[env-trinity] Herald and News- BuRec: No water to spare for Klamath fish

[Tom Stokely]

Please note that the flows in August 2004 in the Klamath are projected to be as low as August 2002, just prior to the massive adult salmon (and other species) fish kill on the lower Klamath River.

It was disclosed by Mike Ryan of BOR at a recent Trinity Management Council Meeting that Reclamation has found 13,000 af carried over from the 50,000 af of water ordered released by Judge Wanger in 2003, and an additional amount of water will be purchased from Sacramento Valley Water Right Contractors to "back up" into Trinity for release when needed to help the Lower Klamath later this summer and fall.  Thus it proves again that water does flow uphill towards money.  I do appreciate Mike Ryan getting the additional water from last year to help prevent a fish kill this year.  There's probably a good chance that another massive fish kill can be prevented this year, despite the record low flows on the Klamath River.

I will refrain from comment here on what I think of "renting" water for protection of public trust and tribal trust assets, but what happens if/when the money runs out?

Yours truly,

Tom Stokely Principal Planner

Trinity Co. Natural Resources

530-628-5949

http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2004/07/06/news/top_stories/top3.txt

Klamath Herald and News

Bureau: No water to spare for fish 

Tuesday, July 6, 2004 2:15 PM PDT

      
           
     
      
          
Published July 4, 2004

By DYLAN DARLING 

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has nixed a proposal to send a big glug of water down the Klamath River to flush salmon out to sea.

Too little water is flowing into Upper Klamath Lake, and most of the fish are already down the river, officials said.  
     
"We just don't have enough water to make it effective," said Cecil Lesley, chief of land and water operations for the Klamath Reclamation Project.

In early June, downstream tribes and other groups at a science conference in Arcata asked for a one- or two-day "pulse" of water from Iron Gate Dam in Siskiyou County. 

     
     
They wanted to send lingering smolts down the river, out to sea and beyond danger from a parasitic disease. Concern about a fish die-off among the groups has been high because of the disease found in many young salmon caught in traps.

The pulse would have used up 8,200 acre-feet of water in a day, said Christine Karas, deputy Project manager.  
     
"It's very unfortunate that we weren't able to do it," Karas said.

Many questions remain about the parasite and how many fish might have been affected. Although high percentages of the sampled fish showed signs the disease, officials said there's no base-line data on how many fish usually get the parasite and it could be the disease is getting more notice because more attention is being paid to the fish.  
     
Although there is still concern about the parasite, Lesley said, an estimated 80 percent of the young salmon have made it out to the Pacific Ocean.

"The bulk of the fish have moved downstream," Lesley said.  
     
During July, few fish will be in the river, so the Bureau plans to lower flows to their lowest levels of the year, with 700 cubic feet per second set for the first half and 600 cfs for the second half of the month.

The flows will be the lowest since August 2002.  
     
Meanwhile, the Bureau has activated a contingency plan to fill the vault of its water bank, the water saved that allows more water to go down the river.

Starting last Friday, the Bureau started an additional 450 cfs of ground water pumping from three wells around the Basin. Pumped ground water is used to supplement irrigation water or add to the flows in irrigation canals.  
     
With the addition, ground water will now make up half of the 75,000 acre-feet projected for the 2004 water bank. The rest of the water bank is made up by idling farmland, with water users paid to let fields lie fallow.

So far, water managers have deposited 45,000 acre-feet in the bank, leaving 30,000 for the rest of the year.  
     
Lesley said it's easier for the the Bureau to use ground water because it can be turned on and off and the amount of water can be easily calculated.

"It's a lot easier to control pumping than to control idling," Lesley said.  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

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