KLAMATH, Calif. — A northern California tribe is pushing the federal government to stop water deliveries for irrigation in the Klamath Project unless the Bureau of Reclamation can demonstrate it has met all legal requirements for endangered species, including salmon and killer whales.

The Yurok Tribe, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and Institute for Fisheries Resources filed a motion for a preliminary injunction March 22 — part of a 2019 lawsuit against Reclamation and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Reclamation operates the Klamath Project, which provides water for about 200,000 acres of farmland straddling southern Oregon and northern California.

However, project operations cannot threaten the survival of endangered species. Reclamation must balance water needs for both threatened coho salmon in the Klamath River, and two species of endangered sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake.

Southern resident killer whales are also impacted, because they depend on anadromous Klamath River salmon for prey.

Flow reductions

Three consecutive years of drought has prompted Reclamation to adopt a more flexible management strategy for the Klamath Project to stretch every bit of water for farms and fish.

On Feb. 14, Reclamation began reducing minimum stream flows in the Klamath River by 11% below Iron Gate Dam. Further reductions were made, to 16%, on Feb. 25.

The goal was to hold more water back in Upper Klamath Lake near Klamath Falls, Ore., allowing Lost River and shortnose suckers — also called C’waam and Koptu — to access critical shoreline habitat for spawning and rearing.

But according to the Yurok Tribe, the cutbacks dropped Klamath River flows below what is necessary to protect “extremely at-risk” coho.

Amy Cordalis, legal counsel for the tribe and a tribal member, said the Klamath River and its salmon are essential to their culture and way of life.

“We will not stand idly by while our river and our fish are put at risk,” Cordalis said.

Tribal lawsuits

The tribe and fishing groups are now asking a U.S. district judge in San Francisco to intervene and order Reclamation withhold water for irrigators until the agency satisfies its obligations for endangered fish.

A proposed order outlines the plaintiffs’ requests, including:

• Meeting minimum flows in the Klamath River for salmon.

• Providing a full springtime “flushing flow” of water from Upper Klamath Lake downriver to wash away tiny parasites known as C. shasta, which can infect and kill juvenile fish.

• Ensuring a minimum water elevation of 4,139.2 feet in Upper Klamath Lake on Sept. 30.

Frankie Myers, vice chairman of the Yurok Tribal Council, said Reclamation’s decision to reduce river flows this winter was “unacceptable and unjustifiable.”

“Dropping flows below the bare minimum is the nuclear option,” Myers said in a statement. “We repeatedly asked (Reclamation) to take a more measured approach to water management, but they refused to listen. Our only recourse was to petition the court to reverse this terrible decision and protect our salmon.”

The Klamath Tribes, headquartered in Chiloquin, Ore., also filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the government in February, arguing Reclamation has failed to meet minimum lake elevations for suckers in Upper Klamath Lake during each of the last three years.

Project allocation

The lawsuits come as Klamath Project irrigators await their annual water allocation, typically announced in April.

Moss Driscoll, director of water policy for the Klamath Water Users Association, said this year’s hydrology is far more promising than last year. As of March 28, the Klamath Basin had 155% of normal snowpack and 103% of normal precipitation for the 2022-23 water year.

“The lake, and the whole basin, is in a markedly better place than it was even at the beginning of March,” Driscoll said.

Under the current biological opinion, Driscoll said the irrigation season must end with Upper Klamath Lake at a minimum elevation of 4,138 feet.

According to hydrological models, he said they anticipate the lake will have 4,139 feet of water elevation, even with an allocation of 260,000 acre-feet for irrigators — about three-quarters of normal demand.

The additional 0.2 feet of lake elevation sought in the Yurok Tribe’s lawsuit equals about 17,000 acre-feet of water. Driscoll said this would not materially impact project operations.

“As the hydrology has continued to improve, there is the very real fact that it may basically meet their injunction requirements whether it’s granted or not,” Driscoll said. “Their request has almost become moot.”

Paul Simmons, KWUA executive director, said the proposed injunction is far-reaching, effectively asking a federal judge to take over management of the project.

”It’s hard to understand in a year like this, where there’s a meaningful amount of water in the system, that we have to have another lawsuit,” Simmons said. “It’s not going to be helpful for anyone.”