From tstokely at att.net  Tue Jan  3 12:59:15 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2017 20:59:15 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Announcement of Lower Klamath Project Notice of
 Preparation and Scoping Meetings
In-Reply-To: <20F08003FB1A9947ACC316EFC8EDBCD54C6DAF@057-SN2MPN1-052.057d.mgd.msft.net>
References: <20F08003FB1A9947ACC316EFC8EDBCD54C6DAF@057-SN2MPN1-052.057d.mgd.msft.net>
Message-ID: <525099966.6910000.1483477156027@mail.yahoo.com>

On Tuesday, January 3, 2017 12:49 PM, Wr401program <Wr401program at waterboards.ca.gov> wrote:


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To: Lower Klamath Project License Surrender
Subject: Lower Klamath Project Notice of Preparation and Application for Water Quality Certification  ? 
??This is a message from the State Water Resources Control Board
 To:? Interested Parties  ? On September 26, 2016, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) received a water quality certification application for the Lower Klamath Project (Project) from the Klamath River Renewal Corporation.? Today, December 22, 2016, the State Water Board released aNotice of Preparation and Scoping Meetings for an Environmental Impact Report for the Lower Klamath Project?s License Surrender (NOP).? State Water Board staff will hold scoping meetings to solicit comments from trustee agencies, responsible agencies, and other interested persons in January 2017.? The meetings dates and locations can be found in the NOP.?Comments in response to the NOP are due by 5:00 pm on February 1, 2017.?   ? The NOP is available online at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/docs/lower_klamath_ferc14803/klamathnop20161222.pdf  ? Additional information related to the Lower Klamath Project water quality certification and California Environmental Quality Act process can be found on the State Water Board?s Lower Klamath Project webpage at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/lower_klamath_ferc14803.shtml  ? The public notice for the Lower Klamath Project is available online at:? http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/wqcertnotices.shtml  ? If you are receiving this notice in a forwarded message and would like to receive future emails regarding the Lower Klamath Project, please subscribe to the ?Lower Klamath Project License Surrender? email subscription list, under ?Water Rights? at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/resources/email_subscriptions/swrcb_subscribe.shtml  ? If you have questions regarding this email, please email Mr. Parker Thaler at:?parker.thaler at waterboards.ca.gov.  ?  ? 

   
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Fri Jan  6 13:02:46 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 2017 21:02:46 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] CDFW - TRP trapping summary through Julian week 1
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB137865EC6E862C2632DEAC5ABA630@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Attached please find CDFW's Trinity River Project 2016 trapping summary through Julian week 1 (January 7).

Between the rain, the snow, and more rain, the trouble with the roads, the sporadic power outages, and all the rest, I still want to wish you a happy, healthy, and safe new year. I have huge hopes that this year will be a good one, at least better fishy-wise. Huge.

We've got a new staff member on the Trinity River Project, Kenneth Lindke, who will likely be sending these summaries out next year, but while he's getting oriented to his new job here at the tail end of the season you're stuck with me.
Cheers!
MC


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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Jan 10 10:06:21 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2017 18:06:21 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Yreka Scoping Meeting Canceled - Lower Klamath
	Project
In-Reply-To: <20F08003FB1A9947ACC316EFC8EDBCD54CA475@057-SN2MPN1-052.057d.mgd.msft.net>
References: <20F08003FB1A9947ACC316EFC8EDBCD54CA475@057-SN2MPN1-052.057d.mgd.msft.net>
Message-ID: <750344938.738682.1484071582022@mail.yahoo.com>

On Monday, January 9, 2017 12:09 PM, Wr401program <Wr401program at waterboards.ca.gov> wrote:

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 ??This is a message from the State Water Resources Control Board
 To:? Klamath Hydroelectric Interested Parties ? The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) hascanceled the scoping meeting scheduled from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 in Yreka, California due to inclement weather and a strong advisory against travel from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration?s National Weather Service.? For those unable to attend the Arcata or Sacramento scoping meetings in person, the Sacramento scoping meeting will be webcast at:?https://video.calepa.ca.gov/.??This meeting is scheduled from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm (noon) on January 20, 2017.?  ? The State Water Board will make every attempt to reschedule the scoping meeting in Yreka on another date prior to the end of the comment period.?Written comments are due by 5:00 pm on February 1, 2017. ?Details regarding the scoping meetings and Lower Klamath Project are available in the Notice of Preparation, which is available under the "Related Documents" section of the Lower Klamath Project's webpage at: ?http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/lower_klamath_ferc14803.shtml  ? If you are receiving this notice in a forwarded message and would like to receive future emails regarding the Lower Klamath Project, please subscribe to the ?Lower Klamath Project License Surrender? email subscription list, under ?Water Rights? at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/resources/email_subscriptions/swrcb_subscribe.shtml  ? If you have questions regarding this email, please email Mr. Parker Thaler at:?parker.thaler at waterboards.ca.gov.  ? You are currently subscribed to lower_klamath_project_license as: parker.thaler at waterboards.ca.gov. To unsubscribe click here: leave-6391058-5228416.1cd250278e5f921c7f9eca68736921ed at swrcb18.waterboards.ca.gov  ? 

   
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Thu Jan 12 13:21:21 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2017 21:21:21 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] CDFW - TRP trapping summary through Julian week 2
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB13789CF196A5CCC2074A3293BA790@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Attached please find CDFW's Trinity River Project 2016 trapping summary through Julian week 2 (January 14).

The steelhead numbers coming into the hatchery continue the salmonid return trend of the year, unfortunately. At least the steelhead anglers among you know why you're not catching many fish if you've managed to get out in this soggy new year.

Please be sure to send in your tags if you've managed to collect any!
Thanks,
MC



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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Jan 17 10:59:40 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2017 18:59:40 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Mgmt Council Agenda Jan 24-25, Weaverville
References: <1869484940.7570114.1484679580611.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1869484940.7570114.1484679580611@mail.yahoo.com>

http://odp.trrp.net/Data/Meetings/MeetingDetails.aspx?meeting=1574



?TRINITY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL?Trinity River Restoration Program Office?Hwy 299, Weaverville, CA?Agenda for January 24-25, 2017?WebEx and Call in information will be provided?Tuesday, January 24, 2017?Time Topic, Purpose and/or Decision to be Made Discussion Leader?Regular Business:?9:30 Introductions: Seth Naman, Chair?? Welcome?? Approval of Agenda?? Approval of September minutes?
10:00 Open Forum: Comments from the public Seth Naman?10:15 Report from TAMWG Elizabeth Hadley?10:45 Federal/Regional Updates Don Bader, Vice Chair?? TRRP refinements process update?? Letter from Reclamation to TMC RE:?
Lewiston Reservoir study-next steps?? Other?
11:10 Break All?Information / Decision Items:?11:20 Report from Acting Executive Director Mike Dixon?? Work Group Quarterly summary?? New work group coordinators?? 2017 project designs and permitting progress?? TRRP staffing updates?
11:55 Open Forum: Comments from the public Seth Naman?12:00 Lunch All?1:00 Funding Year 2018 work planning process Jennifer Norris?? Work group project rankings?? Next steps?? Other?
1:30 Resource protection measures and required monitoring James Lee/Mike Dixon?2:15 Flow Planning Andreas Krause/Mike Dixon?? Progress on winter flow variability?? Solicitor opinion on need for NEPA analysis?? Associated monitoring?? Junction City house next steps?
3:15 Break All?3:30 FEMA designation of Trinity Floodway Brandt Gutermuth?4:15 Public forum Seth Naman?4:30 Adjourn?6:00 Group Dinner-La Grange, Indian Creek Lodge, or Golf Course-TBD?Wednesday, January 25, 2017?Regular Business:?9:30 Open Forum: Comments from the public Seth Naman?Information / Decision Items:?10:00 2016 Budget Actuals Linsey Walker/Caryn Huntt DeCarlo?? Review FY16 budget?? Review FY17 budget?
10:50 Break All?11:00 Bylaws Seth Naman?? Changes to bylaws?o Teleconference voting?o Succession planning?? Approval of bylaws?? Signature of bylaws?
11:55 Open Forum: Comments from the public Seth Naman?12:00 Lunch All?1:00 Bylaws continued/open Seth Naman?1:45 Officer Elections All?2:15 2017 TMC meeting schedule Seth Naman?2:45 Public forum Seth Naman?3:00 Action items Seth Naman?3:15 Adjourn?Webex and Call in Information:?
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Jan 19 13:57:45 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2017 21:57:45 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Management Council Meeting cancelled next
 week Jan 24-25 in Weaverville
References: <68844040.41723.1484863065831.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <68844040.41723.1484863065831@mail.yahoo.com>

The Trinity Management Council meeting scheduled for next week in Weaverville has been cancelled due to the ongoing closure of Highway 299 west of Weaverville.?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?
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From sari at sisqtel.net  Fri Jan 20 16:29:13 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2017 16:29:13 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: COMMERCE SECRETARY DECLARES FISHERIES FAILURES
	FOR NINE WEST COAST SALMON, CRAB FISHERIES
Message-ID: <00de01d2737d$6496db00$2dc49100$@sisqtel.net>

 

Columbia Basin Bulletin

 <http://www.cbbulletin.com/438204.aspp> Print this Story Print this Story
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/Email_EmailContent.aspx?id=438204> Email this
Story Email this Story 


Commerce Secretary Declares Fisheries Failures For Nine West Coast Salmon,
Crab Fisheries 
Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2017 (PST) 


U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker Wednesday determined there are
commercial fishery failures for nine salmon and crab fisheries in Alaska,
California and Washington.  

 

In recent years, each of these fisheries experienced sudden and unexpected
large decreases in fish stock biomass due to unusual ocean and climate
conditions. This decision enables fishing communities to seek disaster
relief assistance from Congress.

 

In Alaska:

--Gulf of Alaska pink salmon fisheries (2016)

 

In California:

--California Dungeness and rock crab fishery (2015-2016)

--Yurok Tribe Klamath River chinook salmon fishery (2016)

 

In Washington:

--Fraser River Makah Tribe and Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe sockeye salmon
fisheries (2014)

--Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay non-treaty coho salmon fishery (2015)

--Nisqually Indian Tribe, Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, Port Gamble S'Klallam
Tribe, and Squaxin Island Tribe South Puget Sound salmon fisheries (2015)

--Quinault Indian Nation Grays Harbor and Queets River coho salmon fishery
(2015)

--Quileute Tribe Dungeness crab fishery (2015-2016)

--Ocean salmon troll fishery (2016)

 

"The Commerce Department and NOAA stand with America's fishing communities.
We are proud of the contributions they make to the nation's economy, and we
recognize the sacrifices they are forced to take in times of environmental
hardship," said Samuel D. Rauch III, deputy assistant administrator for
regulatory programs, NOAA Fisheries. "We are committed to helping these
communities recover and achieve success in the future."

 

Under the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the Commerce Secretary can determine a
commercial fishery failure due to a fishery resource disaster, which then
provides a basis for Congress to appropriate disaster relief funding to
provide economic assistance to affected fishing communities, including
salmon and crab fishermen, affected by the disaster.

 

If Congress appropriates funds to address these fishery failures, NOAA says
it will work closely with members of Congress and affected states and tribes
to develop a spending plan to support activities that would restore the
fishery, prevent a similar failure, and assist affected communities.

 

 <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a73074e66d2b0b0>
Bookmark and Share

	

 

	

Bottom of Form

 

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From sari at sisqtel.net  Fri Jan 20 16:33:50 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2017 16:33:50 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: UW study says species diversification key to
	resilient fishing communities
Message-ID: <00e401d2737e$0a15cc80$1e416580$@sisqtel.net>

 

Columbia Basin Bulletin

 <http://www.cbbulletin.com/438201.aspp> Print this Story Print this Story
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/Email_EmailContent.aspx?id=438201> Email this
Story Email this Story 


UW Study Says Diversification (Catching A Variety Of Species) Key To
Resilient Fishing Communities 
Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2017 (PST) 


Fishing communities can survive -- and even thrive -- as fish abundance and
market prices shift if they can catch a variety of species and nimbly move
from one fishery to the next.

 

These findings, published Jan. 14 in Nature Communications, draw upon 34
years of data collected in more than 100 fishing communities in Alaska that
depend on fishing for livelihoods, cultural traditions and daily
subsistence. The University of Washington researchers found that communities
that fished for many different species and had the ability to shift what
they harvested and when, were more resilient to unpredictable downturns in
fish abundance and market prices than communities that put all their effort
into only a few fisheries.

 

"This study is about starting the conversation about how communities can
buffer themselves against unpredictable ecosystem changes in the future,"
said lead author Timothy Cline, a doctoral student in the UW's School of
Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. "There is no reason why any community in the
world that depends on renewable resources could not benefit from this
approach."

 

In their analysis, the researchers used common financial principles to
illustrate how fishing communities can buffer against market and ecosystem
shifts. Maintaining a diverse portfolio of fishing permits, for example,
ensures that a community can switch to halibut or Dungeness crab if salmon
take a turn for the worse. Just like with financial stocks, each fishery
might not deliver at the same time, but that diversity allows for stability
in the long run.

 

"Human systems can collapse if they have no ability to roll with the punches
and adapt when ecosystems re-express themselves," said co-author Daniel
Schindler, a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences. "This analysis
shows that the communities that did not suffer from oceanic regime shifts
were those that could adapt to changes in the quantity and composition of
natural resources."

