Final Report Confirms Cause Of Klamath Fish Kill

Nearly two years after the country's largest fish kill, the California Department of Fish and Game released its final report today concluding that the massive fish kill on the Klamath River was caused by insufficient water flows. Congressman Mike Thompson (D-Napa Valley) called this announcement, and the fact that flows on the Klamath River are lower today than in 2002, further evidence that the U.S. Department of Interior is ignoring downstream coastal interests. “This report comes to the same conclusion as its 2003 preliminary report and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report, low flows administered by the Department of Interior led to the largest adult fish kill in our country's history,” Thompson said. “However the sad part of the equation is that the Bush Administration is still showing that they don't care about the downstream communities.” The over-subscription and poor management of water in the Klamath Basin has caused a catastrophe in the lower Klamath Basin. The impact of the 2002 fish kill is so pervasive that it has been felt by fishing communities from Washington State to the San Francisco Bay. “The health of the Klamath River's fishery determines the fishing season and catch limits for commercial fishermen from Washington State to the central coast of California,” said Thompson. Catch limits have already been reduced all along the Pacific Coast due to the Klamath fish kill, and experts believe this will continue for the next 4-6 years. During the last 40 years, the Klamath went from the 3rd largest salmon and steelhead river in the continental U.S., generating a $1.25 billion coastal fishery, to one of the most threatened. This has enormous impacts on logging, development, fishing and local business related jobs. Congressman Thompson introduced legislation to help solve the Klamath's problems. His legislation, the Klamath River Basin Restoration and Emergency Assistance Act, offers incentives to make irrigation systems more efficient, to grow drought resistant crops and gives willing landowners a choice to sell their land to conserve water in the Klamath Basin. These options would reduce the regulatory pressure on farmers and provide relief to fisheries. ###