Advertisement Klamath tribes worry massive fish kill is close Protesters rally outside federal offices in Sacramento Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Members of American Indian tribes in Northern California said Tuesday a massive fish kill may be only days away if the federal government does not immediately release more water into the Klamath River.Watch report: Protestors say low water could lead to endangered fish die-offAbout 100 tribal members marched around the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation offices in Sacramento County shouting "fish need water."The Klamath River begins in Southern California and flows through Northern California before emptying into the Pacific Ocean south of Crescent City.Since 1961, a dam has diverted part of the water from one of the Klamath's tributaries, the Trinity River, into the Sacramento River system.Recently, the Klamath has become so shallow and warm that it has turned green with algae and has become dangerous to the endangered salmon that migrate and spawn in its waters."Right now, our fish are starting to die," said Annelia Hillman, of the Klamath Justice League.The protesters fear that without more water soon, they could see a repeat of the massive fish kill of 2002.At that time, low water levels led the banks of the Klamath to be littered with as many as 70,000 salmon carcasses.Fishing tribes such as the Yurok, Hupa and Karuk were left without their primary source of income."It will take the Klamath and Trinity river years to recover from another fish kill," said Georgiana Gensaw, of the Yurok tribe. "I mean, we saw it back in 2002. Our people swore we'd never let it happen again."Protesters claimed the water is being diverted into the Sacramento River to help farmers in the Central Valley.However, the Bureau of Reclamation said that is not true and the water is being diverted to support another endangered salmon species in the Sacramento River."Our goal is to save all the fish," agency spokesman Louis Moore said. "Now we have the reality of fish already dying in the river. What we're trying to do is prevent further damage to the system."Moore said agency officials were meeting local residents in Eureka and planned to announce a decision in the coming days.He said biologists are monitoring the river, looking for signs of the parasite that signal a fish kill has begun.Many of the protesters said the government is moving too slowly, and unless it release water into the Klamath immediately, it may be too late."It will take four days for water to get to where I live," Gensaw said. "And in four days, tens of thousands of salmon are going to die."