[env-trinity] Northcoast Journal: Let the Trinity Flow, Judge Rules

[Tom Stokely]

http://www.northcoastjournal.com/Blogthing/archives/2013/08/22/let-the-trinity-flow-judge-rules 

Let the Trinity Flow, Judge Rules
POSTED BY GRANT SCOTT-GOFORTH ON THU, AUG 22, 2013 AT 6:12 PM
click to enlarge
	* COURTESY HOOPA VALLEY TRIBE
	* Hoopa Valley Tribal members protest the hold on a Trinity River release.Trinity River water will flow. The Fresno judge who issued a restraining order on extra releases from the Trinity Reservoir last week ruled this afternoon to lift the restraining order. See the lead up to the decision here.

The Hoopa Valley Tribe offered this statement:


"Judge O'Neill seemed to be pressing Tribal and Federal scientist for answers to what salmon need to survive in the Klamath River this year," said Hoopa Valley Tribal biologist Mike Orcutt. " We did our best and hoped and prayed for this decision. The fate of the fish was in the judged hands and he made the right decision" 
>
>"The Trinity River is our vessel of life and the salmon are our lifeblood. We applaud the decision to release this water to avert a fish disaster, however this lawsuit demonstrates the need for long term solutions to the fisheries crisis in the Klamath and Trinity Rivers" stated Hoopa Valley Chairwoman, Danielle Vigil-Masten. 
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>A federal judge issued a decision lifting a restraining order holding back releases of Trinity water into the Trinity River to advert a Klamath River fish kill. The decision came after days of protests from a large group of Hoopa Valley Tribal members. Tribal members protested in Fresno, California at the Westlands Water District board meeting on Tuesday and outside the Fresno courtroom, and in Sacramento, California outside a fisheries hearing at the California State Capital building on Wednesday. 
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>The Trinity River is the only out of basin diversion into the Central Valley Project, and is also the Klamath River’s largest tributary. Central Valley Irrigation interests, Westlands Water District and the San Luis & Mendota Water District filed a lawsuit against a government decision to release water for fish on August 7th. The Hoopa Valley Tribe and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations have intervened in the case on the side of the government.
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