Breaking News Alert 3 MAY 2002
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BREAKING NEWS ALERT
KLAMATH SALMON STRANDED WITHOUT ENOUGH WATER, COURT DENIES MORE WATER
FOR FISH AT LEAST THROUGH MAY:
Coastal commercial salmon fishermen fighting for water for threatened
Klamath River salmon runs, represented by PCFFA, were deeply disappointed by
the decision 3 May of the U.S. Federal District Court in Oakland, CA, not to
order the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to release more water into the Lower
Klamath River through May 31st. The releases were sought as an emergency
measure to keep from devastating this year's juvenile Klamath River salmon
runs. PCFFA had brought suit last week seeking an emergency protective order
from the U.S. District Court (see Sublegals 5:17/02). The survival of lower
Klamath River juvenile salmon are threatened through the spring with the
diversion of roughly 50% of the total flow of the river that would usually
flow below Iron Gate Dam, as the BOR held back large volumes of water this
week it said were for future irrigation deliveries to the federal Klamath
Irrigation Project.
The Court's ruling was mixed. Federal Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong
agreed with the fishermen on all their legal points, but ruled against them
on their request for emergency relief at this time, instead deferring to the
agencies to work details out in the still as yet uncompleted National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) formal Biological Opinion (BiOp) on the Bureau of
Reclamation's proposed 10-year water plan.
The end result of Court inaction, however, is that Klamath River water
flows in the lower river could drop at any time to just over 1,000 cubic
feet per second (cfs). The 40-year median for this time of year is 2,000
cfs, and the "minimum required to prevent extinction" that NMFS approved at
this same time in 2001 was 1,700 cfs even during last year's drought, the
worst in 72 years. Thus, even though there is far more rainfall in the
system this year than last, the lower river will get even less water this
year than last. Fishermen criticized the current BOR water plan as
institutionalizing permanent drought in the lower river, once the third most
productive salmon river system in the U.S., and feared another major fish
kill this summer.
In fact, the water returned to the river by the Bureau in recent years
has been so little, and of such poor quality, that there are now major lower
river fish kills in an average of 5 out of 7 years. Just this week the lower
river saw fish strandings and the die-off of young salmon as flows dropped
precipitously. See the 2 May Los Angeles Times at:
http://latimes.com/news/local/la-000031234may02.story. At the rock-bottom
flow levels proposed by the Bureau through the summer, these die-offs are
likely to continue, according to California Department of Fish & Game
Biologists.
Klamath River salmon runs have been so devastated by poor water flows
in the past that their low numbers have triggered near total closures of
coastal salmon fishing ports as far south as Fort Bragg, CA and as far north
as Coos Bay, OR. Less water left in the lower river would mean more closures
and more economic dislocation in coastal fishing-dependent communities, who
have suffered severe economic losses as salmon have disappeared. See the 3
May Los Angeles Times article "Hard Times on the Lower Klamath" at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-050302klamath.story. On the other hand,
the economic benefits of restored Klamath Basin salmon runs could mean tens
or even hundreds of millions of additional dollars to the Northern
California and Southern Oregon economy.
The current fishermen's lawsuit is only the first test of the Bureau of
Reclamation's 10-year water plan, and only challenged flows for the month of
May 2002. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is expected to
release a "jeopardy" opinion soon on the water plan itself, requiring
considerably higher in-river flows to remain in the river to prevent salmon
extinction. This NMFS BiOp is, however, now almost a month overdue and
there are rumors it is being blocked for political reasons by Administration
officials because it will require far more water to the lower river than the
Bureau is proposing or willing to give up. The Bureau's water plan cannot be
finalized, however, until after both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
the National Marine Fisheries Service have finalized their respective BiOps,
which must be completed by the expiration dates of the current "interim
measures" on June 1. For more information on the ruling contact: Glen
Spain, PCFFA Northwest, (541)689-2000 or by email to: fish1ifr_at_aol.com.
*********
For more information on the impact of water withdrawals on the Klamath
Basin salmon fisheries see: "Why the Klamath Basin Matters,"
http://www.pcffa.org/fn-aug01.htm.
For the very latest real time USGS flow date from the gauges just elow
Iron Gate Dam, go to:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ca/nwis/uv?dd_cd=01%2C02%2C03%2C04%2C05%2C15%2C16%
2C17&format=gif&period=7&site_no=11516530.
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This Breaking News Alert is brought to you by Fishlink News Service
as part of your subscription to the Fishlink Sublegals. Our regular
weekly newsletter continues as usual, bringing you the most current
information available on fisheries management and restoration.
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