<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1Li1hP_1DccF3ps00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Li1hP_1DccF3ps00" width="499" height="500" ><figcaption>Kenneth Brink&nbsp; Courtesy of Karuk Tribe</figcaption></figure>This year’s historically low snowpack is forcing Klamath Basin communities to endure another difficult water year.Upper Klamath Lake, the Klamath River, farms, wildlife refuges, and communities are all under pressure to conserve water. There is simply not enough water to meet every need, and every decision carries consequences for someone.While river flows are at the bare minimum and water allocations to farmers are well below demand, the ducks of the Klamath Wildlife Refuges face an immediate risk of catastrophic disease outbreak in coming weeks. As many as 500,000 birds are at risk. The Klamath Water Users Association’s proposal to use project infrastructure to provide flows to the refuges might allow us to avert such a disaster.Too often, water debates in the Klamath Basin are framed as a choice between farms and fish, lakes and rivers, or Tribal communities and agricultural communities. That framing is politically convenient, but ecologically false. The Basin is one interconnected system with each part dependent on the next.This means that we can’t restore salmon without also restoring the lakes and wetlands of the Upper Basin. That is why the Karuk Tribe supports the Klamath Water Users Association’s “Flow Through” proposal to move water through the Klamath Project, into the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges, and then return that water to the Klamath River.Right now, shallow, stagnant and warming water is creating conditions for an outbreak of avian botulism, a disease that killed tens of thousands of waterfowl in recent years. Nobody who cares about the Klamath Basin should accept another preventable wildlife disaster of this magnitude.The farmers and ranchers of the Klamath Project are our neighbors. We often disagree, sometimes sharply, about irrigation deliveries, river flows and the management of scarce water. Those disagreements are real. But as neighbors we also have an obligation to work together when an environmental emergency threatens the place we all care about.The proposed flow-through approach offers a chance to do that. Water would move through Klamath Project facilities and the refuges before returning to the Klamath River. Along the way, that water might help reduce the risk of a bird kill, improve water circulation and water quality, and recharge groundwater that supports both agricultural lands and Tribal resources.That matters because groundwater and surface water are connected. Water moving through wetlands and agricultural landscapes support aquifer recharge, improve local water conditions and provide benefits that extend beyond a single season or a single user.The Karuk Tribe’s support is predicated on one central requirement: the action must remain consistent with the legal protections governing Klamath River flows and listed species. We believe that, as proposed, there is enough water available to avert an avian disease outbreak and still end the year in compliance with mandatory river flows and lake levels necessary to protect ESA listed salmon and suckers.The flow-through proposal offers Klamath Basin communities a chance to work together for a greater good and treat the basin like the connected watershed it is. By protecting refuge wetlands, maintaining legally required lake levels and river flows, and returning water to the Klamath River, we can help birds, fish, farms and communities at the same time. That will not end our disagreements, but it can prove that cooperation does not require anyone to abandon their values. In a year defined by scarcity, the responsible choice is to use water wisely, follow the law and work together to prevent a disaster we can still avoid.</div></body>

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This year’s historically low snowpack is forcing Klamath Basin communities to endure another difficult water year. Upper Klamath Lake, the Klamath River, farms, wildlife refuges, and communities are all under pressure to conserve water. There is simply not enough water to meet every need, and every decision carries consequences for someone.

Op-ed: Restoring salmon does same to Klamath ecosystem

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This year’s historically low snowpack is forcing Klamath Basin communities to endure another difficult water year. Upper Klamath Lake, the Klamath River, f

Op-ed: Restoring salmon does same to Klamath ecosystem

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