On July 30, CWA director (now chair of the board) Rocque Merlo and Vice President for Legislative Affairs and Public Policy Mark Hennelly hand-delivered a letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Click here to see a PDF of the letter.

The letter asks the secretary to throw out the biological opinions that govern operation of the Klamath Project. The biological opinions, which are prepared to protect endangered fish, cut off the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge from a large part of its water supply. Without water, the refuge is in danger of turning from a very large wetland to a desert.

A wide array of organizations signed on to the letter, indicating broad-based support for the refuge and a clear recognition that its water woes affect the entire flyway. Signatories included Audubon California, the Black Brant Group, the Cal-Ore Wetlands and Waterfowl Council, Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited, the Grassland Water District, the Oregon Hunters Association, the Suisun Resource Conservation District and the Tulare Basin Wetlands Association.

The request to throw out the biological opinions is supported by local irrigators. The Yurok tribe on the Klamath River has filed suit to throw out the biological opinions, as well.