Klamath River flows to take brief, big jump

Flows from Iron Gate Dam on the Klamath River will spike sharply for 12 hours today as part of an effort to improve conditions for protected coho salmon, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced.

The jump in flows will raise the river level just below the dam beginning around noon, but the river will also rise downstream in areas like Orleans hours later. The flows from the dam will climb from 1,600 cubic feet per second to a high of 5,000 cubic feet per second for six hours, then be reduced slowly to 1,300 cfs. Reclamation expects that Upper Klamath Lake - a source of water for many farms on the California-Oregon border - will be able to fill on track after the release.

The release is part of regulatory requirements put in place by the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2010 and was agreed to by an advisory body of agencies, tribes and the dam owner, Pacificorp. Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor said that the plan follows a model for dispute resolution outlined in the Klamath Hydropower Settlement Act - KHSA - signed a year ago.

"The Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement worked to perfection and allowed for the outcome reached today," Connor said in a statement.

The boost in flows is meant in part to scour gravel in areas below the dam that are infested with the host of a parasite that kills large numbers of juvenile fish each year. Adult salmon carry the parasite upstream to spawning grounds and, when they die, release spores that infect a polychaete worm, an intermediate host. The parasite can then be passed on to young fish.

"The flow variability team has worked effectively together and will monitor the program so we can better understand the influence of pulsed flows on the incidence of fish disease in the Klamath River," said NMFS Arcata Office Supervisor Irma Lagomarsino.

Pacificorp has also dropped a lawsuit it filed against the federal government which alleged the company wasn't asked about changes in flows, which it said could affect its energy production. Pacificorp said that the dispute was resolved by the process set up in the KHSA and resulted in the flow plan announced Tuesday.

The plan is a change from last year, when Upper Klamath Lake was drawn down too far to meet irrigation demands and the needs of salmon.

This year, enough water was held back to build up storage in the lake, according to Reclamation.

The lake is 2.5 feet higher than it was last year, the agency said, and should be on track to fill by April 1.