Sunday, February 26, 2017

Felice Pace: It's another court victory for Klamath Salmon but disease flushing flows are not assured


The Hoopa Valley Tribe, with a strong assist from a coalition led by the Yurok Tribe, won an important victory for Coho salmon and the Klamath River recently. If faithfully and properly implemented, the order issued by federal Judge William H. Orrick will provide larger river flows during winter, springtime and, if needed, early summer. Those flows won't heal the Klamath River's ills; but they will mitigate them and help Klamath Salmon survive.

Unfortunately, initial actions taken by the US Bureau of Reclamation, which controls flows from the Upper Klamath River Basin, raises concerns that Reclamation's irrigation bias may already be impacting how much help the River will actually get. The judge's order, why the flushing flows are needed, the roll of tribal fish biologists, ESA corruption and concerns about Reclamation's good faith implementation are explored and explained below.