Klamath riverkeeper group makes its debut in Sacramento.
An excerpt.
Klamath Riverkeeper Leads 35 Groups in Battle to Clean the Watershed
by Dan Bacher Tuesday Oct 31st, 2006 2:59 PM
The Klamath Riverkeeper organization made its debut at a meeting of the State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento on October 25.
Regina Chichizola, executive director of the Klamath Riverkeeper, and members of a coalition of Indian Tribes, commercial fishing groups, and recreational fishermen drove to Sacramento on October 25 to urge the State Water Resources Board to clean up the Klamath.
The Klamath Riverkeeper, based in Orleans, is the newest member of the national Water Keeper Alliance that includes the San Francisco Baykeeper and the Deltakeeper.
The organization was started by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to connect and support local Waterkeeper programs and provide a voice for waterways and their communities worldwide.
After a rally outside of the board's headquarters, Chichizola joined Klamath River residents and coastal fishermen in demanding that the board set a water quality standard for the algal toxin microcystin, list toxic algae as a pollutant on the Klamath and regulate toxic discharge from PacifiCorp's Dams.
Scientists from the Karuk Indian Tribe in the summer of 2005 were surprised to discover huge blooms of Microcystic aeruginosa, a toxic blue green algae. The algae produce the toxic microcystin present in the reservoirs at dangerously high concentrations.
“This year, in our second year of measuring algae, the Iron Gate and Copco reservoirs had the highest levels of the algal toxic microcystin ever measured in the United States,” contended Craig Tucker of the Karuk Tribe. “They exceeded the World Health Organizations guidelines for a moderate risk of exposure by 4,000 fold.” WHO guidelines state that the presence of “visible scums” on the water's surface constitute a “high risk.”
Thick scums of algae are present in PacifCorp reservoirs from June through October. Neither the U.S. or state governments have set their own standards. “We're dealing with a potent liver toxin and known tumor promoter,” said Chichizola. “We have known about this problem for over a year and there's still not a plan to protect the public from this toxin.”
The Klamath Media Collective presented a short film to the board documenting the algae-ridden water in the lake as Susan Corum took samples of the water. Besides being a risk to human health, the algae and the poor water conditions that cause it present a great danger to the Klamath's imperiled salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon and lamprey fisheries.
