Klamath Water Users Disappointed After Appeals Court Decision on Endangered Species Act
The Ninth Circuit ruling affirms that the Bureau of Reclamation must comply with the Endangered Species Act while operating the Klamath Project.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — The Klamath Water Users Association says it is disappointed after a federal appeals court ruling Wednesday affirmed that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has authority to operate the Klamath Project in compliance with the Endangered Species Act.
The 2-1 decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is the latest major ruling in long-running litigation over water management in the Klamath Basin, where irrigation deliveries, endangered species protections, tribal fisheries, wildlife refuges and state water law have collided for decades.
The case is Yurok Tribe v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, No. 23-15499.
At issue was whether the Endangered Species Act applies to Reclamation’s operation of the Klamath Project, including actions involving water stored in Upper Klamath Lake and releases to the Klamath River for ESA compliance.
The ESA requirements at issue are tied to protected fish species in the basin, including endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers in Upper Klamath Lake and threatened Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast coho salmon in the Klamath River.
The appeals court affirmed a lower court decision and held that Reclamation must comply with the ESA while operating the project. The court also rejected arguments from Klamath Irrigation District that the lower court’s decision amounted to a “judicial taking” of KID’s water rights and that the federal district court lacked jurisdiction to decide the issue.
For irrigators, the decision is significant because it allows Reclamation to continue factoring ESA obligations into Klamath Project operations, including decisions that can affect irrigation water availability.
KWUA had argued that longstanding water delivery contracts, some more than a century old, should be treated as nondiscretionary actions that do not trigger Section 7 of the ESA. Section 7 requires federal agencies to ensure their actions are not likely to jeopardize listed species or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat.
In a statement Wednesday, KWUA Executive Director Elizabeth Nielsen said the association is still reviewing the decision but is disappointed by its outcome.
Nielsen said the decision affects “family farmers and ranchers,” local communities and the broader Klamath Basin ecosystem, which KWUA says depends on a functioning Klamath Project.
KWUA said it will evaluate its options, including whether to seek further judicial review.
“Regardless of the final legal outcome, the current application of the ESA in the Klamath Basin has failed to recover species, decimated wildlife refuges and harmed agricultural communities,” Nielsen said. “We all deserve better.”
The majority opinion acknowledged the competing interests in the basin, including tribal fisheries, protected species, agricultural production and Reclamation’s obligations under federal law.
In dissent, Judge Ryan Nelson wrote that the majority “fails to reckon with Supreme Court and circuit precedent” on whether federal agency action is discretionary enough to trigger ESA requirements.
Klamath Irrigation District is also a party in the case, representing irrigator interests in the Klamath Project.
Klamath Irrigation District Executive Director Gene Souza said he is also disappointed with the decision and believes the court’s opinion did not address the district’s arguments.
“I am again disappointed,” Souza said. “My review of the court’s opinion is that it appears to be devoid of any discussion of the arguments Klamath Irrigation District raised with the court. I disagree with the majority’s decisions regarding the KWUA arguments. I am asking my counsel on how we can get court opinions on K.I.D.’s arguments?”
The Klamath Project, authorized in 1905, delivers irrigation water across parts of Southern Oregon and Northern California. KWUA says its member districts serve more than 170,000 acres of farmland and that the project is home to more than 1,200 family farms and ranches.
Cover image: An unirrigated Klamath Basin field sits dry during the 2021 water year, when Klamath Project irrigators received no water deliveries. The image reflects the stakes behind ongoing legal and water-management fights over agriculture, endangered species protections and the future of the basin. Photo by Chelsea Shearer.
