[env-trinity] Article Submission: Reclamation releases Trinity Reservoir water to stop a fish kill on lower Klamath

[Dan Bacher]

  http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/25/1563916/-Reclamation-releases-Trinity-Reservoir-water-to-stop-a-fish-kill-on-lower-Klamath



Photo of Trinity River below Lewiston Dam by Dan Bacher.


Reclamation releases Trinity Reservoir water to stop a fish kill on  
lower Klamath

by Dan Bacher

Following on the heels of the Yurok Tribe’s discovery  of deadly fish  
disease in lower Klamath River salmon last week, the U.S. Bureau of  
Reclamation announced on August 24 that it will release additional  
water from Trinity Reservoir to help protect returning adult fall run  
Chinook salmon in the Klamath from a disease outbreak.


The water release is designed to stop a fish kill like the one of  
September 2002, when an estimated 35,000 to 68,000 migrating adult  
salmon died in the lower Klamath River, due to the outbreak of disease  
under low, warm water conditions spurred by the Bush administration’s  
water mismanagement.

The supplemental flows into the Trinity River, the largest tributary  
of the Klamath, from Lewiston Dam began on August 25 and will extend  
into late September.

On August 19, Yurok Fisheries crews conducting routine fish disease  
monitoring  found that salmon in the Klamath River on the Yurok  
Reservation are infected with a potentially deadly disease.  
Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, commonly known as ich (pronounced  
“ick”).  Ich was the primary pathogen that caused the 2002 fish kill.  
(fishsniffer.com/...)

On August 2, Reclamation released a Draft Environmental Assessment  
(EA) for the plan to use water from Trinity Reservoir for the  
supplemental flows. Supplemental flows have been also released from  
the reservoir over the past several years in response to the presence  
of deadly fish disease in lower Klamath salmon facing low, warm water  
conditions.

“The Draft EA also analyzed using a potential emergency volume, if  
needed, to avoid a significant die-off of adult salmon. Real-time  
monitoring and adaptive management will help guide implementation of  
supplemental flow releases,” according to Shane Hunt of Reclamation in  
a press release.

Reclamation adjusted releases from Lewiston Dam to target 2,800 cubic  
feet per second (cfs) in the lower Klamath River starting August 25.  
To meet this target, the agency increased releases from Lewiston Dam  
from 450 cfs up to 1,300 cfs before dropping to 450 cfs in late  
September.

The agency said additional information will be provided if higher peak  
flows are needed in early-to-mid-September as part of the preventive  
action.

“Flows from Lewiston could be raised as high as 3,500 cfs for up to  
five days if real-time monitoring information suggests a need for  
additional supplemental flows as an emergency response,” Hunt said.  
“Over the next several weeks, releases could increase as quickly as  
250 cfs every two hours, and flow reductions could drop as quickly as  
100 cfs every four hours. The public is urged to take all necessary  
precautions on or near the river while flows are high.”.

The Final EA and Finding of No Significant Impact are available at www.usbr.gov/ 
.... If you encounter problems accessing the documents online, please  
call 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or email usbr.gov.

A record low fall Chinook salmon run is expected this season as the  
Klamath River Tribes and fishing groups are engaged in litigation  
against the federal government and water contractors over their  
failure to protect the river’s salmon.

On July 29, the Hoopa Valley Tribe filed a lawsuit against the federal  
government for violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) over  
management actions that have imperiled Coho salmon on the Klamath. (www.dailykos.com/...)

The Tribe filed the litigation against Reclamation and the National  
Marine Fisheries Service in the U.S. District Court for the Northern  
District of California, Oakland Division, to protect the Coho salmon,  
listed as an endangered species under the ESA.

“This ESA suit is not the warning of a miner’s canary; it is the  
tsunami siren alerting North Coast communities of impending  
environmental catastrophe and cultural devastation for the Hoopa  
Valley Tribe,” said Ryan Jackson, Chairman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe.

The Hoopa lawsuit is expected to be followed by several other  
lawsuits. On July 20, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s  
Associations (PCFFA), Institute for Fisheries Resources, and Klamath  
Riverkeeper, represented by Earthjustice, put Reclamation and NMFS on  
60-day notice that they could be sued under the federal Endangered  
Species Act if they fail to “reopen and improve” water management in  
the Klamath River.

Earthjustice's 60-day notice followed similar notices filed by the  
Yurok and Karuk Tribes in June, citing a disease infection rate of 90%  
of sampled juvenile salmon in 2015. 
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