[env-trinity] Articles on Trinity Fall Flows/EA/FONSI

[Tom Stokely]

Copies of the final EA and FONSI on the increased Trinity Flows are available on Reclamation's website at www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/



KATU 2 News - Portland, Oregon 
www.katu.com 

http://www.katu.com/outdoor/story.asp?ID=70349 

Feds release water to prevent Klamath salmon kill 

August 20, 2004 

 - By JEFF BARNARD 
GRANTS PASS, Ore. - The federal government has bought irrigation water to 
release down Northern California's Trinity River in hopes of preventing a 
repeat of conditions that killed more than 34,000 Klamath River salmon two 
years ago. 

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation arranged for the release of 36,000 acre feet 
from the Trinity Reservoir starting after midnight Sunday after federal 
fisheries biologists advised that water in the lower Klamath River was 
getting dangerously low and warm for fish. 

Low and warm water conditions were two primary factors cited in the deaths 
of more than 34,000 fish - mostly chinook salmon - in the lower Klamath 
River in September 2002 after gill-rot diseases raced through fish making 
their fall spawning run. 

Most of the fish died in the 43 miles of the Klamath below the confluence 
with the Trinity. 

Low water left riffles too shallow for fish to swim upstream, bunching them 
into pools where diseases moved quickly in warm and crowded conditions that 
left the fish weakened, according to state and federal reports on the fish 
kill. 

"These additional flows should improve water quality and lower water 
temperature, reduce the potential for fish disease and assist salmon in 
their upstream migration," said Steve Thompson, regional manager of the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Sacramento, Calif. A similar release of 
extra water down the Trinity was made last summer, and no significant fish 
kill occurred. 

Representatives of an Indian tribe and commercial fishermen who both 
harvest Klamath River salmon welcomed the increase in Trinity River flows, 
but complained that more water should also be sent down the Klamath River, 
where one of the nation's most contentious battles over dividing water 
between fish and farms has gone on for years. 

"The government has no problem going out and finding water on the Trinity 
side, but refuses to put more water on the Klamath side," said Troy 
Fletcher, executive director of the Yurok Tribe, whose reservation lies 
along the lowest reaches of the Klamath. 

"There shouldn't be this disjointed management when you have the same 
agency responsible for controlling the tap at both ends." 

The tribe goes to trial Sept. 20 in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., 
in a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation claiming the 2002 fish kill 
breached federal tribal trust obligations. 

The flows will follow recommendations from the Trinity Management Council, 
ramping up to nearly four times the current level, then ramping back down 
when the release is completed Sept. 13, said Bureau of Reclamation 
spokesman Jeff McCracken from Sacramento, Calif. 

"There is no extra water here," said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast 
Federation of Fishermen's Associations, which represents California salmon 
fishermen. "All they are doing is restoring flows to approximately what 
they should have been if not for all the water diverted over the years." 

The water was purchased from irrigation districts in California's Central 
Valley Project, where for decades more than half the Trinity's flows have 
been diverted across a mountain range and down the Sacramento River. 

McCracken said he did not have the total paid for the extra water, but the 
going rate is about $60 per acre foot, which would come to about $2.2 
million. 

McCracken said the action was the result of Fish and Wildlife 
recommendations, not the recent federal appeals court ruling that more of 
the Trinity's water should stay in the watershed for salmon, rather than 
being diverted for irrigation. 

McCracken said the bureau is already buying 75,000 acre feet of water from 
Klamath Reclamation Project farmers to put down the Klamath River for 
salmon, and must maintain federally mandated levels in Upper Klamath Lake, 
the source of the river, for endangered suckers. 

The bureau is to increase the extra Klamath River flows to 100,000 acre 
feet next year under terms of mandated by the Endangered Species Act. 

Additional water that could be released down the Klamath would not 
alleviate warm temperatures downstream, because it is much warmer than the 
Trinity Reservoir water, he added. 

