VOL . 40 • ISS . 8 April 23 , 2021
19
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Yurok , Karuk and Klamath Tribes Respond to Klamath Project Operations Plan During Severe Drought
LAMATH FALLS , Ore . — In response to consecutive years of drought conditions in the Klamath Basin , including the lowest historical inflows on record into Upper Klamath Lake this year , the U . S . Bureau of Reclamation on April 13 announced the release of its Klamath Irrigation Project 2021 Temporary Operations Plan . The Klamath River Basin is in a dire situation this year . The plan curtails irrigation diversions to less than 10 % of demand while failing to meet the biological needs of salmon and other fisheries downstream . “ It is unfortunate that a severe drought and climate change , coupled with risky decisions made in 2020 , have left us all in this impossible bind this year ,” said Frankie Myers , the Yurok Tribe ’ s Vice Chairman . “ Based on the current conditions , the Yurok Tribe is acutely concerned about the health of the entire river from the headwaters to the sea , because it is the beating heart of all the Tribes in the basin . The Klamath salmon are now on a course toward extinction in the near term .” Reclamation also announced $ 15 million in immediate aid to the Klamath Project through the Klamath Project Drought Relief Agency , an additional $ 3 million in technical assistance to Tribes for ecosystem activities in the basin , as well as funding for groundwater monitoring in the basin . “ These efforts supplement additional funding provided by other Department of the Interior bureaus and is consistent with the activities outlined in the April 8 joint Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture statement relating to drought ,” according to Reclamation . “ This water year is unlike anything the Project has ever seen ,” said Reclamation Deputy Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton . “ We will continue to monitor the hydrology and look for opportunities for operational flexibility , provide assistance to Project water users and the Tribes , and keep an open dialogue with our stakeholders , the states , and across the federal government to get through this water year together .” Based on the Natural Resources Conservation Service ’ s April 1 , 2021 forecast for Water Year 2021 inflows to Upper Klamath Lake and the provisions of the 2021 Temporary Operations Plan , Reclamation said it is making an initial minimum Project allocation of 33,000 acre-feet . Project supply from Upper Klamath Lake will become available to charge Klamath Project canals and allow for limited irrigation no earlier than May 15 . Remaining Project deliveries will begin no earlier than June 1 . Reclamation said they solicited technical feedback from Tribes , the water user community , and other interested stakeholders in February . Input from these basin stakeholders was considered and incorporated into the 2021 Temporary Operations Plan through a process that involved the U . S . Fish and
Wildlife Service ( Service ) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) Fisheries , consistent with provisions in the applicable Biological Opinions . The leaders of the Yurok and Karuk Tribes issued statements responding to the crisis in the Klamath Basin after the plan was released . The Yurok Tribe noted that they are “ gravely concerned about the rapidly declining salmon stocks in the Klamath Basin , where communities from headwaters to the coast are suffering due to past water management decisions and drought .” The Tribe said the Bureau released this temporary operations plan for the basin “ in an attempt to minimize the ecological and economic damage caused by a combination of last year ’ s water mismanagement and the current drought . The plan provides bare-minimum flows for imperiled Klamath salmon and sucker fish populations .” In a typical April , Upper Klamath Lake rises with the spring snowmelt , but water levels are currently dropping , according to Myers . Equally worrisome , the prevalence of Ceratonova shasta , a deadly juvenile salmon disease , is climbing at a rapid rate and it is nearly inevitable that there will be a repeat of 2014 and 2015 when approximately 90 percent of sampled juvenile fish were infected by the deadly pathogen , and most died . In the next few months , Myers said many juvenile salmon are expected to die from the disease if additional flows are not released to flush the pathogen out of the river . During the past five years , the Klamath has experienced some of worst salmon runs on record . To protect these invaluable fish stocks , the Yurok Tribe will be cancelling its commercial fishery for the fifth time this year . “ Following five years of record-low fish runs , juvenile salmon kills and commercial salmon fishing closures , the Yurok people have paid a heavy price for the past mismanagement of the river ,” said Yurok Attorney and Ridges to Rivers Conservation Fund Principal Amy Cordalis . “ While we are sympathetic to our upstream neighbors , many Yurok families are also unable to pay basic bills due the fishing closures .” “ We don ’ t have enough salmon for our ceremonies or to feed our elders as