 

The researchers looked specifically at the average fishing revenue in 106
Alaskan communities for 10 years before and after 1989, a year when the
North Pacific Ocean experienced a significant shift in productivity and
abrupt changes in the composition of marine food webs, while at the same
time the global price for salmon dropped because of competition from
farm-raised fish. 

 

Commercial fishing in Alaska provides $1.3 billion in annual income from
harvest alone, and in some remote areas fishing is the only major industry.

 

Many Alaskan communities lost more than half of their revenue following
1989. However, the researchers found that communities with the highest level
of diversity in what they fished for saw little or no change in revenue.
Specifically, communities that had high diversity were able to shift to
different fisheries after 1989, and some even increased their revenue
streams by leveraging new and emerging fish markets.

 

"We found that well-diversified communities also had higher turnover, or the
ability to go out and fish for species that are more abundant while relying
less on those that declined," Cline said. "If you are diversified, it's just
a matter of focusing on fisheries that are more abundant or more valuable,
and if you're not diversified, that means adapting your portfolio by selling
what you had and buying something new."

 

The authors recognize this can be difficult for individual fishermen -
fishing permits are expensive and can be hard to obtain. When dispersed
across the community level, however, individuals could still specialize, but
differently from their neighbor. For example, one subset could fish for pink
salmon, while another tackles halibut or Dungeness crab. Revenues from these
efforts are felt throughout the community.

 

Additionally, this approach promotes a powerful shared identity, the authors
explain. 

 

"There's intrinsic value in the identity of being a fishing community,"
Schindler said. "That sense of community identity is basically reinforced by
the fact that the community is adapting to the ecosystem, which is always
changing."

 

The rich dataset used in this analysis, provided by the Alaska Commercial
Fisheries Entry Commission, was invaluable in allowing the researchers to
test concepts of diversification and turnover -- switching to catch more
abundant fish -- which have been put forth in other papers as ways of
managing human interactions with natural resources.

 

These principles could be applied to fisheries around the world, and many
small fishing communities already diversify naturally, the authors
explained. Traditional science tends to emphasize gathering data to make
better predictions of how natural resources will fare, but perhaps that
isn't the best approach when managing resources in a highly variable and
unpredictable environment, they argue.

 

"With ongoing climate change, population growth and ocean acidification, the
question is, what's the future going to look like? We should expect the
unexpected," Schindler said. "Then the question becomes, what can we do to
develop resilient communities for what is guaranteed to be an unexpected new
future?"

 

"While 40 years ago most fishermen were generalists, and switched between
fish stocks as they fluctuated, the efforts to reduce overall fishing effort
has generally forced fishermen to specialize in a small number of fisheries,
said co-author Ray Hilborn, a UW professor in aquatic and fishery sciences.
"We need to explore ways to allow flexibility while still restraining the
total catch."

 

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation.

 <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a73074e66d2b0b0>
Bookmark and Share

	

 

	

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From lrlake at aol.com  Fri Jan 20 17:22:14 2017
From: lrlake at aol.com (lrlake at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2017 20:22:14 -0500
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: UW study says species diversification key to
 resilient fishing communities
Message-ID: <159be9de03c-6f0d-d3ed@webprd-a79.mail.aol.com>

When will we quit with stupid studies like this.  


"This study is about starting the conversation about how communities can buffer themselves..."  


We have analyzed everything to death.  You kids have arrived to the point in your career where it is time to do the work.  Better people than you have caused reams of reports and studies, costing millions of $ to be published.  No more reports, meetings and crap.  Read the existing science, make a plan, do the work.


I thank Sari for posting this.  Otherwise, I wouldn't know how wide-spread the "befuddlement" regarding fisheries has become up and down the west coast.  I think it is generally known the best practices likely to help fisheries for most situations. 


Every $ that is spent on a study or "feel good" meeting, is a $ wasted if one wants to help the fish...


Larry


Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Sari Sommarstrom <sari at sisqtel.net>
To: 'Env-trinity' <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Sent: Fri, Jan 20, 2017 4:34 pm
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: UW study says species diversification key to resilient fishing communities



 

 Print this Story     Email this Story 


UW Study Says Diversification (Catching A Variety Of Species) Key To Resilient Fishing Communities 
Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2017 (PST) 


Fishing communities can survive -- and even thrive -- as fish abundance and market prices shift if they can catch a variety of species and nimbly move from one fishery to the next.
 
These findings, published Jan. 14 in Nature Communications, draw upon 34 years of data collected in more than 100 fishing communities in Alaska that depend on fishing for livelihoods, cultural traditions and daily subsistence. The University of Washington researchers found that communities that fished for many different species and had the ability to shift what they harvested and when, were more resilient to unpredictable downturns in fish abundance and market prices than communities that put all their effort into only a few fisheries.
 
"This study is about starting the conversation about how communities can buffer themselves against unpredictable ecosystem changes in the future," said lead author Timothy Cline, a doctoral student in the UW's School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. "There is no reason why any community in the world that depends on renewable resources could not benefit from this approach."
 
In their analysis, the researchers used common financial principles to illustrate how fishing communities can buffer against market and ecosystem shifts. Maintaining a diverse portfolio of fishing permits, for example, ensures that a community can switch to halibut or Dungeness crab if salmon take a turn for the worse. Just like with financial stocks, each fishery might not deliver at the same time, but that diversity allows for stability in the long run.
 
"Human systems can collapse if they have no ability to roll with the punches and adapt when ecosystems re-express themselves," said co-author Daniel Schindler, a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences. "This analysis shows that the communities that did not suffer from oceanic regime shifts were those that could adapt to changes in the quantity and composition of natural resources."
 
The researchers looked specifically at the average fishing revenue in 106 Alaskan communities for 10 years before and after 1989, a year when the North Pacific Ocean experienced a significant shift in productivity and abrupt changes in the composition of marine food webs, while at the same time the global price for salmon dropped because of competition from farm-raised fish. 
 
Commercial fishing in Alaska provides $1.3 billion in annual income from harvest alone, and in some remote areas fishing is the only major industry.
 
Many Alaskan communities lost more than half of their revenue following 1989. However, the researchers found that communities with the highest level of diversity in what they fished for saw little or no change in revenue. Specifically, communities that had high diversity were able to shift to different fisheries after 1989, and some even increased their revenue streams by leveraging new and emerging fish markets.
 
"We found that well-diversified communities also had higher turnover, or the ability to go out and fish for species that are more abundant while relying less on those that declined," Cline said. "If you are diversified, it's just a matter of focusing on fisheries that are more abundant or more valuable, and if you're not diversified, that means adapting your portfolio by selling what you had and buying something new."
 
The authors recognize this can be difficult for individual fishermen - fishing permits are expensive and can be hard to obtain. When dispersed across the community level, however, individuals could still specialize, but differently from their neighbor. For example, one subset could fish for pink salmon, while another tackles halibut or Dungeness crab. Revenues from these efforts are felt throughout the community.
 
Additionally, this approach promotes a powerful shared identity, the authors explain. 
 
"There's intrinsic value in the identity of being a fishing community," Schindler said. "That sense of community identity is basically reinforced by the fact that the community is adapting to the ecosystem, which is always changing."
 
The rich dataset used in this analysis, provided by the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, was invaluable in allowing the researchers to test concepts of diversification and turnover -- switching to catch more abundant fish -- which have been put forth in other papers as ways of managing human interactions with natural resources.
 
These principles could be applied to fisheries around the world, and many small fishing communities already diversify naturally, the authors explained. Traditional science tends to emphasize gathering data to make better predictions of how natural resources will fare, but perhaps that isn't the best approach when managing resources in a highly variable and unpredictable environment, they argue.
 
"With ongoing climate change, population growth and ocean acidification, the question is, what's the future going to look like? We should expect the unexpected," Schindler said. "Then the question becomes, what can we do to develop resilient communities for what is guaranteed to be an unexpected new future?"
 
"While 40 years ago most fishermen were generalists, and switched between fish stocks as they fluctuated, the efforts to reduce overall fishing effort has generally forced fishermen to specialize in a small number of fisheries, said co-author Ray Hilborn, a UW professor in aquatic and fishery sciences. "We need to explore ways to allow flexibility while still restraining the total catch."
 
This work was funded by the National Science Foundation.











Bottom of Form

 

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From pcatanese at dhscott.com  Fri Jan 20 18:47:48 2017
From: pcatanese at dhscott.com (Paul Catanese)
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2017 02:47:48 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: UW study says species diversification key to
 resilient fishing communities
In-Reply-To: <159be9de03c-6f0d-d3ed@webprd-a79.mail.aol.com>
References: <159be9de03c-6f0d-d3ed@webprd-a79.mail.aol.com>
Message-ID: <FFEC8D07-5093-46BB-A7D3-67D5F37EFA38@dhscott.com>

Well said. I think it will come to an end.

Paul J. Catanese, Partner

D.H. Scott & Company
O: 530.243.4300 | F: 530.243.4306
900 Market St, Redding, CA 96001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This communication (including any attachments) may contain privileged or confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this communication and/or shred the materials and any attachments and are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this communication, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. Thank you.

Disclaimer:  Any accounting, business or tax advice contained in this communication, including attachments and enclosures, is not intended as a thorough, in-depth analysis of specific issues, nor a substitute for a formal opinion, nor is it sufficient to avoid tax-related penalties.  If desired, D.H. Scott & Company would be pleased to perform the requisite research and provide you with a detailed written analysis.  Such an engagement may be the subject of a separate engagement letter that would define the scope and limits of the desired consultation services.

On Jan 20, 2017, at 5:37 PM, "lrlake at aol.com<mailto:lrlake at aol.com>" <lrlake at aol.com<mailto:lrlake at aol.com>> wrote:

When will we quit with stupid studies like this.

"This study is about starting the conversation about how communities can buffer themselves..."

We have analyzed everything to death.  You kids have arrived to the point in your career where it is time to do the work.  Better people than you have caused reams of reports and studies, costing millions of $ to be published.  No more reports, meetings and crap.  Read the existing science, make a plan, do the work.

I thank Sari for posting this.  Otherwise, I wouldn't know how wide-spread the "befuddlement" regarding fisheries has become up and down the west coast.  I think it is generally known the best practices likely to help fisheries for most situations.

Every $ that is spent on a study or "feel good" meeting, is a $ wasted if one wants to help the fish...

Larry

Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA


-----Original Message-----
From: Sari Sommarstrom <sari at sisqtel.net<mailto:sari at sisqtel.net>>
To: 'Env-trinity' <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us<mailto:env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>>
Sent: Fri, Jan 20, 2017 4:34 pm
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: UW study says species diversification key to resilient fishing communities


[Columbia Basin Bulletin]
<image002.gif> Print this Story<http://www.cbbulletin.com/438201.aspp>    <image003.gif> Email this Story <http://www.cbbulletin.com/Email_EmailContent.aspx?id=438201>
UW Study Says Diversification (Catching A Variety Of Species) Key To Resilient Fishing Communities
Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2017 (PST)

Fishing communities can survive -- and even thrive -- as fish abundance and market prices shift if they can catch a variety of species and nimbly move from one fishery to the next.

These findings, published Jan. 14 in Nature Communications, draw upon 34 years of data collected in more than 100 fishing communities in Alaska that depend on fishing for livelihoods, cultural traditions and daily subsistence. The University of Washington researchers found that communities that fished for many different species and had the ability to shift what they harvested and when, were more resilient to unpredictable downturns in fish abundance and market prices than communities that put all their effort into only a few fisheries.

"This study is about starting the conversation about how communities can buffer themselves against unpredictable ecosystem changes in the future," said lead author Timothy Cline, a doctoral student in the UW's School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. "There is no reason why any community in the world that depends on renewable resources could not benefit from this approach."

In their analysis, the researchers used common financial principles to illustrate how fishing communities can buffer against market and ecosystem shifts. Maintaining a diverse portfolio of fishing permits, for example, ensures that a community can switch to halibut or Dungeness crab if salmon take a turn for the worse. Just like with financial stocks, each fishery might not deliver at the same time, but that diversity allows for stability in the long run.

"Human systems can collapse if they have no ability to roll with the punches and adapt when ecosystems re-express themselves," said co-author Daniel Schindler, a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences. "This analysis shows that the communities that did not suffer from oceanic regime shifts were those that could adapt to changes in the quantity and composition of natural resources."

The researchers looked specifically at the average fishing revenue in 106 Alaskan communities for 10 years before and after 1989, a year when the North Pacific Ocean experienced a significant shift in productivity and abrupt changes in the composition of marine food webs, while at the same time the global price for salmon dropped because of competition from farm-raised fish.

Commercial fishing in Alaska provides $1.3 billion in annual income from harvest alone, and in some remote areas fishing is the only major industry.

Many Alaskan communities lost more than half of their revenue following 1989. However, the researchers found that communities with the highest level of diversity in what they fished for saw little or no change in revenue. Specifically, communities that had high diversity were able to shift to different fisheries after 1989, and some even increased their revenue streams by leveraging new and emerging fish markets.

"We found that well-diversified communities also had higher turnover, or the ability to go out and fish for species that are more abundant while relying less on those that declined," Cline said. "If you are diversified, it's just a matter of focusing on fisheries that are more abundant or more valuable, and if you're not diversified, that means adapting your portfolio by selling what you had and buying something new."

The authors recognize this can be difficult for individual fishermen - fishing permits are expensive and can be hard to obtain. When dispersed across the community level, however, individuals could still specialize, but differently from their neighbor. For example, one subset could fish for pink salmon, while another tackles halibut or Dungeness crab. Revenues from these efforts are felt throughout the community.

Additionally, this approach promotes a powerful shared identity, the authors explain.

