From the Bureau of Reclamation:
The Bureau of Reclamation will release additional water from Trinity Reservoir for the lower Klamath River to help protect returning adult fall run Chinook salmon from a disease outbreak and mortality. Supplemental flows from Lewiston Dam would commence on August 21 and extend into late September.
“In this fourth year of severe drought, the conditions in the river call for us to take extraordinary measures to reduce the potential for a large-scale fish die-off,” said Mid-Pacific Regional Director David Murillo. “This decision was made after discussions with federal and state fish regulatory agencies and serious consideration of the impacts on all affected parties.”
Continued dry hydrologic conditions and the recent discovery of the presence of Ich, the fish disease thought primarily responsible for a fish die-off in the river in 2002, prompted Reclamation to consider supplementing flows in the lower Klamath this summer. In July, Reclamation released a Draft Environmental Assessment for the plan to use water from Trinity Reservoir for the supplemental flows. The 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.
Releases from Lewiston Dam will be adjusted to target 2,800 cubic feet per second in the lower Klamath River starting this week. Current river flow forecasts indicate that Lewiston Dam releases could increase from the current rate of 450 cubic feet per second on August 21 and could range up to 1,300 cubic feet per second before dropping to 450 cubic feet per second in late September. Additional information will be provided in the event that higher peak flows are needed in early to mid-September as part of the preventative action.
Flows from Lewiston could be raised as high as 3,500 cubic feet per second for up to five days if real-time monitoring information suggests a need for additional supplement flows as an emergency response.
Over the next several weeks, releases could increase as quickly as 250 cubic feet per second every two hours, and flow reductions could drop as quickly as 100 cubic feet per second every four hours. The public is urged to take all necessary precautions on or near the river while flows are high.
The Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for this project are available online at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=22309. If you encounter problems accessing the documents online, please call 916-978-5100 or email mppublicaffairs@usbr.gov.
——————————————–
Get the Notebook blog by email and you’ll always be one of the first to know!
- Sign up for daily emails and get all the Notebook’s aggregated and original water news content delivered to your email box by 9AM. Breaking news alerts like this one, too. Sign me up!
Maven’s Notebook
constantly watching over the world of California water
