The Yurok Tribe, with the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR), filed for a preliminary injunction to prohibit the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation from delivering water for irrigation unless Reclamation can ensure it will be able to comply fully with its Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) obligations to threatened Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (“SONCC”) Coho Salmon and endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales (“Killer Whales”) that depend on Klamath River Chinook Salmon as prey.
The Yurok Tribe, with the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR), sued the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to ensure enough water will remain in the Klamath River to protect threatened coho salmon and endangered resident killer whales.
For the Yurok, the fight to protect the Klamath River and the Tribe’s way of life goes back centuries. The Yurok Tribe turned to the courts for restitution and joined forces with Earthjustice and commercial fishing families to protect the Klamath’s salmon.
This federal district court order, issued on April 30 by Judge Orrick in the Northern District of California, denies Klamath water users' motion to modify a 2017 court order issued to protect threatened Klamath River salmon from deadly disease outbreaks.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit broadly upheld the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s ability to provide additional flow releases in California’s Trinity River to protect salmon.
The Klamath River has a basic problem: too much water promised to too many people. Now salmon are dying, causing local fishermen and tribal nations to suffer.
