Final Presentation: How might eating

French Fries made from potatoes from the

Klamath Basin contribute to the death of
thousands of endangered salmon?

Christine Geeng & Mindy Wang

Klamath Basin
 Located: Oregon and
California border
 16,400 square miles long
 2 parts, Upper and Lower
Basins
 Earliest uses: Native
American tribes fished
 Klamath water is a precious
resource and has led to
conflicts throughout history
Klamath Basin:
Natural Beauty

 The Cascade Range supplies the

water to the basin
 Klamath Basin is home to many unique
species
 Third greatest producer of Pacific
salmon
 There are 6 national wildlife reserves
and 3 national parks
 Lakes, marshlands, wetlands (once
360,000 acres , now 142,000)
 Bald Eagles, snow geese, wildfowl,
once had 260 species
Human Interference
Native Americans Mining
-Gold was discovered
-fishing especially salmon
-extensive mining can lead to
-ceremonious contaminants
Fur Trapping Ranching
-beavers created dams that regulated
nutrient flow -overgrazing, irrigation, erosion,
degradation
-because of trapping, beavers were
mostly gone and their dams gave way Logging
-the environment changed (wetlands -clear-cutting and selective harvesting
drained, fertile meadows created)
The Klamath Project
 Began in 1906
 Government authorized
irrigation and drainage
projects
 They built many dams
 Create farm land
 Products: cereal grains,
alfalfa, hay, potatoes
(french fries!), etc
Potatoes!
 6% of the agricultural commodity
sales
 12,500-13,000 acres
 $30-40 million in sales, 2009
 Klamath Basin Research &
Extension Center: study the
Klamath potatoes to increase
proper use of pesticides
 Storage facilities store potatoes
sometimes for nine months
 Family type businesses
 Fewer competition recently
Diseases and Pests
 Irrigation influences
disease and pest
occurrence
 excess moisture and
poor drainage
 Ex. Blight, pink rot, etc.
 Soil sampling
 Monitor crops weekly
by leaf counting, larvae
counting, visual
examinations
 Green Peach Aphid
transmits many potato
diseases. It is resistant
to many insecticides
Pesticides
 Common insecticides are Admire, Provado, and Malathion
 Malathion is bad; Admire and Provado are relatively non-toxic
 The major river systems of the Klamath region are linked with the agriculture of the region
 Farmers directly affect the water quality
 Chemicals used on farms can drain into the water needed by the salmon
– Harmful to the environment
Water Requirements for Klamath
Salmon
 California chinook salmon and coho
salmon require certain water
temperatures to survive during
different stages of life
 Eggs can’t be in water over 9 to
12ºC
 Juveniles have a hard time
surviving at temperatures of 17 ºC
and above – this is more
problematic because they grow up
in freshwater during the summer
 Adults require cold water – optimal
temp is 13.9 to 15.5 ºC
Effects of Warm Water
 Egg mortality rate increases
 Juvenile growth is hampered when
the temp is higher than optimal
 Young salmon have a harder time
competing with other species for
food
 Adults don’t migrate upstream when
temp is above 20 ºC
 High temperatures make salmon
more susceptible to many fish
diseases – in late September of
2002, over 70,000 fish died in the
Klamath due to sickness
Irrigation Effects
 Irrigation directs up to 90% of the
water that flows from the upper
basin to the river for Klamath Upper
Basin agriculture – which includes
potatoes
 The little amount of water being
released through the Iron Gate Dam
into the Klamath river is too warm
for the fish and contains pesticides
and nitrate fertilizers
 This small amount is barely enough
for salmon spawn points down the
river in California
The Disaster - 2001

 The worst drought in over 72 years of

record-keeping hit, proving the basin with
only 54% of its normal rainfall

 The Bureau of Reclamation which runs the

Klamath Irrigation Project decided to reduce
the normal water deliveries to farmers by
33% in order to increase the chances of
endangered salmon and other fish survival,
as required by the Endangered Species Act

 This spurred outrage in farmers and

irrigators – a total of 27 brought the case to
the Federal Claims court

 About 200 farms did not see any change in

their normal deliveries
The Disaster Cont. - 2002
 With help from VP Dick Cheney,
Interior Secretary Gale Norton
overturned this decision in order to
appease the farmers, providing
them with regular water deliveries
 Due to low water levels and high
temperatures, a gill rot disease
massacred over 33,000 salmon
before they could lay eggs and
reproduce
 The September 2002 Klamath Fish-
Kill report by the California
Department of Fish and Game
states that the 34,056 counted is
low and may only be half of the
actual loss
Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement - 2010

 “Representatives of 45
organizations, including Federal
agencies, California and Oregon,
Indian tribes, counties, irrigators
and conservation and fishing group”
have signed on
 The fish section includes
restoration, possible removal of
dams, water quality improvement,
reintroduction, and additional water
 These possibilities must compete
with the area being used for a
reliable water supply, lease land
farming, and a power program
What You Can Do

 Eat sweet potato fries

 Eat plantain chips (they’re better than regular chips I swear)
 Eat something that’s actually healthy
 Eat something with the Salmon-Safe Certification – an NGO started
in 1997 to promote eco-friendly farming practices in the Northwest
Do it for Them!
Acknowledgements
 http://watershed.ucdavis.edu/scott_river/docs/reports/Sabrina_Litton.pdf
 http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/narratives/subtopic.cfm?subtopic_ID=263
http://oregonstate.edu/potatoes/reports/2009/Charlton%20-%20Klamath%20Basin%20R%
20&%20E%20Potato%20Program.pdf
 http://www.klamathbasincrisis.org/crops/farmpricessmallpotatoes100508.htm
 http://www.fws.gov/klamathbasinrefuges/Potatoes.pd
 http://www.krisweb.com/stream/temperature.htm
 http://www.krisweb.com/krisklamathtrinity/krisdb/html/lk.htm
 http://www.pcffa.org/kl-myths.htm
 http://www.klamathbasin.info/2001waterfacts.pdf
 http://www.pcffa.org/KlamFishKillFactorsDFGReport.pdf
 http://voices.washingtonpost.com/cheney/chapters/leaving_no_tracks/

 http://67.199.95.80/Klamath/Summary%20of%20Klamath%20Settlement%20Agreements
%204-5-10.pdf
 http://www.stewardshippartners.org/prog_salmon.html