"There's intrinsic value in the identity of being a fishing community," Schindler said. "That sense of community identity is basically reinforced by the fact that the community is adapting to the ecosystem, which is always changing."

The rich dataset used in this analysis, provided by the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, was invaluable in allowing the researchers to test concepts of diversification and turnover -- switching to catch more abundant fish -- which have been put forth in other papers as ways of managing human interactions with natural resources.

These principles could be applied to fisheries around the world, and many small fishing communities already diversify naturally, the authors explained. Traditional science tends to emphasize gathering data to make better predictions of how natural resources will fare, but perhaps that isn't the best approach when managing resources in a highly variable and unpredictable environment, they argue.

"With ongoing climate change, population growth and ocean acidification, the question is, what's the future going to look like? We should expect the unexpected," Schindler said. "Then the question becomes, what can we do to develop resilient communities for what is guaranteed to be an unexpected new future?"

"While 40 years ago most fishermen were generalists, and switched between fish stocks as they fluctuated, the efforts to reduce overall fishing effort has generally forced fishermen to specialize in a small number of fisheries, said co-author Ray Hilborn, a UW professor in aquatic and fishery sciences. "We need to explore ways to allow flexibility while still restraining the total catch."

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation.
[Bookmark and Share]<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a73074e66d2b0b0>




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From sari at sisqtel.net  Tue Jan 24 11:47:13 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2017 11:47:13 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Modesto Bee: Study: Salmon don't want too much water
Message-ID: <007301d2767a$a9da9d50$fd8fd7f0$@sisqtel.net>

Journal article:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02755947.2016.1240120?journalCode
=ujfm20

 

Modesto Bee editorial, 1-19-17
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/editorials/article127580214.html

Study: Salmon don't want too much water 

One of FishBio's salmon-counting weirs on the Stanislaus River.

One of FishBio's salmon-counting weirs on the Stanislaus River. Jeff Jardine
jjardine at modbee.com 

By the Editorial Board

Salmon don't read memos or get emails from the state Department of Water
Resources, nor do they consult U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service instruction
manuals. So how can they possibly know when it's time to spawn? 

Over hundreds of thousands of years, salmon have learned to "read" signals
that nature provides and only they truly understand. Those signals tell them
when it's time to swim upstream. 

A group of FishBio scientists working on the Stanislaus River have crunched
11 years of meticulously kept data to better understand those signals.
FishBio concluded that, using "adaptive management" techniques, government
regulators often sent the wrong signals. In fact, their efforts were
sometimes counterproductive in helping salmon populations recover. 

Why? Because more water does not equal more fish. 

In a peer-reviewed study published this week, FishBio looked at river
conditions and flows from October through December, when the most salmon
were moving up the Stanislaus River. The scientists caution against jumping
to conclusions, but they say the state frequently releases too much water. 

Optimum flows to entice salmon to spawn are around 700 cubic feet per
second,  <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02755947.2016.1240120>
says the study. That's roughly 5,100 gallons per second; a lot of water. But
it's far, far less than what the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates
New Melones Dam, usually releases.
<http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/selectQuery?station_id=GDW&sensor_num=8&
dur_code=D&start_date=2010-10-25&end_date=2010-12-31&geom=>  In 2010, the
bureau released at least three times that much for 14 straight days -
exceeding 10,000 cfs (15 times the optimum) for three days.

How much water is that? About 4.4 million gallons in a minute, enough in
three hours to flood Oakdale 3 feet deep. Over the course of these "spike"
flows, the bureau usually sent some 25,000 acre-feet of clear water to
attract salmon that often never came.

"If you hold (flows) up for more than a day or two, it's not providing any
benefit," said FishBio's Andrea Fuller, one of the authors with FishBio
partner Doug Demko and staffer Matthew Peterson. "If we didn't have the dams
in place, we'd have a very flashy system - the flows would spike up to a
high degree, then recede quickly. The volume of water we're putting down in
October wouldn't have happened in even the wettest years."

Does this mess with the salmon's internal signals? "Big time," Fuller said.

"What led to the study, (the bureau) started doing these (adaptive
management) releases in the 1990s and there was an agreement that there
would be an assessment to see how well they worked," Fuller said. "But that
was never done. We were left asking, 'How did you come up with the volumes
of water you think is needed?' 

"This finally gives us a study to see how the fish are responding." 

Those who still cling to the writ of "more water equals more fish" will
dispute FishBio's studies. But the prestigious
<http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujfm20/current> North American Journal of
Fisheries Management subjected it to review by three scientists not
associated with FishBio. It's solid. 

The study doesn't directly address the State Water Resources Control Board's
ongoing efforts to double the amount of water dedicated to environmental
purposes on the Stanislaus, Merced and Tuolumne rivers. But it does argue
that the state's "adaptive management" assumptions should be subjected to
close scrutiny. It should also convince the Bureau of Reclamation to reduce
the water it releases each fall, meaning more would be left behind the dam
in April and early May when juvenile salmon are trying to exit the river. 

FishBio's study contains some very important signals. Not for the salmon,
but for state and federal scientists. They should reconsider their positions
and base their demands on the facts they find on our rivers - not disputable
dogma.


Read more here:
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/editorials/article127580214.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Jan 24 12:36:35 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2017 20:36:35 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Resigning from TAMWG
In-Reply-To: <8AAAA7EAE2249D4B95F2A2C92B61C98ED97E48BF@COREXCHG6.ci.redding.ca.us>
References: <8AAAA7EAE2249D4B95F2A2C92B61C98ED97E48BF@COREXCHG6.ci.redding.ca.us>
Message-ID: <1821749947.4707368.1485290195416@mail.yahoo.com>

Elizabeth has done an outstanding job as Chairman of the federal advisory committee for the Trinity River Restoration Program (The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG)). ?
She won't be far away, however, and I look forward to working with her in the future.?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?
   Show original message 

    On Tuesday, January 24, 2017 12:17 PM, "Hadley, Elizabeth" <ehadley at ci.redding.ca.us> wrote:
 

  <!--#yiv6029253776 _filtered #yiv6029253776 {font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;} _filtered #yiv6029253776 {font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}#yiv6029253776 #yiv6029253776 p.yiv6029253776MsoNormal, #yiv6029253776 li.yiv6029253776MsoNormal, #yiv6029253776 div.yiv6029253776MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri", "sans-serif";}#yiv6029253776 a:link, #yiv6029253776 span.yiv6029253776MsoHyperlink {color:blue;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv6029253776 a:visited, #yiv6029253776 span.yiv6029253776MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv6029253776 span.yiv6029253776EmailStyle17 {font-family:"Calibri", "sans-serif";color:windowtext;}#yiv6029253776 .yiv6029253776MsoChpDefault {font-family:"Calibri", "sans-serif";} _filtered #yiv6029253776 {margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}#yiv6029253776 div.yiv6029253776WordSection1 {}-->Dear TAMWG members ?  ? I am officially resigning from my position on the TAMWG, however you aren?t getting rid of me just yet.? I have accepted the position of Deputy Area Manager for the Bureau of Reclamation out of their Shasta Dam office and will likely be engaged in many TRRP activities going forward.  ? As required by the TAMWG bylaws, you will be conducting an election for Chair and Vice Chair during your next meeting; until that time Tom Stokely will serve as your TAMWG Chair.  ? I look forward to working with you all in my new role! ? ??  ? Elizabeth W. Hadley Legislative, Regulatory, & Compliance Program Supervisor REDDING ELECTRIC UTILITY o (530)339-7327 c (530) 722-7518 ehadley at reupower.com  ? 

   
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From matt_brown at fws.gov  Tue Jan 24 13:01:59 2017
From: matt_brown at fws.gov (Brown, Matt)
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2017 13:01:59 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Modesto Bee: Study: Salmon don't want too much
	water
In-Reply-To: <CABmhvUcUzjti3beV5T0=Wup-Pdrzg1Eekk-URvUK_QQbJeyhcQ@mail.gmail.com>
References: <007301d2767a$a9da9d50$fd8fd7f0$@sisqtel.net>
	<CABmhvUcUzjti3beV5T0=Wup-Pdrzg1Eekk-URvUK_QQbJeyhcQ@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CABmhvUfPo-KYH13J+b5kSxyiKTe94JLzSCdGBqbNuXsah=Tcmw@mail.gmail.com>

Oops sent this to the wrong emails. Sorry.

Matt Brown
Deputy Project Leader
Clear Creek and Battle Creek Program
Red Bluff Fish and Wildlife Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Red Bluff, CA 96080
(530) 527-3043 ext 253
Telework number (530) 762-1804

On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 1:01 PM, Brown, Matt <matt_brown at fws.gov> wrote:

> Related to the article I sent out last week.
>
> Matt Brown
> Deputy Project Leader
> Clear Creek and Battle Creek Program
> Red Bluff Fish and Wildlife Office
> U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
> Red Bluff, CA 96080
> (530) 527-3043 ext 253
> Telework number (530) 762-1804
>
> On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 11:47 AM, Sari Sommarstrom <sari at sisqtel.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Journal article:  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi
>> /abs/10.1080/02755947.2016.1240120?journalCode=ujfm20
>>
>>
>>
>> Modesto Bee editorial, 1-19-17  http://www.modbee.com/opinion/
>> editorials/article127580214.html
>>
>> Study: Salmon don?t want too much water
>>
>> [image: One of FishBio?s salmon-counting weirs on the Stanislaus River.]
>>
>> *One of FishBio?s salmon-counting weirs on the Stanislaus River. Jeff
>> Jardine jjardine at modbee.com <jjardine at modbee.com> *
>>
>> By the Editorial Board
>>
>> Salmon don?t read memos or get emails from the state Department of Water
>> Resources, nor do they consult U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service instruction
>> manuals. So how can they possibly know when it?s time to spawn?
>>
>> Over hundreds of thousands of years, salmon have learned to ?read?
>> signals that nature provides and only they truly understand. Those signals
>> tell them when it?s time to swim upstream.
>>
>> A group of FishBio scientists working on the Stanislaus River have
>> crunched 11 years of meticulously kept data to better understand those
>> signals. FishBio concluded that, using ?adaptive management? techniques,
>> government regulators often sent the wrong signals. In fact, their efforts
>> were sometimes counterproductive in helping salmon populations recover.
>>
>> Why? Because more water does not equal more fish.
>>
>> In a peer-reviewed study published this week, FishBio looked at river
>> conditions and flows from October through December, when the most salmon
>> were moving up the Stanislaus River. The scientists caution against jumping
>> to conclusions, but they say the state frequently releases too much water.
>>
>> Optimum flows to entice salmon to spawn are around 700 cubic feet per
>> second, says the study
>> <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02755947.2016.1240120>.
>> That?s roughly 5,100 gallons per second; a lot of water. But it?s far, far
>> less than what the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates New Melones
>> Dam, usually releases. In 2010, the bureau released at least three times
>> that much for 14 straight days ?
>> <http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/selectQuery?station_id=GDW&sensor_num=8&dur_code=D&start_date=2010-10-25&end_date=2010-12-31&geom=>
>> exceeding 10,000 cfs (15 times the optimum) for three days.
>>
>> How much water is that? About 4.4 million gallons in a minute, enough in
>> three hours to flood Oakdale 3 feet deep. Over the course of these ?spike?
>> flows, the bureau usually sent some 25,000 acre-feet of clear water to
>> attract salmon that often never came.
>>
>> ?If you hold (flows) up for more than a day or two, it?s not providing
>> any benefit,? said FishBio?s Andrea Fuller, one of the authors with FishBio
>> partner Doug Demko and staffer Matthew Peterson. ?If we didn?t have the
>> dams in place, we?d have a very flashy system ? the flows would spike up to
>> a high degree, then recede quickly. The volume of water we?re putting down
>> in October wouldn?t have happened in even the wettest years.?
>>
>> Does this mess with the salmon?s internal signals? ?Big time,? Fuller
>> said.
>>
>> ?What led to the study, (the bureau) started doing these (adaptive
>> management) releases in the 1990s and there was an agreement that there
>> would be an assessment to see how well they worked,? Fuller said. ?But that
>> was never done. We were left asking, ?How did you come up with the volumes
>> of water you think is needed??
>>
>> ?This finally gives us a study to see how the fish are responding.?
>>
>> Those who still cling to the writ of ?more water equals more fish? will
>> dispute FishBio?s studies. But the prestigious North American Journal of
>> Fisheries Management <http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujfm20/current>
>> subjected it to review by three scientists not associated with FishBio.
>> It?s solid.
>>
>> The study doesn?t directly address the State Water Resources Control
>> Board?s ongoing efforts to double the amount of water dedicated to
>> environmental purposes on the Stanislaus, Merced and Tuolumne rivers. But
>> it does argue that the state?s ?adaptive management? assumptions should be
>> subjected to close scrutiny. It should also convince the Bureau of
>> Reclamation to reduce the water it releases each fall, meaning more would
>> be left behind the dam in April and early May when juvenile salmon are
>> trying to exit the river.
>>
>> FishBio?s study contains some very important signals. Not for the salmon,
>> but for state and federal scientists. They should reconsider their
>> positions and base their demands on the facts they find on our rivers ? not
>> disputable dogma.
>>
>>
>> Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/opinion/
>> editorials/article127580214.html#storylink=cpy
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> env-trinity mailing list
>> env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
>> http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity
>>
>>
>
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From matt_brown at fws.gov  Tue Jan 24 13:01:21 2017
From: matt_brown at fws.gov (Brown, Matt)
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2017 13:01:21 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Modesto Bee: Study: Salmon don't want too much
	water
In-Reply-To: <007301d2767a$a9da9d50$fd8fd7f0$@sisqtel.net>
References: <007301d2767a$a9da9d50$fd8fd7f0$@sisqtel.net>
Message-ID: <CABmhvUcUzjti3beV5T0=Wup-Pdrzg1Eekk-URvUK_QQbJeyhcQ@mail.gmail.com>

Related to the article I sent out last week.

