Fish kill worries increase

The news: Biologists raise the readiness level for a fish kill on the Klamath River. What’s next: Studies throughout the summer will monitor disease and the mortality rate of salmon.

Scientists who spend their days monitoring water conditions and salmon numbers on the Klamath River are raising alarm about the possibility of a fish kill this summer.

The Klamath Fish Health Assessment Team — made up of ground-level biologists with state and federal agencies, American Indian tribes and other groups with interest in the river — last week increased its fish die-off readiness level from green to yellow. Yellow is the second in four rungs of warning levels and means scientists should keep a close eye on the number of diseased or dead fish and have people ready to respond if the situation escalates.

“Let’s get everything ready and hope we don’t need it,” said Sara Borok, fisheries biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game.

She said the level was raised because the incoming salmon run is expected to be average-sized, juvenile mortality has been going up and water temperature has been rising.

Scientists and others concerned about the river, which runs through far northern Siskiyou County on its way to the Pacific Ocean, worry there could be a repeat of the 2002 fish kill. That September about 35,000 adult salmon attempting to swim upriver died of disease, Borok said.

The team formed in 2003 and has been using the color-coded warning levels similar to those used by the Department of Homeland Security since 2004, she said. Last year, heavy winter snow and spring rain fueled high flows throughout the summer, and the level remained green throughout.

While the weather wasn’t as wet this year, a decent amount of water should be coming down the river thanks to a federal court ruling in January, said Glen Spain, northwest region director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. Under the order, releases from Iron Gate Dam — the last in the string of dams that make up a Pacific Power hydroelectric project — need to stay above 1,000 cubic feet per second during the summer.

In 2002, flows were about 650 cfs from the dam, and the adult salmon became crowded and diseased in shallow pools, he said. With more water flowing, concern is focused on the water quality.

“We can only hope that conditions get better,” Spain said.

Reporter Dylan Darling can be reached at 225-8266 or at ddarling@redding.com.

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Concern code

Like the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's national threat advisory, used to gauge the danger of a terrorist attack, scientists along the Klamath River use a color-coded system to alert each other of a possible fish kill. The colors and what they mean:

Green: All conditions appear OK.

Yellow: Need for heightened awareness; fish mortality response plan should be dusted off and people ready to respond.

Orange: A die-off is imminent.

Red: A die-off is occurring.