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A California judge last week ordered state water regulators to reconsider their power to regulate toxic algae in reservoirs behind hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit brought against the North Coast Water Quality Control Board by an American Indian tribe, salmon fishers and an environmental group.
The groups are concerned about high levels of toxic blue-green algae found in reservoirs behind the Iron Gate and Copco dams on the Klamath River. Tests funded by the plaintiffs showed levels in some places as high as 4,000 times greater than World Health Organization safe standards -- some of the highest recorded levels in the world.
The algae, Microcystis aeruginosa, blooms in warm, slow-moving water with many nutrients -- the exact conditions provided by the dam-blocked Northern California reservoirs. The toxin affects the liver and is harmful to people and animals that come in contact with it.
Sonoma County Superior Judge Elaine Rushing's ruling requires the water board to make a decision about whether the algae should be regulated under state law. That decision is something the board has been reluctant to do, according to the plaintiffs, including the Karuk tribe, Klamath Riverkeeper and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.
"Originally, [the water board] said they had no ability to do anything about the algae," said Craig Tucker, a spokesman for the Karuk tribe. "But the judge said they do have the authority to do something."
Under the judge's ruling, the water board has 90 days to make a decision. During that time, it will conduct more analyses of the problem before making its final decision, said North Coast Water Quality Control Board executive director Catherine Kuhlman.
"The court has commanded us, so we will take a fresh look," Kuhlman said.
If the water board decides to regulate the algae on the Klamath River, it could do so by changing flow patterns through the dams, drawing down the reservoir during key times or -- in an extreme case -- decommissioning the dams, said Glen Spain, regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.
First noted in 2001, the algae has hindered daily life for the Karuk tribe, which makes its home near the dams and depends on the river for food and religious ceremonies.
"The summer is ... the height of the tribe's religious season, and religious ceremonial leaders bathe ritualistically in the Klamath River," Tucker said. "These guys are bathing in the river next to signs saying, 'Don't Touch -- Toxic.'"
The algae also affects those who fish in the river. Although it is not found in salmon because they spend so little time in the affected waters, the toxin does accumulate in mussels, perch and other fish, Spain said.
"We think the law is clear," Spain said. "If there is a pollutant, they have an obligation to control it."
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