[env-trinity] Herald & News -Editorial: Ruling on Trinity River water should help

[Tom Stokely]

NORTH COAST RIVERS
Editorial: Ruling on Trinity River water should help
Klamath Falls Ore. Herald & News - 7/20/04
Last week's court ruling that ordered more Trinity River water to be released in the lower Klamath River looks like good news for the Klamath Reclamation Project irrigators. After all, what's not to like about sharing the burden of meeting water demands for the lower Klamath River which, until now, has been unfairly and too narrowly made the responsibility of Klamath Project irrigators?

The decision's not the complete answer, which demands a Basin-wide approach, but it is a key part.

The decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel also may not be the final word. It could be appealed, either to 9th Circuit for a rehearing or to the U.S. Supreme Court. It also pits the competing needs of two agricultural areas over water use. If the matter ever came down to a contest of political muscle, central California has a lot more than the Klamath Basin.

It does make sense, though, to look to the Trinity River for more of the solution to meeting the Klamath River's water problems.

The 112-mile long Trinity enters the lower Klamath 43.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean. It's the Klamath's best source of clear, cold water. Certainly, it's better "fish" water than that which comes from the languid lakes of the Upper Klamath Basin. That water's warm to begin with, and gets warmer on its 200-mile journey to meet with the much colder Trinity. Warm water encourages fish diseases and water temperature is seen as one of the elements in the decline of Klamath River fish runs.

The Trinity begins in the northern California mountains. Much of its flow was diverted decades ago into California's Central Valley to meet the needs of utilities, growing cities and agriculture.

In last week's ruling, the court pointed out that Congress had approved a restoration plan for the Trinity 20 years ago and was still waiting for it to be implemented. The plan calls for sending 368,900 acre-feet to 815,000 acre-feet a year down the Trinity that otherwise would have gone elsewhere.

The suit was brought by the Westlands Water District after a lower court decision said the water should be sent to the Klamath. The Yurok Tribe of northern California, which looks to Klamath River salmon and other fish to provide food, intervened in the suit.

The decision points out the water issue's complexity and the competing interests involved. It also sends a message, we hope, that the Klamath Project shouldn't be solely responsible for solving the river's problems.#


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