friends of trinity river newsletter, february 2005

8/9/2019 Friends of Trinity River Newsletter, February 2005

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The simple act s that the stakeholders roup,TAMWG, currently s non-functional.We haveprovidedandprovide valuable ecommendations,upportand nput to theTriDIty MaDacementCo.ncD (TMC) andwork closelywith all other Programelements.We havebeenan effectiveand significantcontributor o the Program. Thistimely failure to act is a very undesirable ircumstanceor the Program, for us, for otherstakeholder ndpublic interests, nd for achievement f Program purposes.A coupleof us havemadesignificantefforts o encourage ctionon appointments t thenational evel. T AMWG contributes ignificantly o the Prognm, and his bureaucraticfoul-up - unintentionalor not - is a hindrance o an effective Program and s notacceptable.A change n responsibilities or this process asbeenmade. Hopefully,appointments ill be madewithin the next coupleof weeks.J41oodDlaia ork to AccommodateROD's Hiner River flowsInfonnationon required loodplain work and heir costs o accommodate igher flows asprovided n the December2000 Reeord of DeclsioD ROD) hasyet to be developed.Presumably. n nventory of needed loodplain actionsanddetermination f costs or thiswork is in process.At the same ime, the Program budget or this year,and asprojectedfor the next two years,clearly provide nsufficient funding o allow fully for water returnsto the river prescribedn the ROD. Substantialloodplainwork to accommodate igherflows hasbeendeferred o 2006 n order o pay for more ish monitoring and otherstudies.A decisionon water-typeyearwill be madeby the endof March. If this year sdetenninedo be a ~et" year. lowsof 8.500 cubic eetpersecondcfs)couldbereleased. However. t appearso us hat because f unresolved loodplain problems. hatmay not be possible. Someproperties ould be flood damaged y an 8.500cfs releasefrom Trinity Dam. and some oad realignmentwork will not be completed. Floodplainadjustments learly demanda high priority for ftmding. They arenot ~eiving it.If this year s detennined o be a "nonnal" water-type ear. hen lows of 6.000wi" bereleasedn early spring.as basbeen he case he past ew years. The ROD alsoprovidesfor water returns o the river of 11.000 cfs in an "extremelywet'. water-typeyear.Absentnecessary djustmentsn the floodplain t is obvious hat 11, 000 cfs cannotbereleased.The hree ewbridges Poker Bar Salt Flat and Biggen - will be open or trafficbyearly April. Roadwork associated ith the BucktaU Bridge already s completed. Roadimprovementso allow for higher lows arebeing constructedn Poker Bar, but will notbe completed ntil at least2006.We continue o pressaggressivelyor detemrination f all needed loodplain adjustments,anddIe funding and mplementation f requiredwork to allow for flows of up to 11,000cfs asestablishedn the ROD.


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The Restoration Program's budgetwas cut by abouta million dollars his year romwhat hadbeenplannodjust a few weeksago. In our view, this bas esulted n allocationof Prognm funds n a manner hat exacerbateshe problemof ignoring the highestpriority Program actions.Principalchangesn the budgetas a result of reduced unding are as ollows: FWlds orfloodplainadjustmentso accommodateigher lows were reduced. Fundswereincreasedor channelmanipulationprojects hat are o be self-sustainingwith higherflows that can't be implemented ully without floodplain changes.FWlds or designandplanning or future cham1elmanipulationprojectswere ncreased.Funding or ProgramAdministrationwas ncreased.Funding or watershedehabilitationprojects hat havebeengrosslyunder-fundedor yean were reduced y more han 50 percent. Funds or anhourly temperaturemodel - very important were deleted. This infonnation wouldprovide he record o requireBOR to maintainnon-lethalwater emperaturesor fish inthe river.Trinltv Mana2ementCouncilTrinity ManagementCouncil (TMC) is the ultimatepolicy and management ecisionmakingentity within the Program. It reports o the Interior Secretary. It is comprisedof the Hoopa Valley Tribe, the Yurok Tribe, the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. ForestService,National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish &WildlifeService,California Department of Fish and Game andTrinity County.Apparentand ncreasingdivisiveness mongTMC members, ombinedwith asupern1ajorityote requirement nd he dominance f federalagenciess fracturing heTMC andmaking t less ikely to makesoundand imely decisions. The recentbudgetcut responses, ith its misplacedpriorities, s an exampleof how the Program is makingpoor decisions.This also s a key reasonwhy FOTR must continue o play its vital rolein the Program.Pf02ram Evaluation Review and ReDortFOTR is represented y boardmember,NorthcoastManagerofCalifomia Trout, IDC.andT AMWG alternatememberTom Weseloll on a very small group hat meetsregularlywith the Program's executivedirector,Douglas ScllleuSDer,o review and ohelp mplementProgram changes eflected n the Program EvaluatloD Review Reportfinalized ast year. Weseloll andLeydecker servedon the sub-committeehat developedthe Report. Details of this effort andproductwereoutlined n FOTR's NovemberNewsletter.Change omes lowly, but someprogressn attemptingeffective n xhieving its objectives s underway. to make he Program more


