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EspañolKLAMATH RIVER
:''For the community of the same name, see Klamath River, California.''
The 'Klamath River', approximately 263 miles (400 km) long, is a major river in southern Oregon and northern California in the United States. It drains an arid farming valley in its upper reaches, passing swiftly through the mountains in its lower reaches before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only three rivers that pass through the Cascade Range (the others being the Columbia River and the Pit River), and one of the longest rivers in California.
The Klamath River issues from the southern end of Lake Ewauna in southern Oregon, near the city of Klamath Falls. The short Link River connects Lake Ewauna to Upper Klamath Lake, which is sometimes said to be the source of the Klamath River.
From Lake Ewauna, the Klamath River flows generally southwest into northern California, passing through the Klamath Mountains and along the southern side of the Siskiyou Mountains. It enters the Pacific at Klamath in southwestern Del Norte County, approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of Crescent City.
The river's drainage basin above Upper Klamath Lake is fed primarily by the Williamson River and its tributaries, including the Sprague River, which stretch into south central Oregon west of the Cascades. In California, the Klamath receives the Shasta River from the south approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Yreka, the Scott River from the south in central Siskiyou County, the Salmon River from the east along the border between Siskiyou and Humboldt counties, and the Trinity River from the south at Weitchpec in northern Humboldt County.
Much of the lower course of the river in California is within the Klamath National Forest. The lower course of the river in northern Humboldt passes through the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, the Karuk Tribe and the Yurok Indian Reservation.
An 11 mile (18 km) section of the river in Oregon south of Klamath Falls to the California-Oregon border, including the Hell's Corner Gorge, has been designated as the Klamath Wild and Scenic River.
Below Klamath Falls, Lower Klamath Lake and a large portion of Tule Lake were drained for agriculture. The the 230,000 acre (930 km²) federal Klamath Reclamation Project stores spring runoff in Gerber Reservoir, Clear Lake, and Upper Klamath Lake, along with several smaller reservoirs. The stored water, which otherwise would have flooded the reclaimed farmland of the Lower Klamath Lake and Tule Lake area, is released for irrigation purposes over the growing season.[1]
Whitewater rafting is a popular recreational activity along the upper Klamath River below the J.C. Boyle Dam, and also along the lower Klamath River Downstream of the town of Happy Camp.
The name of the river comes from a Native American word ''klamet'' meaning "swiftness". It provided a significant route for passing through the Cascades. Archeological evidence in the valley suggests it has been inhabited for at least 7,000 years. The river and its fish are considered sacred by resident Native American tribes, which include the Yurok, Hupa, and Karuk tribes, as well a confederation of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin people known as the Klamath Tribes. The Phoebe A. Hearst Museum in Berkeley, California contains a collection of carvings from some of the tribes in this region.
In the 1960s, a project was proposed that would erect a dam twelve miles from the mouth of the river, creating a reservoir which would be used to divert water for consumption in Southern California. The dam was known as the Ah Pah Dam. It was never built.
The river is considered a prime habitat for Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, steelhead trout, and rainbow trout. Once the third-largest producer of salmon on the West Coast, only a fraction of the river's historic runs remain since the construction of six dams, built between 1908 and 1962. Coho salmon in the Klamath River are listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. In 1963 the largest tributary to the Klamath, the Trinity River, was virtually removed from the Klamath drainage with the completion of the Lewiston and Trinity dams, diverting 90% of the Trinity's flow to the Sacramento Valley. Only 150 cubic feet per second (4 m³/s) was left to flow to the Klamath.[2]
The possible removal of the dams has been a controversial issue in the region in recent years. Despite intense lobbying by local Native American tribes, conservationists, and fishermen, the 2004 renewal application by PacifiCorp for another 50-year federal operating licence for the dams did not include any provisions for allowing salmon to return to over 300 miles of former habitat above the dams. In January 2007, however, the federal government ruled that PacifiCorp must equip four dams with fish ladders, a modification which would cost potentially more than $300 million. PacifiCorp has offered $300 million to upgrade the JC Boyle fish ladder and proposed trucking fish around the Copco #1 and Iron Gate dams, after having had been denied a licence to build a power generator in Utah. "The fact that the Klamath project is an emissions-free, renewable resource will make it more valuable to our customers in the future and reduce our overall carbon footprint," PacifiCorp President Fehrman said in a statement.[3]
A separate controversy surrounds the use of water in the Upper Klamath Basin for irrigated agriculture, which was temporarily halted in 2001 to protect endangered salmon and lake fish during a severe drought. The federal government, under Interior Secretary Gale Norton, reversed this decision in 2002, and provided full water deliveries to irrigators as the drought continued despite the fact that Klamath area tribes have treaty rights that predate the settlement of the farmers. Norton argued for a "free market" approach by allowing farmers to sell the water to the Native Americans downstream.
