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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Concerns
pool over salmon<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Eureka
Times-Standard-9/26/09<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>By John
Driscoll</span></b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>A heavy run of chinook
salmon into a parched Klamath River tributary have fishery managers watching
for signs of a possible fish kill and working to get additional water into the
river. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Since Sept. 4, at least
1,200 fall chinook have passed through the Shasta River weir, with another 100
per day expected. Radio tags on some of the fish have shown that all of the
fish are packed into pools in a 1.5- to 2-mile section of the river, said
California Department of Fish and Game biologist Mark Pisano. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Shasta River has seen
very low flows this year, at least partly because of an ongoing drought. But
conservation groups have also pointed to regular irrigation withdrawals as
depleting flows, and Fish and Game has worked out agreements with irrigators to
cut back on the amount of water they use before the end of the season on Oct.
1. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>”We're very near a
tipping point,” Pisano said. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The concern is that if
warm-water-related diseases were to break out, crowded conditions could spread
the diseases through the fish rapidly and devastate a strong run of salmon.
Pisano said that cool mornings have helped prevent the water from being unbearable
for fish. He said that a handful of fish have died -- but not more than what is
typically associated with natural mortality from the rigors of the migration
from the ocean into the middle Klamath River. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>California Department of
Water Resources Shasta Valley Water Master Ira Alexander said that his hands
are tied <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>by court adjudication over
water rights in the basin, called the Shasta River Decree. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>”We only have the
authority to enforce the decree,” Alexander said. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Shasta Valley Resource
Conservation District Administrator Adriane Garayalde said that some irrigators
are scaling back their diversions, which is easier with new systems than old
systems. She said that another diverter shut off last night, and the water
reduction should begin to show in the lower river soon. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>”We've been trying
to do more,” Garayalde said, “but the problem is we're just in a
really, really dry year.” <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>There are about 30,000
irrigated acres in the Shasta River Valley, most of which are planted with
alfalfa and grain. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Agreements brokered by
Fish and Game with irrigators to leave more water in the river may now be
beginning to take effect, Pisano said, and the department will continue to seek
more water. Pisano said that those actions should help improve conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>”As conditions are
right now, we're at the higher end of what they can deal with,” said
Malena Marvin with Klamath Riverkeeper, a conservation group monitoring the
situation. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The group raised concerns
about extremely low flows in the Shasta and Scott rivers in late summer before
salmon began moving into the Klamath tributaries. Marvin said that it's
critical to do something before a fish kill starts. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Marvin said that such a
strong run of fish should not be squandered by poor water management,
especially in light of the recent restrictions on ocean salmon fishing over the
past two years. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Biologists have been on
higher alert for the possibility of a fish kill in the Klamath River basin
since 2002, when low flows and warm water kept a big run of salmon packed into
cold-water pools. A disease outbreak that followed killed at least 68,000
chinook salmon that year. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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