KLAMATH, Calif. (AP) — A northern California tribe is demanding the federal government cut off agricultural water supplies in southern Oregon and northern California unless the federal agency shows it is complying with all legal requirements for endangered species. including salmon and killer whales.

The Yurok Tribe, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the Fishery Resources Institute filed a motion for a preliminary injunction last week, according to the Capital Press informed. It’s part of a 2019 lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Reclamation and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The Bureau of Reclamation manages the Klamath Project, which provides water to about 200,000 acres (80,937 hectares) of farmland in southern Oregon and northern California. But operations cannot threaten the survival of endangered species.

The agency must consider the water needs of the endangered coho in the Klamath River and the two endangered mammal fish species in Upper Klamath Lake. Southern killer whales are also affected because they depend on Klamath River salmon for prey.

Three years of drought prompted the Bureau of Reclamation to adopt a more flexible management strategy for the Klamath Project.

In mid-February, the agency began reducing minimum flows in the Klamath River by 11% below Iron Gate Dam. On February 25, additional discounts of 16% were made.

The goal was to detain more water in Upper Klamath Lake near Klamath Falls, Oregon, which would allow Lost River fish and shortnose suckers — also known as C’waam and Koptu — to access critical riparian habitat for spawning and rearing. .

But according to the Yurok Tribe, reductions in Klamath River flow have fallen below the level needed to protect coho, which are at extreme risk.

The tribe and fishing groups are asking a U.S. District Judge in San Francisco to order the Bureau of Reclamation to withhold water for irrigators until the agency fulfills its obligations to the endangered fish.

The Klamath Tribes, headquartered in Chiloquin, Oregon, also filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the government in February, alleging Reclamation has failed to meet minimum lake elevations for suction cups in Upper Klamath Lake for the past three years.

The lawsuits are filed as Klamath Project irrigators await annual water allocations, which are usually announced in April.

Moss Driscoll, director of water policy for the Klamath Water Users Association, said this year’s hydrology is much more promising than last year. As of March 28, the Klamath Basin had 155% of normal snowpack and 103% of normal precipitation for the 2022-23 water year.

As the hydrology continues to improve, it could largely meet their ban requirements, whether it’s granted or not, Driscoll said. “Their request has almost become moot.”