[env-trinity] Eureka Times-Standard May 10

[Byron]

TRINITY RIVER FLOWS:

Trinity torrent

Eureka Times-Standard - 5/10/06

By John Driscoll, staff writer

 

The massive snowpack and heavy rains winter dealt this year are swelling the
Trinity River, which will run higher this spring than in any spring in
decades. 

 

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is releasing twice as much water as it
planned from Lewiston Dam in the past month in an effort to keep Trinity
Lake from rising too high and posing a safety risk. The lake is only 4 feet
from spilling out the glory hole -- a feature meant to relieve pressure on
the dam. 

 

"They're watching that very closely," said Doug Schleusner with the Trinity
River Restoration Program. 

 

If a warm spell or a storm strikes, the bureau may have to release even more
water to make room for that flowing in from tributaries. 

 

But the biggest belt of water is scheduled for the end of the month.
Reclamation will release 8,500 cubic feet of water per second or more from
the dam for at least six days, sending a channel-changing, bank-scouring
pulse downstream. For the year, Reclamation plans to release 815,000 acre
feet of water. 

 

The high flows are called for as part of the restoration plan for the river.
Along with mechanically removing bank-side vegetation and feathering banks,
the water is expected to clear out fine sediment to improve conditions for
salmon and steelhead. 

 

The extremely wet year, as it's been classified, is statistically supposed
to happen only once every nine years. The 2000 restoration plan calls for
releases of 11,000 cfs in such a year, but some structures and property
along the river could be endangered by such a flood. 

 

Last year was a wet year, too, and Schleusner said that the large volume of
water sent down in 2005 appears to have worked as expected. Whether fish are
taking advantage of newly scoured areas and improved habitat has yet to be
determined, he said. 

 

The restoration program will mechanically treat another eight areas along
the river this summer, Schleusner said. 

 

Big water means serious rafting. But Marc Rowley of Bigfoot Rafting Co. in
Willow Creek said it's a blessing and a curse, since there are great rafting
opportunities, but the public tends to be concerned about safety. 

 

"It's the proverbial double-edged sword," Rowley said. 

 

Rowley said that there are ways to keep rafting safe and fun by sticking to
tributaries or altering routes during high water. At the same time, Rowley
said, swimmers, tubers and picnickers should be very wary of the fast, cold
water. 

 

Any of the outfitters on the river can share information on what conditions
are like on any given day, he said, making a trip to the river as pleasant
as it sounds.

 

 

Byron Leydecker

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

Advisor, California Trout, Inc

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 ph

415 383 9562 fx

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org

http://www.fotr.org

http:www.caltrout.org 

 

 

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