Matt Brown
Deputy Project Leader
Clear Creek and Battle Creek Program
Red Bluff Fish and Wildlife Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Red Bluff, CA 96080
(530) 527-3043 ext 253
Telework number (530) 762-1804

On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 11:47 AM, Sari Sommarstrom <sari at sisqtel.net> wrote:

> Journal article:  http://www.tandfonline.com/
> doi/abs/10.1080/02755947.2016.1240120?journalCode=ujfm20
>
>
>
> Modesto Bee editorial, 1-19-17  http://www.modbee.com/opinion/
> editorials/article127580214.html
>
> Study: Salmon don?t want too much water
>
> [image: One of FishBio?s salmon-counting weirs on the Stanislaus River.]
>
> *One of FishBio?s salmon-counting weirs on the Stanislaus River. Jeff
> Jardine jjardine at modbee.com <jjardine at modbee.com> *
>
> By the Editorial Board
>
> Salmon don?t read memos or get emails from the state Department of Water
> Resources, nor do they consult U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service instruction
> manuals. So how can they possibly know when it?s time to spawn?
>
> Over hundreds of thousands of years, salmon have learned to ?read? signals
> that nature provides and only they truly understand. Those signals tell
> them when it?s time to swim upstream.
>
> A group of FishBio scientists working on the Stanislaus River have
> crunched 11 years of meticulously kept data to better understand those
> signals. FishBio concluded that, using ?adaptive management? techniques,
> government regulators often sent the wrong signals. In fact, their efforts
> were sometimes counterproductive in helping salmon populations recover.
>
> Why? Because more water does not equal more fish.
>
> In a peer-reviewed study published this week, FishBio looked at river
> conditions and flows from October through December, when the most salmon
> were moving up the Stanislaus River. The scientists caution against jumping
> to conclusions, but they say the state frequently releases too much water.
>
> Optimum flows to entice salmon to spawn are around 700 cubic feet per
> second, says the study
> <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02755947.2016.1240120>.
> That?s roughly 5,100 gallons per second; a lot of water. But it?s far, far
> less than what the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates New Melones
> Dam, usually releases. In 2010, the bureau released at least three times
> that much for 14 straight days ?
> <http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/selectQuery?station_id=GDW&sensor_num=8&dur_code=D&start_date=2010-10-25&end_date=2010-12-31&geom=>
> exceeding 10,000 cfs (15 times the optimum) for three days.
>
> How much water is that? About 4.4 million gallons in a minute, enough in
> three hours to flood Oakdale 3 feet deep. Over the course of these ?spike?
> flows, the bureau usually sent some 25,000 acre-feet of clear water to
> attract salmon that often never came.
>
> ?If you hold (flows) up for more than a day or two, it?s not providing any
> benefit,? said FishBio?s Andrea Fuller, one of the authors with FishBio
> partner Doug Demko and staffer Matthew Peterson. ?If we didn?t have the
> dams in place, we?d have a very flashy system ? the flows would spike up to
> a high degree, then recede quickly. The volume of water we?re putting down
> in October wouldn?t have happened in even the wettest years.?
>
> Does this mess with the salmon?s internal signals? ?Big time,? Fuller said.
>
> ?What led to the study, (the bureau) started doing these (adaptive
> management) releases in the 1990s and there was an agreement that there
> would be an assessment to see how well they worked,? Fuller said. ?But that
> was never done. We were left asking, ?How did you come up with the volumes
> of water you think is needed??
>
> ?This finally gives us a study to see how the fish are responding.?
>
> Those who still cling to the writ of ?more water equals more fish? will
> dispute FishBio?s studies. But the prestigious North American Journal of
> Fisheries Management <http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujfm20/current>
> subjected it to review by three scientists not associated with FishBio.
> It?s solid.
>
> The study doesn?t directly address the State Water Resources Control
> Board?s ongoing efforts to double the amount of water dedicated to
> environmental purposes on the Stanislaus, Merced and Tuolumne rivers. But
> it does argue that the state?s ?adaptive management? assumptions should be
> subjected to close scrutiny. It should also convince the Bureau of
> Reclamation to reduce the water it releases each fall, meaning more would
> be left behind the dam in April and early May when juvenile salmon are
> trying to exit the river.
>
> FishBio?s study contains some very important signals. Not for the salmon,
> but for state and federal scientists. They should reconsider their
> positions and base their demands on the facts they find on our rivers ? not
> disputable dogma.
>
>
> Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/opinion/editorials/article127580214.
> html#storylink=cpy
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> env-trinity mailing list
> env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
> http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity
>
>
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From pcatanese at dhscott.com  Tue Jan 24 13:44:19 2017
From: pcatanese at dhscott.com (Paul Catanese)
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2017 21:44:19 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Modesto Bee: Study: Salmon don't want too much
 water
In-Reply-To: <007301d2767a$a9da9d50$fd8fd7f0$@sisqtel.net>
References: <007301d2767a$a9da9d50$fd8fd7f0$@sisqtel.net>
Message-ID: <46192831-3245-4C55-BDC0-583457FBD22A@dhscott.com>

Very good article.

Paul J. Catanese, Partner

D.H. Scott & Company
O: 530.243.4300 | F: 530.243.4306
900 Market St, Redding, CA 96001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This communication (including any attachments) may contain privileged or confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this communication and/or shred the materials and any attachments and are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this communication, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. Thank you.

Disclaimer:  Any accounting, business or tax advice contained in this communication, including attachments and enclosures, is not intended as a thorough, in-depth analysis of specific issues, nor a substitute for a formal opinion, nor is it sufficient to avoid tax-related penalties.  If desired, D.H. Scott & Company would be pleased to perform the requisite research and provide you with a detailed written analysis.  Such an engagement may be the subject of a separate engagement letter that would define the scope and limits of the desired consultation services.

On Jan 24, 2017, at 11:50 AM, Sari Sommarstrom <sari at sisqtel.net<mailto:sari at sisqtel.net>> wrote:

Journal article:  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02755947.2016.1240120?journalCode=ujfm20

Modesto Bee editorial, 1-19-17  http://www.modbee.com/opinion/editorials/article127580214.html
Study: Salmon don?t want too much water
<image003.jpg>
One of FishBio?s salmon-counting weirs on the Stanislaus River. Jeff Jardine jjardine at modbee.com<mailto:jjardine at modbee.com>
By the Editorial Board
Salmon don?t read memos or get emails from the state Department of Water Resources, nor do they consult U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service instruction manuals. So how can they possibly know when it?s time to spawn?
Over hundreds of thousands of years, salmon have learned to ?read? signals that nature provides and only they truly understand. Those signals tell them when it?s time to swim upstream.
A group of FishBio scientists working on the Stanislaus River have crunched 11 years of meticulously kept data to better understand those signals. FishBio concluded that, using ?adaptive management? techniques, government regulators often sent the wrong signals. In fact, their efforts were sometimes counterproductive in helping salmon populations recover.
Why? Because more water does not equal more fish.
In a peer-reviewed study published this week, FishBio looked at river conditions and flows from October through December, when the most salmon were moving up the Stanislaus River. The scientists caution against jumping to conclusions, but they say the state frequently releases too much water.
Optimum flows to entice salmon to spawn are around 700 cubic feet per second, says the study<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02755947.2016.1240120>. That?s roughly 5,100 gallons per second; a lot of water. But it?s far, far less than what the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates New Melones Dam, usually releases. In 2010, the bureau released at least three times that much for 14 straight days ?<http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/selectQuery?station_id=GDW&sensor_num=8&dur_code=D&start_date=2010-10-25&end_date=2010-12-31&geom=> exceeding 10,000 cfs (15 times the optimum) for three days.
How much water is that? About 4.4 million gallons in a minute, enough in three hours to flood Oakdale 3 feet deep. Over the course of these ?spike? flows, the bureau usually sent some 25,000 acre-feet of clear water to attract salmon that often never came.
?If you hold (flows) up for more than a day or two, it?s not providing any benefit,? said FishBio?s Andrea Fuller, one of the authors with FishBio partner Doug Demko and staffer Matthew Peterson. ?If we didn?t have the dams in place, we?d have a very flashy system ? the flows would spike up to a high degree, then recede quickly. The volume of water we?re putting down in October wouldn?t have happened in even the wettest years.?
Does this mess with the salmon?s internal signals? ?Big time,? Fuller said.
?What led to the study, (the bureau) started doing these (adaptive management) releases in the 1990s and there was an agreement that there would be an assessment to see how well they worked,? Fuller said. ?But that was never done. We were left asking, ?How did you come up with the volumes of water you think is needed??
?This finally gives us a study to see how the fish are responding.?
Those who still cling to the writ of ?more water equals more fish? will dispute FishBio?s studies. But the prestigious North American Journal of Fisheries Management<http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujfm20/current> subjected it to review by three scientists not associated with FishBio. It?s solid.
The study doesn?t directly address the State Water Resources Control Board?s ongoing efforts to double the amount of water dedicated to environmental purposes on the Stanislaus, Merced and Tuolumne rivers. But it does argue that the state?s ?adaptive management? assumptions should be subjected to close scrutiny. It should also convince the Bureau of Reclamation to reduce the water it releases each fall, meaning more would be left behind the dam in April and early May when juvenile salmon are trying to exit the river.
FishBio?s study contains some very important signals. Not for the salmon, but for state and federal scientists. They should reconsider their positions and base their demands on the facts they find on our rivers ? not disputable dogma.

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/opinion/editorials/article127580214.html#storylink=cpy


_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us<mailto:env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Tue Jan 24 14:11:05 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2017 22:11:05 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] CDFW - TRP trapping summary through Julian week 3
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB1378D8AADEA3F821109C0EA0BA750@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Attached please find CDFW's Trinity River Project 2016 trapping summary through Julian week 3 (January 21).

I hope this catches you with a wee bit of sun shining down on you...
Cheers!
MC

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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Jan 25 09:06:34 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2017 17:06:34 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior
References: <1785639922.820555.1485363994267.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1785639922.820555.1485363994267@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2017/01/24/leaked-memo-silences-department-of-interior/

Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior
thewildlifenews.com/2017/01/24/leaked-memo-silences-department-of-interior/Ken ColeJanuary 24, 2017A?memo?leaked today orders all of the bureaus of the Department of Interior, which includes the Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Bureau of Indian Affairs, and others, to clear nearly every decision or correspondence with the?Office of the Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs (OES). Other departments such as the EPA have instituted similar gag orders. This sweeping gag order stops the bureaus from corresponding?with entities ranging from tribal leaders, governors, and even Congress.The contents of the memo are below and the?memo is here
Memorandum
To: Chiefs of Staff, Bureaus and Offices
From: Julie Lillie, Director, Office of Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs
Subject: Federal Register Documents and Correspondence Clearance ProceduresAs we begin a new administration, it is important that the incoming policy team has an opportunity to review documents. Effective immediately, and in addition to your internal clearance processes,?all?Federal Register documents, including all notices, and?all?correspondence to or from the Secretary must be forwarded to the Office of the Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs (OES) for review 5 days prior to any deadline for Departmental clearance, regardless of signature level. For Federal Register notices this includes, but is not limited to:? any proposed or final regulation or policy action,
? notices of all meetings, including tribal consultation meetings,
? all notices related to NEPA documents
? information collection notices,
? FWS notices of low effect applications for permits,
? BLM notices of plat surveys, and
? BOEM quarterly notices of environmental documents prepared for the Gulf of?Mexico Outer Continental Shelf.In addition to the above,?all?incoming congressional and gubernatorial correspondence as well as correspondence from Indian or Alaska tribal leaders and leaders from national level environment/recreational and industry organizations must be forwarded to DES prior to responding, regardless of addressee or signature level. No correspondence should be cleared to go to Congress or to any Governor until it has been reviewed by the Acting Chief of Staff and/or Senior White House Advisor. The OES will be responsible for tasking these letters for response . The incoming leadership team will decide whether to continue or modify these instructions.


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From jbendix at mosaicassociates.net  Wed Jan 25 09:16:00 2017
From: jbendix at mosaicassociates.net (Judy Bendix)
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2017 17:16:00 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior
In-Reply-To: <1785639922.820555.1485363994267@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1785639922.820555.1485363994267.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1785639922.820555.1485363994267@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <CY1PR17MB0597D7A1C099F43946CD218EC0740@CY1PR17MB0597.namprd17.prod.outlook.com>

Is there precedent for this under prior administrations?

