboards against wooden trestles, the grade of the canal and that of the stream being substan-tially the same elevation. The lands on the west side of Lost River in the Langell Valley division are served by the West Canal, which diverts water from Lost River at the Malone Dam, located about 42 miles southeasterly from Klamath Falls, Oreg. At this point the level of Lost River is raised about 18 feet by means of an earth diversion dam. Clear Lake Reservoir provides storage for the West Canal. TOWNS Klamath Falls, Merrill, Malin, and Bonanza are project towns, the first named being the principal city in southern, Oregon east of the Cascades. It has a population of approximately 16,000 and is the distributing center for a large territory. Klamath County has a population of 32,400, one- half residing in the city of Klamath Falls and perhaps 4,000 more in suburban districts only a few miles away. Merrill and Malin are small towns within the irrigated area with populations of six or seven hundred each. In Klamath Basin are some 1,800 farms and approximately as many farm families. LUMBERING Approximately 30 mills and box factories are in operation, this district being the largest manufacturing center of box shook in the United States. The Klamath district contains the heaviest stand of yellow pine left in the United States. Throughout the spring, summer, and fall all lumber com-panies maintain large pay rolls both in the plants and in the lumber camps. Lumber contributes greatly to the heavy traffic originating at K! amath Falls, making this city the second largest shipping point in Oregon. The majority of the mills and box factories are located in or near Klamath Falls. T R A N S P O R T A T I O N Two main- line railways, the Southern Pacific and Great Northern, enter Klamath Falls and traverse the project throughout its longest dimension. Hard- surfaced highways radiate from Klamath Falls in all directions, connecting with Portland, Sun Francisco, and Salt Lake. These high-ways supplemented by county market roads penetrate all sections of the project, with the result that few farms are more than a mile from a hard- surfaced outlet. CLIMATE The Klamath Basin has a remarkably pleasant and healthful climate. Winters are not cold, and summers are not hot. Precipitation, which amounts to about 12): inches a year on the average, falls mainly from November to April. Late and early frosts are to be expected, and occasionally light frosts occur even in the summer months. me on the Main division of the project A G R I C U L T U R E The principal crops grown are potatoes, alfalfa, small grains, and vegetables. The yield of small grains in the Tule Lake area is unusually high. Oats frequently make 100 bushels per acre; barley runs from 60 to 80; and any good wheat field will thresh out more than 40 bushels per acre. Potatoes, when conditions are right, are par excelience the big money crop. A good yield of tubers is considered to be around 150 sacks of U. S. No. 1' s per acre, and every year a few fields are reported with yields of double that amount. The price for potatoes is unstable, depending on the market demand, and ranges from about 50 cents to $ 1.50 a sack. The quality of Klamath potatoes on the Sun Francisco market is recognized as the best, and the price usually ranges from 10 to 20 cents a sack higher than is paid for Washington and Idaho production. Flock of 6,000 turkeys being fattened for market L I V E S T O C K Cattle. On account of its geographical location, sur-rounded as it is with immense areas of sagebrush plateaus and forest ranges, the Klamath project is, and probably always will be, essentially a stock country. Its cheap forage, abundant water and mild winters offer ideal con-ditions for the wintering of range stock and the fattening of mature animals for market. Favorable feeding- in- transit rates for both grass and feed lot cattle have resulted in the fattening, locally, of thousands of range and outside cattle. The beef industry alone returns approximately $ 900,000 annually. There are several killing and manu-facturing plants located in Klamath Falls. Sheep. Approxinately 150,000 ewes are maintained in the Klamafh Basin with an average annual output of about three- quarters of a million dollars. From 75,000 to 100,000~ lambs~ afraet tened for market each year on the project. Sun Francisco js the principal market. licken ranch. The production of eggs chickens is an important industry A project Holstein dairy her Dairying. The dairying industry is increasing steadily on the project. There are now about 8,000 milk cows in the district. Klamath Falls, with its large industrial popu-lation, furnishes a good market for milk, butter, and cheese. Two local cooperative cheese manufacturing plants and four privately owned creameries operate in the district. The value of the dairy industry is approximately $ 600,000 annually. Local dairy prices for butterfat are maintained at l> e to 2 cents above the State average cwing to the favored position of the project-- half- way between Portland and Sun Francisco. This district offers many opportunities for increased dairying production, as costs are compara-tively low and climatic conditions are favorable. Ewes and lambs on Tule Lake leased lands OREGON - CALIFORNIA MAP NO. 27606 Scale of Miles 1 -- 0 1 2- 3 4 6 1