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http://redding.com/news/editorial/past/20031025edt021.shtml
Klamath report spreads the pain of habitat repair
Bruce Ross
Published: October 25, 2003 in Editorial
The scientists examining the Klamath Basin water
shortage and salmon die-off for the National
Research Council have ruled, and the farmers are
happy: It was not irrigation diversions that led to
last fall's salmon die-off on the river.
In what is surely no coincidence, the US Fish and
Wildlife Service also let slip out a report this
week, and its scientists have ruled: Irrigation
diversions delayed the salmon's migration, which
allowed the spread of the disease that caused the
die-off.
It appears that Olympian, objective science will not
cure all our troubles, but the National Research
Council report, compiled by a national panel of
scientists, does serve up some painful hope. Are you
ready?
All we need to do to heal the ailing chinook
population is tear out a few dams (including Iron
Gate, a hydroelectric producer, and Dwinnell, which
creates Lake Shastina) more tightly control cattle
grazing near streams, decrease logging along Klamath
tributaries, buy groundwater to send downstream, and
cut hatchery production of salmon so the wild fish
can expand in their ecological niche. And that
doesn't even start on helping the shortnosed
suckers.
The council put a short-term price of $25 million to
$35 million on the steps to help the salmon runs
recover, but that seems to lowball the economic
impacts.
Rather than shrink at the scope of the task, a
better perspective is to marvel at the diverse ways
to improve fish stocks. The Klamath Basin water
shortage is a big, complex problem with solutions to
match. The National Research Council report takes a
refreshingly broad view of the debate.
Is it fish versus farms? Don't be petty. It's about
the whole habitat. If it weren't for dozens of dams
blocking spawning areas, the salmon would have a
better shot. If the tributaries were healthier, the
main-stem Klamath would flow cleaner and colder.
There's even a techno-wonder solution for the
suckers: injecting supplemental oxygen into Upper
Klamath Lake to create a gill-friendly refuge when
dying algae blooms suck the life out of the water.
Even the environmentalists agree that the report
serves up smart solutions in the long run, though
they question whether the fish populations will
survive to appreciate them.
Maybe the big-picture thinking will trickle down.
Could all the hostile energy in the Klamath Basin be
redirected toward fixing broken habitat? Could
farmers join with environmentalists in working to
repair degraded stream banks? That sort of teamwork
is what will save Klamath Basin agriculture. Are
environmentalists willing to concede that the farms
have a valuable place, and work toward preserving a
threatened human type, the rough-handed Klamath
horseradish grower?
Probably not. Bitter feuds leave legacies. But the
National Research Council has handed anyone who
really cares about improving the health of the
basin, instead of scoring points, a long checklist
to get to work on.
©2003-2003 Record Searchlight
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