[env-trinity] Press Release: DAMS, DEAD FISH, TUNNELS and INDIANS

[Dan Bacher]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DAMS, DEAD FISH, TUNNELS and INDIANS

Sacramento, CA September 20, 2016 – In the midst of a 300-mile trek  
and prayer journey to bring salmon back to the McCloud River, the  
Winnemem Wintu Tribe and their allies converge on the State Capitol to  
demand a change in California’s water policy.

With plans to build new Dams and expand existing ones, and proposing  
to build two forty-foot Tunnels to divert more water out of the Delta,  
the stakes could not be higher for all of Californian.  Fish species  
are on the verge of extinction.  Disadvantaged Communities,  
subsistence fishermen, and small family farmers could see their water  
and way of life disappear altogether.  And, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe,  
who suffered over 90% loss of their traditional homeland, sacred  
sites, and cultural gathering sites along the Sacramento, McCloud and  
Pit Rivers when Shasta Dam was built, will again suffer the brunt of  
this destructive water policy.

The Winnemem Wintu and their allies have embarked on a 300-mile prayer  
journey from Sogorea Te (Glen Cove, Vallejo) to the historical  
spawning grounds of the winter-run salmon on the McCloud River.  This  
journey is a walk/run/boat/bike and horseback ride to bring attention  
to the plight of all the runs of salmon in California, and the water  
management practices that have brought some of those runs to the edge  
of extinction.  It is a prayer to let Californians know that the water  
they enjoy has come to them at the cost of others and the threat of  
death and extinction to species necessary for a healthy California.

Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe says, “We consider  
Shasta Dam a weapon of mass destruction.  It has already taken our  
homes, sacred sites, burial sites, and stopped the salmon from  
returning to their historical spawning grounds.  If these tunnels are  
built, Governor Brown’s so called ‘California WaterFix’, they will not  
only cause more death and destruction to the already endangered  
salmon, but they will encourage and motivate plans to enlarge Shasta  
Dam.  An enlarged Shasta Dam will flood what remaining sacred sites,  
and cultural sites that we still use today.”

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director for Restore the Delta  
states, “Restore the Delta stands today with the Winnemem Wintu  
calling on Governor Brown to abandon a failed water plan for  
California.  The era of unlimited water resource development is over.   
As we revealed last week in the state's own economic analysis, the  
only way to make the Delta tunnels pencil out in terms of water  
delivery is to take even more water from the Delta -- which will  
finish off its fisheries, its entire ecosystem.  And to make matters  
worse, the government expects you and me to pay for this destruction  
with our taxes.”

Trent Orr, a lawyer for Earthjustice, which represents the Winnemem  
Wintu in various legal fights to protect and restore salmon, said:  
“The Sacramento River's salmon runs are an emblem of wild California  
and its mountain-born rivers.  The Winnemem Wintu Tribe has long  
fought to save these fish, which are central to their culture, and to  
restore health to the waters they need to thrive.  But it has been an  
uphill battle.  Much of the Tribe's homeland was drowned by Shasta  
Dam, and the salmon's access to the cold, clean spawning grounds above  
the dam, to which they had returned for eons, was blocked.  Plans to  
raise the dam and to pump even more fresh water out of the Sacramento  
River via the governor's proposed giant tunnels could doom the salmon,  
already perilously close to extinction.  The dam raise would also  
drown much of what's left of the Tribe's homeland.  Earthjustice is  
proud to have represented the Tribe in many of its legal battles to  
save and restore the salmon.  On behalf of the Tribe and its allies,  
we will continue to fight for the day when wild salmon again spawn in  
the headwaters of the Sacramento.”

In written testimony submitted to the State Water Resources Control  
Board, for the ongoing hearings regarding the Bureau of Reclamation’s  
and the Department of Water Resource’s water diversion change petition  
regarding the California WaterFix, Winnemem Wintu Governmental Liaison  
Gary Mulcahy asks.“Drowned cultures, dead and extinct fish, broken  
promises, stolen lands, environmental destruction, water grabs, and  
years and years of litigation – is it truly worth it?

PRESS CONFERENCE:  West Steps of State Capitol – Tues, Sept. 20th,  
2016 10:30 – 12:00

Speakers: Chief Caleen Sisk, Winnemem Wintu Tribe; Trent Orr,  
Earthjustice; Barbara Barrigan-Parilla, Restore the Delta; Eric  
Wesselman, Friends of the River.

For more information on the 300-mile  
journey:                                    Contact:  Gary Mulcahy
www 
.run4salmon 
.org 
                                                                                         916 
-214-8493
                                                                                                                gary 
@ranchriver.com
For more information on the Winnemem Wintu:
www.winnememwintu.us
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