Courthouse News Service
By ALANNA MADDEN / August 24, 2022
(CN) — The Yurok and Karuk tribes have blown the whistle on ranchers in Northern California who are defying state orders to curtail water usage by diverting flow from the Shasta River, imperiling already endangered salmon of the Klamath tributaries. The tribes say the diversion led to a 37% decrease in Shasta River flows, from 58 cubic feet per second to 36 in two hours on Aug. 17.
The Shasta River Water Association’s diversion came days after a fire-induced mudslide killed tens of thousands of fish in a 60-mile reach of the Klamath River.