The Klamath Drainage District (KDD) is urging for fish screens to be installed on the Klamath River following sightings of Chinook salmon at the head of the Ady Canal down to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.
The drainage district has diversion points at the Ady Canal and the North Canal. The Klamath Power and Facilities Agreement (KPFA) signed in 2016 between the U.S., Oregon, California and Klamath Basin stakeholders was supposed to install fish screens to keep fish out of the drainage district’s canals and drains, but screens have yet to been installed.
“It’s been nine years since the KPFA was signed and none of the promises made to farmers in that agreement regarding reintroduction of species have been upheld,” said Scott White, KDD general manager, in a news release.
In the meantime, KDD has been working with the Family Water Alliance and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on a $4.5-million multi-screen project to help keep fish from going down wrong turnouts.
