<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><blockquote class="summary"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); line-height: 16px; "><a href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/08/22/18760505.php">http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/08/22/18760505.php</a></span></i></font></blockquote><blockquote class="summary"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); line-height: 16px; ">"We have determined that unprecedented conditions over the past few weeks in the lower Klamath River require us to take emergency measures to help reduce the potential for a large-scale fish die-off,” said Mid-Pacific Regional Director David Murillo. “This decision was made based on science and after consultation with Tribes, water and power users, federal and state fish regulatory agencies, and others.”</span></i></font></blockquote><blockquote class="summary"></blockquote><center style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; "><div class="media" style="font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: center; padding-top: 12px; padding-right: 12px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 12px; "><br></div><div class="media" style="font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: center; padding-top: 12px; padding-right: 12px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 12px; "><a href="http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2014/08/22/westlands_sucks_the_trinity_dry.jpg" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; color: rgb(22, 52, 92); "><img width="800" height="533" alt="800_westlands_sucks_the_trinity_dry.jpg original image ( 5184x3456)" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; " src="cid:2F49D513-F5C6-46CC-BC14-A22480B51AFA"><br><strong>800_westlands_sucks_the_t...</strong><br><small style="font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; "></small></a><small style="font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; "><a href="http://www.indybay.org/uploads/2014/08/22/westlands_sucks_the_trinity_dry.jpg" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; color: rgb(22, 52, 92); ">original image ( 5184x3456)</a></small></div></center><br><div class="article" style="color: rgb(17, 17, 17); line-height: 16px; margin-top: 12px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Verdana" size="6">Reclamation releases additional flows to stop Klamath River fish kill! </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">by Dan bacher </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">After a big protest by the Yurok, Karuk and Hoopa Valley Tribes and their supporters at the Bureau of Reclamation offices in Sacramento on Tuesday, Reclamation announced Friday morning that it will release additional water from Trinity Reservoir to supplement flows in the lower Klamath River to help protect the returning run of adult Chinook salmon. </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">“We have determined that unprecedented conditions over the past few weeks in the lower Klamath River require us to take emergency measures to help reduce the potential for a large-scale fish die-off,” said Mid-Pacific Regional Director David Murillo in a news release and at a conference call this morning with reporters from throughout the state. “This decision was made based on science and after consultation with Tribes, water and power users, federal and state fish regulatory agencies, and others.” </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">Murillo said, "several recent factors prevalent in the lower Klamath River are the basis for the decision to provide emergency augmentation flows." </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">Reclamation will increase releases from Lewiston Dam beginning at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23, from approximately 450 cubic feet per second to approximately 950 cfs to achieve a flow rate of 2,500 cfs in the lower Klamath River. </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">At 7 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 25, releases from Lewiston Dam will begin increasing to approximately 2,450 cfs to achieve a flow rate of approximately 4,000 cfs in the lower Klamath River. </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">This release from Lewiston Dam will be maintained for approximately 24 hours before returning to approximately 950 cfs and will be regulated at approximately that level as necessary to maintain lower Klamath River flows at 2,500 cfs until approximately Sunday, Sept. 14. River and fishery conditions will be continuously monitored, and those conditions will determine the duration. </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">“We fully recognize that during this prolonged severe drought, every acre-foot of water is extremely valuable, and we are making every effort to conserve water released for fish health purposes to reduce hardships wherever possible,” added Murillo. </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">Reclamation will continue to work with NOAA Fisheries and other federal agencies to comply with applicable provisions of the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.The public is urged to take all necessary precautions on or near the river while flows are high during this period. </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">There is no doubt that this decision would not have taken place without the big campaign by Klamath River Tribal activists and fishermen to stop a fish kill by urging the Bureau to release more water from Trinity Reservoir and Lewiston Dam. Congratulations go to everybody who made this possible! </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">Over 200 Tribal members and their allies from the Trinity and Klamath river watersheds held a four-hour protest at the Bureau of Reclamation offices in Sacramento on August 19 to urge them to release more water from upriver dams to stop a massive fish kill. </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">Members of the Yurok, Hoopa Valley and Karuk tribes, as well as leaders of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, displayed an array of signs and banners with slogans including “Fish Need Water,” “Let The River Flow,” "Give Us Our Water, " "Save The Salmon," "Tribal Rights Are Non Negotiable," "Release The Dam Water," "Undam the Klamath - Free the Trinity," "Fish Can't Swim In Money," and "Westlands Sucks The Trinity Dry." </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">"Thank you, all of the people that fight for the water/fish and our ways of life!" said Dania Colegrove, organizer for Got Water? and Hoopa Valley Tribal Member after hearing of the victory. </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">The Karuk Tribe issued a statement praising the Bureau's decision: </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">"The Karuk Tribal Council is extremely thrilled to announce the Bureau of Reclamation has announced they will be releasing additional water from the Trinity Reservoir to supplement flows in the Lower Klamath River. Flows will be released beginning on Saturday morning at 7 a.m., causing a flow rate of approximately 2,500 cfs in the lower Klamath. </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">Hopefully the release of water is not too late, and it will prevent a major fish kill like we saw in 2002. Over 60,000 fall Chinook were lost in 2002, due to low flows and warm water temperatures which allowed disease and other trauma to negatively impact the fish. </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">The Tribal Council would like to personally thank all of the strong advocates for the fish and the rivers, including both the Trinity River and the Klamath River. Your dedication and commitment to grassroots activism coupled with strong science is what led to these vital releases of water. We are thankful for all of your prayers and we are grateful that your actions yielded positive results. During this time of ceremony and healing for the Tribe, our Tribal Members and communities should not have had to go to such great lengths to get results. We are glad that they are now able to relax for the moment and focus on strength and healing for our important ceremonies." </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">Corporate agribusiness leaders, including Dan Nelson, Executive Director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, weren't happy with the release of water from Trinity Reservoir, claiming it was for "speculative fishery purposes," in a press release entitled, "Reclamation announces it will dump water while thousands stand in line for food handouts." </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">"Today, United States Bureau of Reclamation announced it will dump precious Central Valley Project water while the people of our valley suffer from well-documented and widely reported social and economic destruction as a result of government policies compounded by the drought," said Nelson. "While over 2,000,000 acres of farm land throughout the Central Valley, which produces over half of the nation's fruit, nuts and vegetables, continues to have a 0 percent water supply from the Central Valley Project, Reclamation has determined there is somehow enough water available to let it go down the Lower Klamath River in the hope it may help conditions for unthreatened salmon. This decision is wrong - both scientifically and morally." </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">It's ironic that agribusiness interests, who have imposed a system of institutional poverty on farmworkers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley for many decades, are claiming "social and economic destruction" to be the "result of government policies compounded by the drought." For more information, see Lloyd Carter's 2010 article in the Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal: </font><a href="http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=gguelj" style="font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; color: rgb(22, 52, 92); ">http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=gguelj</a><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif"> </font><br><br><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana, arial, sans-serif">For more information about the Tuesday rally in Sacramento, go to: </font><a href="https://intercontinentalcry.org/tribal-members-rally-sacramento-stop-klamath-river-fish-kill-25355/" style="font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; color: rgb(22, 52, 92); ">https://intercontinentalcry.org/tribal-members-rally-sacramento-stop-klamath-river-fish-kill-25355/</a></div></body></html>