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 9:07 AM
To: env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
Subject: [env-trinity] Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2017/01/24/leaked-memo-silences-department-of-interior/

Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior
[https://s2.googleusercontent.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.thewildlifenews.com]thewildlifenews.com/2017/01/24/leaked-memo-silences-department-of-interior/<http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2017/01/24/leaked-memo-silences-department-of-interior/>
Ken ColeJanuary 24, 2017
A memo<http://www.thewildlifenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Memo.pdf> leaked today orders all of the bureaus of the Department of Interior, which includes the Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Bureau of Indian Affairs, and others, to clear nearly every decision or correspondence with the Office of the Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs (OES). Other departments such as the EPA have instituted similar gag orders. This sweeping gag order stops the bureaus from corresponding with entities ranging from tribal leaders, governors, and even Congress.
The contents of the memo are below and the memo is here<http://www.thewildlifenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Memo.pdf>
Memorandum
To: Chiefs of Staff, Bureaus and Offices
From: Julie Lillie, Director, Office of Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs
Subject: Federal Register Documents and Correspondence Clearance Procedures
As we begin a new administration, it is important that the incoming policy team has an opportunity to review documents. Effective immediately, and in addition to your internal clearance processes, all Federal Register documents, including all notices, and all correspondence to or from the Secretary must be forwarded to the Office of the Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs (OES) for review 5 days prior to any deadline for Departmental clearance, regardless of signature level. For Federal Register notices this includes, but is not limited to:
? any proposed or final regulation or policy action,
? notices of all meetings, including tribal consultation meetings,
? all notices related to NEPA documents
? information collection notices,
? FWS notices of low effect applications for permits,
? BLM notices of plat surveys, and
? BOEM quarterly notices of environmental documents prepared for the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf.
In addition to the above, all incoming congressional and gubernatorial correspondence as well as correspondence from Indian or Alaska tribal leaders and leaders from national level environment/recreational and industry organizations must be forwarded to DES prior to responding, regardless of addressee or signature level. No correspondence should be cleared to go to Congress or to any Governor until it has been reviewed by the Acting Chief of Staff and/or Senior White House Advisor. The OES will be responsible for tasking these letters for response . The incoming leadership team will decide whether to continue or modify these instructions.


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From victoria7 at snowcrest.net  Wed Jan 25 09:31:27 2017
From: victoria7 at snowcrest.net (Vicki Gold)
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2017 09:31:27 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior
In-Reply-To: <CY1PR17MB0597D7A1C099F43946CD218EC0740@CY1PR17MB0597.namprd17.prod.outlook.com>
References: <1785639922.820555.1485363994267.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1785639922.820555.1485363994267@mail.yahoo.com>
	<CY1PR17MB0597D7A1C099F43946CD218EC0740@CY1PR17MB0597.namprd17.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <34AAEFF9-A3B4-462C-B3B0-A40D09B1CD19@snowcrest.net>

http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/1/23/14356652/trump-epa-regulations

Above article discusses precedents.
On Jan 25, 2017, at 9:16 AM, Judy Bendix <jbendix at mosaicassociates.net> wrote:

> Is there precedent for this under prior administrations?
>  
> From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
> Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 9:07 AM
> To: env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
> Subject: [env-trinity] Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior
>  
> http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2017/01/24/leaked-memo-silences-department-of-interior/
>  
> Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior
> thewildlifenews.com/2017/01/24/leaked-memo-silences-department-of-interior/
> Ken ColeJanuary 24, 2017
> A memo leaked today orders all of the bureaus of the Department of Interior, which includes the Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Bureau of Indian Affairs, and others, to clear nearly every decision or correspondence with the Office of the Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs (OES). Other departments such as the EPA have instituted similar gag orders. This sweeping gag order stops the bureaus from corresponding with entities ranging from tribal leaders, governors, and even Congress.
> The contents of the memo are below and the memo is here
> Memorandum
> To: Chiefs of Staff, Bureaus and Offices
> From: Julie Lillie, Director, Office of Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs
> Subject: Federal Register Documents and Correspondence Clearance Procedures
> As we begin a new administration, it is important that the incoming policy team has an opportunity to review documents. Effective immediately, and in addition to your internal clearance processes, all Federal Register documents, including all notices, and all correspondence to or from the Secretary must be forwarded to the Office of the Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs (OES) for review 5 days prior to any deadline for Departmental clearance, regardless of signature level. For Federal Register notices this includes, but is not limited to:
> ? any proposed or final regulation or policy action,
> ? notices of all meetings, including tribal consultation meetings,
> ? all notices related to NEPA documents
> ? information collection notices,
> ? FWS notices of low effect applications for permits,
> ? BLM notices of plat surveys, and
> ? BOEM quarterly notices of environmental documents prepared for the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf.
> In addition to the above, all incoming congressional and gubernatorial correspondence as well as correspondence from Indian or Alaska tribal leaders and leaders from national level environment/recreational and industry organizations must be forwarded to DES prior to responding, regardless of addressee or signature level. No correspondence should be cleared to go to Congress or to any Governor until it has been reviewed by the Acting Chief of Staff and/or Senior White House Advisor. The OES will be responsible for tasking these letters for response . The incoming leadership team will decide whether to continue or modify these instructions.
>  
>  
> _______________________________________________
> env-trinity mailing list
> env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
> http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity

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From lrlake at aol.com  Wed Jan 25 13:37:19 2017
From: lrlake at aol.com (lrlake at aol.com)
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2017 16:37:19 -0500
Subject: [env-trinity] Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior
Message-ID: <159d78fbee1-3ccc-5ef3@webprd-a79.mail.aol.com>

I think so.  It usually doesn't receive as much press.  It is customary in private and public business for all actions and jobs to be in 'limbo' as things change.  I my career I have needed to resign my job and reapply at the same time more than once <g>...  Get over it...


Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Judy Bendix <jbendix at mosaicassociates.net>
To: Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net>; env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Sent: Wed, Jan 25, 2017 9:16 am
Subject: Re: [env-trinity] Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior



Is there precedent for this under prior administrations?
 

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us]On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2017 9:07 AM
To: env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
Subject: [env-trinity] Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior

 

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2017/01/24/leaked-memo-silences-department-of-interior/

 

Leaked Memo Silences Department of Interior


thewildlifenews.com/2017/01/24/leaked-memo-silences-department-of-interior/

Ken ColeJanuary 24, 2017


A memo leaked today orders all of the bureaus of the Department of Interior, which includes the Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Bureau of Indian Affairs, and others, to clear nearly every decision or correspondence with the Office of the Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs (OES). Other departments such as the EPA have instituted similar gag orders. This sweeping gag order stops the bureaus from corresponding with entities ranging from tribal leaders, governors, and even Congress.

The contents of the memo are below and the memo is here


Memorandum
To: Chiefs of Staff, Bureaus and Offices
From: Julie Lillie, Director, Office of Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs
Subject: Federal Register Documents and Correspondence Clearance Procedures

As we begin a new administration, it is important that the incoming policy team has an opportunity to review documents. Effective immediately, and in addition to your internal clearance processes, all Federal Register documents, including all notices, and all correspondence to or from the Secretary must be forwarded to the Office of the Executive Secretariat and Regulatory Affairs (OES) for review 5 days prior to any deadline for Departmental clearance, regardless of signature level. For Federal Register notices this includes, but is not limited to:

? any proposed or final regulation or policy action,
? notices of all meetings, including tribal consultation meetings,
? all notices related to NEPA documents
? information collection notices,
? FWS notices of low effect applications for permits,
? BLM notices of plat surveys, and
? BOEM quarterly notices of environmental documents prepared for the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf.

In addition to the above, all incoming congressional and gubernatorial correspondence as well as correspondence from Indian or Alaska tribal leaders and leaders from national level environment/recreational and industry organizations must be forwarded to DES prior to responding, regardless of addressee or signature level. No correspondence should be cleared to go to Congress or to any Governor until it has been reviewed by the Acting Chief of Staff and/or Senior White House Advisor. The OES will be responsible for tasking these letters for response . The incoming leadership team will decide whether to continue or modify these instructions.

 




 



_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity

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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Jan 26 08:53:28 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2017 16:53:28 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal: CVP diverted less Trinity water last
	year
References: <1304219323.1783810.1485449608991.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1304219323.1783810.1485449608991@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_fa36a0aa-e29a-11e6-80c6-07d7f98eb4c4.htmlCVP diverted less Trinity water last year
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
?- Jan 25, 2017
?- ?0
   
   - 
   - 
   - 
   
Source: Trinity River Restoration Program?   
   - 
Following two years of drawing heavily from the Trinity reservoir to meet water needs to the south, in 2016 the federal Bureau of Reclamation relied less than usual on Trinity water.The diversion of Trinity water in the 2016 water year which ended Sept. 30 was 278,900 acre-feet, the lowest it?s been since 2010.For comparison, in the dry year of 2015 the diversion was 450,500 acre-feet, and in the critically dry year of 2014 it was 618,600 acre-feet. In 2013, also a dry year, 852,200 acre-feet was diverted.?In 2014 and 2015 we drew on Trinity really heavily and that?s what pulled the reservoir down was those diversions,? said Don Bader, area manager of the Northern California Bureau of Reclamation Office. ?We were just really hurting on the Sacramento side.?However, 2016 was different. It was a wet year for the Trinity River basin with 1,458,400 acre-feet of water flowing into Trinity and Lewiston lakes. Under the Trinity River Record of Decision, that triggered a relatively high release to the Trinity River. The release to the Trinity River including flows to aid fish in the Lower Klamath was 748,000 acre-feet.Since the Trinity reservoir had already been drawn down considerably in previous years, a high diversion to boot would have further depleted the reservoir.Shasta reservoir, on the other hand, was doing better in 2016, Bader said. ?We didn?t have to lean on Trinity as much.?For both reservoirs, Bader said, ?Things are looking much better this year, thank goodness.?As of Monday, Trinity Lake held 1,426,533 acre-feet of water, which put it at 58 percent of capacity. The amount is still not quite up to average for this time of year. It is at 84 percent of average.
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Jan 26 10:50:40 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2017 18:50:40 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Restoration Program Funding Opportunity
	Announcement
References: <589949898.1812090.1485456640232.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <589949898.1812090.1485456640232@mail.yahoo.com>

If you are interested in watershed restoration funding opportunities within the Trinity River Basin, seehttp://www.grants.gov/view-opportunity.html?dpp=1&oppId=291445?
The deadline is March 24, 2017.
TS

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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Thu Jan 26 14:29:37 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2017 22:29:37 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] CDFW - TRP trapping summary through Julian week 4
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB13783BB5DC46281910559C4CBA770@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Attached please find CDFW's Trinity River Project 2016 trapping summary through Julian week 4 (January 28).

Yes, I did just send one of these to you two days ago, but this one has a whole additional Julian weeks' worth of information on it. Steelhead at TRH. Check it out... largest clump of them since mid-December. Maybe they like the sunshine too???

Cheers!
MC
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Jan 30 17:53:03 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2017 01:53:03 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: PCFFA & IFR Exec. Dir. Announcement
In-Reply-To: <CA+iw1bs1s_QQg_Us=nAHmgV2po2qDc1xfuLuMSME_TVoNXTLXA@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CA+iw1bs1s_QQg_Us=nAHmgV2po2qDc1xfuLuMSME_TVoNXTLXA@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1693189661.327876.1485827583718@mail.yahoo.com>

On Monday, January 30, 2017 11:58 AM, Tim Sloane <tsloane at ifrfish.org> wrote:



 Dear Friends and Colleagues,
I'm pleased to announce that PCFFA and IFR have hired Noah Oppenheim as their new Executive Director. Noah comes to us from Congressman Jared Huffman's office, where as a Knauss Seagrant Fellow he was responsible for policy advising on Mr. Huffman's natural resources, public lands and oceans portfolios, and was instrumental in working with PCFFA on federal fisheries management issues. Noah has graduate degrees in marine biology and fisheries policy, and worked for a spell as a commercial salmon fisherman in Alaska. He's hitting the ground running, so get in touch with him and introduce yourself and the relationship you have with PCFFA/IFR.?
You can reach out to Noah via his new email address, noah at ifrfish.org,or by calling him at PCFFA: 415-561-5080 or IFR: 415-561-3474. (Note that our building is having some technical difficulties with the phones, so email is the best way to reach him for the next couple of days.)
?It's been a pleasure getting to know you all and fighting the fight for our public trust fishery and water resources together. I'll be continuing that fight at my new job at Sher Edling, LLP, and hope we can continue to collaborate. For the next few weeks any emails sent to this address will bounce directly to Noah. I do not have contact info at the new place yet, so drop me a line at my personal email if you'd like to get in touch: sloane510 at gmail.com.?
Best,Tim

--?
Tim SloaneExecutive Director?Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's AssociationsInstitute for Fisheries ResourcesPhone: 415-561-5080 |?Fax: 415-561-5464
Get Sublegals?Fisheries News

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Jan 30 18:49:08 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2017 02:49:08 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Bush-era official seen as front-runner for No. 2 slot
References: <1244403231.390147.1485830948451.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1244403231.390147.1485830948451@mail.yahoo.com>


