Siskiyou

Update: The Drained Lakes on Klamath River?

by William Simpson II Views: 1719

Sad Remains of a Once Beautiful Lake

Cover Credit: Matt Menne, Matt reportedly took these pictures around Klamathon Bridge Feb 3rd, 2024

Talk about the destruction of wildlife habitat! This has to take the cake!

What’s left of Iron Gate Lake… a thin ribbon of water flowing through extensive deadly mud flats. 

What’s left of Iron Gate Lake… extensive clay-mud flats and a ribbon of water. Photo: William E. Simpson II

These deep mud flats were NOT washed away as planned by the ‘experts’ at KRRC and RES, even with all the water they could muster to blast down the canyon… 

This presents yet another ‘unexpected’ problem. Now what? What’s Next?

It’s ludicrous for CDFW, KRRC or RES to state they didn’t expect wildlife (and potentially horses) to end up in the deadly hazard presented by this sticky sloppy mess! 

Dead fish and dying fish struggling in the toxic sediment in the remains of Iron Gate Lake. Photo: William E. Simpson II


This video shows the deadly sediments and a few of the tens of thousands of dying fish:

Drone Video: William E. Simpson II

Now, these mud flats are going to remain, possibly for decades, trapping animals, and as it slowly erodes year after year, releasing more and more sediments and pollution.

This type of clay-mud sediment expands and contracts in response to water content.  As it goes through its cycle of expansion and contraction, it will continue eroding and depositing more sediment into the river along with the formerly sequestered anthropogenic pollutants.

Hard to see, a fawn who struggled in the cold mud and died painfully. Photo: Dima
Image Credits: Matt Menne
Where the Klamath empties into the Pacific Ocean, note: it is worth mentioning that there is a noticeable color change in the Pacific Ocean at this point..
Author: William Simpson IIWilliam E. Simpson II is an ethologist living among and studying free-roaming native species American wild horses. William is the award-winning producer of the micro-documentary film 'Wild Horses'. He is the author of a new Study about the behavioral ecology of wild horses, two published books and more than 150 published articles on subjects related to wild horses, wildlife, wildfire, and public land (forest) management. He has appeared on NBC NEWS, ABC NEWS, CBS NEWS, theDoveTV and has been a guest on numerous talk radio shows including the Lars Larson Show, the Bill Meyer Show, NPR Jefferson Public Radio and NPR National Radio.

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