Klamath Tribes file 60-day notice to sue Reclamation for ESA violations

File photo (Image; Brandon Gailey, Klamath Falls News)

CHILOQUIN, Ore. - On February 12, 2021, the Klamath Tribes filed a 60-day Notice of Intent to file suit against the United States Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) for violation of Sections 7 and 9 of the Endangered Species Act.

The notice is required before bringing suit, should the BOR fail to meet the legal requirements of the 2020 US Fish & Wildlife Service Biological Opinion that identified baseline Upper Klamath Lake elevation levels necessary to provide bare minimum protection for our endangered C’waam and Koptu.

After Reclamation last year allowed Upper Klamath Lake to drop below elevation 4142 during C’waam and Koptu spawning season, it must now maintain the Lake at or above that elevation during April and May of 2021. We continue to hope that BOR will honor this obligation and that litigation will be unnecessary.

Upper Klamath Lake is thus far refilling at the worst rate in the last 40 years.

Without significant precipitation in the next several weeks, the Klamath Tribes will be heading into C’waam and Koptu spawning season with Upper Klamath Lake dangerously low to provide for their basic biological needs.

Facing a similar situation last year, the Klamath Tribes heard many complaints from irrigators about our efforts to ensure baseline protections for the C’waam and Koptu because of how they had planned their operations for the year.

Accordingly, the agriculture industry in the Basin should simply plan this spring on not taking water from the natural environment needed to fend off the imminent extinction of endangered species.

The Klamath Tribes urge that they instead take this opportunity to begin planning for long-term, sustainable practices that fit within the limits of our ecosystem.