Tulelake Irrigation District (referred to as the District or TID) is located in the Upper Klamath Basin in the state of California. The northern portion of the District borders Oregon and the District extends south for 14 miles to the Lava Beds National Monument. District lands fall in both Modoc and Siskiyou counties, California. A small area of land served by TID, relative to the District’s size, is in the Klamath County in southwestern Oregon, just north of the border. The Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge also lies within the boundaries of TID. The District manages water through 234 miles of canals and laterals, 334 miles of drains, 10 wells, and 36 pumping plants with a total of 65 individual lift pumps. The district currently delivers water to 924 patrons (approximately 400 customers) and 63,000 acres irrigated acres.

TID is part of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Project, which was authorized by the Secretary of the Interior in 1906. At that time, the lands now encompassing the boundary of TID were what was known as Tule Lake, which was the terminus of the Lost River, a closed river basin. From 1916 into the 1930s, an extensive drainage and distribution system was constructed, and by 1923, approximately 85,000 acres of the 90,000 acres of the previously submerged Tule Lake were available for farming and homesteading. By 1952, TID officially formed, and in 1956, TID entered into a contract with the Bureau of Reclamation for the repayment of the construction costs to enable the transfer of operation and maintenance of the water delivery facilities to the District.

The water supply for TID is from the Klamath River and the Lost River. TID’s water supply is also in large part the result of receiving tailwater from other Klamath Project water users located north of the California‐Oregon border, including lands within the Klamath Irrigation District. Reuse of water from other Klamath Project areas can account for as much as 70 percent of TID’s water supply.

The remaining water not diverted by TID at the Anderson‐Rose Dam flows through the Lost River and into the Tule Lake Sumps. The Tule Lake Sumps are effectively what remains of the former Tule Lake, and the sumps compose the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Sumps 1A and 1B act as regulating reservoirs for TID, while Sumps 2 and 3 have been reclaimed and are farmed as lease and co-op lands.

Operational spills and tailwater from the District are conveyed through TID’s extensive drainage system. Water regulated and stored within the Tule Lake Sumps may be rediverted for irrigation within TID or discharged by TID’s D‐Pumping Plant.