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Topic: Klamath River

Overview April 24, 2014

Klamath River

The Klamath River flows 253 miles from Southern Oregon to the California coast, draining a basin of more than 15,000 square miles. The watershed and its fisheries have been the subject of negotiation since the 1860s negotiations that have intensified and continue to this day.

The river has provided irrigation to ag lands since the late 19th century. Agricultural development drained vast areas of wetlands on the periphery of Upper Klamath Lake and in upstream watersheds. Some of this drained acreage has been restored and is now managed primarily for wetland benefits.

The watershed is divided geographically into two basins, upper and lower, divided by Iron Gate Dam, the lower most dam on the river. The Upper Basin is dry, with annual precipitation of about 13 inches at the river’s origin near Klamath Falls, Ore. Downstream, the climate grows wetter.

Native Americans have a significant presence in the Klamath Basin. Four major tribes have been influential in water negotiations: the Klamath Tribes, the Karuk Tribe, the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Yurok Tribe.

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Aquafornia news May 25, 2022 Herald and News

Flights over Klamath River provide view of dams set for removal

Four PacifiCorps dams — the J.C. Boyle, Copco No. 1 and No. 2, and Iron Gate — are scheduled to be removed as part of a controversial effort that advocates have said will restore the health of the river, fish and communities along the river, including several in the Upper Klamath Basin. Dam removal is something that has drawn heated discussion for and against for decades, highlighted in 2001 when decisions to not release water to Klamath Basin irrigators resulted in protests and demonstrations that drew national attention.

Related article: 

  • California Trout: Spot check - Upper Klamath River 
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Aquafornia news May 24, 2022 Jefferson Public Radio

The conservation case for emergency rules on groundwater in the Scott and Shasta basins

The fish need the water, the farmers and ranchers need the water, and the fish win. Because coho salmon are on the Endangered Species List in the region, and the Scott and Shasta Rivers are important to their survival. The State of California put emergency rules in place governing groundwater around those rivers, and the people in agriculture take exception. We hear the environmental side of the issue in this interview. Craig Tucker, Natural Resources Policy Advocate for the Karuk Tribe, lays out the importance of the water for the fish …

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 Eureka Times-Standard

Fishermen threaten to sue Bureau of Reclamation over Trinity River diversions

A Trump era decision has further imperiled endangered fish species in the Trinity River, and commercial fishermen and local tribes are demanding the federal government take action. This week, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and its sister organization Institute for Fisheries Research sent the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation a 60-day notice of their intention to sue the federal agency for violating the Endangered Species Act. The amount of water the bureau is diverting from the Trinity River to the Central Valley Project has decimated the river’s salmon populations … 

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

Monday Top of the Scroll: California is about to begin the nation’s largest dam removal project. Here’s what it means for wildlife

After decades of negotiation, the largest dam-removal project in U.S. history is expected to begin in California’s far north next year. The first of four aging dams on the Klamath River, the 250-mile waterway that originates in southern Oregon’s towering Cascades and empties along the rugged Northern California coast, is on track to come down in fall 2023. Two others nearby and one across the state line will follow. … The native flora and fauna in the region are bound to prosper as algae-infested reservoirs at the dams are emptied, the flow of the river quickens and cools, and river passage swings wide open.

Related article: 

  • CalMatters: Opinion - Klamath Basin dam removal needs a science-driven oversight plan
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Aquafornia news May 20, 2022 The Washington Post

High winds, heat boost fire threat as California faces long season

Fire danger is on the rise in California, as warm, dry and windy weather heralds a potentially long and difficult season. For several consecutive years, increasingly extreme, climate-change fueled wildfires have devastated parts of the state. The area of greatest concern late this week is in Northern California, where strong northerly winds will combine with dry vegetation in the Sacramento Valley…. The risk of fast-spreading blazes may ease this weekend, but officials have expressed serious concerns about the months ahead as the entirety of California contends with a historically severe drought that has turned many areas into a tinderbox.

