January 28, 2013

May 14

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking comments on an energy company's conservation plan for two endangered sucker fish species in the Klamath Basin. As part of its habitat conservation plan, PacifiCorp would discontinue routine operations at two hydroelectric facilities at its Link River Dam and fund restoration projects and other activities to benefit the imperiled Lost River and shortnose suckers. The Fish and Wildlife Service announced Jan. 25 it had unveiled a draft environmental assessment of PacifiCorp's plan, triggering a 60-day public comment period that is set to close March 28. In addition, the agency will hold a public meeting at 5 p.m. Feb. 20 at its office at 1936 California Ave., Klamath Falls, Ore., to give an overview of the plan and answer questions. Read more from today's Capital Press article Agency seeks comments on plan for Klamath suckers and the Federal Register notice Draft Environmental Assessment and Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for the Interim Operations of PacifiCorp's Klamath Hydroelectric Project on the Klamath River, Klamath County, OR, and Siskiyou County, CA.

Snow in the Klamath Basin has brought optimism for the water year that runs Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, though the snowpack is still a bit thin and current lake levels remain low. The current snowpack sits at 84 percent of normal for this time of year, said Julie Koeberle, Oregon Snow Survey hydrologist for the National Resources Conservation Service. Read more from Saturday's Klamath Falls Herald and News article Klamath Basin’s water year gets optimistic start.

The past week's Klamath River Basin USGS Flow Graphs are posted. The Williamson River flow this morning is at 848 cubic feet per second (cfs), up from 603 cfs last week. Upper Klamath Lake elevation is up to 4,140.33', from 4,140.13' last Monday. Flows through Link River ended the week down at 377 cfs. Releases from the Keno Dam gauge is showing 582 cfs this morning. The Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam is at 1,130 cfs again today. The Scott River is up from 246 cfs to 582 cfs this morning. The Salmon River is now at 2,730 cfs. Releases from the Lewiston Dam is steady at around 292 cfs to today. The Trinity River is up quite a bit at 8,710 cfs this morning. The Klamath River at the mouth gauge is showing 24,800 cfs this morning after being at 11,700 cfs last week and was up over 30,000 cfs late Saturday night.