[env-trinity] Trinity Journal Editorial: Stop this merry-go-round of suplemental flows, lawsuits

[Tom Stokely]

http://www.trinityjournal.com/opinion/editorials/article_43a41a86-5117-11e5-9f8c-bb596716696a.html?_dc=190487556392.32697

Stop this merry-go-round of suplemental flows, lawsuits

Posted: Wednesday, September 2, 2015 6:15 am
Once again the Bureau of Reclamation is releasing supplemental water from from Trinity Lake now going down the Trinity River in order to protect salmon on the lower Klamath River from disease.Once again, irrigation agencies in the San Joaquin Valley sought an injunction to stop the releases.And once again, a federal judge refused to block the higher water releases.This is déjà vu all over again.At issue is the salmon run which needs cool water to survive, which it can’t find on the lower Klamath River. Reclamation cited dry hydrologic conditions and the recent discovery of the presence of Ich, the fish disease thought primarily responsible for a fish die-off in the river in 2002.Hence, additional cold water releases from Lewiston Dam which flow down the Trinity River and into the Klamath, providing cooler water temperatures and additional flow.U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill wrote, “The potential harm to the plaintiffs from the potential, but far from certain, loss of added water supply in 2015 or 2016 does not outweigh the potentially catastrophic damage that ‘more likely than not’ will occur to this year’s salmon run in the absence of the 2015 (flow augmentation releases).”Surely, opponents of releases argue, fish have survived droughts before, with low flows, warm temperatures and crowded conditions. No doubt, but likely with a more shaded path, deeper holes in which to cool down, and much less water extraction by humans and the full waters of the Trinity River watershed.As we’ve written here many times, the waters of Trinity Lake serve many masters — irrigation and electrical production when going over the hill; recreation and tourism when it stays in the lake; fisheries, environmental and additional recreation when it flows down the river, not to mention serving human water supply needs along its natural course. It’s near impossible to make all parties happy at the same time. The best anyone can do is seek a reasonable balance.Reclamation is working to finalize a long-term solution to the issue of supplemental releases so that we all don’t have to get on the same merry-go-round every year. That would be nice, provided the federal agency comes up with a fair and reasonable solution. We’re all getting a little dizzy.
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