Tribes applaud policy repeal
The Karuk and Yurok tribes this week praised U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s withdrawal of seven documents interpreting laws and policies related to the Klamath River Irrigation Project.
The memorandum, issued by Haaland on Thursday, points to the Biden-Harris administration’s Executive Order 13990, which directs the administration’s agencies to address climate change, public health and conservation issues.
The withdrawn memorandums, originally filed during the past Trump administration, involve several assessments, dating as far back as August of last year and as recently as Jan. 16 of this year, days before President Donald Trump left office.
“These documents were issued without government-to-government consultation with affected tribes and do not reflect the current administration’s goals for long-term water recovery and
economic restoration in this region,” Haaland’s memorandum reads. “The documents also conflict with longstanding departmental positions and interpretation of governing law and should not be relied upon for any purpose.”
Haaland’s action is being hailed by the Karuk Tribe as a win for tribal governments.
The tribe’s self governance director Darrel Aubrey, believes this opens up the possibility for the federal government to uphold its trust and responsibilities to tribes.
“For us to be able to have input on what happens with our environment is a huge deal and I think it’s important that we are able to have those consultations with federal agencies on improving resources,” he said.
“We appreciate the secretary’s earnest commitment to consulting with the tribes before any more decisions are made that affect our river and our fisheries,” Karuk chairman Russell Attebery said via press release.
Yurok Tribe vice chairman Frankie Myers commended the move as well.
“The Yurok Tribe applauds the withdrawal of the hastily drafted and poorly constructed Trump administration memos that were intended to limit Reclamation’s obligations to take care of endangered species in the Klamath River and in Upper Klamath Lake,” he said in a statement to the Times-Standard.
The Yurok Tribe’s religious rites were directly affected by the Aug. 19 memo, which impacted its yearly Boat Dance ceremony, which requires a healthy water flow to be conducted, due to the changes in water flow through the river.
“In particular we are gratified that the arbitrary and unsupported decision memo to deny the Tribe of its ceremonial Boat Dance flows was rescinded,” Myers said of the matter. “Although we have many challenges ahead, the withdrawal of these documents is a good start to solving these issues in the longterm, and we extend a sincere Wok-hlew’ (thank you) to Secretary Haaland for this action.”
The repeal also comes as tribal governments and other populations dependent on the Klamath River face some of the most severe, long-lasting drought seasons in the last 40 years and the lowest river inflow in over 100 years. These communities rely on the well being of the river for their fisheries, farming and general way of life activities.
Karuk natural resources consultant Craig Tucker shared the coming summer is expected to be a harsh season for the Klamath River.
“We anticipate there’s going to be a severe shut off to the agricultural water users and we still probably won’t have enough water to keep coho and chinook salmon healthy,” Tucker said. “We think this year’s hydrology will be so bad that farmers are going to get their water shut off, but there is still a real possibility of fish kills in the river as well.”
The Klamath Irrigation Project serves about 225,000 acres of farmland, including approximately 1,400 family farms along the project.
According to Tucker, the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the project, has to develop plans to send water to these farms. The National Fisheries Service then judges whether or not the plan creates a risk for endangered coho salmon along the river with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determining whether the previous actions create a jeopardy for endangered suckers in the upper lake.
The Trump-era memos made the legal landscape more complicated for stakeholders to determine what parties get first access to water and when.
“From our perspective these memos were put together and issued without any real meaningful consultation with the tribes which have fishery resources at stake,” Tucker said “The Tribes deserve and demand a seat at the table when these decisions are being made.”
The Karuk Tribe is currently engaged in an active consultation with Haaland’s team, and there will be a decision expected to be made next week on how the irrigation project will operate this summer.