Feds pull plug on Trinity water shift

John Driscoll

The Times-Standard

May 10, 2008

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has backed away from a proposal to take more water from the Trinity River this year, citing a 2000 Interior Secretary decision on fisheries restoration.

Reclamation was considering a shift from a normal year to a dry year, which would have stifled releases from Lewiston Dam to the river. Water managers were looking to possibly adjust the seasonal forecast used to craft the flows to reflect conditions in May, instead of the April 1 date called for in the 2000 record of decision.

”It's what the record of decision calls for,” said bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken.

Much of the state is headed for drought, and snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is poor. Conditions have been dry in the northern part of the state as well, after substantial precipitation earlier in the year. Trinity River advocates protested the possible decision by reclamation, saying the river should not suffer because of what they called mismanagement of the Sacramento River delta water system in recent years.

Half of the Trinity River 's water is diverted to the Sacramento , then pumped from the delta to farms and cities to the south. Flows meant to aid fisheries restoration are released beginning in April. A shift in the water year type would have crimped releases to the river.

The Hoopa Valley Tribe wrote in a May 6 letter to reclamation that such a move would be patently illegal.

”There is no legal justification for such a 'transition' and the Hoopa Valley Tribe urges you to refrain from taking such a damaging action,” wrote tribal counsel Tom Schlosser.

Schlosser also pointed out that the addition of spawning gravel into the upper river is occurring now, and requires high flows to move the material effectively.

Reclamation officials met with members of the council that sets policy for the river this week, and on Thursday informed the group that the issue was now settled.

John Driscoll can be reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com.

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