Simple - if you somehow put water on it, then somebody would be saying - Why can't we hunt it? Leave it barren like the moon and nobody will bother you and you can say, we are working on it, all the while sleeping like a baby all day long at your desk in Interior and USFW offices.
Lower Klamath/tule lake
- Thread starter Will Senn
- Start date
A refuge that does not control its water source which provides all 4 yearly stages of a ducks life cycle needs is no longer a functional refuge. Pacific Flyway waterfowl populations will continue to decline while migrations will continue changing as birds adapt. CA has easily lost 200 K birds (mostly mallards, gadwall and cinnamon teal) due to lost nesting, brood rearing and molting habitat in addition to a lesser extent of redheads, cans, and ruddy ducks. Not to mention hundreds of other bird species.
Dakillaofnada
Elite Refuge Member
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- Sep 13, 2016
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100% spot on
So when was the last time you were up here Will? Something tells me you’re not 100% in the Loop! To make a comment that No water has been flowing into Tulelake or LK is 100% False! Water has been flowing into unit 2 on the LK side since sometime in Oct and is Damn near full as of today. Also the Oregon side of LK has been flooding ALL winter. As of today 90% of the fields on the Oregon side are flooded. All courtesy of Klamath Drainage District and a few farmers willing to say Screw the BOR. Also even though I think there should be more flow into Tulelake Refuge, TID has successfully flooded lots 1-7, Some A Blinds, Some B Blinds, Some C Blinds, and as of this Afternoon water is flowing into 1B.
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Baldplate
Senior Refuge Member
I would love to see some pictures if by chance you can snap a few your next visit to the refuge. I am curious does it look as if any habit work was done before adding water? Thanks for your report.
Mowing of overgrown Tules was completed in unit 2 prior to getting water. Other units within LK also received some habitat/dirt work. We can only hope some water flows into them! As for Tule side the only significant amount of Habitat restoration work that has occurred was in 1A.
The main point of my last post which you took umbrage is that it isn’t farmers preventing the refuge of acquiring water during the non-irrigation season. And as you pointed out with TID and KID, farmers are helping to get some water to public and private areas while the BOR still refuses to deliver water.
I was mainly referring to the flow into Sump A and into the rest of Lower Klamath. I am aware of the Tule Fields getting water along A Dike and that some has made it into Sump B. I have seen pics of Unit 2. I wasn’t aware it was fully flooded, yet. I know the private fields N of the Straits have had water since fall via KID and that some was making its way into the Straits. I don’t consider that Lower Klamath wetlands.
Frustrating that the Feds made the call so early to close the Straits to hunting when we knew it would get late fall water. Private farmers in Skull Island area got late fall/winter water delivered because they want to dry farm this irrigation season. That has been the flood pattern the last few years. I saw a few guys took advantage of those opportunities. Good for them.
Regardless, Sump A is still dry as well as every wetland unit other than 2 at Lower Klamath. And Sump B won’t likely be able to fill or even maintain itself unless it gets project water from Upper Klamath. The water going to Tule isn’t coming from Upper Klamath. Most of it has been captured excess runoff in the system and as you mentioned, delivered by TID.
Hopefully, it provides some spring migration stopover fuel. Not many birds were using the flooded Tule fields a few weeks ago. The geese weren’t staging there in large numbers. I saw some pics of birds using private ground this week so maybe a few have stopped.
Admittedly, I didn’t get up there as much as I wanted this fall or for the late season. But that happens when all of my preferred public hunting areas in the lower basin were closed for the fall season and the spring birds didn’t have enough roost water to stage in large numbers.
All of this is just a band-aid. It will all go dry soon.
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I drive or fly around all the time.
Just for clarrification KID has nothing to do with the Straights or lands North of Township to North Canal. That is all KDD (Klamath Drainage District).
My only complaint with the irrigation districts is they could have easily taken the earten dam on LR out when suckers were behind it!
We can only keep our fingers crossed at this point that when and if the A Canal is opened it will make its way to Tule. I'm skeptical that will even happen as the Feds (BOR) and tribes have set a new lake level elevation of 4142.4 before any water will be considered for release. I cant remeber the last time I have seen Upper Klamath lake this full.
Lost River Looking North and South at entrance to 1A. Rehabbed original River Channel. Pictures taken on 3/16. The head of water going into 1A this past Thursday was Very impressive. Hopefully this next wet weather system will also cause Horseshoe and Anderson-Rose dams to Spill over!
