KLAMATH: Get Ready for the Next Water Battle

Sierra Times ^ | January 7th,2003 | J.J. Johnson

[Issaquahking]

San Francisco - On Friday, a report by the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) on the September Klamath River fish die-off was released to agencies. The CDFG report aims to assess why 33,000 Chinook salmon and other fish died of two diseases early this fall. Both sides are expected in an Oakland, California court Thursday, setting the stage for yet another battle of water rights for the Klamath Basin Farmers against the environmentalists.

The CDFG report found that restricted fish passage and increased fish density are the likely triggers for the demise of part of this year's good run of fish. The report contends that flow is the only factor that can be controlled to any degree, and that flow is regulated by operations of federal reservoirs located upstream on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers. The state has previously pointed to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation management of the Klamath and Trinity rivers as the catalyst for those conditions.

Glen H. Spain, regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations told the New York Times, "The water has been overcommitted and the demand has to be brought back into balance with the supply."

But the water was 'committed' to the farmers since at least the Truman administration. Spain and others plan on using the deaths of 33,000 fish as their new weapon against the basin residents. But the Klamath Irrigators say many questions about the report remain to be answered.

"We are currently reviewing the CDFG report with interest, though its conclusions are not surprising, given that California announced similar conclusions within days of the fish kill, long before any study had been undertaken," said the Klamath Water Users Association via press release.

The water users are especially troubled that several key questions are not addressed in the report:

? The report does not attempt to investigate the relationship between ambient air temperatures and water temperatures. Recent studies conducted by the water users suggest that ambient air temperatures - something the Klamath Project has no control over - play a critical role in resulting water temperatures. The CDFG report's conclusions differ from water user findings, which showed that water temperatures in the Klamath River downstream of Iron Gate Dam (IGD) during September 2002 were unsuitable for adult salmon.

? The report appears to focus on flows at IGD, located far upstream from the fish die-off. However, the report does not address the fact that low inflows into Upper Klamath Lake during the late summer were often less than the amount being released to the Klamath River at IGD. What would the flow conditions have been like without this stored water?

? The fish die-off occurred below the confluence of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers, 200 miles downstream from the Klamath Project. What is the significance of this, especially since the Trinity fish appear to have been hit the hardest?

? The report makes no mention that the hatchery returns at IGD are the third highest in the past 40 years (see below). The report does not address what appears to be an over-escapement of fish at IGD. What happened to the fish that made it to the hatcheries, but were in excess of those needed to replace eggs?

? The report finds that sampling conducted over a two-day period confirms that no toxic substances were present at concentrations to have caused the fish kill. However, it appears that testing was performed only for nutrients and pesticides, one week after dead fish were first reported. The report does not address the state of water quality conditions in the river at the time the disease outbreak was first reported.

Water users in the Klamath Basin are also concerned about the tone of the report, how it will be interpreted by the media, and its potential use by opponents of irrigated agriculture. Major media publications wasted no time in pointing the finger at the Bush Administration and Interior Secretary Gail Norton's decision to let the water flow back to the farmers last year.

According to California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) representatives at Iron Gate Hatchery and in Redding, numbers of salmon and steelhead returning to Klamath River hatcheries were looking good, as of December 23, 2002.

At Iron Gate Hatchery, 24,641 Chinook adults, 950 adult Coho, and 114 adult steelhead have returned. This is the third highest total since the hatchery began monitoring returns in 1961. Iron Gate Hatchery only needs 8,000 returning fish to meet production goals.

On the Trinity River, 15,553 salmon hatchery fish have returned, of which 6,647 are Coho. Also, 1,425 steelhead have returned, which, according to CDFG, is a "phenomenally high" number; only 13 came back 20 years ago. Enough eggs were produced to meet CDFG's needs.

Thus far this year, an estimated total of 122,000 fish have returned to the Klamath-Trinity system, including approximately 33,000 fish that died on the lower river in late September / early October. These numbers do not reflect spring-run Chinook returns, which will raise the total higher.

Jeffrey S. McCracken, a spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation, the Interior Department agency that administers federal water policies, defended the decision last year to divert more water to farmers, saying it was based on advice from federal biologists. He said a decision about this year's flows would not be made until studies of the fish die-off are completed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Academy of Sciences.

McCracken also publicly questioned the objectivity of the new report by the California biologists, since state officials began blaming the federal government for the fish kill last September, when the fish were still dying.

[Issaquahking]

Eternal vigilance my FRiends...never let your shield down.

[Issaquahking]

Drag out the battle gear yet again for 2003 as we prepare for yet another battle....This is a war that must be won - PING.

