by Felice Pace
Lately there has been lots of media reporting, comments and commentary about the amount of sediment being released from PacifiCorp's Klamath River dams in preparation for dam decommissioning and removal. Concerns have been expressed about how that sediment may be impacting the River's ecosystems and fisheries. Below I show that the amount of sediment being released from the dams is dwarfed by the amount of sediment released during major storms from the Basin's thousands of miles of unpaved and poorly maintained logging roads.
The amount of sediment to be released from PacifiCorp's dams has been estimated at 5 to 7 million cubic yards. That sounds like a lot of sediment. Consider, however, that, according to a Forest Service research report, during the 1996-97 New Year storm event an estimated 1.3 million tons of sediment was released from the approximate 8,000 miles of unpaved logging roads on the Klamath National Forest alone.
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One of multiple road failures with sediment delivery to streams that occurred on KNF logging roads during the New Year 2016 storm event. |
The Klamath National Forest (KNF) is one of five national forests that are located within the Klamath River Basin. The KNF comprises an estimated 15% to 20% of the total Basin area. From this I calculate that a major storm event is likely to release 6.5 million tons of sediment to the Klamath River, that is, about the same amount of sediment that is being released from the dams in preparation for decommissioning.
Let that sink in. The sediment impact to the Klamath River from dam decommissioning is likely to be about the same as the sediment impact delivered to streams and thence to the Klamath River during any major storm event. To get a better understanding of the sediment impact from forest roads see the Forest Service research report at this link.
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Road blowout sediment deposited onto National Forest Road 46N64 in the Walker Creek Watershed near Seiad Valley |
Of course it happens that the release of dam sediment is occurring during the rainy season and during a storm event. But I expect that high and flood flows will easily flush most of the fine sediment to the ocean in a short amount of time. Most of the juvenile salmon and steelhead are still in the tributary streams where they were born. As a result, Klamath fisheries will not be significantly impacted by the sediment released from PacifiCorp's dams.
Those who claim otherwise are the same people who have always fought dam removal. They have a axe to grind and are projecting impacts that are not now occurring and are unlikely to occur in the future.
Forest roads are a problem
While concerns about the sediment impacts of dam removal are unfounded, the Klamath River and significant tributaries like the Scott River are sediment impaired. Recovery of Klamath River basin aquatic ecosystems and fisheries depends on removing those sediment impairments. The only way to do that is by addressing the #1 source of the sediment, that is, unpaved logging roads.
As a results of President Clinton's Jobs-in-the-Woods Initiative (a program which I promoted at the Clinton Forest Conference and subsequently in numerous trips to Washington, DC), the Forest Service has "stormproofed" thousands of miles of its forest roads. However, "stormproofing" is a misnomer; absent regular road maintenance, it is impossible to keep unpaved forest roads from generating large amounts of fine sediment and releasing a portion of that sediment to streams.
The Forest Service only has funding to maintain about 25% of its forest roads to its own standards. Sooner or later, unmaintained and poorly maintained unpaved roads release significant sediment to streams. That typically happens in large storm events.
The conclusion is inescapable: It we are going to restore the Klamath River Basin's aquatic ecosystems and fisheries we must remove the sediment impairment. The only way to do that is to get rid of the 75% of unpaved forest roads that the Forest Service does not have the funds to adequately maintain. In addition, regional water boards should require annual and post-storm road monitoring on private industrial timberlands and require that sediment delivery problems identified during those inspections are quickly fixed.
Those tribal, state and federal leaders who claim they want to fix the Klamath must be made to understand that the only way to accomplish that task is to get rid of the forest roads which the Forest Service can't afford to maintain and which bleed nuisance sediment into our streams during even moderate storm events.
Those of you who want a healthy Klamath River should ask those leaders what they are doing about the Klamath's sediment impairment. What you will learn is that they are doing nothing to eliminate or even reduce the Klamath's sediment problem.
Magical thinking will not restore the Klamath. Therefore, we must push national, tribal, state, local and Forest Service leaders to effectively address the Klamath's sediment impairment by removing the unpaved and poorly maintained logging roads that are preventing the recovery of Klamath River ecosystems and fisheries.
Where are our tribal leaders?
Tribes should be leading the effort; but are they? Not that I can see.
This is a challenge to leaders of the Yurok, Karuk, Shasta, Klamath, Quartz Valley and Resighini tribes. Two questions:
- What have you done lately to address the sediment from unpaved logging roads that is preventing ecosystem and fisheries recovery, and
- What do you commit to doing in the future to reduce the nuisance sediment from unpaved logging roads?
