Klamath Tribes vs USBR, USFWS, NMFS
The Klamath Tribes filed a lawsuit
Wednesday under the Endangered Species Act challenging
federal regulators to prevent a mass die-off of suckerfish
this summer in Upper Klamath Lake.
Filed in federal court in Norther
California, the Tribes called on the Bureau of Reclamation,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries
Service to take “immediate, emergency measures” to provide
enough water for C’waam and Koptu (Lost River and shortnose
suckers, respectively).
Tribal Chairman Don Gentry said, if a
drought this summer is as severe as expected, the fish will
be in danger unless the lake is deep enough for them to find
safe water away from pollution and toxic algae blooms.
“We’re in a very, very serious
situation with our fish and unfortunately things are so dire
with the projections and there’s so much at risk we’ve had
to take this extreme measure to keep the fish from going
extinct,” said Gentry.
The case has been assigned to Judge
William Orrick and an initial conference is scheduled for
Aug. 21. The Tribes is represented by Rosette LLP, which
specializes in federal Indian law.
Fair warning
The Tribes filed a notice of intent to
sue Feb. 9, claiming the federal agencies in question were
violating the ESA though mismanagement of the Klamath
Reclamation Project and Upper Klamath Lake. The Tribes said
a 2013 biological opinion guiding management of the sucker
species has been violated, and was inadequate to begin with,
by not accounting for recent drier-than-expected years.
Wednesday’s lawsuit reiterated these
concerns and emphasized the importance of C’waam and Koptu
to the Tribes. A press release Thursday said, according to
the Tribes’ creation story, if the sucker go away, the
people go away.
“Where we come from as a people, these
fish are our lives and our livelihood and our sustenance and
our culture,” said Gentry. “… We need to do everything that
we can that we have control over to protect our fish from
going extinct.”
Drought anxiety
This lawsuit comes amid concerns among
other water users in the Klamath Basin who are also be
impacted by the drought. Klamath County commissioners have
estimated the drought could cost $557 million in agriculture
revenue and around 4,500 jobs.
In response to the Tribes’ lawsuit,
the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) issued a release
Thursday claiming higher lake levels will not improve sucker
conditions.
“This action could have devastating
impacts on good and honest people and our regional economy,
and to what end?” said Scott White, executive director for
KWUA.
Brad Kirby, president of KWUA and
general manager for the Tulelake Irrigation District,
criticized the Tribes’ decision to litigate the matter and
said they should have engaged in opportunities for
out-of-court negotiations.
“They’ve had many opportunities and
this community deserves better,” said Kirby, with the
release stating the decision to sue “is not going to sit
well” with irrigators.
Both sides of the coin
Gentry said he was not deaf to the
concerns of irrigators and said he hoped they would see the
Tribes’ perspective of potentially losing a cultural and
food resource. He said the struggle between the Tribes and
irrigators for water has “always been a difficult thing” and
said the current conflict is not a position any of them want
to be in.
“They’re both important and I hope the
community would realize that,” he said of agriculture and
fisheries. “We’re just in an unhealthy situation that isn’t
sustainable.”
When asked if he saw a potential
settlement solution that could guide such conflicts in the
future, Gentry said the Klamath Tribes is not focusing on
such negotiations right now and is instead concentrating on
protecting the fish.
“We’re just not to a place to discuss
a water balance until we know our fish are in a healthy
situation, and even then that would be up to our general
members,” he said. “... History has shown that we have been
workable. We’re just backed into a corner now.”
Scientific concerns
Gentry did address claims that higher
water levels would not help the fish and said, according to
biologists working with the Tribes, there is a direct link
between water quality and lake levels. He said current lake
levels have gone below what was recommended in the 2013
biological opinion, and recommended levels should even be
higher based on their research.
In Thursday’s news release, tribal
biologist Mark Buettner said the challenge is that young
fish born upstream are unable to survive in current lake
conditions, leaving only the older population to reproduce.
When this older population dies off, Buettner said it
creates a bottleneck where too few fish can replace those
the older generation.
“These fish are reaching a tipping
point,” said Buettner. “Too many fish are dying before
they’re old enough to reproduce.”
Strong responses
When asked how members of the Tribes
should react to news of the lawsuit, Gentry said he is
concerned at times like this about “pushback or retaliation”
by those who oppose the Tribes’ efforts. He said he would
ask members to not react harshly if confronted — or not
react at all — and to encourage people to understand where
they’re coming from.
“I’m always concerned about tribal
members and their safety,” he said.
