SEPTEMBER 2007: FORUM
Irrigation’s role in Klamath fish kill disputed
THERE WAS ONE small but very important inaccurate statement in
the August cover story [THE
FIGHT FOR WATER] regarding the Klamath Basin: “It was
the site of the biggest fish die-off in the history of the West
because of an irrigation diversion.”
During late summer and early fall of 2002, Dave Vogel, a
fisheries biologist, noted that water temperatures in the
Klamath River were measured hourly just prior to and during the
fall-run Chinook migration. He also found that large
numbers of salmon entered the lower Klamath earlier than usual
and were exposed to uncharacteristic cooling and warming
conditions causing disease outbreak from warm water and crowded
conditions.
“In my opinion the operations of Iron Gate Dam during
the summer and fall of 2002 did not cause and could not have
prevented the fish die-off in the lower Klamath
River,” Vogel reported.
Activists base many of their arguments on a California
Department of Fish and Game report on the die-off. They
consistently manage to avoid the unbiased National Research
Council report on the same issue. The media also largely
ignored a similar October 2003 finding by the National Research
Council Committee, which failed to find a link between the
operation of the Klamath Project and the fish die-off. The
recent congressional hearing regarding Dick Cheney’s
alleged involvement with Klamath River operational decisions
effectively put many of the arguments raised to rest.
Dan Keppen
Family Farm Alliance
Klamath Falls
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