Our new Biological Assessment is out - Klamath Basin Crisis

Klamath Project Operations Biological Assessment
Coho Salmon: Environmental Baseline
Figure 3-12. Hourly water temperature at river mile 150 of the Klamath River. Klamath
River is currently considered a relatively warm water system. The EPA Quality Criteria
for Water considers acute thermal conditions (defined as occurring suddenly or over a
short period of time) for coho salmon as 71.6 ºF (22 ºC) and chronic exposures (defined
as persisting over a long period of time) to occur at 60.8 ºF (16 ºC).
30
25
Temperature (C)
20
15
10
5
0
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360
Day
Source: Figure 4, p. 11, Cramer Fish Sciences 2007 Technical Memorandum 7.
RM 150
Habitat Restoration
There are several broad conservation efforts currently occurring to restore coho
salmon habitat throughout the Klamath River Basin. The following are the larger
programs. Discussions on smaller, more spatially focused efforts may be found in
Section VI, pages 11 through 17, NMFS 2007.
Klamath River Basin Conservation Area Restoration Program
The U.S. Congress authorized 1 million dollars annually from 1986 through 2006
to implement the Klamath River Basin Conservation Area Restoration Program.
In 1991, the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force (Task Force) adopted a
Long Range Plan to assist in directing restoration programs and projects
throughout the Klamath River. The Task Force also encouraged local watershed
groups to develop restoration plans for five sub-basins: Shasta River sub-basin;
Scott River sub-basin; Salmon River sub-basin, mid-Klamath River sub-basin,
and the lower-Klamath River sub-basin.
Since 1991, over 1.3 million dollars have been distributed to these watershed
groups to develop sub-basin restoration planning and restoration activities (p. 12,
NMFS 2007). While the Klamath River Basin Conservation Area Restoration
Program ended in 2006, funds were authorized for the 2007 fiscal year. The
USFWS administered the funds consistent with the goals of the original program.
A description of the restoration planning and restoration activities by sub-basin is
available on pages 12 and 13 of NMFS 2007.
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