Irrigators have failed to persuade the Oregon Court of Appeals that a water transfer between a Klamath basin ranch and a wildlife refuge was unlawful. The appellate court has determined the Oregon Water Resources Department didn’t violate state water law by authorizing the temporary transfer of 3,750 acre-feet of water from an Oregon ranch in 2021. Though much of the transferred water ended up in California, the transaction didn’t have to comply with standards for out-of-basin transfers, the appellate ruling said. “It is undisputed that the Upper Klamath Basin is a hydrological basin within both Oregon and California,” the ruling said.