Related articles: 

  • Courthouse News Service: Heat, winds stoke fears of wildfire in Northern California
  • San Francisco Chronicle: Parts of the Bay Area will be under a red flag warning starting Thursday, signaling a critical wildfire threat
  • KRON4-San Francisco: Wildfire season is on the way, says Santa Rosa Fire Dept.
  • Sonora Union Democrat: Forecasters issue red flag warning for western Tuolumne County
  • Klamath Falls Herald & News: Private forestland deal wins acclaim, though doubts remain
  • ESRI: Tribe maps where to burn to restore Northern California forest to balance
  • Arizona Republic: Forests often regenerate after wildfires. Why the climate crisis could change that
  • World Economic Forum: US wildfires threaten nearly 80 million properties as climate risks grow
  • Scientific American: If Sea Ice Melts in the Arctic, Do Trees Burn in California?
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Aquafornia news May 19, 2022 National Fisherman

Klamath dam removal could offer promise for Oregon commercial salmon fishery

The final hurdle is in sight and expected to be overcome, in the decades-long fight to remove four dams from the Klamath River and hopefully allow restoration of the river’s Chinook salmon population which was once the third-largest in the country, but in recent years has plummeted by as much as ninety-eight percent. The four dams were built between 1903 and 1967 as part of PacifiCorp’s Klamath Hydroelectric Project and are now obsolete. Removing them will provide native migratory fish, like Chinook salmon, access to larger spawning grounds. It will also help restore the natural flow of the river, providing innumerable benefits to the entire ecosystem.

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Aquafornia news May 18, 2022 Law 360

Calif. irrigation district loses bid to join river ceremony suit

A lawsuit over the U.S. government’s refusal to release water for a Yurok Tribe water ceremony during drought conditions in 2020 will proceed without a local irrigation district, which a federal judge in California found Monday sought to litigate issues beyond the scope of that case. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick said the Klamath Irrigation District’s intervention bid … 

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2022 Law360

Blog: Court declines to lift blockade on water laws targeting pot

A California federal judge has declined to lift an injunction on two Northern California county ordinances that require strict permits for the transport of water, saying that while the local laws were enacted to quash illegal cannabis farms, they’ve caused harm to a group of Hmong farmers. In a decision handed down Friday, Chief U. S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller found that although Siskiyou County had modified the ordinances, they were still likely to cut off water to a community of Hmong farmers within the county’s borders.

Related article: 

  • KOBI Yreka: Siskiyou County Sheriff asks for ‘state of emergency’ declaration due to black market marijuana 
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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 Oregon Public Broadcasting

Endangered fish and waterfowl find refuge at the Klamath Basin’s Lakeside Farms

On a cool day in late April, a small crowd gathers around a truck-mounted water tank at Lakeside Farms, on the southeastern shore of Upper Klamath Lake…. All eyes are focused on the tank’s outlet, where U.S. Fish and Wildlife Science fish biologist Jane Spangler stands poised with a net. Her colleague, science coordinator Christie Nichols, opens the valve. Water gushes out; within seconds, a stream of tiny fish pours into the net…. Nichols and Spangler are here to stock the pond with over 1,000 young C’waam and Koptu — Lost River and shortnose suckers, two endangered species that inhabit Upper Klamath Lake and that are at the heart of the area’s water conflicts. It’s the first time that hatchery-raised suckers have been released on private land.

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Aquafornia news May 16, 2022 Courthouse News Service

Judge blocks water sanctions that would affect rural Asian immigrants

A federal judge struck down a second attempt by a Northern California county to dismiss a case against them for water sanctions that would leave the local Asian community without water.  … In the original complaint, plaintiff Der Lee compared living in Shasta Vista to his days hiding out in the Laos jungles — just now without water. Others explained that they only bathe once a week, are dehydrated and have had their food sources — crops and livestock — die from the lack of water access. As a result, many resorted to filling jugs with water in streams and local parks. 

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Jefferson Public Radio

Endangered fish and waterfowl find refuge at the Klamath Basin’s Lakeside Farms

[A crowd has gathered] to stock the pond with over 1,000 young C’waam and Koptu—Lost River and shortnose suckers, two endangered species that inhabit Upper Klamath Lake and that are at the heart of the area’s water conflicts. … The pond is part of an innovative restoration project at Lakeside Farms, which is just north of Klamath Falls. … Altogether, it’s a hopeful demonstration of cooperation in a region that has seen bitter fights between tribes, farmers, and wildlife advocates over who gets water.

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Aquafornia news May 12, 2022 Eureka Times-Standard

Documentary highlights Klamath Salmon Run, which starts Thursday

For the 20th year in a row, people from tribal communities along the Klamath River are preparing to run the more than 300 mile length of the river, tracing the route of the salmon that are struggling to survive. … A new 13-minute documentary called “Bring the Salmon Home” by filmmaker Shane Anderson highlights the Klamath Salmon Run, which is set to begin at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. The Salmon Run was started after a historic fish kill in 2002 decimated the Klamath River’s salmon.

