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Summary by KWUA Dan
Keppen of David Vogel's report: Salmon Rearing Habitats in the Main
Stem Klamath River 12/12/03
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Full Report
HERE by
David Vogel, fisheries scientists with
Natural Resources Scientists, Inc
This page's summary is by Dan Keppen, KWUA Executive Director.
Here for Vogel's biography
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Dr. Thomas
Hardy is currently working to complete the draft Phase II report that
recommends higher than normal Klamath River flows. Recall that an
earlier version of the Hardy effort was a primary reason for the
elevated Iron Gate Dam flow schedule included in the disastrous 2001
Klamath Project operations plan. The attached report-prepared by David
Vogel, fisheries scientists with Natural Resources Scientists, Inc -
serves to further detail our concerns with the Draft Hardy Phase II
Report's treatment of Klamath River flows. Key concerns outlined in
the report:
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Without supporting data, the draft Phase II Report relied on assumed
habitat usage of Chinook fry in the main stem Klamath River as a
surrogate for coho fry, despite well-known differences in habitat
criteria between the species.
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It
appears the authors have misinterpreted the known rearing habitat
characteristics for coho salmon in an attempt to re-create that
habitat (in a theoretical sense) in the main stem Klamath River.
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The
draft Phase II report introduced mathematical computations into
computer modeled fish habitat that skewed outputs to conclude very
high flows would create more rearing habitat.
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The
development of the HSC for the Klamath River in the draft Phase II
Report was severely constrained by data collection during high flow
conditions and created unintentional bias in the results. This problem
was further compounded by inappropriate sampling techniques that
resulted in the misinterpretation of fish utilization of habitats in
the Klamath River.
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Klamath Water Users Association
2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3
Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603
Phone (541) 883-6100
FAX (541) 883-8893
kwua@cvcwireless.net |