Klamath Basin Decision Support System

Uncertainty is a fact of life for most farmers who deal with unpredictable weather, markets, and water supplies. In the Klamath Basin, growers have a new tool to help them make decisions despite uncertainty. The Klamath Basin Decision Support System aggregates public information related to water supply, natural resources, and social and economic trends associated with agriculture and resources in the Klamath Basin. [caption caption="Klamath Basin Decision Support System map. (klamathdss.org)"][/caption]The Klamath County Board of Commissioners proposed the decision support system in 2009, to show how complex resource data can be aggregated using interactive mapping technologies.

“The purpose is to provide timely access to a common base of information, including water supply,” said Willie Riggs, who is also an OSU agricultural economist and one of the partners in developing the decision-making tool. A map doesn’t eliminate uncertainty. But this map gives all stakeholders access to the same information so decisions can be made individually for each farm or ranch, and collectively for each community, using the same data.