Related article: 

  • Oakdale Leader: State Water Agencies Partner To Support Salmon Population
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Aquafornia news May 11, 2022 Courthouse News Service

Klamath Tribes sue feds over endangered sucker fish

Two species of endangered sucker fish could face extinction this year because the federal government let farmers take irrigation water from Upper Klamath Lake instead of leaving enough water in the lake for the fish born this year to survive, the Klamath Tribes claim. … Last year, the fight over the region’s water risked a standoff between extremist farmers who threatened to take control of the irrigation system the government had shut off in an effort to prevent the extinction of two species of endangered sucker fish sacred to the Klamath Tribes: the c’waam, or Lost River sucker and koptu, or shortnose sucker. 

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Aquafornia news May 6, 2022 Jefferson Public Radio

California water regulators weigh renewing emergency drought restrictions in the Scott and Shasta rivers

California water regulators hosted a public forum on Wednesday to collect comments about re-adopting drought emergency regulations for Siskiyou County’s Scott and Shasta River watersheds. … In response [to current drought conditions], the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is requesting the re-adoption of a 12-month drought emergency regulation to protect salmon, steelhead and other native fish. 

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Aquafornia news May 5, 2022 NBC - Klamath Falls

Klamath Irrigation District says canals are in bad shape due to lack of water

The ongoing drought conditions only continues to make matters worse for Klamath irrigators and farmers. The Klamath Irrigation District says the canals it operates and maintains, haven’t seen water in over 18 months. Executive Director Gene Souza, says that on March 1st it opened the valve for the A Canal, a primary diversion point for Upper Klamath Lake. That allowed water to go into the system very slowly.

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Aquafornia news April 28, 2022 KRCR

New legislation seeks to return land to Yurok tribe

Congressman Jared Huffman introduced a new bill this week that aims to give land back to the Yurok Tribe. HR7581, known as the Yurok Lands Act, would expand the Yurok reservation boundaries and give the tribe more than 1,229 additional acres of U.S. Forest Service land. … By reclaiming land, the Tribe hopes to help keep local forests and salmon populations healthy.

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Aquafornia news April 27, 2022 Jefferson Public Radio

Water is the ‘lifeblood’ of Oregonians. How will the next governor manage a future of drought?

The Klamath Basin provides a cautionary tale for Oregon about the need to plan more intentionally and sustainably with its shrinking water supply. Though the state and its watersheds aren’t newcomers to drought, research suggests that climate change is magnifying the impacts of the region’s natural wet and dry cycles…. Oregon’s next governor will inherit a state whose ecosystems, economy and communities are enduring their driest period in 1,200 years. 

Related article: 

  • Eos: A New Index to Quantify River Fragmentation
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Aquafornia news April 25, 2022 Mashed

The truth about salmon-safe alcohol

Northern California farmers use pumped river water during freezing spring nights to coat the growing grapes with a protective layer of ice, and without this protection there could be significant losses to crops. That water, however, comes from the homes of the hook-mouthed coho salmon and the threatened steelhead trout. Once plentiful, the coho salmon is now a protected species under threat (via NOAA Fisheries). Salmon-Safe seeks to protect important species in California and beyond, while still supporting the many brewery and winery industries that need water to thrive.

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Aquafornia news April 20, 2022 Red Bluff Daily News

Spring flows from Trinity River announced

The Bureau of Reclamation recently announced this year’s restoration flow schedule for the Trinity River. … Due to lack of precipitation and snowpack in the Trinity Mountains this winter, the flow schedule for 2022 is scaled to a critically dry water year. Critically dry is one of five water year types used by the Trinity River Restoration Program to determine how much reservoir water will be released in support of the program’s goals to improve habitat for anadromous fish—fish that migrate to fresh water from salt water to spawn—like salmon and steelhead.

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Aquafornia news April 20, 2022 KDRV - Medford

Federal funds for forests include Oregon, California

$31-million in federal funds planned for forest landscape restoration include projects in Southern Oregon and Northern California involving the Rogue Basin, Lakeview and Western Klamath Mountains. The Biden-Harris Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service announced the funding today for 15 projects that “aim to reduce the risk of severe wildfires, support local economies, create jobs and enhance forest and watershed health in eight states … [including] $3 million to the Western Klamath Mountains Fire and Fire Resiliency Project … [and] $3 million in the North Yuba River watershed across 356,000 acres.

