Upper Klamath Lake - History

History

Since 1917, the water level in the lake has been regulated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation (BOR)'s Link River Dam as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project, to supply irrigation waters to support agriculture in the upper Klamath Basin.

Prior to the 20th century, the lake was surrounded by widespread marshes and wetlands, which supported fish, birds and wildlife, as well as protecting water quality in the lake. Much of these important habitats were drained to be converted to cultivated farmland, as farmers did not understand the value of the wetlands for the environment. The lake is naturally eutrophic, resulting in a high concentration of nutrients. In the 20th century, the augmentation of nutrients by agricultural runoff from the surrounding farming valley has caused the lake to become hypereutrophic, resulting in blue-green algae blooms over the lake ( largely Microcystis aeruginosa and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae). The algae blooms turn the water an opaque green in the summer and reduce the opportunity for recreational uses of the lake. State standards for dissolved oxygen are routinely violated, meaning that fish are endangered.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) monitors water levels and quality, as it is responsible for protecting and maintaining fish populations in the lake and salmon in the Klamath River. In 1988, the FWS placed the Lost River sucker and the shortnose sucker (Catostomidae) on the federal endangered species list; the numbers of the two formerly abundant Upper Klamath Lake fish species had sharply fallen due to the decline in water quality. As a result, the government abandoned a planned dredging project, which would have further damaged the water quality. The project was to dredge a deeper navigation channel from one end of the lake to the other; it was planned between several government agencies and Aqua Farm's Inc.

A drought in the summer of 2001 heightened environmental concerns about the lake. The BOR stopped withdrawing irrigation water for the Klamath Project in order to protect the sucker population. The farming community protested, as they depended on a supply of lake waters for their operations. As of 2003, the FWS was monitoring the lake regularly due to water shortfalls, which endangered both fish in the lake and salmon in the Klamath River. The future uses of Klamath Lake are of national interest because of competing claims between farmers' property rights (supported by federal subsidies and programs) and larger environmental goals.