[env-trinity] Hoopa Valley Tribe Press Release- SENATE LEADERSHIP URGES SENATORS FEINSTEIN/BOXER TO RESOLVE TRINITY RIVER LITIGATION

[Tom Stokely]

April 23, 2004 

Media Contacts: 
Clifford Lyle Marshall               (530) 625-4211 (Chairman) 
Mike Orcutt                         (530) 625-4267 ext. 13       
Tod Bedrosian                         (916) 421-5121 

CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE LEADERSHIP URGES SENATORS FEINSTEIN AND BOXER TO 
RESOLVE TRINITY RIVER LITIGATION 



Sacramento, CA - California Senate leaders have sent a plea to Senators 
Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer asking that they resolve the litigation blocking 
the restoration of the Trinity River before CalFed is completed.   Senate 
President John Burton, Agriculture and Water Committee Chair Michael Machado, and 
Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Chair Wesley Chesbro signed the letter 
noting, "This long and expensive litigation has diminished the human and 
financial resources needed to restore the Trinity River's fishery." Restoration of 
the river, which bisects the Hoopa Valley Reservation in Humboldt County, has 
been blocked since 2000 because Westlands Water District and the Northern 
California Power Agency (NCPA) have sued to stop a restoration plan by the tribe and 
the U.S. Department of Interior. 

"This is one of the last wild and scenic rivers we have in California," said 
Chesbro, who represents Humboldt County.   "I felt compelled to assist the 
Hoopa Valley Tribe and other North Coast communities in making this request to 
Senators Feinstein and Boxer because the fate of the river is at a critical 
juncture now. The Central Valley agricultural interests that have drained this 
river for 40 years are vigorously pushing through CalFed and obtain new water 
contracts. I am urging a resolution of the Trinity River litigation as a preface 
to any federal water deals." 

The letter asks that the federal promise to the Hoopa Valley Tribe and 
Trinity basin communities be kept for enough water to sustain a fishery in the 
river. "This promise has not been kept and for the past 40 years up to 90 percent 
of the Trinity River's flow at Lewiston (Dam) has been diverted to the Central 
Valley.   In 2002, an estimated 34,000 fish, mostly endangered species salmon, 
died in the Klamath River before they could migrate to the Trinity River to 
spawn," notes the letter. In 2000, Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt signed a 
Record of Decision to begin restoration of the river after 20 years of study 
and negotiations with the tribe. Westlands, NCPA and the Sacramento Municipal 
Utility District (SMUD) immediately filed a lawsuit to prevent the restoration 
of the river. SMUD and NCPA members Palo Alto, Alameda and Port of Oakland 
have since voted to withdraw from the litigation for environmental reasons. 

"We are very grateful to State Senators Burton, Machado and Chesbro for their 
leadership support of the Trinity River," said Hoopa Valley Tribal Chairman 
Clifford Lyle Marshall. He added, "Agricultural water contracts are important, 
but these state senators are saying that the Trinity River cannot be neglected 
as a resource for the people of California." In fact, Calfed will more than 
make up for the modest amount of water required for Trinity restoration.   "The 
CalFed process is an historic opportunity to begin the restoration of the 
Trinity River. I hope the Senate will honor the Nation's   promises to us and 
bring this litigation to an end so we can begin to heal the Trinity River," said 
Marshall. 

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