[env-trinity] SACBEE- Deal may be in the works between Hoopas, Westlands

[tstokely at trinityalps.net]



 


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Deal may be in the works between Hoopas, Westlands

Water district sued in 2000 to block higher flows in the Trinity River for
salmon.

By David Whitney -- Bee Washington Bureau
Published 2:15 am PDT Tuesday, April 27, 2004
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WASHINGTON - An effort appears to be under way to negotiate a settlement
between 
the Hoopa Valley Indian tribe and the Westlands Water District over
diversion of 
Trinity River water for Central Valley agricultural irrigation.

The move comes as the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the release
of more 
water for salmon sought by the tribe and as a Senate committee prepares to
take up 
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's pared-down bill to authorize the joint
federal-state 
water project known as Cal-Fed on Wednesday.

 
 Last week, California state Senate leaders sent a letter to Feinstein and
Sen. Barbara 
Boxer urging them to resolve the legal fight between the Hoopas and
Westlands 
before completing work on the Cal-Fed bill.

Hoopa tribal officials said late last week that they were headed to
Washington for a 
Monday meeting with Feinstein. After the meeting early Monday afternoon,
tribal 
officials said the senator asked them not to discuss details with the media.

But the tribe said more meetings will be held, raising the likelihood that
Feinstein has 
agreed to serve as a sort of arbitrator in the water dispute. Her
spokesman, Howard 
Gantman, confirmed there had been a meeting with the tribal leaders Monday
but 
provided no other details.

That prospect brought cheers from Westlands, whose spokesman, Tupper Hull,
said, 
"We'd welcome Senator Feinstein's participation in bringing all the parties
together to 
talk."

The Hoopas and Westlands have been locked in a legal battle since 2000 when
the 
water district and others, including the Northern California Power Agency,
sued to 
block implementation of a deal between the tribe and the Interior
Department to 
restore flows to the Trinity River that had been diverted into the Central
Valley Project 
since the mid-1950s.

While the CVP legislation had promised there would be enough flow in the
Trinity for 
its salmon runs, that hasn't always worked out, especially in drought
years, and the 
Hoopa have blamed the irrigation withdrawals for sharp declines in salmon
runs.

In a letter to Boxer and Feinstein dated April 21, state Senate President
Pro Tem John 
Burton, Senate Agriculture and Water Committee Chairman Michael Machado,
and 
Budget and Fiscal Review Committee Chairman Wesley Chesbro urged them "to
help 
resolve the litigation that is blocking restoration of the Trinity River."

Two days later, on Friday, the 9th Circuit overturned a lower court
decision that 
releases down the Trinity River for salmon be managed based on dry-year
river 
volumes, ordering instead that the releases parallel normal-year flows.

That change will increase the flow down the Trinity from a total of about
453,000 acre-
feet to about 647,000 acre-feet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Writer
---------------------------
The Bee's David Whitney can be reached at (202) 383-0004 or 
dwhitney at mcclatchydc.com. 


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