Another Klamath River Dam Threatens Salmon and Public Health! Take Action Now; Tell the North Coast and State Water Boards to Clean Up Dwinnell Reservoir !!

In 2005 as part of developing a clean-up plan for the polluted Shasta River, the North Coast Water Quality Board commissioned a study of Dwinnell Reservoir. Water quality tests revealed a shallow reservoir which is highly polluted. High water temperature and high nutrients have combined to produce a reservoir subject to unhealthy algae blooms. Among algae species found in Dwinnell Reservoir is Anabaena flos-aquae, one of the most toxic strains of cyanobacteria, a type of blue-green algae. According to health advisories, Anabaena flos-aquae not only produces swimmers itch but is also both a hepatatoxin and a neurotoxin. In fact, anatoxin-a found in Anabena flow-aquae is “an organic phosphate, similar in its action to synthetic organophosphate pesticides such as parathion and malathion. Anatoxin-a(s) is the only natural organophosphate known.” Parathion and Malathion are being phased out in the US and are already banned in many countries due to the threats they poses to human and environmental health.

In addition to toxic algae, the sediments at the bottom of the shallow reservoir are likely to contain dioxins and other chemicals originating from the Roseburg-Baxter Superfund Site upstream in Weed, California. The dioxins at one point were found in creek sediments. Later tests could not locate the toxic sediments; they likely were washed down and into Dwinnell Reservoir.

The water quality in Dwinnell Reservoir is so bad that pure ammonia is sometimes produced. Ammonia is directly toxic to fish; many fish kills in Dwinnell Reservoir have been documented.

Finally, the algae and other toxic chemicals produced in Dwinnell reservoir are also present below the dam in the Shasta River. The study commissioned by the North Coast Water Board in 2005 found that “there is insufficient data (in the reservoir, irrigation canals and downstream river reaches) to assess the impacts of reservoir releases on ….. downstream river reaches” and called for “more vigilant monitoring …. at Shastina to determine if there are any health risks associated with toxic substances originating from cyanobacteria.”

In spite of these calls, no water quality monitoring is currently taking place at Dwinnell Reservoir nor is an effort underway to determine the impact on salmon and other aquatic species below the lake. Furthermore, county and state health officials have been slow to address the obvious health risks. While Oregon manages blue-green algae conditions in surface waters through testing, advisories, and even lake closures, Siskiyou County and California officials have largely ignored toxic algae in Klamath Basin Reservoirs. Perhaps worst of all, the Northcoast Water Board decided not to adequately address Dwinnell Reservoir in the Shasta River Clean-up Plan it adopted last year. Instead, the Northcoast Board said it would get around to the problems in Dwinnell at some future date. So far it appears that nothing significant has been done!

With Klamath River tribes, fishing and environmental interests preoccupied with the campaign to remove PacifiCorp’s Klamath River Dams, the impacts on humans and salmon of Dwinnell Reservoir are being ignored! That is why it is important for YOU to take action now to urge California Water Quality Officials not to forget the Shasta River and the impact of toxic algae and other pollutants on the Klamath River’s most important salmon stream. Removing the PafifiCorp dams will not magically restore salmon; the Shasta River is critical to salmon recovery!

Contact:

Catherine Kuhlman, EO and John Corbett, chairman
North Coast Water Quality Board
5550 Skylane Blvd., Suite A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Fax: 707-523-0135
Email: ckuhlman@waterboards.ca.gov

Tam Doduc, chairperson and Dorothy Rice, ED
State Water Resources Control Board
P.O. Box 100
Sacramento, CA 95812
Fax: (916) 341-5252
Email: TDoduc@waterboards.ca.gov

Action Alert Courtesy of Felice Pace, KFA Volunteer Activist

This must change! Dwinnell Reservoir contains blooms of Anabena flow-aquae, an organic phosphate, similar in its action and health risks to synthetic organophosphate pesticides such as parathion and malathion. Dwinnell Reservoir is so polluted that in summer it produces ammonia which is directly toxic to fish. The reservoir also likely contains dioxins and other toxic chemicals flushed down in sediments from the Roseburg-Baxter Superfund site in Weed. Furthermore, a study commissioned by the Northcoast Board and completed in 2005 found that the Dwinnell pollution is also present in the 60 miles of irrigation ditches that flow from the Reservoir and downstream in the Shasta River. That study concluded that the resulting impacts to salmon and water quality in the Shasta River could be significant and needed more study.

But now the Northcoast Board and its staff are preoccupied with the Klamath River TMDL, similar but less toxic algae present in PacifiCorp’s Klamath River dams and the campaign to take out those dams. As a result the serious problems of the Shasta River – the stream that California Fish & Game says is most critical to the survival of Klamath River Chinook salmon – are being ignored.

Please do not forget the public and environmental health problems of Dwinnell Reservoir and the Shasta River. You have received a petition calling on you to address these problems. I am writing to support that petition. Please implement the recommendations of the study the Northcoast Board commissioned in 2005. That study called for a focused monitoring program designed to get a handle on health risks, water quality issues and fisheries impacts not only in the reservoir but also downstream in the irrigation ditches and in the Shasta River. Please allocate the resources necessary to complete that assessment. But don’t wait for it to be completed. Toxic Algae are present now; therefore you must take action now to require The Montague Irrigation District (which owns Dwinnell Reservoir) and the Siskiyou County Health Officer to take action now to fully inform the public of the risk. In Oregon and elsewhere, responsible public officials close reservoirs where these toxic algae are present to recreation. Inaction can lead to human illness or even death so please act soon!

Please let me know how you plan to respond to the toxic algae and other risks posed by Dwinnell Reservoir.