June 2003
Reprint from PCFFA on California Resources Secretary's second letter to Interior Secretary Norton.
In a second strongly worded letter to Secretary of Interior Gale Norton, whose federal agency includes the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, California Resources Secretary Mary Nichols wrote on 19 May saying:
"In light of the loss of over 30,000 salmon last year on the Klamath River, I strongly urge the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) to revisit their approach to operations of the Klamath River Project. Unfortunately, the 2003 Klamath Project Operations Plan—released on 10 April—does not reflect any change in the 10-year plan and flow schedules put in place.... California strongly feels that the current flow schedule is inadequate to protect the Klamath River's Coho and Chinook salmon and steelhead trout."
In the letter, Secretary Nichols also blasted the limited scientific basis for the USBR's current 10-year Klamath Irrigation Project flow regime, and called for immediate reconsultation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to take into account new information from the massive September 2002 fish kill. She also called for the completion and final release of the "Hardy Phase 2 Report," an important flow study that has been several years in the making and has been in final draft form since November of 2001, but has been repeatedly delayed by Bush Administration officials for more than 18 months amidst speculation that it is being deliberately suppressed.
The Hardy Flow Study was intended to determine the recovery level water needs for lower river salmon, but recommends flows far larger than those USBR is willing to release from the federal Klamath Irrigation Project. The State of California has long recommended similar lower river flows, as has the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, as necessary in order to preserve viable Klamath salmon populations and to prevent their extinction. These requests have so far been ignored.
These requests are very similar to those Secretary Nichols made in an earlier letter to Secretary Norton dated 11 October 2002, but to which she has never received a response (see Sublegals, 6:16/01). Her 19 May letter also again noted that the California Department of Fish & Game (CDFG) concluded in a written report that near-record low flows released at Iron Gate Dam, which is controlled by the USBR, were the principle driving factor behind the 2002 fish kill, considered the worst in U.S. history.
The CDFG Report also concluded that, unless flows to the lower river are substantially increased, the lower Klamath salmon runs will continue to face a very high risk of future major fish kills (see Sublegals, 7:02/01). Lower river interests are currently awaiting a federal judge's ruling in a major legal challenge to the legality of the USBR 10-year water plan, in the case PCFFA, et. al., vs. National Marine Fisheries Service, US Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Dist. N. CA., Civil Case No. C02-2006-SBA (see Sublegals, 7:17/13; 7:16/08; 7:15/07; 7:13/02; 7:09/03; 7:03/11).