native american casino near klamath falls

What’s going on with that? And has it happened before? A group led by two Klamath Basin farmers is threatening to break into the headgates of the main irrigation canal - owned by the Bureau of Reclamation - to turn the water back on for agriculture. Migratory birds traveling along the Pacific Flyway also depend on water in several national wildlife refuges in the basin that could go dry this summer.ĥ. Shasta, a fatal parasite that thrives in warm, shallow water.

According to Yurok biologists, 97% of a sample of juvenile salmon captured on a stretch of the Klamath River last month were infected with c.

Further down the Klamath River, in California, Chinook and endangered Coho salmon are similarly important to the Yurok and Karuk tribes. Members of the Klamath Tribes need water in Upper Klamath Lake to protect two species of endangered sucker fish, known as C’waam and Koptu, that are culturally important to the tribe. What about those endangered species in Upper Klamath Lake and further down the Klamath River on the California side? Farmers are far from the only ones who rely on water in the Klamath Basin. With record low inflows, water can’t be released without risking extinction for the struggling fish.Ĥ. Why is water being cut off to farmers? Under the Endangered Species Act, the water in Upper Klamath Lake must be maintained at a certain minimal level to protect endangered fish species that live in the lake. So-called “flushing” flows of water typically released down the Klamath River to ward off bacterial infections that are killing juvenile salmon were also cancelled.ģ.

The US Drought Monitor lists the region in the two most intense categories of drought: “extreme” and “exceptional.” In May, low water flowing into Upper Klamath Lake prompted water managers with the federal Bureau of Reclamation to cut off water to irrigated farmland almost completely. How bad is the drought in the Klamath Basin this year? Pretty bad. More than 1,200 family farms lean heavily on water from the Klamath Project, a federally-operated system of dams, canals and reservoirs that collect and store water along the border of Oregon and California.Ģ.

Why is this such a big issue in the Klamath Basin? The Klamath Basin is a largely agricultural region. There’s a drought all over the West right now.

Native american casino near klamath falls