[env-trinity] Klamath dams' removal would have severe impacts

[Josh Allen]

Not only the press, but the decision maker in Siskyone County; the
author is a County Supervisor for Siskyone.

 

Joshua Allen

Assistant Planner

Trinity County Planning Department

Natural Resources Division

PO Box 2819

Weaverville, CA 96093

(530)623-1351 ext. 3411

(530)623-1358 fax

jallen at trinitycounty.org <mailto:jallen at trinitycounty.org> 

jwa7 at humboldt.edu <mailto:jwa7 at humboldt.edu>  (secondary)

 

  _____  

From: Guillen, George J. [mailto:Guillen at uhcl.edu] 
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 10:01 AM
To: Josh Allen; env-trinity at crank.dcn.davis.ca.us
Subject: RE: [env-trinity] Klamath dams' removal would have severe
impacts
Importance: High

 

Thi is an incorrect statement

 

"These are the same infections that caused the fish die-off of adult
salmon near the mouth of the Klamath in 2002."

 

The immediate cause of the Klamath Adult fish kill of 2002 was white
spot disease (Ich) and Columnaris.  This was widely discussed and
documented in several agency reports (USFWS, CDFG etc).  I am suprised
that four years later that thee popular press is getting basic
infomration like this mixed up.   

 

 

Respectfully,

 

GG  

George Guillen 
Associate Professor 
Executive Director - Environmental Institute of Houston 
University of Houston Clear Lake City 
2700 Bay Area Blvd,  Box 540 
Houston, TX 77058-1098 
281-283-3950 
Fax 281-283-3953 

	-----Original Message-----
	From: env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
[mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us]On Behalf Of Josh
Allen
	Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 11:49 AM
	To: env-trinity at crank.dcn.davis.ca.us
	Subject: [env-trinity] Klamath dams' removal would have severe
impacts

	
http://www.redding.com/redd/op_editorials/article/0,2232,REDD_18098_4607
266,00.html

	 

	Klamath dams' removal would have severe impacts

	By Marcia H. Armstrong
	April 9, 2006

	It has been 20 years since Congress passed the Klamath Act for
the purpose of recovering anadromous fish (salmon) in the Klamath River
system. Much of that time, parties have engaged in a tug of war over
flows. Fingers have been pointed upstream at the negative of natural
resource use on fish habitat, resulting in a cessation of timber harvest
on local national forests and a suit that has halted suction-dredge
mining. Although some support has been provided to the heroic voluntary
habitat restoration efforts of farmers and ranchers in the Scott and
Shasta River valleys of the mid-Klamath (where the fish spawn and rear),
the bulk of funding has been expended elsewhere. 

	With 700 miles of coastal fisheries about to be restricted
because of a second year of low chinook returns to the Klamath,
obviously what we have been doing is not working. Yet all we hear is the
same old cry for flows, finger pointing and the demand to shut down more
activities upon which the inland economy depends. 

	Research being done in the Klamath by Scott Foott of the
California-Nevada Fish Health Center indicated that in 2005, half of
chinook juveniles sampled were infected with the parasite Ceratomyxa
Shasta and 91 percent infected with the parasite Parvacapsula.
Thirty-eight percent of the fish sampled were dually infected. The
infection is generally lethal. The infection rate has been increasing
over the sampling period since 1995. These are the same infections that
caused the fish die-off of adult salmon near the mouth of the Klamath in
2002. The parasites have not been found in the mid-Klamath tributaries. 

	Foott has observed that increased Klamath River flows in May did
not appear to affect the rate of infection in juvenile fish. It was
actually the increase of water temperature to 18 degrees centigrade,
accompanied by a reduction in flows, that finally seemed to cause a
decrease in infection in juveniles during the month of June. In regard
to the adult die-off in 2002, the National Research Council in its final
2003 report stated, "... no obvious explanation of the fish kill based
on unique flow or temperature conditions is possible" and "It is unclear
what the effect of specific amounts of additional flow drawn from
controllable upstream sources (Trinity and Iron Gate Reservoir) would
have been." High temperatures may have stressed them, making them more
susceptible to disease, but they did not die of low flows. The adult
fish died of disease. 

	The hue and cry has been raised to tear down the dams on the
Klamath. Siskiyou County thinks that it would be rash to rush into
removal of the Klamath River dams. There are more than 1,600 property
owners around Copco Lake behind the lower complex of dams. In addition
to providing low-cost renewable energy from hydropower, these facilities
provide roughly $750,000 a year in tax revenue. The impact of dam
removal to the county and local residents would be substantial. 

	There are no compelling data or studies to demonstrate that dam
removal is the best answer to assist in the recovery of fish.
Information from PacifiCorp indicates that water quality would actually
be decreased by dam removal. The county is particularly concerned about
the effect that sediment migration might have on salmon runs. 

	Alternatives to dam removal have not received the attention they
deserve, such as fish ladders, trucking and other means of bypassing the
dams. The county feels alternatives to dam removal should be tested on a
pilot basis. 

	The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and
over, expecting different results. Siskiyou County's economy now stands
at 11 percent unemployment -- 18.8 percent on the Klamath River
corridor. Our median household income at the 2000 census was only
$29,530. Let's take some new approaches to solving this problem before
all of our economies collapse. 

	Marcia H. Armstrong is a Siskiyou County supervisor. 
	She lives in Fort Jones.

	 

	 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20060410/99caeee7/attachment.html>