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USCG licensed bonded & insured we have since time immemorial . We are concerned that conditions on the river are so dire that even if Reclamation ’ s plan is followed and minimum flows are provided , we are going to face a catastrophic loss of this year class of fish and the ecological collapse of the Klamath River . We have a duty as Yurok people to prevent that from ever happening ,” Cordalis said . BOR ’ s plan provides $ 15 million in emergency assistance funds for irrigators in the upper basin and $ 3 million for Tribes . It also contains a real-time management component , but Tribes were not included in that process , according to Cordalis . Yesterday , the USDA committed another $ 10 million for farmers . “ Reclamation ’ s plan does not provide for adequate tribal consultation in the real-time management aspect of the 2021 water year ,” Vice Chairman Myers said . “ The Yurok Tribe is suffering significant economic damage on top of the extreme cultural and social impacts of failing fish runs . While we have never and will never put a dollar value on our fishery , there is a clear disparity in the federal relief to Tribes .” Myers said there is an “ urgent need to resolve the ecological and economic threats to the communities in the Klamath Basin . The Yurok Tribe is calling for the creation of a long-term , stakeholder-driven plan that contemplates the impact of climate change and resolves the complex water challenges .” “ All of this points to the need to find equitable and durable solutions that result in sustainable communities from the top to the bottom of the Klamath Basin ,” concluded Vice Chairman Myers . In response to the release of Reclamation ’ s temporary plan , Karuk Chairman Russell ‘ Buster ’ Attebery said , “ We appreciate the efforts of the Biden Administration to manage water resources in the face of this natural disaster . We know it is impossible to meet everyone ’ s water needs when the rains don ’ t come . For the Karuk Tribe , this is about more than economic survival . Our cultural identity is intimately linked to the salmon , sturgeon , steelhead , and lamprey .” “ The Karuk Tribe is committed to working with federal agencies , fellow Tribes , and our neighbors in the farming
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and ranching communities to survive this disaster . We call on Congress to provide disaster relief to all affected communities and to invest in the river restoration and water conservation efforts that acknowledge the reality of climate change and equitably balances water use ,” concluded Attebury . On the day before Reclamation released their temporary operations plan , the Klamath Tribes of Oregon filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation in federal district court over “ Reclamation ’ s ongoing violations of the Endangered Species Act in its operation of the Klamath Project .” “ Cwaaam ( Lost River sucker ) and Koptu ( shortnose sucker ), two critically endangered fish of vital spiritual and cultural importance to the Tribes , are being pushed to the very bring of extinction by Reclamation ’ s violation of one of our country ’ s bedrock environmental laws ,” according to a press release from the Tribes . “ We will do everything necessary to protect the Cwaaam and Koptu , which are of the utmost importance to our people ,” said Tribal Vice Chair Gail Hatchers . “ In this historically bad water year the consequences of decades of mismanagement are coming home to roost ; Reclamation ’ s failure to provide the bare minimum conditions necessary for their survival is unconscionable .” The Tribes said the Reclamation has been operating the Klamath Project out of compliance with the terms and conditions of the Biological Opinion ( BiOp ) issued by the U . S . Fish and Wildlife Service in 2020 , “ causing harm to the C ’ waam and Koptu even beyond he level authorized under that document .” The Tribes also said they are seeking an emergency order directing Reclamation to immediately reduce its releases of water from Upper Klamath Lake ( UKL ) in order to preserve the C ’ waam and Koptu while the lawsuit moves through the courts . “ This reduction in releases is necessary to bring reclamation back into compliance with the BiOp ,” the Tribes stated . The Klamath Project 2021 Water Operations Plan is available at https :// www . usbr . gov / mp / kbao /. For additional information or assistance accessing the documents , contact the Klamath Basin Area Office at 541-883-6935 .
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