| Study Confirms The Obvious: Without Water, Fish Will Die |
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by Tim McKay
Excessive water diversions leading to low water flows were the primary reason for the unprecedented die-off of salmon in the Klamath-Trinity river system last fall, according to a report in January by the California Department of Fish & Game.
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Another study, released at almost the same time, found that the economic effect on farmers was far more minimal than they claimed when some water was withheld in the parched summer of 2001 for the sake of fish.
Both studies are likely to come into play in the upcoming decisions—in the bureaucracy and in the courts—about how much water should be sold to farmers and how much should stay in the river for imperiled fish. The question has remained intractable for years.
The Fish and Game study was released with little fanfare as media attention turned to the tug-of-war in southern California over Colorado River water.
Farms Or Fish
But the 63-page report confirmed what commercial fishermen and Klamath River tribes have said all along—that federal Bureau of Reclamation diversions of water to subsidized farmers in the upper Klamath basin are killing fish and fishing communities.
What’s more, the report added, similar low water flows are likely to produce more fish kills in the future.
The other report, a 421-page blockbuster by researchers at the University of California and Oregon State University, said the 2001 water curtailments to farmers cost them much less than claimed.
Local farmers announced $250 million in losses, but the researchers found that the basin experienced a loss of $11 million at worst—and may even have benefitted to the tune of $10 million.
Juggled Figures
Net crop revenues declined between $27 million and $46 million, but up to $37 million in taxpayer aid went into the pockets of the 1,400 or so farmers who grow potatoes, onions and alfalfa in the basin.
A separate study by the Wilderness Society said the bulk of the government aid went to just a few farmers—with fully a third of the money going to 39 families who lease land in federal wildlife refuges.
The report’s final chapter declares that every agency associated with the upper basin must change. Irrigators need to accept that tribal and Endangered Species Act claims to the basin’s water are real.
Waiting until April to make decisions about how to respond to water availability was also faulted by the report, which can be found on line at www.eesc.oregonstate.edu/klamath or as a paper copy in the NEC library.
Regardless of the mountains of reports, 2003 could unfold like 2002, with few decisions until late spring—possibly in federal court.
Government Criminals
There the NEC, Oregon Natural Resources Council, Pacific Federation of Fishermens’ Associations and other plaintiff groups will argue that the Bureau of Reclamation has violated the law.
They will argue that BOR’s ten-year plan to allocate upstream Klamath flows is based on politics and not science.
A “whistle-blower” complaint by federal fisheries biologist Michael Kelly also contends that his biological research was rewritten by the BOR in violation of the Endangered Species Act.
The plaintiffs and downstream tribes also say that BOR contributes to the death of thousands of downstream migrating salmon smolts each spring, which doesn’t draw the attention that the adult salmon kill did.
Tens Of Thousands
The 63-page DFG report (available in the NEC library in hard copy, or electronically by request) notes that the estimate of 33,000 fish killed in September represents a minimum number. It amounted to 25% of the fall run.
Of the fish that did die, 95% were adult chinook salmon—and 68% of those were wild walmon. Threatened coho salmon were counted in the kill, as were steelhead and even one green sturgeon.
March will be action-packed as the BOR confronts whether to reopen consultations.
The National Research Council’s final report on the science of water flows for fish also is due to be released. And all of the parties are expected in court.
Inflows to the upper basin are uncertain at this time due to the odd weather, but are projected to be 87% of normal on the west side of the upper basin and 75% on the east side.
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Updated Monday, January 27, 2003 |
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