Lower Klamath Lake Working Group
Working to recover the lower Klamath Basin watershed and improve water security for all wildlife and people.
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Map of the Lower Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge
BACKGROUND
Historically, the Klamath Basin was one of the largest wetland ecosystems in western North America, supporting thriving populations of waterbirds, endemic C’waam, Koptu, and other wetland-dependent species. Indigenous peoples stewarded this landscape since time immemorial, utilizing its abundant natural resources sustainably over many generations. Following European colonization, the Klamath Basin quickly began to change and cultural practices such as ceremonies, fishing, and cultural burning were banned. This caused an intergenerational loss of knowledge and a forced separation from the land and from practices that had sustained the Tribes. In 1905, the Klamath Reclamation Project - a massive irrigation infrastructure effort - was authorized, forever altering the watershed of the Klamath Basin.
Prior to the Project, all major wetlands, waterbodies and rivers in the Klamath Basin were interconnected, each playing an important role in the ecological network that supported the life cycle of fish and wildlife species. In the early 1900s, the construction of a railroad embankment and the excavation of the Keno Reef in the Klamath River completely upended the watershed’s natural hydrology.
One result was that Lower Klamath Lake - an overflow basin in the Klamath River floodplain - was disconnected from the River. Water that used to enter the Lake and its wetlands was diverted to create agricultural land. This, along with other measures that dammed rivers, drained floodplains, and disconnected wetlands via levee development, resulted in a degraded watershed with poor fish habitat, limited ability to support migratory bird species, and limited functionality as a part of the Basin’s hydrology as a whole. In 1908, the establishment of the Lower Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge (LKLNWR) protected what was left of the intact ecosystem.
Since 2000, ecological conditions have sharply worsened: C’waam and Koptu are on the verge of extinction, waterbird populations in the Klamath Basin are a small fraction of what they once were, water quality conditions have continued to decline, lack of natural water retention in wetlands, groundwater recharge, and drought have resulted in significant reductions in the amount of water annually available, leading to major economic, cultural and environmental stress on the Klamath Basin’s communities.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Refuge, once a critical stop along the Pacific Flyway for migratory birds and potential spawning habitat for C’wamm and Koptu, now lacks connectivity that is essential for fish and wildlife habitat, improved water quality, and watershed resilience that the ecosystem, agriculture, and our communities rely on.
The Lower Klamath Lake Working Group (LKLWG)—a collaborative of Tribal, government, nonprofit, and community partners—are working on a plan to restore the watershed by the reconnection of the Klamath River and Lower Klamath Lake. Recent successes from the decades-long effort to remove four dams on the Klamath River has shown how resilient the Basin can be—salmon returned to the Basin within one month of the final dam removal that reconnected the Basin to the Klamath River’s outflow at the Pacific Ocean. But time is of the essence, especially as drought continues, C’waam and Koptu hang on the edge of extinction, and local communities face the potential of losing their livelihoods.
RECOVERING WATERSHED RESILIENCE
The LKLWG is focused on:
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Restoring the natural hydrology of the floodplain by reconnecting the Klamath River to the LKLNWR. This would allow water to flow through wetlands improving water quality before returning to the river, improve groundwater recharge and connectivity, help stabilize seasonal flows, and provide fish access to these wetlands for the first time since railroad construction.
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Extending the North Canal across the Stateline Highway to the P Canal. This would also allow water to flow through the LKLNWR’s wetlands, further contributing to overall watershed resilience, water quality, and habitat connectivity described in #1.
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Cooperatively exploring options for how to deliver water to multiple users in ways that meet their needs while respecting water rights holders and priority uses. For example, there is interest from tribal partners in creating opportunities for shared management of water diversions as well as their co-management as potential fish habitat.
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Re-establishing tribal access to restored lands to exercise traditional rights and uses and support opportunities for traditional cultural materials collection and other practices.
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Creating a voluntary incentive program for Klamath Drainage District (KDD) landowners to establish rotational and permanent wetlands for waterbird habitat, groundwater recharge, and soil health. This would include assurances for KDD landowners for incidental take of endangered or threatened species that could result from participation in the program.
WHAT CAN WE ACHIEVE TOGETHER?
The plan’s goal is to reconnect and recover the watershed in a way that creates multiple, interconnected benefits for all. The proposed actions would:
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Support equity. Create a collaborative space so Tribes, agriculturalists, NGOs, agencies, and others can be seen, heard, and plan for shared stewardship of an important place.
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Increase watershed resilience. Improve the land’s ability to retain, filter, cycle, and transmit water to mitigate impacts from drought and climate change.
