Refuges — last in line for water — are already drying out   

   Managing limited water is a challenge for Dave Mauser, wildlife biologist for the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges complex.

   The refuges are last in line for irrigation water from Upper Klamath Lake, and the lack of water is impacting three of the six refuges: Clear Lake, Tule Lake and Lower Klamath.

   “It’s going to be a pretty dry place by late summer,” Mauser said.

   It’s dry now.

   Because of the lack of water, efforts are being made to move water from some wetlands to areas of critical concern for specific birds.

   On the Lower Klamath refuge, water is being pumped to Unit 2, a 4,000-acre area used for nesting by Caspian terns, California and ring billed gulls, and western pond turtles. Also on the Lower Klamath, water is being moved to Unit 6a, a 1500-acre area used by great egrets, Franklin gulls and black-crowned night herons.

   Mauser said those areas need water through July, adding hopefully, “I think we’ll make it.”

   The refuge also is using water from some wells, but some are in poor locations, and there’s concern of drawing down the water aquifers.

   “They don’t provide much water, but we’ll take what we can,” he said. “The big mystery is for our fall-arriving waterfowl.”