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ALLOCATION OF DEVELOPED WATER RESOURCESCommentson Environmental Documentation or Lone-Term Water ContractsSinceearly December,FOTR hascommented xtensivelyon grossly nadequateenvironmental ocumentation y the Bureau of ReclamatioD BOR) for Ceatral ValleyProject (CVP) Loul- Tenn Contract ReDewalso deliver water o CVP irrigators andotherbeneficiaries outhof the Su Francisco Bay Delta, including Westluds WaterDistrict (WWD). We commented n four separate ocuments.From our perspective,these ommentswere akin to the development f four master'sor doctoral heses.Oneor moreof our submittedsetsof commentswere oined by other conservationorganizationshat includedNortbern California Council/Federation of Fly Fisben,Trout Unlimited of California, Butte Environmental Council, California Trout, Inc.,Public Trust Alliance, Sierra Club, Friends of the River, Winnemem Wintu Tribe,California Sportfisbing Protection Alliance, Pacific Coast Federation of Fisbermen'sAssociations,California SaveOur StreamsCouncil, Nortbcoast EnvironmentalCenter and California Water Impact Network.In addition,both the Natural ResoarcesDerea5eCODDCDnd EDvjroameDtalDefenseincludedour comments y reference s a part of their individual comments n certainofthe environmental ocuments.We undertook his effort, amongother easons, ecausehe Bureau hascontractedodeliver ar more water han exists paper water) in the CVP. Under proposed ontracts,the BOR intends o deliver eveDmore water southof the So Francisco Bay Delta thatdoesn'texist. Its intentions ncludepumpingup to onemillion acre eet of more watersouthof the Delta to the Western SaDJoaquin Valley and elsewhere.Suchaction, f allowed o proceed,will increase ubstantiallyour state'swater shortagesand urtherdistort rational useof developedwater esources water resourcesromNorthern CaUfornta. That reality potentiallycould affect he Trinity adversely ince tsdivertedwater principally goes o (WWD) in the Western San Joaquin Valley.

On February15, EartbJustice aDd NRDC filed a lawsuit n Federal District Court inSan Francisco o stop he BOR from proceedingwith its plannedschemeso sendmoreTriDity water south somehatched n secretmeetings.Also oining the suit as plaintiffswereCalifornia Trout, IDe.,The Bay Institute, Bay Keeper and Friends of the River.Anyoneconcerned boutsustainingany semblance f fisheries n CaUfornia applaudsthis action. Anyone concerned boutsustaining ivers and he wildlife they support nNorthern CaUCornia pplaudshis action.The BOR proceeds s houghno law applies o its actions,and f you don't like it, "sueus, we have he federal reasurybehindus." NRDC was succ~fu1, after about en


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years, n its litigation on renewalcontracts etween he BOR and he Friant WaterUsen Aathority. The very existence f Saa JoaqaiD River was at stake n this action.Unhappily, t appearshat itigation is the only avenue vailable o stop BOR fromentering nto water delivery contracts hat are rrational o every nterest n California(the public interest, or starters) ther hana handful of heavily taxpayersubsidizedmajorlandowner orporateor corporateequivalent eneficiaries.

RENEWAL AND NEW MEMBERS, AND SPECIAL RECOGNITIONWhile FOTR only askso.ce . year for member enewals, inceour NovemberNewsletter,severalpeoplehave enewed heir membership r oined FOTR. Severalotherpersons aveprovided support or our Trinity effort in other ways. We particularlywant o thank and o express ur app~iation to Mr. Leland Jordan who providedpro-bono egal services o establishFOTR asa non-profit corporationand o obtain axexemptstatus rom the federaland stategovernments.He also inancially contributedsignificantly o FOTR. We also express ur thanks o Mr. Jeff Bright, of Jeff BrigbtDeslp - graphicandwebsitedesignservices who updates ur website or us whenwe're able o provide nformation o him to do so.If you have renewedyour membenhip sinceour November Newsletter and yourname(s)has beenomitted below, please et us know - we want to recognizeyoursupport.Our very geuuiue appreciation to the following peopleandorganizations:Anonymous,Robert Bellucci, Atsuko and Keitb Bennett. Marc Boler. Todd Boler.Boler & Associates,Alan Brayton, Calvin ChiD and Joel Cohen.Norman Christenson, M.D., contributed ndividually and n Memory of AlanGoodman,M.D. Dr. Christenson alsosolicitedand obtainedcontributions n Dr.Goodman's Memory from Sarah Christenson,Tracy Duke, Gabriel Garci~ M.D.,Mike Knzinski/Eureka Fly Shop, Michael Morrison, Thomas, Rydz, M.D., JeffWalker and Frank R. Wheeler, M.D.Elise and Gary Dickenson alsocontributed ndividually, and on behalf of Scotto Bie,Norm Dickenson,Ron Dickenson,Steveand Blake Dickenson, Paul Murphey, andJohn Rumisel.Also contributing: JamesDowling, M.D., Paula Downing, Stuart Feldman, PeterGiampaoli, Goat Hill Printing Co., Lynn Halpern, Kennetb Haupt, David Hickson,Nadine and Mitcb Hitcbcock, Jack C. Doey, M.D., Edward Hooper, Hiram Jang,Ricbard Jobnson, Leland Jordan, Raymond Kocb, M.D., Eric Malmquist, FrancisMatbews Family, Jobn Mertes, Palo Alto FlyflSbers,Marian Perry, Rudy Ramp andVicky Turner, Alexandra and Javan Reid, Phil Ryan, Carmen and Dennis Scott,Wendi and JamesShively, M.D., Mary andJamesSimons, Igor Skaredoff,Tbendara Foundation, Joe Tupin, JosepbWalsh, M.D., G. B. Jerry Waybright, andDouglasWitmore.


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Frteodl of TriDity RIverP.O.BoI1317Mill Valley, CA 94942-1327

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friends of trinity river newsletter, february 2005

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