According to biologists from the state of California and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,[4] the atypically low flows in the river along with high fish return numbers and high water temperatures allowed for a gill rot diesease to kill at least 33,000 salmon in September 2002, who died before they could reproduce. The kill was downstream of the Trinity inflow, and the salmon of the Trinity were impacted to a greater degree than the Klamath as the Trinity run was at its peak. The report does mention that the official fish kill estimate of 34,056 is probably quite low and could be only half of the actual loss.
Klamath flows as measured at the river gauge in Keno show a low flow of 800 ft³/s (23 m³/s) in September 1908 (before irrigation began). During the 2002 fish kill flows of 475 ft³/s (13 m³/s) were recorded. During September of the 2001 irrigation shut off, an average of 688 ft³/s (19 m³/s) was recorded.[5]
★ List of California rivers
★ List of Oregon rivers
1. http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/html/klamath.html
2. http://www.krisweb.com/biblio/trinity_blm_xxxx_1995_wa/volume1/wa.htm
3. http://www.triplicate.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=2672
4. http://www.pcffa.org/KlamFishKillFactorsDFGReport.pdf
5. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&format=gif_default&period=7&site_no=11509500
★ US Department of Agriculture site on the Klamath River basin.
★ Klamath Wild and Scenic River
★ State of California hydrological monitoring of the Klamath and tributaries.
★ US Army site on rafting the Klamath.
★ US Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species in the Klamath Basin
★ Friends of the River advocation of dam removal
★ Hearst Museum site on Klamath Valley carvings
★ NASA Earth Observatory: drought and irrigation shut off in the Klamath Basin
★ Mid Klamath Watershed Council watershed restoration
★ Klamath Waters Digital Library
★ Battle for the Klamath A documentary about the Klamath water crisis
★ [1] "U.S. Orders Modification of Klamath River Dams," Washington Post.com, January 31, 2007
The 'Klamath River', approximately 263 miles (400 km) long, is a major river in southern Oregon and northern California in the United States. It drains an arid farming valley in its upper reaches, passing swiftly through the mountains in its lower reaches before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only three rivers that pass through the Cascade Range (the others being the Columbia River and the Pit River), and one of the longest rivers in California.
| Contents |
| Course |
| River modifications |
| Recreation |
| History |
| Natural history |
| See also |
| References |
| External links |
Course
The Klamath River issues from the southern end of Lake Ewauna in southern Oregon, near the city of Klamath Falls. The short Link River connects Lake Ewauna to Upper Klamath Lake, which is sometimes said to be the source of the Klamath River.
From Lake Ewauna, the Klamath River flows generally southwest into northern California, passing through the Klamath Mountains and along the southern side of the Siskiyou Mountains. It enters the Pacific at Klamath in southwestern Del Norte County, approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of Crescent City.
The river's drainage basin above Upper Klamath Lake is fed primarily by the Williamson River and its tributaries, including the Sprague River, which stretch into south central Oregon west of the Cascades. In California, the Klamath receives the Shasta River from the south approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Yreka, the Scott River from the south in central Siskiyou County, the Salmon River from the east along the border between Siskiyou and Humboldt counties, and the Trinity River from the south at Weitchpec in northern Humboldt County.
Much of the lower course of the river in California is within the Klamath National Forest. The lower course of the river in northern Humboldt passes through the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, the Karuk Tribe and the Yurok Indian Reservation.
An 11 mile (18 km) section of the river in Oregon south of Klamath Falls to the California-Oregon border, including the Hell's Corner Gorge, has been designated as the Klamath Wild and Scenic River.
The mouth of the Klamath River on the Pacific Ocean in Del Norte County, California
River modifications
Below Klamath Falls, Lower Klamath Lake and a large portion of Tule Lake were drained for agriculture. The the 230,000 acre (930 km²) federal Klamath Reclamation Project stores spring runoff in Gerber Reservoir, Clear Lake, and Upper Klamath Lake, along with several smaller reservoirs. The stored water, which otherwise would have flooded the reclaimed farmland of the Lower Klamath Lake and Tule Lake area, is released for irrigation purposes over the growing season.[1]
Recreation
Whitewater rafting is a popular recreational activity along the upper Klamath River below the J.C. Boyle Dam, and also along the lower Klamath River Downstream of the town of Happy Camp.