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Improve ecological conditions. Improving water quantity and quality will help provide habitat for fish as well as breeding and migratory habitat for waterbirds.
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Uplift local economies and cultural identities. We can sustain local economies, community vitality, and tribal identity by enhancing opportunities for tourism, recreation, agriculture, and cultural access.
PARTICIPANTS
Making this concept a reality requires funding and the coordinated effort of the multiple agencies that implement restoration activities in the Klamath Basin. It also requires close collaboration among local, state, federal, tribal, and private partners in addressing policy and pragmatic barriers to implementation. The LKLWG is a collaborative table with the following participants:
Klamath Drainage District (KDD)
KDD Landowners
Klamath Water Users Association
Natural Resource Conservation Service
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon Water Resources Department
South Suburban Sanitation District
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
UP FIRST: ADY CANAL RECONNECTION PROJECT
While several of the five key pieces of work are anticipated to be completed simultaneously, the first and farthest along is the Ady Canal Reconnection Project. $1.8 million dollars from USFWS has been awarded to KDD with partnership and oversight provided by the Lower Klamath Lake Working Group, to study the feasibility of this project, begin conceptual design under different scenarios, and identify a path to implementation.
The first phase of work will include collecting data on baseline conditions of the Ady Canal and LKLNWR, engaging stakeholders in the project process, and beginning preliminary engineering and design.
FAQs
1. How will these projects impact local landowners?
Local landowners will largely not be impacted by these projects. Restoring the natural hydrology of the floodplain by reconnecting the Klamath River to the LKLNWR will require directing water as a means of flood control. This means the potential need for levees, dikes, or other control systems to ensure the water’s path.
KDD landowners may choose to participate in converting their property to temporary or permanent wetlands. By doing so, landowners will help reinforce the floodplain reconnection, potentially raising shallow groundwater, and help create habitat for birds and/or fish. This project will include incentives for landowners who opt to do this This could include fish screening for those who are not creating fish-friendly habitats, or a habitat conservation plan (HCP) to protect landowners from liability should a threatened or endangered species end up on their property as a result of this project.
2. How will the area's indigenous people be affected?
Traditional Cultural practitioners will have access to more locations within the Modoc Homelands for vegetation collection and other regained harvest opportunities may exist in the future if extirpated populations can be restored. The opportunity to once again help steward this area is already benefiting many descendants of this area’s original stewards. Furthermore, increasing abundance, diversity and distribution of salmon and other anadromous species will benefit all Tribes in the Klamath Basin by providing increased opportunities for cultural stewardship.
3. How will suckers and salmon be impacted?
This project may improve water quality and extend the timing of flow into the Klamath River which would benefit suckers and salmon using the Klamath River. It will also provide refuge from poor water quality for suckers during periods of low dissolved oxygen in the Klamath River. Lost River and shortnose sucker recruitment is limited by a population bottleneck where mortality exceeds recruitment in their first two years of life. This project may provide important refugia for juvenile suckers by allowing fish to access energetically rich wetland habitat. This project may also help to establish a redundant spawning sucker population in LKLNWR. With the dam removal unlocking the return of salmonids to the region, this project may provide rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids as they emigrate to the ocean. Although the relationship is not clearly established, this project may contribute cold water refugia by activating springs that flow back into the Klamath River below Keno Dam.
4. How will birds be impacted?
The projects are anticipated to increase the quantity and quality of habitat for migratory waterfowl, water birds, and birds of prey. This will increase by restoring the hydrologic wetland functions at LKLNWR and creating new temporary and/or permanent wetlands on private lands.projects are anticipated to increase the quantity and quality of habitat for migratory waterfowl, water birds, and birds of prey. This will increase by restoring the hydrologic wetland functions at LKLNWR and creating new temporary and/or permanent wetlands on private lands.
5. How will groundwater be impacted?
We plan to study the connection between surface water and groundwater in the project area. It is theorized that by creating hydrologic reconnection using the footprint of the historic floodplain, this project will help better connect surface and groundwater, raise shallow groundwater, and reduce the need for irrigation.
6. How will these projects improve resilience to drought and other predicted effects of climate change?
Wetlands help to mitigate drought impacts by acting like sponges - they store water and then release it to maintain river flows long after precipitation ceases for the year. They also help store water during large storm events that could otherwise create flood conditions. By restoring wetlands, we can help make flow attenuation more consistent year-round, improving the ecosystem’s resiliency to greater volatility in weather events and longer droughts.
7. Who do I contact for more information?
Willamette Partnership is providing facilitation for the Lower Klamath Lake Working Group. Contact Jackie Brenner, brenner@willamettepartnership.org for more information.