| Fish or Farms?Salmon die in the Klamath due to Bush administration decisionsby Hannah A. LeeThe Klamath River Basin of Oregon and California, once home to thethird-largest salmon run in the continent, has in the past coupleyears suffered enormous degradation as fish stocks have declined bythe thousands. During the year 2001 there was an immense drought inthe basin resulting in many protests by farmers as the federal Bureauof Reclamation diverted water from irrigation to protect fish,including the endangered coho salmon. Disgruntled at the cut in theirsubsidized water sources, farmers made national headlines last year byconvincing the Bureau to redirect water to farming operations. The result has been nothing short of disastrous. With a severe droughtand low water levels due to reduced flows in the Klamath, watertemperatures soared, spreading virus infections among salmon atepidemic levels. In the late summer months, the Bureau twice askedfarmers in the region to conserve their water, with little effect,leading to further reduced flows in the river. By early Septembertemperatures had climbed to 80 degrees, several degrees above levelsthat were already fatal to salmon. E Magazine reports that at least33,000 fish have perished this season due to the low water levels(www.emagazine.com/january-february_2003/0103ib_klamath.html). Amongthe species that fell victim were chinook, steelhead and coho salmon,the latter of which are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Regional biologists claim that the kill is the obvious consequence ofwater diversions for agricultural use, coupled with dirty farmwaterrunoff. Yet administration officials state they are unsure as to theexact reasons for the fish kill. In late October, Michael Kelly of theNMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) charged that the Bureau ofReclamation was pushed by the Bush administration to violate theendangered species law by diverting the much-needed water to farmers,according to the E Magazine report. The White House denies knowingwhat caused the kill, but reports by environmentalists show that earlythis season, the administration gave permission for supplying evenmore water for agricultural use, reasoning that there "isn'tsufficient justification for saving water for fish." Thousands of deadfish now say otherwise, as do various state, local, tribal andenvironmental groups which stalwartly claim that the government is atfault for the tragedy. The effects of such an ecologically calamitous event are legion.Declining fish populations are bound to devastate the native Yurok andKaruk tribes, the two largest in California, not to mention thedownriver fishing communities of the Klamath region. The fishes'reproduction cycle of three to five years implies slow recovery, whichcould be aggravated in the coming years by worsening ocean conditionsthat could put them near extinction. What used to be a rich andthriving ecosystem is put to rout by the self-serving demands ofhumankind--in this case bolstered by a government that appears tobelieve it can get away with glutting the Klamath for purelyagricultural uses, at the expense of species survival and the manyother human groups who rely on the resources of the area. Klamathfarmers demonstrated their tendencies toward excess by the hugequantities of water flooding local highways from over-irrigatedfields. Acts like this beg several questions: When will ourinstitutions realize that our treatment of the already-crumblingbiosphere carries consequences that hit closer to home than wepresume? Is there any wonder that other nations view us with suchdisgust and resentment? How about a paradigm-shift that will allow usto see fish and water as more than "natural resources" to beexploited? Lester Brown of the Worldwatch Institute states the goal ofthe environmental movement as "sustainability," defined as "thecapacity to satisfy current needs without jeopardizing the prospectsfor future generations." The problem is: who is to define the meaningof "current needs"? At the going rate to satisfy the needs ofagriculture, there could be no hope for those future generations. Inboth bureaucratic and personal spheres, sacrifices need to be made.The Bush administration needs to know that saying fish don't needwater for survival is like saying humans don't require oxygen. Write or call Oregon senator Gordon Smith, asking that he seek fundingin Congress for the buyout of willing sellers in the Klamath Basin todecrease the demand for irrigation water. If the river suffers,suffering with it are fish and entire communities that depend on it:Senator Gordon Smith, 121 SW Salmon, Suite 1250, Portland, OR97204-2901, Phone: 503.326.3386, Fax: 503.326.2900
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