The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision by a lower court that said the Endangered Species Act applies to the Klamath Project, a water management initiative created in 1905 by the Bureau of Reclamation in the northern California and southern Oregon area. It provides water for irrigation and refuges in the area.
The decision would require water levels to be high enough to protect threatened salmon species and other species that inhabit the waters. In the court's opinion, Circuit Judge Ronald Gould wrote that tribal appellees need the water to maintain fishery practices granted to them by treaty.
Gould recognized the competing interests of the tribal nations and the irrigators over a limited water supply.
The Klamath Water Users Association, an appellant, expressed disappointment in the decision in a press release, saying longstanding contracts should not be affected by section 7 of the ESA, the section that requires federal agencies to carry out programs that protect endangered species.