INTERIOR

Bush-era official seen as front-runner for No. 2 slot
Robin Bravender, E&E News reporterPublished: Monday, January 30, 2017David Bernhardt is expected to be nominated as Interior's No. 2.?Photo courtesy of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP.A high-ranking George W. Bush administration Interior Department lawyer could soon be making a comeback as the agency's No. 2 official.David Bernhardt, who served as the department's top attorney under Bush and worked on the Trump transition team, is the front-runner to become Interior's next deputy secretary, according to a source close to the Trump administration.Bernhardt is chairman of the natural resources department at the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. He was in charge of Trump's Interior transition team for a short time after the November presidential election but was replaced as that team's leader later that month by Doug Domenech, another Bush-era Interior Department staffer (Greenwire, Nov. 21, 2016).
CONTINUING COVERAGE
E&E News' ongoing coverage of the new administration and the changes taking place on Capitol Hill.?Click here?to view the continuing coverage.Bernhardt served in several top jobs at Interior, working under secretaries Gale Norton and Dirk Kempthorne. Bernhardt was solicitor from 2006 until 2009 and deputy solicitor from 2005 until 2006. He also served as counselor and deputy chief of staff to Norton and as director of the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.He also worked on Capitol Hill as legal counsel to the House Rules Committee and aide to former Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.).Bernhardt has gone through the Senate confirmation process before.He was ultimately confirmed unanimously to be Interior's solicitor in 2006, although he faced some hurdles.Then-Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said that year that he believed Bernhardt was not a good pick, claiming the nomination is "not in keeping with the level of qualifications most people would expect for the Interior solicitor" (E&E News PM, March 15, 2006).Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) then slowed down his confirmation with a procedural move, citing concerns about a rural schools grant program (E&E Daily, Sept. 11, 2006).If he's nominated and confirmed to be Interior's No. 2, Bernhardt will be tasked with offering Trump's Interior secretary-designee ? Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke ? guidance about the inner workings of the department. Zinke hasn't previously worked in the department that oversees about 70,000 staff around the country.David Hayes, who previously served in the job during both the Obama and Clinton administrations, described the No. 2 post at Interior as "particularly important because only the secretary and the deputy secretary have statutory line authority and responsibility over the entirety of the sprawling Interior Department and the 10 major ? and often culturally independent &mash; bureaus that together make up the department's 70,000 employees."The deputy secretary is also "the department's chief operating officer, and his or her fingerprints typically are on every major policy and management decision made by the department," Hayes added.Twitter:?@rbravender?Email:?rbravender at eenews.net
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Jan 31 08:47:39 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2017 16:47:39 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Klamath Farmers Look For Compensation For 16-Year-Old
 Irrigation Cuts
References: <2105551621.908701.1485881259907.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2105551621.908701.1485881259907@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.opb.org/news/article/klamath-farmers-look-for-compensation-for-past-irrigation-cuts-/



Klamath Farmers Look For Compensation For 16-Year-Old Irrigation Cuts?
by?Jes Burns?Follow?OPB/EarthFix | Jan. 30, 2017 6:15 p.m. | Updated: Jan. 30, 2017 8:15 p.m. | Ashland, OregonWater shortages in the Klamath Basin have caused tensions for?decades.Jes Burns,?OPB/EarthFixIrrigators from Southern Oregon and Northern California are in federal court this week. They?re arguing the U.S. government owes them millions of dollars in compensation for water shut-offs 16 years?ago.A major drought in 2001 made water in the Klamath Basin scarce. Federal regulators cut off irrigation to hundreds of farms to ensure there was enough water in the rivers for endangered salmon and other fish.???The farmers say the irrigation water is property that was taken without compensation. This is prohibited by Constitution?s 5th?Amendment.?The issue is the fundamental issue of who owns the water and how does that water get used when there?s an over-appropriated situation like we have in the Klamath,? says Glen Spain with the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s?Associations.Spain?s organization has intervened against the irrigators in the case. He says salmon have rights to the water as well.????The case is being heard in the?U.S. Court of Federal Claims. A ruling in favor of the irrigators could make it much more expensive for the federal government to protect Pacific Coast salmon runs.??
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Jan 31 08:49:43 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2017 16:49:43 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Judge set to order feds,
 tribes to work together on new Klamath River flow plan
References: <1104638969.868299.1485881383984.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1104638969.868299.1485881383984@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/article/20170130/NEWS/170139977&template=printart
Judge set to order feds, tribes to work together on new Klamath River flow plan

Federal judge calls for collaborative approach to reduce fish deaths
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardMonday, January 30, 2017A federal judge is set to issue an order in the coming weeks for two federal agencies and a group of local tribes and environmental organizations to work together to develop a new water flow plan for the lower Klamath River.The decision comes after a six-month-long legal dispute over whether government-controlled dam releases on the lower Klamath River were adequate to prevent die-offs of juvenile coho salmon, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Studies by tribal fisheries researchers found that up to 90 percent of juvenile Klamath River coho salmon became infected by an intestinal parasite in 2014 and 2015 ? significantly higher than the 49 percent allowed under the agencies? own biological opinion.The Hoopa Valley Tribe?s attorney Tom Schlosser said the judge?s statements during the latest hearing on Jan. 27 indicated that he was in favor of the tribes? argument, which has been calling on the government agencies to develop a new flow plan rather than modifying it to allow more fish to die during dry years.?He will issue an order in about two weeks,? Schlosser said. ?He was not persuaded by any of the government?s motions, which were pretty superficial. He is going to order that steps be taken to bring down the fish mortality this spring. I think he is going to leave it to the parties to try to work out.?The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is responsible for controlling flow releases for several dams on the Klamath River. The extent of these flows schedules is based on consultations with the National Marine Fisheries Service.National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman Jim Milbury said that the judge?s order has not been issued yet, but agreed that the judge indicated the parties would work together to establish a flow plan for all the Endangered Species Act species on the river.??We?re looking forward to working together with all the agencies to resolve that,? he said.Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Wilbert ?Louis? Moore stated that their agency is still awaiting the order and is reviewing the case, but stated, ?Reclamation will carry out court orders and work with the partnering agencies to find a solution.?
Case background
Under a 2013 National Marine Fisheries Service?s biological opinion, up to 49 percent of surveyed juvenile salmon on the Klamath River are allowed to be infected by an intestinal parasite as a result of the Bureau of Reclamation?s dam operations. Should the infection rates climb above 49 percent, the Bureau of Reclamation is obligated to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service to discuss possible changes of operations.In both 2014 and 2015, tribal fisheries scientists found that around 90 percent of juvenile salmon were infected by the intestinal parasite. The bureau consulted with the National Marine Fisheries Service as obligated, but it was the service?s response that prompted last year?s lawsuits.The response letter in March 2016 stated that the high parasite infection rate of coho salmon is ?expected? during dry years and therefore does not require an immediate change in river management.This letter prompted the Hoopa Valley Tribe to file a lawsuit against the two agencies alleging that they were violating the Endangered Species Act. The Yurok Tribe, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Association, the Institute for Fisheries Resources and Klamath Riverkeeper followed suit in December and filed a second lawsuit against the agencies.Schlosser stated that the federal agencies did increase flows on the river in 2016, which he said was effective enough to keep the infection rate below 49 percent, but only just.?They barely made it under the wire with 48 percent morality,? he said.However, Schlosser said there were no plans to increase flows on the river this year.?They were proposing to do nothing beyond what?s in the 2013 biological opinion,? Schlosser said. ?At this point, it?s looking like it could be a wet year. It could be at least an average water year. They may be able to take some steps without any difficulty whatsoever as they did in 2016.?Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From sari at sisqtel.net  Tue Jan 31 12:09:14 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2017 12:09:14 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Water Deeply: Big Rains Bring Both Good and Bad News
	for Salmon
Message-ID: <006e01d27bfd$e5d01f50$b1705df0$@sisqtel.net>

WATER DEEPLY
https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2017/01/30/big-rains-bring-both-go
od-and-bad-news-for-salmon

Big Rains Bring Both Good and Bad News for Salmon

California's drought has hit fish populations hard. Now that heavy rains
have returned to the state, it would seem to be a boon for fish, such as
salmon, but actually the heavy rainfall has had both positive and negative
impacts.


Written by  <https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/contributor/alastair-bland>
Alastair Bland 

Published ons Jan. 30, 2017

 

 

The five-year-drought could hardly have been worse for some of California's
fish populations. The Sacramento River's winter-run Chinook, for example,
were nearly extinguished by low water supplies and sloppy handling of
reservoir releases during the endangered salmon's spawning season. The delta
smelt, too - a key biological indicator species - is now closer to
extinction than it has ever been. On the Klamath River, potentially deadly
parasites that thrive in low-flowing rivers infected most of the Chinook
born in 2014 and 2015.

After weeks of heavy rains and a mounting snowpack in the Sierra Nevada,
California's drought is easing, and according to the U.S. Drought Monitor,
Northern California is drought-free. That should be good news for fish.

"All this rain is definitely a good thing," says Dave Hillemeier, the
director of the Yurok Tribe's fisheries department. He says fast, gushing
flows could potentially wash out of the river system a species of worm that
serves as a host to the problematic fish-killing parasite Ceratonova shasta,
which has been linked to population declines of Klamath steelhead and
salmon.

"One day of huge flows would make life miserable for these polychaete
worms," Hillemeier says, explaining that rapid currents can not only sweep
away the creatures themselves but also the algae on which they feed.

In the Central Valley, high flows are also a boon to fish, especially when
rivers spill their banks. Research has consistently shown that numbers of
young fish spike in the months following wet winters - probably because they
create valuable, if only ephemeral, floodplain habitat for the fish.

However, too much rain at once can spell trouble for a river and its fish.
High flows can wash away gravel beds containing incubating eggs - what
biologists call "scour." Rapid increases in flow can also bury and suffocate
eggs with fine sediment or even sweep young salmon prematurely out to sea.
These impacts are especially problematic in river valleys that have been
overhauled by human activities such as logging, levees, dams and
development.

"It's not that the salmon aren't able to tolerate droughts and floods," says
Eric Ettlinger, aquatic ecologist for the Marin Municipal Water District.
"It's that their habitat has been so altered that the rivers don't work the
way they should anymore."

For example, Lagunitas Creek and its lower tributaries, which flow off the
highlands of western Marin County, have been lined with bank fortifications
and berms that confine the streams to their main channels. This looks tidy
and effective from a land use perspective, but it makes the fish that live
in the river extremely vulnerable to flooding as well as drought. That's
because water that overflows a river's banks creates slow-moving sprawls of
habitat - perfect places for young fish to take refuge from the raging
currents that may scour out the main channel. Such overflow also creates
groundwater recharge, which feeds into streams and can keep them flowing
through months, or even years, of drought. Eliminating natural flooding
cycles eradicates these ecosystem benefits.

Dams have introduced other challenges for Lagunitas Creek's coho (a member
of the salmon family). The barriers prevent the fish from spawning in the
watershed's high headwaters, where the salmon historically laid and
fertilized their eggs. Such small creeks, Ettlinger explains, are far less
susceptible to the scouring effects of flooding than the lower reaches of
the system, where tributaries merge together and create gushing torrents
during rainy periods.

Today, Lagunitas Creek's coho are barely clinging to existence, and the wet
winters that should be so welcomed can actually have drastic negative
impacts on the population. In the winter of 2005-06, heavy rains coincided
with the egg incubation period of the stream's coho. The number of spawning
adults crashed from roughly 400 to just 50 in the space of two years.
Ettlinger guesses the fish, 600 spawners strong at last count, will take a
similar hit this year.

Ted Sommer, a lead scientist with the California Department of Water
Resources, says 1,800 Chinook salmon spawned last fall in Putah Creek, a
Sacramento tributary with headwaters in Napa County. It was one of the
largest returns in memory.

But Putah Creek, like so many rivers, has been channelized with riverbank
modifications. This, Sommer says, "creates a fire-hose effect as water
shoots straight down the river channel," and he believes many or most of the
incubating salmon eggs have been lost to the heavy flows of December and
January.

However, few examples so clearly show the potential of heavy rains to
devastate rivers as the North Coast's 1964 Christmas floods. That December,
the Eel River - in recent years just a trickle of water - exploded to
one-and-a-half times the average volume of the Mississippi. Towns were swept
away, and redwood trees that had grown for a thousand years were stripped
from the earth.

Erosion was cataclysmic on recently logged mountainsides, says Scott
Greacen, executive director of the group Friends of the Eel River.

"When you take the trees off those slopes, the earth's surface melts," he
says. "When those rains fell, the mountains just came unzipped."

Rocks and sediment buried river sections where fish spawned. In some places,
pools that were 80ft (24m) deep and provided valuable year-round cold water
- essential for salmon - were filled in with rocks and sand.

"The river was structurally altered," Greacen says.

The same rainstorms clogged and buried parts of the Klamath River and its
main tributary, the Trinity. Greacen says a local geologist told him that it
might take 7,000 years for natural processes to erase - and quite literally
wash away - the effects of that rainy winter.

Fishery biologist Jacob Katz, of the group California Trout, has spent years
studying the benefits floodplains provide for fish. His work has been
focused recently on the Sacramento River. He and other scientists attribute
the long-term decline of the Central Valley's wild, self-sustaining salmon
populations in large part to the levees that have disconnected the river
from its adjacent floodplains. Today, those agricultural flatlands flood
only during extreme weather events, whereas they used to be inundated most,
if not all, years.

Katz's research has all but proven that salmon cannot survive without annual
flooding. He acknowledges the impacts that floods can deliver to some
rivers, especially those stripped of the protective wetland and woodland
buffers that soak up runoff and release it slowly and gently into the river.

Overall, however, Katz says the benefits of precipitation far outweigh the
impacts.

"It's years like this one that it's good to be a salmon in the Central
Valley," he says.

