Tuesday April 12, 2005
By DYLAN DARLING
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An underwater channel dug more than 70 years ago to
aid irrigation from Clear Lake could save suckers stuck in shallow waters this
summer.
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials are
trying to figure out how to get endangered suckers living in Clear Lake
through a summer with low water.
"This year we have drought conditions," said
Curt Mullis, manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Klamath Falls
office.
An old channel connects two lobes of the lake. In this year's drought
conditions, suckers could become trapped in the more shallow east lobe of the
lake.
What the federal officials have in mind is pulling about 4,000 acre-feet out
of the lake, creating a current which biologists believe will prompt suckers
to move into the deeper west lobe.
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Federal streamflow forecasts issued last week call for
17,600 acre-feet of water, or 37 percent of average, to flow into the lake
from April to September. Even without irrigation, the lake is still expected
to dip below levels required for the safety of the Lost River and shortnose
suckers, Mullis said.
About 45 miles southeast of Klamath Falls, Clear Lake normally supplies all
the Langell Valley Irrigation district and some of the Horsefly Irrigation
District. Langell Valley has more than 100 customers with 16,300 acres. Of
those, about 6,750 acres rely solely on Clear Lake for water.
Last week, the Bureau said no water would be available this irrigation season
from Clear Lake. But the plan to drain about 4,000 acre-feet of water from the
reservoir to help the suckers could also benefit farmers.
That's where the old underwater canal comes in.
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Clear Lake is shaped like an hour glass, Mullis said.
Federal scientists call each rounded bulb of the hour glass a
"lobe."
The reservoir's dam is on the east lobe, while there is deeper water in the
west lobe. Between is an underwater ridge with the old channel dug through it.
First dug in 1931, when waters in the lake were low, the 3,000-foot-long
channel was cleared of silt in 1961 and 1992.
In the Bureau's 43 years of recordkeeping, 1992 was
one of the driest and also caused concern about suckers in Clear Lake. The
suckers have been listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act since
1988.
In 1992, the Bureau used excavators to dig out the channel and free up
movement of water from the west to east lobe.
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Suckers were gathering in the warm, shallow water by
the dam where water quality was down, he said. After clearing out the channel,
water was released from the dam creating a draw for the suckers to swim
through the channel and to the deeper, better quality water.
Now officials are considering whether to do a draw again, starting around May
1.
In 1992, several thousands of suckers were saved,
Mullis said, and similar results could be expected this year.
But officials are still trying to fine-tune the process. Rae Olsen, Bureau
spokeswoman, said officials are trying to determine how to save more suckers
this time around. "They want to improve on the process from last
time," Olsen said.
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