History
The name of the river comes from a Native American word ''klamet'' meaning "swiftness". It provided a significant route for passing through the Cascades. Archeological evidence in the valley suggests it has been inhabited for at least 7,000 years. The river and its fish are considered sacred by resident Native American tribes, which include the Yurok, Hupa, and Karuk tribes, as well a confederation of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin people known as the Klamath Tribes. The Phoebe A. Hearst Museum in Berkeley, California contains a collection of carvings from some of the tribes in this region.
In the 1960s, a project was proposed that would erect a dam twelve miles from the mouth of the river, creating a reservoir which would be used to divert water for consumption in Southern California. The dam was known as the Ah Pah Dam. It was never built.
Natural history
The river is considered a prime habitat for Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, steelhead trout, and rainbow trout. Once the third-largest producer of salmon on the West Coast, only a fraction of the river's historic runs remain since the construction of six dams, built between 1908 and 1962. Coho salmon in the Klamath River are listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. In 1963 the largest tributary to the Klamath, the Trinity River, was virtually removed from the Klamath drainage with the completion of the Lewiston and Trinity dams, diverting 90% of the Trinity's flow to the Sacramento Valley. Only 150 cubic feet per second (4 m³/s) was left to flow to the Klamath.[2]
The possible removal of the dams has been a controversial issue in the region in recent years. Despite intense lobbying by local Native American tribes, conservationists, and fishermen, the 2004 renewal application by PacifiCorp for another 50-year federal operating licence for the dams did not include any provisions for allowing salmon to return to over 300 miles of former habitat above the dams. In January 2007, however, the federal government ruled that PacifiCorp must equip four dams with fish ladders, a modification which would cost potentially more than $300 million. PacifiCorp has offered $300 million to upgrade the JC Boyle fish ladder and proposed trucking fish around the Copco #1 and Iron Gate dams, after having had been denied a licence to build a power generator in Utah. "The fact that the Klamath project is an emissions-free, renewable resource will make it more valuable to our customers in the future and reduce our overall carbon footprint," PacifiCorp President Fehrman said in a statement.[3]
A separate controversy surrounds the use of water in the Upper Klamath Basin for irrigated agriculture, which was temporarily halted in 2001 to protect endangered salmon and lake fish during a severe drought. The federal government, under Interior Secretary Gale Norton, reversed this decision in 2002, and provided full water deliveries to irrigators as the drought continued despite the fact that Klamath area tribes have treaty rights that predate the settlement of the farmers. Norton argued for a "free market" approach by allowing farmers to sell the water to the Native Americans downstream.
According to biologists from the state of California and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,[4] the atypically low flows in the river along with high fish return numbers and high water temperatures allowed for a gill rot diesease to kill at least 33,000 salmon in September 2002, who died before they could reproduce. The kill was downstream of the Trinity inflow, and the salmon of the Trinity were impacted to a greater degree than the Klamath as the Trinity run was at its peak. The report does mention that the official fish kill estimate of 34,056 is probably quite low and could be only half of the actual loss.
Klamath flows as measured at the river gauge in Keno show a low flow of 800 ft³/s (23 m³/s) in September 1908 (before irrigation began). During the 2002 fish kill flows of 475 ft³/s (13 m³/s) were recorded. During September of the 2001 irrigation shut off, an average of 688 ft³/s (19 m³/s) was recorded.[5]
See also
★ List of California rivers
★ List of Oregon rivers
References
1. http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/html/klamath.html
2. http://www.krisweb.com/biblio/trinity_blm_xxxx_1995_wa/volume1/wa.htm
3. http://www.triplicate.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=2672
4. http://www.pcffa.org/KlamFishKillFactorsDFGReport.pdf
5. http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&format=gif_default&period=7&site_no=11509500
External links
★ US Department of Agriculture site on the Klamath River basin.
★ Klamath Wild and Scenic River
★ State of California hydrological monitoring of the Klamath and tributaries.
★ US Army site on rafting the Klamath.
★ US Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species in the Klamath Basin
★ Friends of the River advocation of dam removal
★ Hearst Museum site on Klamath Valley carvings
★ NASA Earth Observatory: drought and irrigation shut off in the Klamath Basin
★ Mid Klamath Watershed Council watershed restoration
★ Klamath Waters Digital Library
★ Battle for the Klamath A documentary about the Klamath water crisis
★ [1] "U.S. Orders Modification of Klamath River Dams," Washington Post.com, January 31, 2007
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