<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "> <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/25/1563916/-Reclamation-releases-Trinity-Reservoir-water-to-stop-a-fish-kill-on-lower-Klamath">http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/8/25/1563916/-Reclamation-releases-Trinity-Reservoir-water-to-stop-a-fish-kill-on-lower-Klamath</a><div><br><div><img height="486" width="733" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:DD985C71-A4BC-4B8D-95EB-8E9C937862D5"></div><div><i><br></i><div><i>Photo of Trinity River below Lewiston Dam by Dan Bacher.</i></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6"><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="6">Reclamation releases Trinity Reservoir water to stop a fish kill on lower Klamath</font><br><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; "><br></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; ">by Dan Bacher</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; "><br></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(60, 55, 54); font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; ">Following on the heels of the Yurok Tribe’s discovery of deadly fish disease in lower Klamath River salmon last week, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced on August 24 that it will release additional water from Trinity Reservoir to help protect returning adult fall run Chinook salmon in the Klamath from a disease outbreak.<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; "><br></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">The water release is designed to stop a fish kill like the one of September 2002, when an estimated 35,000 to 68,000 migrating adult salmon died in the lower Klamath River, due to the outbreak of disease under low, warm water conditions spurred by the Bush administration’s water mismanagement.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">The supplemental flows into the Trinity River, the largest tributary of the Klamath, from Lewiston Dam began on August 25 and will extend into late September.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">On August 19, Yurok Fisheries crews conducting routine fish disease monitoring found that salmon in the Klamath River on the Yurok Reservation are infected with a potentially deadly disease. <em style="box-sizing: border-box; ">Ichthyophthirius multifiliis,</em> commonly known as ich (pronounced “ick”). Ich was the primary pathogen that caused the 2002 fish kill. (<a href="http://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2016/08/22/yurok-tribe-finds-deadly-disease-in-klamath-river-salmon/" target="_blank" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">fishsniffer.com/...</a>)</p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; "></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; "></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">On August 2, Reclamation released a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the plan to use water from Trinity Reservoir for the supplemental flows. Supplemental flows have been also released from the reservoir over the past several years in response to the presence of deadly fish disease in lower Klamath salmon facing low, warm water conditions.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">“The Draft EA also analyzed using a potential emergency volume, if needed, to avoid a significant die-off of adult salmon. Real-time monitoring and adaptive management will help guide implementation of supplemental flow releases,” according to Shane Hunt of Reclamation in a press release.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">Reclamation adjusted releases from Lewiston Dam to target 2,800 cubic feet per second (cfs) in the lower Klamath River starting August 25. To meet this target, the agency increased releases from Lewiston Dam from 450 cfs up to 1,300 cfs before dropping to 450 cfs in late September.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">The agency said additional information will be provided if higher peak flows are needed in early-to-mid-September as part of the preventive action.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">“Flows from Lewiston could be raised as high as 3,500 cfs for up to five days if real-time monitoring information suggests a need for additional supplemental flows as an emergency response,” Hunt said. “Over the next several weeks, releases could increase as quickly as 250 cfs every two hours, and flow reductions could drop as quickly as 100 cfs every four hours. The public is urged to take all necessary precautions on or near the river while flows are high.”.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">The Final EA and Finding of No Significant Impact are available at <a href="http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=26477" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">www.usbr.gov/...</a>. If you encounter problems accessing the documents online, please call 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or email <a href="mailto:mppublicaffairs@usbr.gov" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">usbr.gov</a>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">A record low fall Chinook salmon run is expected this season as the Klamath River Tribes and fishing groups are engaged in litigation against the federal government and water contractors over their failure to protect the river’s salmon.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">On July 29, the Hoopa Valley Tribe filed a lawsuit against the federal government for violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) over management actions that have imperiled Coho salmon on the Klamath. (<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/7/29/1554325/-Hoopa-Valley-Tribe-Files-ESA-Lawsuit-to-Protect-Salmon" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; color: rgb(234, 113, 6); text-decoration: none; ">www.dailykos.com/...</a>) </p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">The Tribe filed the litigation against Reclamation and the National Marine Fisheries Service in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Oakland Division, to protect the Coho salmon, listed as an endangered species under the ESA.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">“This ESA suit is not the warning of a miner’s canary; it is the tsunami siren alerting North Coast communities of impending environmental catastrophe and cultural devastation for the Hoopa Valley Tribe,” said Ryan Jackson, Chairman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">The Hoopa lawsuit is expected to be followed by several other lawsuits. On July 20, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), Institute for Fisheries Resources, and Klamath Riverkeeper, represented by Earthjustice, put Reclamation and NMFS on 60-day notice that they could be sued under the federal Endangered Species Act if they fail to “reopen and improve” water management in the Klamath River.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; ">Earthjustice's 60-day notice followed similar notices filed by the Yurok and Karuk Tribes in June, citing a disease infection rate of 90% of sampled juvenile salmon in 2015. </p></span></div></div></div></div></body></html>