October 1999 Issues Online June 2007 April 2007 February 2007 December 2006 October 2006 August 2006 June 2006 April 2006 February 2006 December 2005 October 2005 August 2005 June 2005 April 2005 February 2005 December 2004 October 2004 August 2004 June 2004 April 2004 February 2004 December 2003 October 2003 August 2003 June 2003 April 2003 February 2003 December 2002 October 2002 August 2002 June 2002 April 2002 February 2002 December 2001 October 2001 August 2001 June 2001 April 2001 February 2001 December 2000 October 2000 August 2000 June 2000 April 2000 February 2000 December 1999 October 1999 August 1999 June 1999 April 1999 February 1999 December 1998 October 1998 August 1998 June 1998 April 1998 February 1998 December 1997 October 1997 August 1997 June 1997 April 1997 February 1997 December 1996 October 1996 August 1996 June 1996 April 1996 February 1996 December 1995 October 1995 August 1995 June 1995 April 1995 February 1995 December 1994 October 1994 August 1994 June 1994 April 1994 February 1994 December 1993 October 1993 August 1993 Select any issue from the menu in this bar.

Trinity Travails

Its partisans called the Trinity the "forgotten river," until last summer when flows from the river - 75% of which have been diverted to the Central Valley Project (CVP) since the early 1960s - emerged as a hotly contested prize in the state's water sweepstakes.

Last spring, U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the Hoopa Indian Tribe - which has federally protected rights to the river's fisheries - released the long-awaited Trinity River Flow Evaluation, which calls for doubling the amount of water released to the river to help restore decimated salmon and steelhead populations. The report coincides with negotiations for long-term CVP water contract renewals and ongoing State Board water rights hearings, and could play a role in both processes, as well as in CALFED, the state-federal effort to protect the Bay-Delta environment and water supply. "The Trinity is definitely in the eye of the storm," says Tom Stokely of the Trinity County Planning Department. An Environmental Impact Statement and Report for the flow decision is expected this fall, with a final decision due next spring from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.

Meanwhile, CVP contractors are urging that any Trinity River decisions be linked to CALFED. "We're talking about a $10 billion CALFED program that will produce, if we're lucky, as much water as they want to reallocate to the environment on the Trinity," says Jason Peltier of the Central Valley Project Water Association. "We're saying the Interior Secretary should look at the totality of water management in California." Language directing the Secretary to examine the Trinity in the context of CALFED was included in the House version of federal appropriations legislation.

Stokely says the CVP gets much more Trinity water than BurRec originally intended. He notes that the diversions recommended by the Flow Evaluation still amount to 53% of the river's flow, and actually represent a 1% increase in the amount proposed in 1952. "This is a case of mission creep," says Stokely. "The Trinity was never supposed to give up as much as it did. All we're asking is that the promises that were made back in the 1950s be kept."

Contact: Tom Stokely (530)628-5949, Jason Peltier (916)448-1638.

«To @@(newsletter_title)@@ Index

[ ABAG HOME | SFEP HOME ]

Copyright © 2002, San Francisco Estuary Project