https://www.heraldandnews.com/freeaccess/klamath-basin-waterfowl-in-peril-as-recently-restored-wetlands-on-national-refuges-denied-water/article_02c1d550-568d-11ef-b69c-af240a26eea7.html
Klamath
Basin waterfowl in peril as recently restored wetlands on
national refuges denied water
by
MOLLY O’BRIEN,
Herald and News August 13, 2024.
FOLLOWED BY
COMMENTS FROM KLAMATH BASIN CRISIS FACEBOOK PAGE
Another botulism outbreak is threatening the lives of hundreds
of thousands of waterfowl on wildlife refuges in the Klamath
Basin.
As temperatures rise and water levels drop, flightless
fledglings and molting waterfowl remain trapped in the unsafe
wetlands.
The Tulelake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges have
been teeming with life this season with water on the wetlands
for the first time in the four years since the largest waterfowl
die-off in Tulelake refuge’s history in 2020.
Klamath Water Users Association Director of Water Policy Moss
Driscoll recently took a water tour of the Tulelake refuge where
federal employees are collecting hundreds of dead waterfowl. An
estimated 500 carcasses were recovered on Aug. 8 alone.
“What we’re dealing with now is botulism,” Driscoll said.
“Because of the incidence of avian influenza which was
documented in the (Tulelake) refuge, they only have federal
employees doing the collections this year.”
Previous outbreaks of botulism were partially mitigated with
public volunteers aiding in the collection of carcasses and the
rehabilitation of ailing waterfowl in tented pools of clean
water and food.
“They’ve released tens of thousands of birds in years passed
when we’ve had an outbreak,” Driscoll said. “That will not be
possible this year.”
Carcass collection is crucial in reducing botulism infection in
a population, making the reduced collections a serious concern.
In an article from Waterfowl Magazine, California Waterfowl
Association biologist Brian Huber spoke on an increased need for
protein during waterfowl’s molting phases which leads to
increased consumption of aquatic invertebrates contaminated by
botulism.
Dead waterfowl floating in the water inevitably lead to maggots
that are then consumed by the molting and nesting water fowl,
furthering the spread of botulism.
Before annual flows were cut off in 2020, water was allocated to
wetlands on refuges lands annually, ensuring sufficient habitat
provisions.
In a long line of irrigators with water rights, the refuges come
last, often leaving them high and dry as longstanding droughts
continue year after year.
Photographer and co-creator of Friends of Klamath Basin Birding
Mary Williams Hyde frequents the refuges to photograph wildlife.
But in the months that have passed since flows pumping onto the
refuges were shut off weeks earlier than expected, stagnant
waters and high temperatures have created water stagnation and
increased bird mortality.
“Their numbers have dropped substantially,” Hyde said.
Though photography is her forte, Hyde became invested in the
birds traveling along the Pacific Flyway, now advocating for
their protection as well as that of their habitats.
“The whole thing of putting water in the refuges was a bandaid,”
Hyde said. “It was a positive step, but the real solutions
aren’t there yet.”
Hyde said she still sees a lot of progress taking place as time
passes and holds high hopes that all the parties will come
together to work on solutions.
“Maybe this is an opportunity to get people back at the
negotiating table,” Hyde said. “Because no one group can solve
this problem.”
Conditions similar to those the refuges are faced with now
caused a rampant outbreak of botulism in 2020, killing an
estimate 100,000 young and molting waterfowl.
With more than 300,000 birds on the Tulelake refuge today and no
rehabilitation efforts enabled, this year may break that
devastating record by the end of October.
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COMMENTS FROM KLAMATH BASIN CRISIS FACEBOOK
PAGE
Brian Quick:
Theres a lot of water in Upper Klamath Lake
evaporating away. Send some down to lower Klamath and save some
of those birds. They need lots of fresh, clean, deep water to
help reduce botulism outbreaks. What they have done down there
with small amounts of water is just make a bad situation worse.
Where are the real waterfowl managers. It would have been better
to leave it dry.
Gene Souza:
Brian Quick, I don't disagree.
I am not a biologist and many who made or recommended the
decision to return water to its natural location were not
biologists and were well informed by biologists this issue
would be upon us if we failed to do more. The fact is that
any water that is stagnant is not going to produce healthy
results.
We supported flood waters to
return to its natural location. We supported healing for our
ecosystem. We supported returning habitat for the Pacific
Flyway. We supported introducing endangered fish into these
natural habitats for the fish.
We have also introduced many
options for the federal government to adopt a "flow-through"
model to mitigate these effects. In fact, I proposed that a
flow-through should be part of the action that goes into
effect on 1 October. We have been ignored...
It is highly likely water will
make its way to the refuges...but will it too late to go to
any benefit at this late stage is beyond our control...and
without flow-through is will yet become stagnant water.
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