RON COLE, manager, Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex 

 

Birds finally arriving at refuges following water allocation last month   

 

By LEE JUILLERAT

H&N Regional Editor

November 7, 2010

 

  

   The birds are arriving, and Ron Cole is hoping for a wet winter.

   “The birds that are flying through are stopping,” said Cole, manager of the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

   He has spent the last seven months worrying about lack of water, especially at the Lower Klamath refuge, which normally sees more than half of the migratory waterfowl traveling through the Basin.

   “We’re certainly a long way from what we would consider normal,” Cole said.

   After asking the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in September to release 15,000 acre-feet of water for the nearly dry refuge, the complex finally received authorization for 7,500 acre-feet in early October.

   “Though it was received later than we hoped, the water’s certainly been put to good use,” Cole said, noting areas selected to receive the water were populated by about 100,000 migrating waterfowl, mostly pintail ducks, by late October. “The birds have responded quite well.”

   He expects the water will help migrating waterfowl through early November, but remains anxious about what happens through the winter. Recent rain and snow have been welcome, but he cautioned, “This has been helpful for early season migrants, but we don’t peak until November. We still have a considerable water deficit.”

   Cole also said until the Bureau allocated the water, large numbers of migratory waterfowl didn’t stop. “We definitely got passed over.”

   “This year was harder on the refuge and migratory birds. We’re really in a hole,” Cole said in comparing this year’s water shortage with 2001.

   Because of dry conditions since 2009, he said, the refuge has only about 20 to 25 percent of the water needed to be at full capacity.

   “I think it was surprising to some people how dry the refuge became and how quickly it became dry,” he said, noting the refuges are important economically because they lure hunters, bird watchers and help with tourism, including events like the annual Winter Wings Festival. “It shows how important water is up and down the watershed.”

 

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