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) 
  



http://www.times-standard.com/Stories/0,1413,127~2896~2350235,00.html

Trinity flows will jump to help Klamath 
Eureka Times-Standard - 8/21/04
By John Driscoll, staff writer
Water meant to cool and raise the lower Klamath River will begin coming down the Trinity River on Sunday.

The water will rise suddenly on the Trinity as flows jump from 450 cubic feet per second to 1,650 cfs. Flows will then slowly decrease until Sept. 13.

Some 36,000 acre feet -- almost 12 billion gallons -- will be released above the Trinity's normally scheduled flows over the three-week period. 

Biologists hope the water will stave off diseases that in 2002 killed as many as 68,000 salmon. 

Conditions on the lower Klamath River closely resemble those of 2002 -- though the fish run is projected to be only half the number of the salmon that migrated that year. The fish also have not begun to run up the river yet. 

Klamath flows are slightly higher this year than in 2002, and in September, releases from Iron Gate Dam will increase the flow 230 cfs. 

But steelhead and a few chinook salmon found dead on the river show signs of columnaris, and biologists and fishermen worry that if the fall salmon run begins to migrate before the Trinity water arrives, the fish could fall ill.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation bought the 36,000 acre feet of water from Central Valley water and power contractors. 

The Six Rivers National Forest is reminding swimmers, boaters and fishermen that the increased flows can pose a hazard. Cold, strong currents can be stronger than they look. Children should always wear a lifejacket on or around the water and adults are advised to wear personal floatation devices when on a boat. #





Trinity River Flows Increase to Assist Fall Fish Migration on Lower Klamath and Trinity Rivers
News release, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region - 8/20/04
Based on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries recommendations, increased instream flows from Trinity River are set to start Sunday, August 22, 2004, the Bureau of Reclamation announced today. The Service and NOAA Fisheries, along with the Trinity River Management Council (TMC), recommended the increased flows as a proactive measure to avert any potential fish mortality in the 2004 fall salmon run.

"Because many of the fish set to migrate through the Lower Klamath River are of Trinity River origin, Reclamation has acquired from willing sellers approximately 36,000 acre-feet of Trinity Reservoir water for these releases," said Kirk Rodgers, Mid-Pacific Regional Director for Reclamation. "We anticipate that the cost of acquiring this water will be non-reimbursable to water and power contractors in the Central Valley."

Fisheries biologists say this type of release regime is designed to decrease water temperatures in the Lower Klamath River, thereby decreasing stress on migrating adult salmon and diluting the concentration of endemic fish pathogens, while also reducing the occurrence of physical barriers to migration such as shallow riffles.

The flow schedule calls for an increase from the current 450 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 1,650 cfs, then gradually ramping back down to 450 cfs by September 13, 2004. This schedule uses the entire 36,000 acre-feet of Trinity water during the 3-week long increased flow regime.

Ryan Broddrick, Director of the California Department of Fish and Game, said, "This action will not only improve conditions for the impending salmon migration, but it also sets an example of how federal, state, local and tribal agencies and private groups can work together toward a common goal."

"Based on the conditions found by biologists monitoring the river in the last few days, we recommended to Reclamation that we proactively release additional water from the Trinity River to help salmon now beginning to enter the Lower Klamath," said Steve Thompson, Manager of the Service's California-Nevada Operations Office. "These additional flows should improve water quality and lower water temperature, reduce the potential for fish disease, and assist salmon in their upstream migration."

Officials also credited the cooperation of the eight organizations on the TMC for providing valuable input. The TMC includes representatives of the Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribes, the State of California, Trinity County, NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Forest Service, Reclamation, and the Service.

Reclamation has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act and has determined that the increased releases will not have a significant effect on the environment. Due to the need to react quickly to the changing circumstances on the river, Reclamation was unable to provide a draft EA for public review and comment; however, copies of the final EA are available on Reclamation's website at www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/. #




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