Never miss an update. Sign up
<http://waterdeeply.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8b78e9a34ff7443ec1e8c62c
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Feb  2 08:45:29 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 2017 16:45:29 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Huffman works with Yurok Tribe on funding for
	fisheries disaster
References: <1124891212.3039629.1486053929457.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1124891212.3039629.1486053929457@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170201/huffman-works-with-yurok-tribe-on-funding-for-fisheries-disaster&template=printart



Huffman works with Yurok Tribe on funding for fisheries disaster

Yurok significantly affected by low runs
By Natalya Estrada,?nestrada at times-standard.com,?@natedoge4412?on TwitterWednesday, February 1, 2017The U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker declared a fisheries disaster for nine salmon and crab fisheries in Alaska, Washington and California in January. Of the nine fisheries, the two in California include the Dungeness and rock crab fishery and the Yurok Tribe Klamath River Chinook salmon fishery.?The Yurok Tribe and North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman acknowledged the importance of the declaration which, according to a press release from the Yurok Tribe, is linked to the Klamath dams which were considered a catalyst for juvenile salmon disease outbreaks.?Huffman said in statement the Klamath River tribal Chinook salmon fishery was the lifeblood of Northern California?s coastal heritage and an integral part of the Yurok Tribe?s cultural and subsistence fisheries practices.??The closure of the fishery, a laudable voluntary action on the Yurok Tribe?s part to save their sacred runs from extinction, served as a reminder of the devastating effects of climate change and of destructive deadbeat dams on fisheries,? Huffman said. ?I commend Secretary Pritzker?s recognition of the Yurok?s conservation actions and applaud her declaration of a fishery disaster. I will do everything in my power to ensure that Congress now does its job, to financially assist communities and tribal members affected by the closure.?The secretary of commerce is authorized to make the disaster determination because of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The designation will enable Congress to provide financial relief to West Coast fishers, which includes federally recognized tribal fish harvesters like the Yurok Tribe.?Dave Hillemeier, the Yurok Tribe?s Fisheries manager said there were record lows of the fish populations within the Klamath for the past two years and the Tribal Council canceled the entire 2016 commercial fishery to protect salmon stocks.Within that same year, the tribe determined it would be unethical to serve salmon at the annual Klamath Salmon Festival, due to the low numbers of fish, which according to Hillemeier had less than one fish per tribal member. This was the first time in the event?s 54-year history that the Yurok were unable to supply the festival with fish.?He also said some diseases were directly linked to the low flows and Klamath dams which contributed to low fish numbers and further devastated the fishery.??The disease is called Ceratonova shasta. In 2014, 81 percent of sampled juvenile salmon were infected and in 2015 the infection rate among sampled fish was 91 percent,? Hillemeier said.?The disease outbreak was intensified by the dams? conditions, which were deemed by the Yurok Tribe to be unnatural and did not allow for the high river flows that are needed to disrupt the organism?s lifecycle. If the size of a year?s worth of Chinook stock is enough to support a sustainable harvest, the tribe will continue with a tightly regulated commercial fishery.?While the declaration allows Congress to appropriate financial relief for the fisheries, it does not guarantee they will see any relief funds.?It?s a large step toward receiving relief, but we still need Congress to appropriate the funding,? Hillemeier said.?NOAA Fisheries? Samuel D. Rauch III said in a statement the agency was committed to helping communities affected by the fishery closures to achieve future success.??We are proud of the contributions they make to the nation?s economy, and we recognize the sacrifices they are forced to take in times of environmental hardship,? Rauch said.?Yurok Tribal Chairman Thomas P. O?Rourke Sr. said the Yurok Tribe was grateful for Pritzker as well as Huffman in their efforts in recognizing the impact low fish runs have on the Yurok people.??For tribal families,? O?Rourke said, ?the lack of fish affects everything from our ability to practice our traditions to having enough food to making ends meet.?Natalya Estrada can be reached at 707-441-0510.
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Tue Feb  7 11:01:16 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2017 19:01:16 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] CDFW - TRP trapping summary through Julian week 5
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB13782FC42D19901A9721D0B1BA430@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Attached please find CDFW's Trinity River Project 2016 trapping summary through Julian week 5 (February 04).

It's a little late, and you'll get another one in a day or two.
Drive safely in this weather!
MC

*************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876   I   maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov<mailto:maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov>
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
**************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Feb  8 09:35:26 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2017 17:35:26 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] First survey finds bountiful snow in Alps
References: <1604912632.863517.1486575326317.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1604912632.863517.1486575326317@mail.yahoo.com>



http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_f1df1090-ed9e-11e6-a8c3-b36b46d1c92d.html


First survey finds bountiful snow in Alps
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
?- 2 hrs ago
?- ?0
   
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   - Josh Smith | Special to The Trinity Journal
Nick Goulette, Ben Letton and Michael Novak take snow measurements at Bear Basin in the Trinity Alps Wilderness.?   
   - 
   - 
The first snow survey of the year in the mountains of Trinity County show an abundant snowpack. The thick snow that measured over 9 feet deep at one of the sites was a welcome sight to surveyors who encountered bare dirt during some of their outings in the recent drought years.Not this year. ?We almost didn?t have to take our skis off,? said Josh Smith of the Watershed Research and Training Center, who organizes the snow surveys into the Trinity Alps Wilderness for the state Department of Water Resources.The team entered the wilderness via the Swift Creek trail on Jan. 27, skiing to Foster Cabin where they set up camp. From there they skied to Red Rock Mountain, Bear Basin and Shimmy Lakes, coming out of the wilderness on Jan. 30.Last year the snowpack in the Alps looked good but had petered out considerably by April when historically it is as its height. Smith said he?d be surprised if there isn?t a decent snowpack this year.?That much snow, it insulates itself really well,? he said.The following measurements were taken by Smith?s team and by the U.S. Forest Service in late January and early February:? Deadfall Lakes at 7,200 feet, 72 inches of snow with 23.5 inches of water content.? Red Rock Mountain at 6,700 feet, 109.35 inches of snow with 36.1 inches of water content.? Bear Basin at 6,500 feet, 88.6 inches of snow with 27.9 inches of water content.? Shimmy Lake at 6,400 feet, 97.5 inches of snow with 23.4 inches of water content.The water content for all those areas combined was at 113 percent of average for Feb. 1. It was at 70 percent of the April 1 average.Surveys statewide also looked good, with the snowpack measuring 186 percent of average for this time of year, and 117 percent of the April 1 average.Further snow surveys will be done in March, April and May.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Feb  8 09:33:41 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2017 17:33:41 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Spillway crumbles as California reservoirs max out
	capacity
References: <772157989.817258.1486575221396.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <772157989.817258.1486575221396@mail.yahoo.com>

You can go to the Chronicle and SacBee links to see the photos- impressive and scary!
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Spillway-crumbles-as-California-reservoirs-max-10915788.php#photo-12332274

Spillway crumbles as California reservoirs max out capacity
By?Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco ChronicleFebruary 7, 2017?Updated: February 7, 2017 10:38pm   
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IMAGE?3?OF?7A hole was torn in the spillway of the Oroville Dam while releasing approximately 60,000 cubic-feet-second of water in advance of more rain on February 7, 2017 in Oroville, California.California?s recovery from drought has been so remarkably quick that reservoirs on the verge of record lows just a year ago are now too full to handle more rain, prompting dam operators across the state to unleash surpluses of water not seen in years.The northern Sierra?s Feather River swelled with so much mountain runoff Tuesday that state officials considered shutting the road beneath Lake Oroville, California?s second largest reservoir, to allow dangerously swift waters to pour out the foot of the dam.?I?ve been told that when it?s spilling that much, there?s so much moisture in the air that car engines conk out,? said Doug Carlson, a spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources. ?This really shows how much rain we?ve had.?After he spoke, a real emergency broke out, and the agency had to temporarily close the spillway. So much water was gushing down it ? 55,000 cubic feet per second ? that the concrete surface eroded, like a city street with a sinkhole.After spotting the ?unusual flow pattern? and assessing the situation, officials said Lake Oroville ? still 20 percent empty ? could handle any rain that fell the rest of the week. To keep the Feather River running smoothly, the state bumped up releases from a smaller reservoir just downstream.The story was similar all over, from Shasta Lake on the Sacramento River to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir at Yosemite to the Russian River?s Lake Sonoma near Healdsburg. Five years of water shortages have given way to maxed-out storage. And beneath each reservoir is the unfamiliar but welcome sight of whitewater gushing out spillways and into the rivers below.Water releases in and of themselves are no sure sign that the drought is over. Dam managers commonly discharge water during wet periods to prevent reservoirs from breaching, with some reservoirs, particularly small ones, filling and emptying several times during the winter.But the sheer scale of this year?s surplus is good news.Many cities and towns have lifted drought-time water restrictions as local storage sites have filled, while state officials overseeing big reservoirs in the Sierra have told customers to expect at least as much water this year as last ? and quite possibly more. Federal water managers, who also operate big reservoirs in California, are expected to project their deliveries later this month.Surface water supplies typically account for two-thirds of California?s water supply.?This year we have a lot of runoff, a lot of rain and a lot of snow in the mountains,? said Louis Moore, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, noting that water management has rapidly shifted from trying to capture every bit of water in the reservoirs over the past five years to draining water in order to accommodate inflows.At federally run Shasta Lake, California?s largest reservoir, more than 1.25 million acre-feet of water had to be liberated in January, enough to supply more than 2 million households for a year. The release was the most for any January going back at least a decade, according to federal data.Precipitation that falls in the Sierra usually takes about three to five days to travel down hillsides into creeks and rivers and into reservoirs.The floodgates that opened this week were in response to the weekend storms, which brought more snow to the mountains and more rain to the Bay Area. Weather conditions only intensified Tuesday, with steady downpours, high winds, flooded rivers, downed trees and mudslides wreaking havoc across much of California.The closely watched Northern Sierra Eight Station Precipitation Index on Tuesday measured 60.4 inches since Oct. 1, surpassing last year?s 12-month total. Snowpack was 182 percent of average.
MORE ON STORM
   
   - Mudslide shuts down Hwy. 17 in Santa Cruz Mountains
   - Mudslide demolishes San Rafael home, ?like a weird movie?
   - Heavy rain, intense winds cause mayhem in Bay Area
   - Storm prompts Bay Area school closures
   - Nearly 80 flights at SFO canceled due to bad weather
Wet weather is expected to continue through Friday, and with it more water releases.State and federal water managers anticipate that even the San Luis Reservoir west of Los Banos near Pacheco Pass will fill this year. The lake in Merced County relies on water pumped from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, where outflows have been severely restricted during the drought to protect fragile wetlands and wildlife.Farmers, who have seen water supplies cut short in recent years and have been advocating for the creation of more storage, say this winter illustrates the potential benefit of new reservoirs.The surplus releases, by one estimate, would have put 585,000 acre-feet of water in a proposed reservoir off the Sacramento River.?Every so often we get a year like this where we can catch a tremendous amount of water,? said Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition. ?That?s what we think the state should be investing in.?Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email:?kalexander at sfchronicle.com?Twitter:?http://twitter.com/kurtisalexanderhttp://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article131348349.html





FEBRUARY 7, 2017 4:59 PMEngineers to begin inspections at damaged Oroville Dam

1 of 2Engineers found a major crack in the concrete spillway at Oroville Dam early Tuesday, forcing a temporary shutdown of the spillway. www.twitter.com/J_GallagherAD3BY DALE KASLER AND RYAN SABALOWdkasler at sacbee.com
State engineers were expected to conduct their first inspections Wednesday morning of the damaged spillway at Oroville Dam, about 24 hours after a 250-foot-long pothole was discovered in the massive structure, forcing a halt in water releases.Officials with the Department of Water Resources continued to maintain the dam itself is safe and doesn?t pose a threat to downstream populations, a view echoed by outside experts consulted by The Sacramento Bee.Doug Carlson, a spokesman for the department, said engineers would get ?their first eyeball look at the problem? and try to devise a solution.
A likely short-term remedy is to resume water releases from the spillway, even if it means creating further erosion in the chute, the agency said. ?These are things we can repair,? said Eric See, the agency?s environmental program manager, in a briefing with reporters late Tuesday.The alternative, which is considered less preferrable, is to let Lake Oroville continue rising until water begins cascading in an uncontrolled fashion over the nearby emergency spillway at the north end of the dam. That would create significant land erosion problems, officials said, although the water would flow into an unpopulated area.With the main spillway shut off, the reservoir ?the second largest in California ? had taken on about 150,000 acre-feet of water in about 12 hours. The lake level was about 60 feet below the lip of the dam. The reservoir remained about 15 percent empty.Engineers halted releases from the main spillway after a hole was found in the bottom half of the 6,00-foot-long concrete chute. Pictures showed a jagged chunk eroded out of the towering concrete structure. The cause of the problem wasn?t yet determined.?It?s not a public safety risk,? See said. ?Dam failure is not in any way a potential threat.?Jay Lund, director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences said, ?I wouldn?t evacuate yet. I think they?re a ways from that.?But Lund and others said the problem is going to make it much more difficult to manage high flows from a critical piece of the state?s flood-control network, with two more months left in California?s rainy season.
Watch incredible water releases from Oroville Dam - 15,000 cubic feet per secondA cubic foot is the volume of a cube whose sides are all 1-foot long. Well, 15,000 cubic feet per second of water gushed down the Oroville Dam spillway on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2017, as see in this video from Sacramento Valley Water as more storms are expecteSacramento Valley WaterThe lake, which is part of the State Water Project, feeds into the Feather River. Lake Oroville, in Butte County, is the state?s second-largest reservoir. Completed in 1968, the 742-foot dam is the tallest in the United States. It can store 3.5 million acre-feet of water.The last major flood in Northern California, in January 1997, did most of its damage on the Feather River. Since then, significant upgrades have been made to the area?s levees, and Marysville Mayor Ricky Samayoa said he has confidence in the levees that ring the city.?That last storm showed us how strong our levees are,? he said.On Tuesday, after the problem was discovered, Department of Water Resources engineers gradually reduced the flows before shutting off the releases altogether.At that point, Carlson said engineers started releasing water through a power plant at the dam. But the plant released only about 5,000 cubic feet of water per second Tuesday. While that?s expected to be increased to 15,000 cfs on Wednesday, that would still be a fraction of the volume of water flowing into the lake ? about 128,000 cfs at midday Tuesday. Until the spillway was damaged, the lake was releasing more than 40,000 cfs, according to state data.At current rates, the agency said the lake has enough room to absorb three days of inflow.The agency said it expected to resume releases from the spillway ?at a rate deemed safe,? after a more thorough inspection was performed.While resuming releases would worsen the damage to the eroded area, Carlson, the department spokesman, said that?s preferable to letting the water continue to fill the reservoir.David Gutierrez, a retired Department of Water Resources dam-safety expert, said water would pour out of an emergency spillway if the lake were allowed to fill past the brim of the dam.The emergency spillway, which has never been used, is designed for the scenario of the ?biggest flood that any overgenerous engineer could ever dream of coming through that system with a full reservoir,? said Lund of UC Davis. The flows would be unregulated, meaning the state wouldn?t have any control over how much water pours down the emergency spillway, Lund said.What?s more, while the top of that secondary spillway is concrete, the main structure is unlined and releasing water could cause erosion, Gutierrez said.Joe Countryman, a retired engineer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, agreed that the overall structure of the dam doesn?t appear to be at risk. But releasing more water down the cracked spillway could cause serious harm and create ?major dollar damage,? said Countryman, a member of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board.The department is also increasing releases from Thermalito Afterbay, a small downstream reservoir, in order to avoid a ?drastic reduction? of flows into the Feather River.That?s important, Lund said, because levees below the dam could fail if flows are suddenly shut off.?You could cause some slumping and failure in the levees in the next few days,? Lund said. ?And then you have a bigger (storm) event coming in the next few days from now ? so not only have you got this problem with the spillway, but you?ve also weakened the channel conveyance downstream.?Dale Kasler: 916-321-1066, @dakasler