Related articles: 

  • Daily Democrat: UC Davis assists landowners in conducting prescribed burns
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Aquafornia news April 20, 2022 Associated Press

Klamath Tribes: Plan will devastate critically endangered sucker fish

A Native American tribe in Oregon said Tuesday it is assessing its legal options after learning the U.S. government plans to release water from a federally operated reservoir to downstream farmers along the Oregon-California border amid a historic drought. Even limited irrigation for the farmers who use Klamath River water on about 300 square miles of crops puts two critically endangered fish species in peril of extinction because the water withdrawals come at the height of spawning season, The Klamath Tribes said. 

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Aquafornia news April 19, 2022 Jefferson Public Radio

Klamath Tribes protest water released from Upper Klamath Lake

Members of the Klamath Tribal community gathered Friday morning in the parking lot next to the headgates to protest the Bureau of Reclamation’s decision to release water from the lake in apparent violation of Endangered Species Act requirements for the fish the tribe calls C’waam and Koptu (Lost River and shortnose suckers), and to call for solutions to the basin’s decades-long water crisis.

Related article: 

  • Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Opinion: Envisioning the Klamath without dams
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Aquafornia news April 19, 2022 San Francisco Chronicle

A vast California lake is set to run dry. Scientists are scrambling to save its endangered fish

Entering a third year of drought, the once-vast Tule Lake, a vestige of the area’s volcanic past and today a federally protected wetland, is shriveling up. Its floor is mostly cracked mud and tumbleweed. By summer, the lake is expected to run completely dry, a historic first for the region’s signature landmark and the latest chapter in a broader, escalating water war.

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Aquafornia news April 18, 2022 The Triplicate

Condors will soon fly over Northern California’s iconic redwoods for the first time in more than a century

The Yurok Tribe and Redwood National Park and State Parks will soon release the first four California condors to take flight in the heart of the bird’s former range since 1892. … Comprised of biologists and technicians from the Yurok Tribe and Redwood National and State Parks, the Northern California Condor Restoration Program will collaboratively manage the flock from a newly constructed condor release and management facility near the Klamath River. 

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Western Water October 24, 2019 California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Understanding Streamflow Is Vital to Water Management in California, But Gaps In Data Exist
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: A new law aims to reactivate dormant stream gauges to aid in flood protection, water forecasting

Stream gauges gather important metrics such as  depth, flow (described as cubic feet per second) and temperature.  This gauge near downtown Sacramento measures water depth.California is chock full of rivers and creeks, yet the state’s network of stream gauges has significant gaps that limit real-time tracking of how much water is flowing downstream, information that is vital for flood protection, forecasting water supplies and knowing what the future might bring.

That network of stream gauges got a big boost Sept. 30 with the signing of SB 19. Authored by Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), the law requires the state to develop a stream gauge deployment plan, focusing on reactivating existing gauges that have been offline for lack of funding and other reasons. Nearly half of California’s stream gauges are dormant.

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Western Water October 19, 2018 Klamath River Watershed Map Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Gary Pitzer

California Leans Heavily on its Groundwater, But Will a Court Decision Tip the Scales Against More Pumping?
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Pumping near the Scott River in Siskiyou County sparks appellate court ruling extending public trust doctrine to groundwater connected to rivers

Scott River, in Siskiyou County. In 1983, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling extended the public trust doctrine to tributary creeks that feed Mono Lake, which is a navigable water body even though the creeks themselves were not. The ruling marked a dramatic shift in water law and forced Los Angeles to cut back its take of water from those creeks in the Eastern Sierra to preserve the lake.

Now, a state appellate court has for the first time extended that same public trust doctrine to groundwater that feeds a navigable river, in this case the Scott River flowing through a picturesque valley of farms and alfalfa in Siskiyou County in the northern reaches of California.

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Aquapedia background August 25, 2016

Headwaters

Sierra Nevada headwaters streamHeadwaters are the source of a stream or river. They are located at the furthest point from where the water body empties or merges with another. Two-thirds of California’s surface water supply originates in these mountainous and typically forested regions.

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Western Water Excerpt August 16, 2016 Jenn Bowles

Outdated Dams: When Removal Becomes an Option
Summer 2016

Mired in drought, expectations are high that new storage funded by Prop. 1 will be constructed to help California weather the adverse conditions and keep water flowing to homes and farms.

At the same time, there are some dams in the state eyed for removal because they are obsolete – choked by accumulated sediment, seismically vulnerable and out of compliance with federal regulations that require environmental balance.

