The
KPDRA funding consists of $15 million from the
Bureau of Reclamation. The amount of funding
applicants will receive is dependent on their
acreage, according to Marc Staunton, chairman of
the KPDRA.
”This is probably the highest we’ve ever had in
a demand management program,” Staunton said. “I
think we’d be expecting anywhere from 50,000 to
100,000 acres worth of applications. In 2020 —
which was the largest program we’ve ever
implemented in scope — we paid roughly 30,000
acres of dry ground. (This year) we are
anticipating significantly more than 30,000
acres.”
Staunton pointed out the “grim reality” that $15
million is going to fall short of what will
actually be necessary to help landowners survive
the drought crisis in the basin.
”A
lot of people won’t make it through something
like this,” Staunton said. “But with a little
bit of assistance people can find a way to fight
through it and stay together.”
NRCS Oregon received about $7.5 million of the
funding, $1.8 million of which has been set
aside for the Klamath Basin. Those funds can be
used in the Basin across the state line in
California, according to Josh Elke, district
conservationist for the NRCS in Klamath County.
The
project is called the “environmental quality
incentive program — conservation incentive
contracts.” And while the contracts are
technically a pilot program only available in
select states this year. The NRCS will expand
the program nationwide in 2022, the USDA said in
a news release last month.
Elke said the county has received about four
times the funding it usually gets from the USDA
to help fund conservation projects for local
farmers and ranchers.
The
program is competitive, Elke said, and
applications are chosen based on a ranking
process. But Elke and a group of soil
scientists, conservationists and engineers are
there to make sure local conservation projects
receive technical and financial assistance.
In
addition to the environmental resource concerns
that come with drought conditions, the EQIP-CIC
program covers multiple land uses, including
cropland, non-industrial private forest, pasture
and rangeland.
The
best way to get started, Elke said, is to go to
the local USDA Farm Service Agency, located at
1945 Main Street, to determine eligibility and
to make sure paperwork is in order.
Elke has worked for the government for more than
a decade, and his educational background is in
soil science.
“It’s a community thing to me, and knowing that
you are helping out your neighbors,” Elke said.
“It’s been pretty busy ... it’s nice to see
Klamath County getting the attention and the
financial assistance it needs to help the
community out.”
Other drought-related concerns
Staunton added that the extreme drought isn’t
the only issue faced by local landowners.
Concerns such as people’s wells going dry, and a
lack of water and feed for livestock owners are
also looming large as the season progresses.
”That is like Third World problems ... when you
have no water and your animals are dying,”
Staunton said.
He
pointed out that the current drought situation
will require a significant amount of money to
set straight, and the reality of the situation
is that there is a significant local cost of not
having enough water for the Klamath Project.
”Our job is just to try to find as many
resources as possible to try to help mitigate
this situation,” Staunton said.
The
KPDRA will host two workshops in July to allow
applicants to come in person to get help filling
out paperwork. The first workshop will be held
on Wednesday, July 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at
the Klamath Water Users Association, 2312 S 6th
Street in Klamath Falls. The second workshop
will be held on Thursday, July 22 from 8 a.m.
until noon at the Walt Wilson Hall, 365 Klamath
Falls-Malin Highway in Merrill.
”If
they need any assistance filling out the
paperwork or have any questions or concerns, the
workshops are held to address those,” Johnson
added about the workshops.
The
deadline to apply for USDA funding is Monday,
July 12, and the deadline to apply for KPDRA
assistance is Friday, July 30.
An online application for
the KPDRA program can be found on the agency’s
website here.
An application for the NRCS program and a list
of eligible conservation practices and
enhancements can be found on the NRCS website.
