Scott Faas holds a dead steelhead trout after taking coolers full of dead fish from the lower Klamath River to the state Capitol on Wednesday. CHP officers halted the Klamath RV park owner at the south entrance.
Six months after it restored water to grateful farmers in the Klamath basin, the Bush administration is paying for that decision: 20,000 dead salmon in one of Northern California's worst fish kills ever.
From a fishing guide on the river:
Hi folks,
After the last report I never would have imagined I would be writing this. I'm sure
most of you have heard of the salmon dieing in the lower Klamath.To see everyone
on the river having so much fun was fantastic and in a matter of days to see my
comrades and clients so sad , none of us wanted to be there. This was by far the
largest run of salmon to hit the Klamath. This run was also the largest fish to come in
that anyone can remember.
The Klamath River and it's fish needs your help. Basically what happened. (This is in
my opinion after much research) The bureau of reclamation are the people in charge
of the water flows on dammed rivers. The water level was raised around Labor Day
as always in the past. This basically manipulates the fish to make their way up river.
Two things happened this year that was different. 1) There was a huge run of fish. 2)
After all these fish got into the river they turned the water back down to a trickle. In
years past once the flows are increased they are maintained at that level. Many
papers and TV stations were blaming this on the water temperatures. Last year the
water temps. were higher than this year. A biologist I spoke told me that it was the
water flow and quality that was killing the fish. They had contracted a virus and it
spread like wild fire. An epidemic. There was so little oxygen in the water that fish
were hanging in the riffles in large numbers struggling for more oxygenated wate r.
The sick fish passed the disease on to the others and in days there were dead fish
everywhere.
NOW!!! Here's the corker!!! The bureau of reclamation has raised the flows nup to
the normal level they run this time of year. They say they are going to leave it there
for two weeks and turn in down again. Does anyone see a pattern here?!!! I spoke
to the man in charge of this B.S. this morning. He confirmed the bureaus intentions. I
told of my concern that the same thing could happen again. (there are still more fish
to enter the river you know) He passed the buck off to the Marine Fisheries Council
saying they told him that would be sufficient.
This whole disaster has been blamed on the farmers in the Klamath basin. I don't
believe that. There are two reservoirs below that area that are full to the rim. Iron
Gate and Copco are both full and there are no farmers or ranchers below them.
What I would like to ask all of you to do is contact your congressional
representatives and scream your lungs out at them for letting this happen. After you
have caught your breath call this number 541.883.6935. This is the number of
bureau of reclamation office that controls the flows on the Klamath. Ask for Jim
Bryan -- Chief of water and lands Div. or Dave Sabo -- Area Mgr. of the Klamath
basin. Please tell them of your concerns of what could again. I don't think they want
to blow it twice in one season. The more noise we make over this the less chance it
will ever happen again.
On a more positive note. The fishing down low is still good. We've been fishing for
steelhead more than salmon. There are fresh salmon still coming in. Like I said this
flush of water will bring in more fish. Lets make sure they survive. The guys I've
been talking to up river have good things to say. People are catching salmon and
steelhead in the Somes Bar area. Salmon are still making their way through Seiad
and Happy Camp. I'm hoping enough fish got through to keep this fishery going like
it has the last several years. I'll keep you posted as thing develop. I can be reached
by e-mail
wally@steelheadguides.com or call me at 707.482.0242 in the evenings.
I'll be on the lower river until the middle of Oct. Then it's up to Seiad and Happy
Camp. Thank You. See You on the River and tight lines,
Wally
Thanks for the info. My grandpappie was a guide in Minnesota years ago. I was in Alaska recently and saw quite a few salmon in the creeks ..
Re Klamath : What a waste .. Too bad they couldn't truck bears or tourists in to eat the salmon.
I can't believe how a bureaucracy can be so fouled up.
What the heck?...Clinton leftovers trying to turn sportsman and enviro nazis against the farmers?...somebody is playing dirty...
do fish never die where these people are from or what? I mean there are mass fish kills all over the world from time to time. many times unexplained. I guess before the 20th century no animals ever went extinct
I have a theory on this event. Last year was the first really big run of salmon after the reversal of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. For the first time in decades, huge numbers of salmon were left on the banks to rot. The destructively high flows last year intended to kill off the Klamath farmers washed that nutrient downstream before the bacteria could multiply to lethal concentrations. This year, with more normal flows and abnormal nutrient we see the bloom.
Then suddenly, a bunch of water is realeased downstream without explanation. The fish come in, the flow is cut back and the fish die. RICOnuts blame irrigation consumption that is no higher than historic values.
I doubt that the thugs in charge of the grubbamint agencies did this deliberately, because I don't think they're smart enough to pull it off (that doesn't mean that they aren't smart enough to cover their butts after seeing that they screwed up while taking advantage of the farmers at the same time). If my hunch is correct, it may be that politics is the source of that key blast of water that brought the fish into the Klamath.
We have seen strangely timed flows out of Iron Gate before. It would fit the pattern if that large flow was during a heat wave and Bray Davis needed the power, wouldn't it?
