California Fish And Game Report On Klamath Fish Kill -- California Capitol Hill Bulletin -- Volume 10, Bulletin 1 -- January 9, 2003

The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) released a report on January 3, 2003 analyzing the cause of the dramatic loss of fish in the Lower Klamath River during late September of 2002. The report, September 2002 Klamath River Fish Kill: Preliminary Analysis of Contributing Factors, found that during September 2002, a minimum of 33,000 adult salmon, steelhead trout, and other fish species were killed in the Lower Klamath River as a result of naturally occurring pathogens. The report considers the kill "highly significant" because approximately 25 percent of the projected Chinook salmon run were killed prior to spawning. DFG concludes that the die-off was the result of lower water flows in the river. The report states, "The DFG concludes that low [water] flows restricted fish passage and increased fish density thereby causing the 2002 fish kill on the Lower Klamath River. Furthermore, of the conditions that can cause or exacerbate a fish kill, flow is the only factor that can be controlled to any degree. Flow is regulated by upstream reservoirs operated by the USBR [U.S. Bureau of Reclamation] on both the Klamath and Trinity rivers. There is substantial risk for future fish kills...."

The report includes several recommendations for management of the Klamath River with respect to fishery resources. Among them are an investigation to determine the water flows necessary to allow unimpaired upstream passage of adult salmon and steelhead and reinitiation by the Bureau of Reclamation and National Marine Fisheries Service of an Endangered Species Act consultation for coho salmon on the operations of the Klamath project. The report and recommendations were submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, a division of the Department of Interior.

Rep. Mike Thompson (St. Helena) has actively pursued the cause for the fish kill with both federal and state authorities. He plans to reintroduce his bill from last Congress (H.R. 5698) calling for a basin-wide legislative solution to the Klamath Basin's water problems.

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