Klamath Tribes Actions Will Hurt Basin, Fish Benefits Unlikely

File Photo - A tractor tills an unirrigated field south of Klamath Falls, Ore. (Brian Gailey)

Klamath Falls, OR – Yesterday, the Klamath Tribes filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation. under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), alleging that further protection is needed for endangered species in Upper Klamath Lake, the Lost River sucker and shortnose sucker. In the complaint, filed in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, in San Francisco. The Tribes ask for re- initiation of ESA consultation, and operations that result in higher lake levels until consultation is complete.

“The Klamath Tribes have chosen a strategy of isolation from the irrigation community,” said Brad Kirby, General Manager of the Tulelake Irrigation District and President of KWUA. “We will intervene and oppose any action that could affect the already-limited Klamath Project water supply. Consultation is already happening.”

The complaint claims that the Klamath Tribes have shared information regarding lake levels and sucker populations with the Bureau of Reclamation, but Reclamation has not incorporated it into the operations of the Project.

“Why haven’t the Klamath Tribes shared this information with parties that are truly concerned about the well-being of the species?” asked Mark Johnson, Deputy Director for KWUA and former fisheries biologist for the United States Geological Survey.

“I’ve been studying suckers for over fifteen years.” Johnson said. “I and many others are extremely interested in information that suggests that higher lake levels will work now when they haven’t for over 25 years.”

The lawsuit is brought on a year when family farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin are starving for water.

“This action could have devastating impacts on good and honest people and our regional economy, and to what end?” said Scott White, Executive Director of KWUA.

“The current focus on meeting Upper Klamath Lake levels and Iron Gate flow releases – a paradigm that has been adhered to for two decades – is failing,” continued White. “ESA-listed suckers and coho salmon populations are not responding, and all segments of our community are being impacted.”

Kirby also noted that regardless of the outcome or the potential impacts to the region, the fact that the Tribes have chosen to litigate rather than solve the problem within our community is not going to sit well. “They’ve had many opportunities and this community deserves better.”

The Klamath Tribes have filed a motion to relate this case to Hoopa Valley Indian Tribe v. Bureau of Reclamation which closed on August 3, 2017. That case resulted in court ordered flows to be operated for the Klamath River.

Press release provided from The Klamath Water Users Association.

Editors Note
The above press release is a response to the Klamath Tribes filing a lawsuit to keep endangered suckerfish from going extinct. That article can be read here -> Klamath Tribes File Lawsuit To Keep Endangered Fish From Extinction