It's been more than 40 years since former President John F. Kennedy dedicated the Trinity River diversion project with the now infamous words "No longer shall these waters be wasted to the sea."

For decades, the Hoopa Valley Tribe and residents of the North Coast have worked to dispel Kennedy's misunderstanding. How is water wasted when it supports a world-class salmon fishery and wisely used when it is instead sent to salt-choked farms in the Central Valley?

In 2000, former U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt signed a compromise decision. In it, the river would get an average of 47 percent of the water trapped by Lewiston Dam, while the rest would be sent to the Sacramento River, the delta pumps and on to Central Valley farms.

Since half a river doesn't a healthy river make, and the dam squashes the heavy winter flows that scour flood plains and flush out silt and sand, the restoration ordered by Babbitt requires bulldozers and big water in spring to accomplish the same end.

The use of the water, though authorized after decades of studies, didn't sit well with irrigators. Led by Westlands Water District, they sued over Babbitt's decision. Four years later, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down their case.

It is thanks to this suit that many aspects of the fisheries restoration have been delayed. The restoration program now finds itself in the awkward position of trying to quickly tie up loose ends so it can prepare to use the biggest flows during the wettest of years or face another potential legal challenge of the use-it-or-lose-it variety.

Property needs to be bought, wells moved and roads raised to make way for the water. Money to do this isn't immediately forthcoming. But it is these highest flows that hydrologists believe will do the most work. There is some irony in the fact that the program managers appear to be dreading such a wet year because they aren't fully prepared -- and it's not their fault.

The implementation of Babbitt's decision is ever more vital with the continuing trauma on the Klamath River. The Trinity flows into the Klamath, which in dry years can be brutal to salmon.

All measures must be taken to ensure that the program's option to use the Trinity's big flows is not squandered. The North Coast has only half a river to work with. The real waste would be relinquishing any of the water the people of the North Coast have fought so hard for before we know its ultimate potential to revive a once glorious fishery.

Source:  http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127~2906~2976767,00.html