Karuk Strike Yet Again

[Hoser John]

An irrigation district in Siskiyou County has settled a lawsuit to provide more water for coho salmon in the Shasta River.

The settlement provides from 2,250 acre-feet of water a year to 11,000 acre-feet to be released from Dwinnell Dam, which creates Lake Shastina, to make sure there is enough water for the endangered salmon downstream in the river.

Before the agreement signed Dec. 20, the fish were getting only a couple hundred acre-feet of water annually, said Craig Tucker, Klamath coordinator for the Karuk Tribe, which sued the Montague Water Conservation District along with the Klamath Riverkeeper.

“We worked hard to find a solution that would start the fisheries restoration process but keep our neighbors in agriculture whole,” said Buster Attebery, Karuk chairman.

The settlement also requires the district to get an “incidental take” permit, required under the federal endangered species act. The district is also increasing water flows from Parks Creek, a tributary to the Shasta River, and installing fish screens in the creek to protect the fish.

The district has also agreed to pay $550,000 in legal fees over the next six years to the Klamath Riverkeeper and the tribe, the district said in a statement.

District officials said the costs to the district are a burden and the has been forced it to lay off all but one of its employees.

“The financial reality was that MWCD had to settle the lawsuit or permanently close its doors for the simple fact it could not afford to continue and defend itself in this complex, aggressive lawsuit,” a statement issued by the district board of directors says.

The district provides irrigation to more than 220 farms and other agricultural operations in the Shasta Valley, as well as drinking water to the city of Montague.

Tucker said the amount of water released from Dwinnell Dam into the Shasta River, a tributary to the Klamath River, will vary annually depending on how much water is available from rainfall and snow runoff.

“Since Dwinnell Dam was built in 1926, nearly the entire river has been diverted, leaving salmon high and dry. This has been a key factor in the decline of ESA (Endangered Species Act) listed coho salmon,” said Leaf Hillman, the Karuk’s director of natural resources.

END OF DISTRICT,END OF FARMERS,END OF MULTIPLE CITIES WATERSOURCE--THANK YOUR LOCAL KARUK INJUNS SOB'S-John.