KLAMATH, Calif. (AP) — A northern California tribe is pressing the federal government to stop water deliveries for farming in southern Oregon and northern California unless a federal agency can show it’s met all legal requirements for endangered species, including salmon and killer whales.
The Yurok Tribe, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and Institute for Fisheries Resources filed a motion for a preliminary injunction last week, the Capital Press reported. It’s part of a 2019 lawsuit against the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Bureau of Reclamation operates the Klamath Project, which provides water for about 200,000 acres of farmland in southern Oregon and northern California. But the operations cannot threaten the survival of endangered species.
The agency must consider water needs for threatened coho salmon in the Klamath River, and two species of endangered sucker fish in Upper Klamath Lake. Southern resident orcas are also impacted, because they depend on Klamath River salmon for prey.