Fish Screens in High Demand — But State Officials Warn Fixes Will Take Years
ODFW says engineering complexity, statewide backlog, and site-specific designs are slowing efforts in the Klamath Basin.
As salmon return to the Upper Klamath Basin for the first time in generations, irrigation districts, tribal leaders, and landowners are pressing Oregon officials for immediate installation of fish screens at water diversions. But according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the surge in demand far exceeds what the agency can deliver in the short term.
Philip Milburn, district manager for the Klamath and Malheur watersheds, said he understands the urgency coming from groups including the Klamath Drainage District, Klamath Water Users Association, and the Klamath Tribes — all of whom have warned that unprotected diversions could lead to salmon mortality, new regulatory burdens, and conflict among water users.
“The irrigators rightfully so are pressuring for immediate action,” Milburn said.
Why screens are taking so long
Fish screens — devices that prevent fish from being pulled into irrigation canals, ditches, and pumps — must be individually engineered for each diversion. In the Klamath Basin, where conditions vary widely and sediment levels are high, “plug-and-play” designs simply don’t exist.
“We’re picking up the rate for what we’re doing in the Klamath Basin,” Milburn said. “There’s a lot of engineering that goes into that.”
Each screen must be sized to maintain water delivery while also preventing fish from entering the diversion. Many require expensive self-cleaning systems. The cost can range from $1,000 to more than $1 million depending on flow volume, distance from the river, and design complexity.
“The idea that we can all of a sudden provide fish screens for the Klamath Basin is unrealistic … It’s a decades-long process,” Milburn said. He added that ODFW is working with partners including the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to accelerate planning where possible.
A statewide backlog and no legal mandate
Although the Klamath Basin is receiving new attention after dam removal, Milburn emphasized that Oregon faces demand for screens at thousands of diversions statewide. With more than 81,000 surface-water diversions across Oregon, screens were already backlogged long before salmon returned to the upper watershed.
Another hurdle: there is no law requiring fish screens on privately owned diversions. ODFW must work with each landowner individually.
A long-promised protection
The Klamath Power and Facilities Agreement (PFA), signed in 2016 by state, federal and local partners, committed to minimizing new regulatory burdens on irrigators after dam removal. The agreement specifically referenced support for “entrainment reduction facilities” — meaning fish screens and related devices that keep fish out of canals and machinery.
As pressure grows to fulfill those commitments, ODFW says it understands the expectations.
In a previous statement, the agency said it “and partners are leading long-term efforts to expand fish screening across the Klamath Basin. Decades of work have gone into fish screening projects, but much work remains to be done.”
The agency also noted that demand has now outpaced supply — both in materials and engineering capacity.
A problem more than a century old
According to ODFW’s fish-screening program, Oregon’s diversion system has long posed threats to migrating fish.
“For as long as people have diverted water … fish living in streams have been diverted with the water into fields, ditches and machinery with no chance to escape,” the agency notes. “With over 81,000 surface water diversions in Oregon, a large percentage of fish will encounter a diversion at some point during their lifecycle.”
For Klamath Basin irrigators and tribal communities alike, that renewed reality — with salmon now returning upstream of the former dams — has brought new urgency to an old problem.
Article adapted from Herald and News.
Cover photo: Klamath Drainage District, Facebook