Here's a different point of view from the San Francisco Chronicle on Sat. Basically saying more politics again.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...918EDT0179.DTL
10-26) 16:18 PDT SACRAMENTO (AP) --
The federal biologist who led the scientific review of splitting water between farmers and fish in the Klamath Basin, site of a massive salmon kill, is seeking whistleblower protection, claiming his team was overruled in violation of the Endangered Species Act.
In a formal disclosure to be filed Monday with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Michael S. Kelly alleges his team's recommendations were rejected twice, under "political pressure," as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation imposed lower water levels than were scientifically justified as part of a 10-year water management plan.
His supervisor acknowledged Saturday that "there is interest all the way up to the White House ... but there wasn't pressure to do anything that wasn't supported by all the available science."
Jim Lecky, NMFS' assistant regional administrator for protected resources, said he's satisfied the review team he shared with Kelly followed proper procedures, despite adopting water levels developed outside his agency.
Kelly alleges the final plan won't provide sufficient water for threatened coho salmon "until the ninth year of the 10-year plan," which he said jeopardizes the species' ability to survive that long. Recommended flows were cut by 43 percent; the final plan addresses the shortfall by promising creation of a multi-agency task force to find more water.
The reduced level was based on a study by a division of the National Academy of Sciences. The Interior Department trimmed the river's flow based on that study, reversing its decision to cut off irrigation water to Klamath Basin farmers two summers ago to safeguard threatened and endangered fish.
Kelly objected to basing NMFS' report on that outside study; Lecky said he's satisfied with it.
Environmentalists, fishermen and Indian tribes along the river flowing from south central Oregon through northwest California blame low water levels for the death of 33,000 salmon this fall -- nearly a quarter of the projected fall run.
They contend crowding of fish that were unable to return up the river due to low water levels helped spread fatal gill rot diseases. Critics, including groups representing Klamath Basin farmers, say there is no proof low water contributed to the die-off. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating.
Kelly does not link the low water level and the fish kill, objecting instead that his agency was illegally blocked from assessing that risk. Chinook salmon were most affected, but threatened coho and steelhead also died, according to a new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report.
The Bureau of Reclamation released extra water to help break up the logjam of fish this fall, then cut back over the objections of tribes, fishermen and state officials to conserve water for endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake. Biologists now say the die-off apparently abated on its own.
In a strongly worded letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, California Resources Secretary Mary Nichols blamed Interior's Bureau of Reclamation for cutting the Klamath River water to irrigate upper Klamath Basin farms, a position reiterated by a state Fish and Game spokesman on Saturday.
Indian tribes also are suing over the diversion of water from a major tributary, the Trinity River, to serve Central Valley farmers and communities.
Kelly has studied the dangers to threatened Pacific salmon since he joined NMFS' Arcata office in July 2000. He spent the previous five years working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
He was chosen to lead the NMFS study a year ago. His team concluded, in an April 1 draft biological opinion, that the Bureau of Reclamation's 10-year water plan for the 235,000 acres irrigated by the Klamath Reclamation Project would jeopardize coho.
Kelly said he was told the U.S. Department of Justice decided the team's opinion wasn't legally defensible, so the team issued a second proposed opinion on April 17. While Kelly felt the science behind the second opinion wasn't as strong, he concluded the water levels "were still minimally adequate to avoid jeopardizing the species."
But the Bureau of Reclamation rejected the second draft, and the two agencies -- which report to different federal departments -- arranged to meet April 29 and 30 to work out their differences.
Instead, Kelly alleges Reclamation officials presented their own final plan, complete with flip charts, based on the same National Research Council report that earlier found lower water levels might not be harmful to fish.
NMFS was denied a chance to assess the risk from the shortfall over his objections, he alleges, so he refused to write the final and legally binding biological opinion. Lecky then signed off on the plan instead. It was formally issued May 16 and adopted May 31.
"Obviously, someone at a higher level had ordered us to accept the proposed (plan)," Kelly alleged. Comparing NMFS' proposed plans to the final version, he alleges, "demonstrates that the agencies intentionally or negligently reached a result that was contrary to the law."
Reclamation spokesman Jeff McCracken said he couldn't address the specific complaint Saturday, but "that isn't the way this (interagency review) works."
Lecky blamed Kelly's interpretation on his relative inexperience with high-level interagency negotiations.
"It's quite common for us to work hand-in-hand (with other agencies) -- in fact, it's required by law," Lecky said. He acknowledged that "there was a short time line (for approving Reclamation's proposal) and pressure is always associated with a short time line."
This fall's fish kill shows why the environmental law is needed, "and the potential for environmental tragedies when the law is ignored," said Karen Schambach, California director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. PEER is assisting Kelly in filing his complaint. The special counsel will order an investigation if an initial review finds a "substantial likelihood" of wrongdoing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Net:
Tapping the Trinity
TheRogue
Linear Mode
