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9:40 am, Feb 15, 2025
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Klamath Basin waterfowl in peril as recently restored wetlands on national refuges denied water

Another botulism outbreak is threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of waterfowl on wildlife refuges in the Klamath Basin.

As temperatures rise and water levels drop, flightless fledglings and molting waterfowl remain trapped in the unsafe wetlands.

The Tulelake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges have been teeming with life this season with water on the wetlands for the first time in the four years since the largest waterfowl die-off in Tulelake refuge’s history in 2020.

Klamath Water Users Association Director of Water Policy Moss Driscoll recently took a water tour of the Tulelake refuge where federal employees are collecting hundreds of dead waterfowl. An estimated 500 carcasses were recovered on Aug. 8 alone.

“What we’re dealing with now is botulism,” Driscoll said. “Because of the incidence of avian influenza which was documented in the (Tulelake) refuge, they only have federal employees doing the collections this year.”

Previous outbreaks of botulism were partially mitigated with public volunteers aiding in the collection of carcasses and the rehabilitation of ailing waterfowl in tented pools of clean water and food.

“They’ve released tens of thousands of birds in years passed when we’ve had an outbreak,” Driscoll said. “That will not be possible this year.”

Carcass collection is crucial in reducing botulism infection in a population, making the reduced collections a serious concern.

In an article from Waterfowl Magazine, California Waterfowl Association biologist Brian Huber spoke on an increased need for protein during waterfowl’s molting phases which leads to increased consumption of aquatic invertebrates contaminated by botulism.

Dead waterfowl floating in the water inevitably lead to maggots that are then consumed by the molting and nesting water fowl, furthering the spread of botulism.

Before annual flows were cut off in 2020, water was allocated to wetlands on refuges lands annually, ensuring sufficient habitat provisions.

In a long line of irrigators with water rights, the refuges come last, often leaving them high and dry as longstanding droughts continue year after year.

Photographer and co-creator of Friends of Klamath Basin Birding Mary Williams Hyde frequents the refuges to photograph wildlife.

But in the months that have passed since flows pumping onto the refuges were shut off weeks earlier than expected, stagnant waters and high temperatures have created water stagnation and increased bird mortality.

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