Biologist Alex Gonyaw aims his Boston Whaler up the eastern shore of Upper Klamath Lake. He鈥檚 showing off what, he says, used to be abundant habitat for juvenile fish in the lake.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a mosaic of cattails and willows and tules, or bullrushes,鈥� Gonyaw says. 鈥淭he more hiding places for juvenile creatures the better they generally tend to do.鈥�
At almost 30 miles long, Upper Klamath Lake is the home to several types of fish that live only here. Two of them are called C鈥檞aam and Koptu in the Klamath Tribes' traditional language or, in English, the Lost River and shortnose sucker. They have a stubby face and wide lips, and can live to be 50-years-old.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e an endemic species,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t's only found here, nowhere else in the universe. And due to their sort of near-extinction-level status they are becoming something of a figurehead in the water crisis here.鈥�
In recent years, the juvenile fish have been dying, causing the overall population to crash. Five years ago, when Gonyaw started working for the tribes, there were about 20,000 shortnose suckers in the lake. Estimates today put them at just 3,400. The Lost River sucker is disappearing at a similar rate.
Exactly why these fish are dying is unclear but biologists believe it鈥檚 because of poor water quality and habitat loss that鈥檚 impacted by low water in the lake. Those factors make their future grim.
鈥淭here's a catastrophic event likely in the next few years,鈥� Gonyaw says.
In this extremely dry year in the Klamath Basin, much of the debate over who gets water depends on these fish. Water flowing out of the lake has been shut off to farmers who rely on the federally managed irrigation system of canals, dams and reservoirs known as the Klamath Project. Even further down the Klamath River, threatened coho salmon are also getting the bare minimum water.
Besides being protected under the Endangered Species Act, the C鈥檞aam and Koptu are culturally important to the Klamath Tribes who say they鈥檝e subsisted on the fish since time immemorial.
At a recent rally in Klamath Falls, Tribal Chairman Don Gentry talked about how the Klamath people prayed for the fish to return after hard winters.
鈥淭hose fish are so important. We wouldn鈥檛 be here likely without those fish that helped us survive,鈥� Gentry said.
The declining numbers of C鈥檞aam and Koptu also illustrate a problem with the U.S. government鈥檚 treaty. In 1864 the Klamath Tribes gave up around 20 million acres of land, in exchange for the right to hunt and fish on their new reservation. Gentry says those treaty rights don鈥檛 mean much if there are no fish to catch.
鈥淲hat good is a treaty if you don't have the resources?鈥�
The Endangered Species Act is meant to prevent species from going extinct. Gentry says it doesn鈥檛 live up to the treaty responsibility of providing harvestable resources.
鈥淪o we鈥檙e basically relegated to the ESA,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t's not even working for us, but that's the thing that we have.鈥�
The Klamath Tribes have senior water rights. But farmers in the basin are the other group that is linked to these fish. Mark Johnson represents irrigators with the group Klamath Water Users Association.
鈥淯ltimately, the farmers, they want all fish species to thrive because if the fish are doing well, everybody's doing well,鈥� he says.
For 15 years Johnson studied Lost River and shortnose suckers as a fish biologist with the US Geological Survey. One of the big frustrations from the irrigator standpoint, he says, is that water is prioritized to protect fish, but they鈥檙e still dying.
I asked Johnson, wouldn鈥檛 taking more water out of the lake be gambling with the existence of a species?
鈥淵eah, I mean, you are,鈥� Johnson says, 鈥淏ut in terms of an extinction level event, I don't think that's actually going to happen. But on that trajectory were on right now, basically managing the lake the same way we have for over 20 years, we haven't moved the needle. So, something has to change.鈥�
There are no long-term solutions for saving the native fish populations. For the first time this year the Klamath Tribes are raising juvenile fish from eggs in a hatchery. When mature, they鈥檒l be released into Upper Klamath Lake.
This exceptionally dry year is shining a spotlight on the Klamath Basin and how there just isn鈥檛 enough water to go around. And with current climate trends, there鈥檚 little reason to think abundant water will be available any time soon.
