BOR announces flushing flows and Irrigator allocations for the Klamath
This week the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) began releasing water from Upper Klamath Lake to generate a flushing flow for the Klamath River. These flushes are designed to disrupt the lifecycle of the fish disease-causing parasite Ceratomyxa shasta, which has infected juvenile salmon in recent years causing extremely high mortality rates. This flushing flow is critical as California faces a statewide salmon fishing ban to protect the few Chinook salmon projected to return to rivers this fall. BOR also plans to divert 215,000 acre-feet to the Klamath Irrigation project this summer, although this is only half of what irrigators consider a full delivery.
In other news, dam removal preparations are underway, spring Chinook research is happening in the upper basin, and a highly contagious strain of bird flu is impacting California condor populations.
Explore the articles below to learn more.
News
Reclamation increases Klamath River flows to prevent disease and promote salmon health
The Bureau of Reclamation, in coordination with PacifiCorp, will increase flows at Link River Dam and below Iron Gate Dam to reduce the risk of disease for salmon in the Klamath River. From April 19 through the end of the month, flows will vary on the Link and Klamath rivers.
Feds allocate more water for Klamath Basin agriculture this year, but farmers say it’s not enough - OPB
The Klamath Project provides water for thousands of acres of farmland along the Oregon-California border. The federal Bureau of Reclamation announced on Thursday that it has allocated 215,000 acre-feet of water from Upper Klamath Lake to be used for farms and ranches in the area this year.
Tracking spring Chinook: Acoustic receivers installed in fingerlings | News | heraldandnews.com
Where will fingerling-sized spring Chinook salmon go and how many will survive after they’re released in tributaries to Upper Klamath Lake? It’s hoped that answers to those and others questions will be found by placing pebble-sized acoustic tags in Chinook fingerlings. Under the coordination of Mark Hereford, the Klamath Falls-based fisheries reintroduction biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, a team of fishery biologists installed hundreds of pebble-sized acoustic receivers at the Klamath Fish Hatchery near Fort Klamath earlier this week.
California condor deaths rise sharply as new threat emerges
A highly contagious strain of bird flu is believed to have killed 18 California condors so far. Fears are growing for the rest of the species.
Climate Fix: How California Can Help Salmon Survive Severe Weather...And Other Existential Threats | KQED
Salmon need cold water to hatch and grow strong enough to embark on migrations that stretch hundreds of miles from their places of birth. In California, dams constructed along various rivers have disrupted traditional salmon runs and are one reason the species has been in decline for decades. And, as climate change makes everything hotter,
Oregon rafters plan final year on Upper Klamath River rapids
Oregon's wildest summer whitewater rafting trip won't be viable after dam removal on the Klamath River, leading to a bittersweet final season.
Siskiyou County nonprofit receives nearly $10 million grant for wildfire protection | KTVL
The Fire Safe Council of Siskiyou County has received a massive wildfire defense grant from the US Forest Service.
Undamming (and Restoring) the Klamath | News | North Coast Journal
Much of the focus on the largest dam removal and restoration effort in the nation's history has been on extraction — the removal of the four dams that have choked flows on the Klamath River for more than a century.
Why the removal of the Klamath dams is so damn important
Northern California river advocates and tribal groups have been fighting for more than two decades for the removal of four dams on the Klamath River. Their victory late last year set the stage for the removal project to become the largest of its kind in U.S. history. Now is a particularly good time to learn about it, as preparations are already underway for the first dam to be removed starting in June. Here’s why this will be one for the history books.
Living on Earth: Replanting The Klamath River
Four dams are being torn down on the Klamath River, revealing land that’s been submerged for decades. Juliet Grable of Jefferson Public Radio reports that local tribes and partners are working to replant the area with native species.
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Getting back to that point of balance: Indigenous environmental justice and the California Indian Basketweavers’ Association - Ecology & Society
Emerging theories of Indigenous environmental justice reframe environmental problems and solutions using Indigenous onto-epistemologies, emphasizing the agency of non-human relations and influence of colonialism. The California Indian Basketweavers’ Association (CIBA) embodies this paradigm in its work to expand access to gathering areas, revitalize cultural burning, and stop pesticide use. Through our different positionalities as CIBA members, California Indian basketweavers, and researchers, we construct a case study of Indigenous environmental justice that articulates environmental stewardship as intrinsically linked with cultural and spiritual practice. Through education, information sharing, relationship building, lobbying, and collective action among its membership and land management agencies, CIBA has expanded basketweavers’ access to safe and successful gathering. By sustaining millennia of tradition, CIBA builds Indigenous sovereignty and shifts California’s land management paradigm toward environmental justice and global survival.
