Endangered suckers and salmon in the Klamath Basin face a
\ngreater shot at survival thanks to federal funds awarded this week. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron
\nWyden announced the first 33 Klamath Basin restoration projects to receive
\nfunds totaling more than $26 million this year. The money is part of $162
\nmillion from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for improving the ailing
\nhealth of the Klamath Basin in Oregon and California during the next five
\nyears. <\/p>\n
All of the projects are dedicated to restoring fish
\npopulations and habitats, especially endangered Lost River and shortnose sucker
\nfish and coho and chinook salmon. <\/p>\n
Fourteen of the projects will help Oregon. Nearly half of
\nthe money this year, $10 million, will go to the Klamath Falls National Fish
\nHatchery to breed 60,000 sucker fish annually. The fish are native to Upper
\nKlamath Lake and are vital to the Klamath Tribes, but their populations have
\nplummeted due to drought, over-irrigation, pollution and habitat loss. <\/p>\n
The Klamath Basin, encompassing the 250-mile long Klamath
\nRiver that flows from south-central Oregon through northern California and out
\nto the Pacific Ocean, has experienced three decades of record-setting drought
\nand a growing number of wildfires due to climate change. That has caused
\ndespair and tension over water use and the future of critical fish and
\nwildlife.<\/p>\n
Last week, the Klamath Irrigation District, a public utility
\nthat oversees water distribution to farmers and ranchers in Klamath County,
\ndefied a federal order to temporarily stop delivering water from the depleted
\nbasin to its customers. It reversed course this week when federal officials
\nthreatened to withhold millions of dollars for drought relief. <\/p>\n
?\u201cThe Klamath Basin has fought to survive?back-to-back
\nsummers of the worst drought in memory,\u201d Merkley said in a statement announcing
\nthe first of the projects to receive infrastructure act dollars: \u201cFrom
\nbusinesses and families to fish and wildlife, the impact of the drought throughout
\nthe basin is deep.\u201d?<\/p>\n
Merkley said the total funding won\u2019t just help restore fish
\nhabitats, but also will help everyone in the basin suffering from limited water
\nsupplies. <\/p>\n
\u201c(It) will make the water we have go further for the
\nfarmers, households and ecosystems in the basin,\u201d Merkley said, adding, \u201cWe
\nstill have a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
The projects<\/b><\/p>\n
Federal officials chose the 33 projects from 88 proposals
\nsubmitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by tribes, local and state
\nagencies, nonprofits and conservation groups since March. <\/p>\n
They include $2.6 million for water-pumping stations to
\nimprove wetlands in the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges
\nacross Oregon and California, which both rely on water from Upper Klamath Lake.
\nThe pumping stations will improve water supplies on 20,000 acres of wetlands in
\nboth refuges and improve the efficiency of irrigation systems on 20,000 acres
\nof agricultural land, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife. <\/p>\n
Oregon and California will also collaborate on a
\nfish-tracking system that\u2019s getting a $1.2 million investment this year. The
\nfocus will be on monitoring fall chinook salmon and endangered sucker fish
\nspecies, and later it will grow to include nearly all migratory fish in the
\nKlamath Basin. <\/p>\n
In Oregon, a project to reduce fertilizer pollution in the
\nSprague and Williamson rivers that are causing phosphorus contamination in
\nUpper Klamath Lake and killing sucker fish will get $200,000.<\/p>\n
More than $200,000 will go to improving habitat for
\nendangered bull trout and sucker fish on the Sprague, which is a critical
\nspawning ground for both fish species. More than $100,000 will help restore
\nriparian areas and stream conditions destroyed in the 2021 Bootleg Fire. It was
\nthe third-largest fire in Oregon during the last century. <\/p>\n
The Klamath Tribes will receive more than $1 million to
\nbreed and monitor more Lost River suckers and to restore some of their spawning
\nsites. They\u2019ll also receive nearly $1 million more to grow their own chinook
\nsalmon fishery. The Klamath Tribes have not had access to native Klamath River
\nsalmon fisheries for more than a 100 years.<\/p>\n
Wyden and Merkley also announced that the Bureau of
\nReclamation would invest $2.2 million into a grant program to improve coho
\nsalmon habitats in the basin.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The federal Infrastructure Act dollars being distributed
\nthis year come on top of an additional $15 million Merkley said he secured from
\nU.S. Fish and Wildlife for Klamath Basin fish and habitat restoration projects
\nthis year. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Endangered suckers and salmon in the Klamath Basin face a greater shot at survival thanks to federal funds awarded this week. On Wednesday, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced the first 33 Klamath Basin restoration projects to receive funds totaling more than $26 million this year. The money is part of $162 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n