Fish Kill Averted - Department of Interior Agrees to Release Water Into Klamath River

After weeks of lobbying by tribes and experts monitoring water levels and temperature in the Klamath River, Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell has authorized the release of water from its largest tributary to avert a fish kill. With California suffering from prolonged drought, the Hoopa Valley, Karuk and Yurok tribes have been pressing officials to release water from Trinity River dams to prevent disease from starting and spreading among fish. Conditions, they said, had been dangerously close to those that killed tens of thousands of fish in 2002, compromising fisheries and traditional ways of life for years. On August 22 the Bureau of Reclamation announced it will reverse a June 30 decision not to release water and will instead take water from Trinity Reservoir “to supplement flows in the lower Klamath River to help protect the returning run of adult Chinook salmon,” according to a statement. “We have determined that unprecedented conditions over the past few weeks in the lower Klamath River require us to take emergency measures to help reduce the potential for a large-scale fish die-off,” said Mid-Pacific Regional Director David Murillo in the statement. “This decision was made based on science and after consultation with Tribes, water and power users, federal and state fish regulatory agencies, and others.”...more

Funny how that science changed in just 60 days.  Gov't mgt = Political mgt, not scientific mgt.