[bigfootbob]

DITTO

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[farmfriend]

Thanks for the ping, LtGOP. Pinging the Klamath list to avoid pinging the usuals twice or four times like last thread. Sorry guys.

[tubebender]

Both sides are expected in an Oakland, California court Thursday, setting the stage for yet another battle of water rights for the Klamath Basin Farmers against the environmentalists.

What are they claiming in this law suit ?

[dixiechick2000]

Thanks for the ping!

BTTT!

[SierraWasp]

Watch for Peter Moyle of UC Davis to do an "about face" from his NAS position that was favorable to the farmers, last time.

He has too many buddies, followers and sichophants in the CA Resources Agency and CA Fish & Game to not turn his back on all objective science, once again!!!

If he does... he needs to have all his covers pulled, BIGTIME!!!

He'll go whichever way he feels the most pressured, EVERYTIME!!!

Which makes him more of a "Political Scientist," ALL THE TIME!!!

[SierraWasp]

Watch for Peter Moyle of UC Davis to do an "about face" from his NAS position that was favorable to the farmers, last time.

He has too many buddies, followers and sichophants in the CA Resources Agency and CA Fish & Game to not turn his back on all objective science, once again!!!

If he does... he needs to have all his covers pulled, BIGTIME!!!

He'll go whichever way he feels the most pressured, EVERYTIME!!!

Which makes him more of a "Political Scientist," ALL THE TIME!!!

[GhostofWCooper]

Shoot, for all anyone knows some wack-job fed might have poisoned those fish. The Klamath farmers should collect a couple samples and have em analyzed for toxins....

[bybybill]

As I understand this, there was a problem when to many fish hit the river to early, got trapped by low water , and died. The solution is so simple, train the "tame, hatchery fish" to stay out of the river till late October. The`re not wild and therefore should be easy to train.

[marsh2]

Another drama concerning the fish and water is going to play itself out in the Scott and Shasta. The State listing of the coho brought the "opportunity" for a separate "recovery strategy" for coho in these rivers because of the intense amount of habitat enhancement and fish protection that has already been done VOLUNTARILY for the past decade: (Example on the Scott) http://www.sisqtel.net/~sisqrcd/siskiyourcd.html
for project list: http://www.sisqtel.net/~sisqrcd/rcdprojects.html

There is not a lot more that can be done except commandeer water.

Concurrently with this, we are begining to see some heritage ranches looking at throwing in the towel and subdividing for retirement homes. They can no longer run a viable operation under the regulations being imposed.

The Nature Conservancy is already circling to try to pick up conservation easements as family farmers try and bargain to hold out a bit longer. Also, large out of area investors have a foothold in picking up small ranches to amalgamate into big holdings.

IMHO, the DFG needs to BACK OFF right now, or we will end up with subdivisions that won't do anything for fish.

[SierraWasp]

"or we will end up with subdivisions that won't do anything for fish."

What market would there be for these subdivisions with no employment nearby? The only thing I can thing of is retirement communities and even they need more entertainment than fishing.

Will they mandate wheelchair access all along the streams? Will oxygen tanks and Viagra be dispensed in vending machines along the rivers? Will "Family Flats" replace the "Granny Flats" that qualify as second structures on parcels like around here?

What are you saying. I do not understand where you think the market for this subdividing and development is coming from so far out in your rural area. At least we are closer to the metropolitan areas which create these "pressures!"

Fill me in as I am puzzled, if you have time.

[marsh2]

Lake Shastina and Mt. Shasta are booming. It is the early retiree or the second home market. Most of this is spreading from south to north through the Shasta Valley.

[hubel458]

They are coming in and developing fast in those counties.
In a logging and farming rural area like they have there,
they have hundreds of housing starts in each county.The
realters in lockstep with greens up there,is changing things fast.West coast retirees love the mountains and rivers.The biggest chain stores are building all over
that country,figuring the population will triple in 15 years.We have had greens on the crisis site extol the virtue of malls and developement, stating we don't need the farmer or logger at all.They plan on a store clerk and
old folks health care economy.Living in among politically correct wilderness areas.Whoopee......Ed Hubel.

[madfly]

bttt

[madfly]

ping

[madfly]

ping

[SierraWasp]

"They plan on a store clerk and old folks health care economy"

How short sighted is that?!? Old folks become prisoners of their own homes even if they did have the foresight to buy comprehensive long-term care insurance... Who they gonna hire to come out and take care of them when they holler "HELP! I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP!"???

It's a great way to begin retirement but it can end up a long lived nitemare unless it's only a second home!

The Greens just wanna get 'em out there where they can trap some more in government dependency on a government driven economy while they control the government with their militant behavior!!!

Trouble is... The Realtors are easy marks for them in a market that's been starving due to the savaging of the resource industries in recent times.