Medford - A coalition of
conservation groups today released a new report
detailing the chronic degradation that threatens
the six National Wildlife Refuges of the Klamath
Basin, and examines how refuge restoration could
play a key role in solving the Klamath water
crisis. Conservationists also announced the
availability of guided tours of the Klamath
refuges for members of the news media and
decision-makers.
"The Klamath Basin wildlife refuges are some of
the most precious public lands in America, but
they are in serious trouble" said Bob Hunter, a
staff attorney with WaterWatch. "In Oregon and
throughout the nation few people are aware of the
fact that these spectacular refuges are literally
dying for water."
The report, titled "Refuges in Peril: Fish,
Wildlife, and the Klamath Water Crisis", was
prepared jointly by WaterWatch, the Oregon Natural
Resources Council, Earthjustice, and The
Wilderness Society. It documents the history of
the Klamath refuges, and the values they were
intended to protect. Through maps and full color
photographs it highlights what has been lost as
the Bureau of Reclamation's massive Klamath
Irrigation Project has replaced the basin's
once-vast network of lakes and marshes with high
desert agriculture. The report also explores the
amazing natural beauty of these precious public
lands, including the dramatic waterfowl migrations
that have led some to call the Klamath marshes
"the Everglades of the West."
The Untold Story of the Klamath Water
Crisis
The ongoing water crisis in the Klamath Basin has
been a hotbed of controversy in recent years. But
while public attention has been drawn by
anti-government protests by irrigation interests
and the tragic 2002 salmon kill on the Klamath
River, the plight of the basin's National Wildlife
Refuges has largely been ignored. "Refuges in
Peril" aims to increase public awareness of the
problems facing the refuges, and generate public
demand for solutions.
During the water crisis of 2001 conservation
groups were forced to go to court in order to
compel the Bush administration to provide water
for threatened bald eagles on the refuges. In 2002
refuge wetlands again went dry while adjacent
fields of potatoes and alfalfa within the Klamath
Irrigation Project were irrigated normally. And in
2003 the refuges received approximately half of
the water they needed to support the fall
migration of waterfowl through the region.
The ongoing water shortages have been
compounded by the presence of commercial
agricultural operations on refuge lands. Tule Lake
and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges,
located on the Oregon/California border, lease
approximately 22,000 acres of land within their
boundaries for commercial agricultural operations.
Land that was set aside for eagles and geese is
instead managed for potatoes and onions, requiring
the use of toxic pesticides, fertilizers, and an
enormous quantity of water. The lease-land program
consumes a staggering 16 billion gallons of water
each year-and the commercial farms always have a
higher priority for water than do the critical
refuge wetlands.
"When Teddy Roosevelt created Lower Klamath
National Wildlife Refuge he intended for it to be
a haven for birds, not tractors," observed Jim
McCarthy, policy analyst with the Oregon Natural
Resources Council. "Are these wildlife refuges or
potato refuges?"
2004: Another Tough Year for Klamath
Wildlife
The recently released Bureau of Reclamation 2004
operations plan for the Klamath Irrigation Project
contains disturbing news for wildlife. While
irrigators will face only modest water use
restrictions this summer, water deliveries to the
National Wildlife Refuges will once again fail to
meet full fish and wildlife needs. The plan calls
for Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife
Refuges to receive a total of just 25,000
acre-feet of water. While this is an improvement
over the 2003 plan, it falls far below the
approximately 70,000 acre feet needed for Lower
Klamath National Wildlife Refuge alone. It is also
falls short of the 32,500 acre feet that refuge
managers concluded in 2001 was the bare minimum
needed to sustain the refuges' threatened bald
eagles.
But even the meager amount of water provided
under the plan is not certain. Page 8 of the
Bureau's 2004 operation plan states that: "Should
additional requirements for Project water develop
then Project water deliveries to refuges could be
further reduced. If additional hydrological
shortages occur, refuge deliveries could be
completely curtailed."
Finding Real Solutions to the Klamath
Water Crisis
While much of the report focuses on the problems
these public lands face, "Refuges in Peril" also
points the way towards a better future by
suggesting actions that can be taken today to
restore and protect the natural resources of the
Klamath Basin.
The report argues that no effort to solve the
Klamath water crisis can succeed unless it
addresses the fact that state and federal
officials have promised too much water to too many
different interests in the basin. Ending the lease
land farming program and restoring refuge marshes
could play an important role in solving the
crisis. Doing so would reduce summertime demand
for water within the Klamath Project by 10%, and
allow marshes to be managed as a natural water
storage system for the Klamath River.
"We have simply promised too much water to too
many different interests in the Klamath Basin,"
said Bob Hunter. "There won't be enough water for
the salmon, for the refuges, and for fish in Upper
Klamath Lake until we can bring the demand for
this precious resource back into balance with
supply."
For more information on the report, or to arrange
a guided tour of Lower Klamath and Tule Lake
National Wildlife Refuges, contact Bob Hunter at
(541) 772-6116.
