Historically bad water year requires urgent protections for C'waam and Koptu, highlights needed for more sustainable path forward
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File photo, Upper Klamath Lake (Image: Brian Gailey / Klamath Falls News)
The following is a press release from the Klamath Tribes of Oregon.
CHILOQUIN, Ore. - This historically bad water year requires urgent measures to save the C’waam (Lost River sucker) and Koptu (shortnose sucker). These two critical treaty resources of the Klamath Tribes are on the verge of extinction and the Bureau of Reclamation’s water management this year must focus on meeting their needs first.
“We have to face the facts,” said Tribal Council Vice Chair Gail Hatcher. “There is not enough water in the system to meet the needs of the C’waam and Koptu, the salmon downriver, and Klamath Project irrigators. The only rational approach is to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable species, which unfortunately are the C’waam and Koptu.”
Under these conditions, the Tribes insist that Reclamation be honest and issue a 2021 Operations Plan that plainly acknowledges that there is no water available this year for Klamath Project irrigators, rather than simply stringing them along by delaying the date on which water deliveries might hypothetically start. Postponing the inevitable will only cause more uncertainty and hardship, and will delay efforts to bring resources to bear to cushion the blow this is to the agricultural community, including the Tribal members who farm and ranch and who must be included in any relief package for the Basin.
“Any drought funding the congressional delegation provides cannot be just another single-year band-aid,” said Tribal Council Treasurer Brandi Hatcher. “This isn’t a one-year crisis. Reclamation’s longstanding management of the Project, a century of agricultural impacts on critical tribal treaty resources, and the impacts of climate change have rendered the status quo in the Basin totally unsustainable. Any new funds coming into the Basin to address the impacts of this year’s all-too-predictable water shortage must be a down payment on moving the Basin – and particularly the Klamath Project – to a more viable footing going forward.”
An important component of any mitigation package is resources for to support C’waam and Koptu protection and environmental restoration work in the Upper Klamath Basin. “Water supply is an important piece of the puzzle, but it is not the only or even necessarily the largest piece,” said Tribal Council Secretary Roberta Frost. “Without a renewed commitment to improving the water quality in and around Upper Klamath Lake, we will continue to be at risk of seeing the C’waam and Koptu populations dwindle to extinction. We also need stepped up investment in captive rearing efforts to ensure that the remaining adult fish can survive while we address the broader ecological challenges.”
“The Klamath Tribes are grateful for the leadership that has been shown by Senators Merkley and Wyden in supporting important Tribal conservation work,” said Tribal Council Chairman Don Gentry. “We welcome their continued efforts to bring the resources it will take to move the Basin to a sustainable footing that allows for the recovery to harvestable levels of C’waam and Koptu and stability for our neighbors in the agricultural community and our members who farm and ranch.”