Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge without water

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. -- It's dry on large sections of the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge in Southern Oregon - too dry.

The Herald and News reports the nation's oldest waterfowl refuge is suffering one of its worst droughts in decades.

The Klamath Falls newspaper says at this time of year, refuge managers are usually channeling water to selected units for ducks, geese, swans and other birds on or preparing for their annual northward migration.

Instead, managers say they have had to ask the federal Bureau of Reclamation for enough water to flood about 5,000 acres of the nearly 47,000-acre refuge.

Wildlife managers say about 80 percent of the birds traveling the Pacific Flyway use the various Klamath Basin refuges, and the majority use Lower Klamath.