Klamath Lake and Klamath Falls – Image by Klamath Alerts
Klamath Alerts Exclusive: New project at Klamath Lake aims to transform algae and green midge contaminated lake into crystal clear boating paradise. The lake is scheduled to be drained and refilled this year.
Tired of the stinky green algae waters and pesky green midges every August? A new lake overhaul program is set to correct these problems and make Klamath Lake a boater’s dream!
The new lake transplant project will be underway this spring and will be completed in four phases. It is expected the lake will be open for recreation by summer of 2025.
Image of a pesky green midge from Klamath Lake. The bugs hatch by the millions every August. The bugs will be re-located to a new county thanks to a federally funded equity program from the Biden administration.
Phase 1: Lake Draining
Now that the Klamath River dams are out of the way and can allow for rapid water flows, Klamath Lake will be drained! The dam removal project has created ample room to handle the sudden draining of the lake. Reclamation experts are expecting that the draining of the lake will take around a month and begin in early April. A temporary fish holding tank will be constructed in the area of Moore Park to protect existing fish in the lake while the water is transplanted.
Phase 2: Lake Scooping Project
After the lake is drained, excavators will then dig out 40 additional feet of the lake bottom to create an environment less supportive of algae growth. At the same time all of the midge eggs will be sifted and collected form the remaining muck in the lake. A federally funded equity program to protect the midge species will collect the eggs before they hatch in August and move them to a neighboring county. The equity program aims to provide equal opportunity for midges to thrive in other counties and local leaders feel they have been in Klamath County long enough. As of press time, the program administrator, Carlos Pena told Klamath Alerts he expects the midges to be relocated to Lake County, Oregon. Pena said a final decision on the new home for the midges has not been made yet and several counties are still under consideration. He hopes a decision will be made by the time the lake is drained.
Phase 3: Refill the lake
After phase 2 is completed, the lake will be refilled. Multiple water trucking companies have been hired to transport clean and clear water from both Crater Lake and Shasta Lake to refill and replenish the drained water from Klamath Lake. The clear water will flush out all of the algae and refill the lake. The lake refill phase is expected to take most of the summer. The fish in the temporary holding tank at Moore Park will then be released back into the lake.
Phase 4: Lake open for recreation
After the lake is filled to the top with clean and clear water, it will be open for recreation! Klamath County is expected to begin issuing house boat permits and a new resort is being considered near Moore Park. The new clean lake will likely attract hundreds of boating tourists and houseboat enthusiasts from around the region, giving Klamath County a much needed economic boost. The “new” lake should be ready by summer of 2025 if the project can remain on schedule.
We hope you enjoyed this year’s April 1st story and that it gave you a laugh. We look forward to posting another one next year… stay tuned.
In case you missed our April 1st posts from the last few years:
https://klamathalerts.com/2023/04/01/train-mountain-offers-new-passenger-service-to-portland/
Is this an April Fool’s joke?
My thoughts exactly. Too good to be true.
It will be fun watching the lake go away and return. Great idea. I love the midge plan
Yes, dredge the lake about 50 or more feet deep and it would increase colder clearer water and that would decrease a lot of the algae problems that are created by shallow warm water.
So fake. 40 feet of lake bottom remove? Trucking water from Crarter lake, a National Park? So many holes in this story.
Has to be a fool’s joke.
Carlos Pena saves the day again
Just think, Whales and Dolphins can now return to Klamath Lake and aid in the algae removal!
This is a declaration of war against the farm and ranch community in the klamath basin. Expect us to take action
Like what? Crying on Facebook?
Has there been an environmental impact pact done for farmers, the animals that use the lake? It wasn’t done for the damn removal! I want to see it in writing.
Happy April 1st.
Very funny! It would be very funny, except that the powers that be are stupid enough to consider that!
This would be nice. I have been saying this for years. We need some kind of economic boost in this town or it’s done. Would be very nice to enjoy the lake instead of having to stay away because of the stench.
Well fifty percent of the responders believe this to be true…same fifty percent that still believe everything they hear on news stations that feed them only what they want to hear…welcome to the new America😅
April fools!!
We will volunteer to fill 5 gallon bottles with water and take them to the lake to help refill it. Last year I tried to book the inaugural train trip from Train Mountain to Portland. With no luck. I even volunteered to bring a rifle in case we had to fight off attacking bears & wolves 🙄Mary
This has got to be one of the best thought out hoax to grace Facebook in forever! Carlos Pena is a very busy man and should be commended for his hard work on this project!🤣🤣🤣
April Fools right? 😂
I don’t live there but what a joke! Who dreams up this stuff?
If you seen the lake, you would understand.
April Fools!
Hahaha. Not. Even an April Fool knows the midgies have to go west to Jackson County in order to thrive
I was told about this through a friend so I had to check it out. I’m smart enough to never sign up with Fakebook and not get my news there. So I went straight to the Klamath Alerts web site and there it is. Straight up front.
If this is an April Fools joke, it is CHILDISH at best and the furthest thing from professional journalism. The water issues in Klamath are nothing new and has had fights going on about it for as long as I can remember. The Dam removals were dumb enough and now you want to p*ss off even more people with stupid ‘lake draining’ stunts like this? Again, assuming this is a joke.
And if it is a joke – it is one of the worst I’ve seen and whoever did it needs to lose their job immediately. I find NO humor in it whatsoever. NOTHING surprises me what dumb things the Government will do today. If there really were draining the lake, do you really think they’d care about the wildlife and other impacts? Look at the mess they’ve already left behind on the Dam removals and what’s to come?. In my opinion, they could have done things better or different on the Dams, but as ALWAYS… it’s all about MONEY.
Follow the money and you’ll always find your answers, especially those involving Government.
Take a joke and get a life
Dear Anonymous Poster who’s too good for Facebook. This website is compromised. Anonymous has already secured your information regardless
The above is an April Fool joke I am sure but it does bring up a subject I have thought about for years. If all the time and money spent on study’s been invested in bringing in a couple of suck-shun dredges like they use at the coast to keep the harbors and jetty’s dredged out and piped the material to the land behind all the dikes which was lake bottom anyway, you could not only clean the bottom of the lake causing the water level to become much deeper but you would also raise the elevation of the farm land so dikes wouldn’t be needed. With the lake deeper it would be cooler water which would eliminate the algae and midge problem. I am sure the algae people would not be happy with this plan but there is always collateral damage with any plan. There would also need to be a screening device for the suction head but I am sure someone could design one.
This is not an April Fool joke but something to think about
This is not even funny. Worse April fools joke. At least in the past they were funny and obviously a joke.
We thought it was real…..