Reclamation will release water for salmon

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation agreed Thursday to release more water to give Klamath River salmon some reprieve from conditions that have triggered a death toll of at least 12,000 fish.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation agreed Thursday to release more water to give Klamath River salmon some reprieve from conditions that have triggered a death toll of at least 12,000 fish.

State and federal agencies drafted separate requests to the Bureau of Reclamation asking for additional water from its Klamath Irrigation Project through December and for a short pulse from the Trinity River, the main Klamath tributary.

The idea is to provide more water, and possibly cooler water, to the lower river where fish have been dying in droves. The number of fish counted so far represents nearly one-tenth of the estimated run of Klamath chinook salmon this year. More than 100 federally protected coho have also been counted.

"We will implement this as quickly as we can," said bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken, once the National Marine Fisheries Service provides a schedule for the flows. "We would operate under what NMFS requests."

The Fisheries Service request apparently differs from one the California Department of Fish and Game submitted. While officials at the fisheries service could not be reached for clarification at deadline, it is believed its plan provides less water than the state's plan.

Fish and Game Fisheries Program Manager Gary Stacey said officials believe additional water will relieve crowding in the river that may be facilitating the epidemic spread of diseases that are killing the fish. The water may prompt fish to move upstream, spread out and get to areas they need to spawn. The brief release from the Trinity may also draw Trinity River fish out of the hostile Klamath.

"This fish kill is much larger than (those actually counted)," Stacey said, adding that the die-off is by no means over.

Estimates of the total dead will be determined next week. High water temperatures and poor water quality are thought to have triggered the onset of native diseases that usually claim only a few fish each year.

Water from either source will not begin to affect the lower river for three to four days. Fish and Game's request insisted the releases would be taken out of this or next year's allocation for fish restoration.

The bureau has come under criticism as being part of numerous problems on the Klamath that many suspect have triggered the fish kill. It operates a project to irrigate 200,000 acres at the source of the Klamath. It also diverts the majority of the Trinity River's water to the Central Valley. Westlands Water District, the beneficiary of the water, has sued over an attempt to restore half the water to the Trinity.

In response to the die-off in the Klamath and Trinity rivers, fishing and environmental groups have refiled a suit claiming the Reclamation Bureau's 10-year plan to run its irrigation project upstream is not legal.

North Coast Rep. Mike Thompson has jumped on board the suit, which alleges the project contributes to the demise of protected coho salmon in the river. The National Marine Fisheries Service, which signed off on the bureau's 10-year plan, is also named in the suit.

"We seem to have a big problem with the federal government having the ability to follow the law," said Tim McKay of the Northcoast Environmental Center, a party to the suit.

The Yurok Tribe is not a plaintiff in this suit, but has called for increased flows on the river as necessary to the salmon many tribal members depend on for sustenance and income.

"Our children's futures are dying right in front of us. It's enough to make you cry," said Yurok Tribe Chairwoman Susan Masten. "We had come so far in trying to come up with solutions to this problem, and it is frustrating to see the Bureau of Reclamation take this unfair, uncompromising stance, and see these fish die needlessly as a result."

Irrigators at the source of the Klamath, Upper Klamath Lake, have apparently taken offense to the idea that the irrigation project might be part of the problem. In a message posted on a popular upper basin website, the Klamath Water Users Association's Executive Director Dan Keppen points to several recent articles that have been "damaging."

Keppen said he has contacted congressional representatives in Washington, D.C., to urge Reclamation and other agencies to respond to an article in the Oregonian this week that loosely tied problems in the river to the project.

While the condition on the river is uncertain, and the matter now is heading to court, others hoped for a more constructive approach.

Chuck Blackburn is a county supervisor in Del Norte County, where the Klamath pours into the sea. He said the Fish and Game request for releases into the Klamath and Trinity is a measure that should be taken every year.

"Something like this is the very solution we need in stone," Blackburn said. "Most of the time it would certainly help."