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Video May 27, 2014

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages (20 min. DVD)

20-minute version of the 2012 documentary The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages. This DVD is ideal for showing at community forums and speaking engagements to help the public understand the complex issues related to complex water management disputes in the Klamath River Basin. Narrated by actress Frances Fisher.

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Video May 27, 2014

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages (60 min. DVD)

For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and California border has faced complex water management disputes. As relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp, farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists – all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water. After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the documentary here.

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Video May 27, 2014

A Climate of Change: Water Adaptation Strategies

This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an excellent overview of climate change and how it is already affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are underway to plan and adapt to climate.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Klamath River Watershed Map
Published 2011

This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas and Indian reservations within the Klamath River Watershed. The map text explains the many issues facing this vast, 15,000-square-mile watershed, including fish restoration; agricultural water use; and wetlands. Also included are descriptions of the separate, but linked, Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement, and the next steps associated with those agreements. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

California Water Map, Spanish

Spanish language version of our California Water Map

Versión en español de nuestro mapa de agua de California

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Video April 17, 2014

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages
Hosted by Frances Fisher

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages
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Maps & Posters April 17, 2014 California Water Bundle

California Water Map
Updated December 2016

A new look for our most popular product! And it’s the perfect gift for the water wonk in your life.

Our 24×36 inch California Water Map is widely known for being the definitive poster that shows the integral role water plays in the state. On this updated version, it is easier to see California’s natural waterways and man-made reservoirs and aqueducts – including federally, state and locally funded projects – the wild and scenic rivers system, and natural lakes. The map features beautiful photos of California’s natural environment, rivers, water projects, wildlife, and urban and agricultural uses and the text focuses on key issues: water supply, water use, water projects, the Delta, wild and scenic rivers and the Colorado River.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014 California Water Map Layperson's Guide to California Water

Pacific Flyway

The Pacific Flyway is one of four major North American migration routes for birds, especially waterfowl, and extends from Alaska and Canada, through California, to Mexico and South America. Each year, birds follow ancestral patterns as they travel the flyway on their annual north-south migration. Along the way, they need stopover sites such as wetlands with suitable habitat and food supplies. In California, 90 percent of historic wetlands have been lost.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

Klamath River Basin Chronology

1849-1850 Gold discovered in the Lower Klamath Basin. Farms and ranches established in the Scott and Shasta valleys.

1855 Klamath River Reservation established on the Lower Klamath River.

1864 Hoopa Valley Tribe and Klamath Tribes cede most of their lands for settlement but retain large reservations.

1868 Two farmers dig first irrigation ditch in the Upper Klamath Basin.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

Klamath Basin Water Quality

 Klamath Basin Water Quality

On the Klamath River, the Upper Klamath Basin’s aquatic ecosystems are naturally very productive due to its phosphorus-rich geology.

However, this high productivity makes the Basin’s lakes vulnerable to water quality problems.

Nutrient loads in the Upper Klamath Basin are a primary driver of water quality problems along the length of the Klamath River, including algal blooms in the Klamath Hydroelectric Project reservoirs. Municipal and industrial discharges of wastewater in the Klamath Falls area add to the nutrient load.

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Aquapedia background February 10, 2014

Klamath Basin Chinook and Coho Salmon

 Klamath Basin Chinook and Coho Salmon

The Klamath Basin’s Chinook salmon and coho salmon serve a vital role in the watershed.

Together, they are key to the region’s water management, habitat restoration and fishing.

However, years of declining population have led to federally mandated salmon restoration plans—plans that complicate the diversion of Klamath water for agriculture and other uses.

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Western Water Magazine January 1, 2004

Remnants of the Past: Management Challenges of Terminal Lakes
January/February 2005

This issue of Western Water examines the challenges facing state, federal and tribal officials and other stakeholders as they work to manage terminal lakes. It includes background information on the formation of these lakes, and overviews of the water quality, habitat and political issues surrounding these distinctive bodies of water. Much of the information in this article originated at the September 2004 StateManagement Issues at Terminal Water Bodies/Closed Basins conference.

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Western Water Excerpt May 1, 2000 Sue McClurgRita Schmidt Sudman

The Klamath River Basin: A Microcosm of Water in the West
May/Jun 2000

The story of the Klamath River is the story of two basins.

In the upper basin, farming has long been the way of life. Even before passage of the 1902 Reclamation Act, settlers had begun the arduous process of reclaiming vast tracts of wetlands and transforming them into rich farmland.

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