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More Trinity River water ordered for Klamath
published April 8, 2003
By DYLAN DARLING
A federal judge has given the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation extra water from the Trinity River to boost flows in the lower Klamath River this summer.
The allocation of water is designed to prevent a repeat of last year's massive fish die-off, although it won't stop a lawsuit aimed at getting more water released from the Upper Klamath River.
U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger ruled Monday that 453,000 acre-feet of water be released down the Trinity River by the Bureau's Central Valley Project this summer.
He also said the Bureau could use an additional 50,000 acre-feet of water stored in Trinity Reservoir to help salmon if conditions are similar to last summer, when an estimated 33,000 salmon died on the Lower Klamath River.
Jeff McCracken, Bureau spokesman, said the additional batch of cold water from the Trinity could help the fish more than additional warm water from the Upper Klamath River.
"Trinity water is colder, and it is closer," he said.
The Trinity and Upper Klamath Rivers merge about 45 miles from the Pacific Coast.
At the time of the die-off, flows in the Upper Klamath River were restricted to specified minimums while the Bureau conserved water in Upper Klamath Lake for irrigators and to protect endangered suckers.
Some fishery biologists, environmental groups and fishermen immediately put blame for the salmon die-off on irrigation diversions in the Upper Klamath Basin.
Wanger is trying a case in the U.S. District Court for Eastern California in which an irrigation district and some power districts in the Central Valley hope to stop the Bureau from decreasing diversions from the Trinity River into the Sacramento River valley
While the case is in court, Wanger has the authority to rule how much water should be sent down the Trinity River from the Bureau's Trinity and Lewiston dams.
The ruling for extra water comes after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service advised Wanger that higher flows in the Trinity River could help prevent another salmon die-off. The wildlife service recommended a combination of sending pulses of water down the river and sustained increased flows, requiring an extra 34,805 to 57,976 acre-feet, depending on conditions.
McCracken said the Bureau will ask the service how it should use the extra water before sending it down the river. He said the extra water will come out of storage, so it wouldn't have an impact on irrigators' water supplies.
Trinity Reservoir can hold up to 2.5 million acre-feet of water, with historically about 330,000 acre-feet going down the Trinity River. Today there was almost 2.1 acre-feet of water in Trinity Reservoir.
Glen Spain, spokesman for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, said Wanger's ruling should help fish.
"There is no question that we need more flows from the Trinity," he said.
But it still isn't enough, Spain said.
His organization is the lead plaintiff in the another federal court case, to be heard April 29 in Oakland. In that case the PCFFA, with a number of environmental groups and downstream interests, is arguing that the Bureau is violating the Endangered Species Act by not sending enough water from Iron Gate Dam on the Upper Klamath down the river.
"All the Trinity water in the world does not relieve the obligation and need to increase flows from Iron Gate Dam," Spain said.
Dan Keppen, executive director for the Klamath Water Users Association, said Wanger's ruling could have an effect on the other case. The KWUA has filed as a codefendant with the Bureau.
"It's an important recognition that the Trinity River is a major part of problems that occur in the Klamath River," Keppen said.
He said that the extra Trinity water, coupled with the Bureau's pilot water bank in the Basin, should improve conditions for fish downstream.
Reporter Dylan Darling covers natural resources. He can be reached at 885-4471, (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at ddarling@heraldandnews.com.
By DYLAN DARLING
A federal judge has given the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation extra water from the Trinity River to boost flows in the lower Klamath River this summer.
The allocation of water is designed to prevent a repeat of last year's massive fish die-off, although it won't stop a lawsuit aimed at getting more water released from the Upper Klamath River.
U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger ruled Monday that 453,000 acre-feet of water be released down the Trinity River by the Bureau's Central Valley Project this summer.
He also said the Bureau could use an additional 50,000 acre-feet of water stored in Trinity Reservoir to help salmon if conditions are similar to last summer, when an estimated 33,000 salmon died on the Lower Klamath River.
Jeff McCracken, Bureau spokesman, said the additional batch of cold water from the Trinity could help the fish more than additional warm water from the Upper Klamath River.
"Trinity water is colder, and it is closer," he said.
The Trinity and Upper Klamath Rivers merge about 45 miles from the Pacific Coast.
At the time of the die-off, flows in the Upper Klamath River were restricted to specified minimums while the Bureau conserved water in Upper Klamath Lake for irrigators and to protect endangered suckers.
Some fishery biologists, environmental groups and fishermen immediately put blame for the salmon die-off on irrigation diversions in the Upper Klamath Basin.
Wanger is trying a case in the U.S. District Court for Eastern California in which an irrigation district and some power districts in the Central Valley hope to stop the Bureau from decreasing diversions from the Trinity River into the Sacramento River valley
While the case is in court, Wanger has the authority to rule how much water should be sent down the Trinity River from the Bureau's Trinity and Lewiston dams.
The ruling for extra water comes after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service advised Wanger that higher flows in the Trinity River could help prevent another salmon die-off. The wildlife service recommended a combination of sending pulses of water down the river and sustained increased flows, requiring an extra 34,805 to 57,976 acre-feet, depending on conditions.
McCracken said the Bureau will ask the service how it should use the extra water before sending it down the river. He said the extra water will come out of storage, so it wouldn't have an impact on irrigators' water supplies.
Trinity Reservoir can hold up to 2.5 million acre-feet of water, with historically about 330,000 acre-feet going down the Trinity River. Today there was almost 2.1 acre-feet of water in Trinity Reservoir.
Glen Spain, spokesman for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, said Wanger's ruling should help fish.
"There is no question that we need more flows from the Trinity," he said.
But it still isn't enough, Spain said.
His organization is the lead plaintiff in the another federal court case, to be heard April 29 in Oakland. In that case the PCFFA, with a number of environmental groups and downstream interests, is arguing that the Bureau is violating the Endangered Species Act by not sending enough water from Iron Gate Dam on the Upper Klamath down the river.
"All the Trinity water in the world does not relieve the obligation and need to increase flows from Iron Gate Dam," Spain said.
Dan Keppen, executive director for the Klamath Water Users Association, said Wanger's ruling could have an effect on the other case. The KWUA has filed as a codefendant with the Bureau.
"It's an important recognition that the Trinity River is a major part of problems that occur in the Klamath River," Keppen said.
He said that the extra Trinity water, coupled with the Bureau's pilot water bank in the Basin, should improve conditions for fish downstream.
Reporter Dylan Darling covers natural resources. He can be reached at 885-4471, (800) 275-0982, or by e-mail at ddarling@heraldandnews.com.
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