Traditional advocates of high mainstem Klamath River flows quickly concluded last fall that the fish die-off was due in large part to Klamath Project operations, despite the fact that the fish died below the confluence of the Klamath and Trinity rivers, 200 miles downstream of the Klamath Project. Dave Vogel, a fisheries biologist with 28 years of experience (see attached biography), believes that Klamath River water temperatures are extremely important in this issue because of the adverse impact high water temperatures can have on salmon (such as causing disease outbreaks). The topic is also important because of how water project operations can, or cannot, affect water temperatures in riverine areas important to salmon.

During late summer and early fall of 2002, Dave Vogel conducted a field investigation to assess water temperatures in the main stem Klamath River:

• Main stem water temperatures were measured hourly just prior to and during the fall-run Chinook salmon migration season.

• Vogel found that water temperatures in the upper Klamath River downstream of Iron Gate Dam during September 2002 were unsuitable for adult salmon.

• This finding was similar to that of previous studies.

• As expected, a normal seasonal cooling trend at the end of September and early October provided the moderating influence lowering Klamath River temperatures to tolerable levels for salmon.

• Vogel also found that large numbers of salmon entered the lower Klamath River earlier than usual and were exposed to two dramatic and uncharacteristic cooling and warming conditions causing disease outbreak from warm water and crowded conditions.

In 1994, fisheries biologist David Vogel co-authored a technical report that concluded that:

• Any increased flows from Iron Gate Dam, pulsed or otherwise, to benefit adult salmon should only occur during late September or early October to coincide with normal seasonal declines in air temperatures and concomitant cooler river flows.

• Earlier seasonal increased releases from Iron Gate Dam are unlikely to provide biological benefits because the water is naturally too warm.

Based on his research in 2002, Vogel’s conclusions remain the same.

Assessment of Alternatives for Flow and Water Quality Control in the Klamath River Below Iron Gate Dam. M.L. Deas and G.T. Orlob, Center for Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, University of California, Davis. December 1999.

Vogel’s conclusions concerning the effect of Iron Gate Dam releases and upper main stem Klamath River water temperatures in the fall are similar to the findings of other researchers. For example, Deas and Orlob (1999) found the following:

• "During early fall, mean daily measured water temperatures are fairly uniform throughout the river system. However, by late fall it is apparent that temperatures are decreasing in the downstream direction by late fall, i.e., after October 1. During this period, releases from Iron Gate Dam are generally at temperatures above equilibrium and the reservoir is acting as a heat source to the river.

• At the same time, riverine conditions in the upper Klamath River were unsuitably warm for salmon because the normal seasonal cooling trend had not yet occurred.

• These data indicate that September 2002 was unique, but not for the reasons portrayed by the California Department of Fish and Game.

• Until additional data is acquired on the topic, Vogel’s opinion is that the combination of those factors is probably the most plausible reason for the fish die-off.

Dave Vogel, March 2003

Dave Vogel was trained as a fisheries scientist and has worked in this discipline for the past 28 years. He has a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources (Fisheries) received from the University of Michigan in 1979 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology received from Bowling Green State University in 1974. He previously worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for 14 years and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for one year. During his tenure with the federal government, he received numerous superior and outstanding achievement awards and commendations, including Fisheries Management Biologist of the Year Award for six western states.

For the past 13 years, Vogel has been a consulting fisheries scientist, primarily working on fishery resource issues in the western United States. He has worked as a consulting fisheries scientist on behalf of federal, state, and county governments, Indian tribes, and numerous other public and private groups. He is presently the Principal Scientific Investigator for research projects on salmon on behalf of federal and state agencies in California.

Vogel has extensive knowledge of the habitat requirements for fish species in rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and estuaries. During his employment with the USFWS from 1981 to 1990, he directed a large program to perform research on salmon in California’s Central Valley and developed fishery resource restoration measures. He also performed numerous research projects on salmon for the USFWS in many rivers and streams in the Pacific Northwest. He has worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Interior, the California Attorney General’s Office and other entities as an expert witness on fishery resource issues.

For more than a decade, Vogel has advised the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) on Klamath River basin fishery resource issues. He was a principal contributor of biological information for the 1992 Biological Assessment on Long-Term Operations of the Klamath Project. Vogel was the principal author of the "Initial Ecosystem Restoration Plan for the Upper Klamath River Basin" in 1993 and one of the primary contributing authors to the Upper Basin Amendment to the Klamath River fishery restoration program. He has prior knowledge and work experience in the Klamath River through his work with the USFWS and served as the Acting Project Leader for the Klamath River salmon projects in the mid-1980s. Additionally, he became very familiar with Klamath River salmon issues through his representation on the California Department of Fish and Game’s (CDFG) Salmon Smolt Quality Committee during an eight-year period in the 1980s and through various temporary assignments as the USFWS Division Manager for fishery resources in California, Idaho, and Nevada during the late 1980s.

In 2002, Vogel provided testimony to the U.S. Congress House Resources Committee concerning the use of peer review for scientific decisions under the Endangered Species Act.