Tule Lake, CA– The Tulelake Irrigation District began sending water from the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge through the Tule Lake Tunnel to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge for the first time in four years this week.
According to the Klamath Water Users Association regulatory restrictions on water availability for the Klamath Project prevented water from pumping through the tunnel previously however this year there was finally enough water from this winter to refill the sumps.
According to Brad Kirby, the water movement is all part of a plan to alleviate flood issues caused by the dam removal and is being done with the consent of the Bureau of Reclamation.
Last week KWUA issued a press release saying the water from Upper Klamath Lake needed to be diverted down to the Tule Lake to “mitigate complications downriver with unsafe dam removal worksites.”
Kirby says the prolonged drought coupled with the BOR mandate to drain Tule Lake and the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge has caused a dyke to drop by as much as a foot making it problematic to hold enough water back from the winter.
While he would like to do more to help, Kirby says his hands are tied given the damage from the dry conditions on the infrastructure.
He says regardless of the infrastructure woes, water flowing from Tule Lake to Lower Klamath, is just what the doctor ordered.
He says that wildlife needs the water and when it is flowing, life returns to the drought-stricken lands.
KWUA agrees saying the process will also help recharge groundwater, decrease dust, and provide relief from a grasshopper outbreak.
KWUA In the News: MyBasin.com, March 26, 2024
By, Christopher German
Original: https://www.mybasin.com/2024/03/26/water-flows-again-after-fo ur-year-hiatus-on-lower-klamath
Cover image: From article