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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Feb  8 11:09:47 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2017 19:09:47 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] California Drought Continues to Harm Native Tribes
	and Fishermen
References: <1587011697.897329.1486580987621.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1587011697.897329.1486580987621@mail.yahoo.com>

California?s Drought Continues to Harm Native Tribes and Fishermen | Civil Eats?

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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Wed Feb  8 19:33:05 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2017 19:33:05 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Giant cavity opens in Oroville Dam spillway as Jerry
	Brown focuses on Delta Tunnels
In-Reply-To: <E2929BF8-E5B9-4701-8606-BDCE93B20C88@fishsniffer.com>
References: <8BD66C13-3A97-4B6C-92EC-F3DD090F9F34@gmail.com>
	<014401d1de01$95455ea0$bfd01be0$@gmail.com>
	<1348FC73-9C07-4FE3-AF5C-4FF610C63949@gmail.com>
	<01ef01d1de0e$1dcdccb0$59696610$@gmail.com>
	<24F0597F-BE04-40B3-85A2-5B871A99E275@fishsniffer.com>
	<D1A46AA9689BAB49962E7D0D5C91F79C1172072E@057-SN2MPN2-091.057d.mgd.msft.net>
	<7E52755A-3BCD-469C-ADC8-859F912B54E5@fishsniffer.com>
	<E2929BF8-E5B9-4701-8606-BDCE93B20C88@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <AAADD269-3E4E-4209-9C8F-E6BC24210CE4@fishsniffer.com>

  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/8/1631621/-Giant-cavity-opens-in-Oroville-Dam-spillway-as-Jerry-Brown-focuses-on-Delta-Tunnels
Photo of giant cavity in Orovile Dam spillway courtesy of the  
Department of Water Resources
Giant cavity opens in Oroville Dam spillway as Jerry Brown focuses on  
Delta Tunnels
by Dan Bacher

A 250-foot long cavity opened in the Oroville Dam spillway yesterday  
as approximately 55,000 cubic feet per second was being released from  
Lake Oroville into the Feather River downstream.


The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) shut the spillway  
to investigate the rupture on February 7. The discovery of the giant  
hole caused a halt and reduction in water deliveries downriver.

The rupture takes place at a time when Governor Jerry Brown is  
promoting the construction of two massive Delta Tunnels and new water  
storage. Project critics say that the state should instead focus on  
maintaining and improving existing water system infrastructure, such  
as properly maintaining the spillway at Oroville, rather than focusing  
on environmentally destructive and enormously expensive tunnels and  
dams.

To help determine ?an appropriate level of flow down the damaged  
spillway,? DWR plans to release up to 20,000 cubic feet per second  
(cfs) this afternoon, then ramp down the flows and assess any further  
damage to the eroded spillway, the agency reported in a news release.

"The test flow will run for two hours, perhaps as soon as late this  
afternoon," according to Ted Thomas, spokesman for the Department of  
Water Resources. "The test flow is expected to further erode the lower  
reach of the spillway, where a cavity opened yesterday as  
approximately 55,000 cfs was being released from the reservoir."

"With the test flows, engineers will verify how much flow the spillway  
can handle. The spillway is necessary to maintain reservoir  
operations, given the immediate forecast of continued rain for the  
next two days and also in preparation for the remaining runoff  
season," said Thomas.

"In the coming days, DWR will continue to investigate ways to bolster  
and protect the spillway. At the same time, as part of a contingency  
plan, the DWR is removing trees and debris from the corridor near the  
dam where water would flow in the event the emergency spillway is  
needed," he said.

DWR said the emergency spillway, separate from the damaged spillway,  
is not gated, and water would flow naturally from the reservoir if it  
were to reach its capacity of 3.5 million acre feet at 901 feet  
elevation.

As of this afternoon, the reservoir holds 3 million acre-feet of  
water. Before the test flow, approximately 14,000 cfs were being  
released from the reservoir through other outlets, including the Hyatt  
Power Plant. The test will boost those flows temporarily to 34,000  
cfs. Inflows to the reservoir are approximately 85,000 cfs, according  
to Thomas.

Thomas concluded, "Enough vacant space exists in the reservoir to  
capture the flow of the rains expected through Friday afternoon. The  
dam is sound, and no imminent threat to the public exists."

DWR said it is coordinating closely with State and federal wildlife  
and dam safety officials as it responds to the spillway erosion. Lake  
conditions, including lake levels, inflows, and outflows can be  
obtained via a recorded message at 530-534-2307.

Critics of the Delta Tunnels project said the Oroville Dam spillway  
rupture shows how basic dam assessments, management plans, and  
maintenance are being neglected as Governor Jerry Brown constantly  
promotes the California WaterFix as the "solution? to the state?s  
water supply and ecosystem problems.

?According to the American Society of Engineers 2013 Report, there are  
678 high hazard dams in California, and 48% of them do not have an  
emergency plan,? said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of  
Restore the Delta, responding to the Oroville Dam rupture. ?Watching  
the damage unfold at Oroville, it is striking to us that Governor  
Brown, CA WaterFix proponents, and Department of Water Resources  
leaders keep telling Californians that the tunnels are the needed fix  
for updating California?s water delivery system, yet basic dam  
assessments, management plans, and maintenance are forgotten or put off.

?The Federal Government had indicated that Oroville Dam needed a  
further seismic assessment, but the Department of Water Resources  
stated in 2013 that a seismic assessment of Oroville Dam was not  
needed. What would happen if an earthquake were to happen near the dam  
today during this high water event?? she pointed out.

?While an emergency plan for Oroville Dam exists, it is clear that  
something is lacking in maintenance and planning that such a large  
hole has opened up in the spillway. Clearly, the Department of Water  
Resources is not prepared to manage the system during wet years,? she  
said.

?The Governor and DWR officials want to spend $60 billion, on  
unnecessary Delta tunnels, a wasteful expansion of infrastructure that  
will not address California?s dated water delivery system. What we  
need is a major investment in upgrading our 678 high hazard dams, and  
making sure that dams like Oroville can stand up without ruptures  
during high water years. We need to upgrade and maintain the  
infrastructure that we have first to protect people and ensure water  
deliveries. If the tunnels are built, there will be no additional cash  
from state and local agencies to pay for needed dam maintenance, and  
locally needed water system upgrades,? Barrigan-Parrilla concluded.

Governor Jerry Brown is currently under fire from 12 public interest  
groups for his many controversial environmental policies. The  groups,  
led by Consumer Watchdog and Food & Water Watch and including  
Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles, Restore The Delta,  
Rootskeeper, Powers Engineering, Basin and Range Watch, Aguirre &  
Severson LLP, Public Watchdogs, Southern California Watershed  
Alliance, the Desal Response Group and Committee to Bridge the Gap,  
challenged Brown?s ?green? credentials at a press conference in Santa  
Monica on February 6.

The groups unveiled a comprehensive report card on Jerry Brown  
Administration?s environmental record showing he falls short in six  
out of seven key areas, including fossil fuel generated electricity,  
oil drilling, and coastal protection.

The report calls for a moratorium on the building of natural gas  
powered electricity plants, given what they described as ?the glut of  
electric capacity,? and calls for an outside audit of state?s energy  
needs. The group showed how California can improve its environmental  
protections to meet standards set in other states.

The report, noting that Brown?s infrastructure projects, led by the  
California WaterFix, ?deplete water resources and threaten wildlife,?  
also urges the Governor to abandon the Twin Tunnels project.

Read the report ?How Green Is Jerry Brown?? at: www.consumerwatchdog.org/ 
...
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Feb  9 10:58:37 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2017 18:58:37 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Court orders extra water to protect salmon
References: <1284166722.1975119.1486666717831.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1284166722.1975119.1486666717831@mail.yahoo.com>

Court orders extra water to protect salmon

  
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Court orders extra water to protect salmon
 By Gerry Obrien A U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco ordered federal agencies Wednesday to take steps to protect juvenil...  |   |

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Court orders extra water to protect salmon
   
   - By GERRY O?BRIEN H&N Editor
A U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco ordered federal agencies Wednesday to take steps to protect juvenile Coho salmon after several years of deadly disease outbreaks in the lower Klamath River.Klamath River Coho salmon are listed as threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.The Yurok Tribe, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, Klamath Riverkeeper and the Hoopa Valley Tribe sought a court order to compel the Bureau of Reclamation to manage river flows to protect juvenile Coho salmon. The case was heard last week.??Mismanagement of Klamath River flows below four major dams led to an outbreak of disease from a parasite called C. shasta in more than 90 percent of sampled juvenile salmon in 2015 and nearly that many in 2014,? according to a press release from?EarthJustice.org.?These fish are central to the cultural identity and survival of tribal nations along the river, and commercial fishermen rely on California?s second largest salmon producer for their livelihoods.?Withholding irrigation waterAccording to court documents, the defendants claim the proposed flows will require withholding more than 100,000 acre-feet of water from the irrigation districts that rely on water for agriculture in the Klamath Basin.The Klamath Water Users and the Klamath Irrigation District, and others on the project, filed as intervenors on behalf of the federal agencies in the case.Scott White, director for the Klamath Water Users Association, said he had not seen the order yet, but bemoaned the fact that the issue was not resolved at the negotiating table.?It is my understanding that the federal parties are already discussing how to implement the judge?s order,? White said Wednesday.?What is unfortunate is that we are currently looking at an above average water year and discussing what a limited allocation to family farmers and ranchers would look like,? White said. ?What a tragic ending to what once was a special and meaningful story of collaboration and concord.?A spokesperson for the Bureau?s area office in Klamath Falls said staff is reviewing the ruling and will comment later this week.Irreparable harmIn his 53-page order, Judge William Orrick found that the Bureau?s operation of the Klamath Project is causing irreparable harm to the salmon and the Yurok Tribe and fishing families, and that the water levels also appear favorable this year for the mitigation flows needed to reduce that harm.He found that, based on the best available science, ?Plaintiffs have demonstrated that flushing flows and emergency dilution flows would reduce C. shasta rates among Coho salmon. There is no meaningful dispute among the parties on this point.?He rejected pleas for delay to consider more evidence, stating, ?Where plaintiffs have shown a threat of imminent harm to Coho salmon, waiting for perfect science is not appropriate.?The court first determined that the federal agencies were in violation of the Endangered Species Act and needed to look at the entire Klamath River plan again and to recalibrate the in-river flows needed to prevent C. shasta infestations, the press release said.The court, according to EarthJustice, then ordered three things:   
   - First, while the agencies re-work their biological review, the Bureau of Reclamation is to release a pulse of river water as a ?flushing flow? in the winter or early spring to flush out the worms that harbor C. Shasta. Such flushing flows, which used to be commonplace in the Klamath River, have become rare over the past 16 years, the release said;
   - Second, the court ordered the Bureau to provide ?emergency dilution flows? between April and June 15 to flush out C. shasta spores only if C. shasta infection rates exceed 30 percent, or such other rate as agreed by the experts;
   - Third, the court conditioned the flows by requiring the safeguards for endangered suckers in Upper Klamath Lake will continue to be met and directed technical experts for the parties work together and propose the parameters of these mitigation measures by March 9.
?In no event shall the proposed mitigation measures interfere with conditions necessary to protect the endangered sucker fish,? the judge wrote.Dam removal?Today?s ruling will give the Klamath salmon a fighting chance until we can get the lower four dams out,? said Thomas O?Rourke Sr., chairman of the Yurok Tribe, in a press release.?Untold numbers of juvenile salmon died from this disease in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and this judgment will help us to protect fish stocks from another serious outbreak,? he said.?Every kindergartener knows that fish need water,? said Patti Goldman, a managing attorney for Earthjustice who argued in court for salmon protections. ?The court?s order, especially in a year with, to date, above-average rainfall, will mean a real difference in the health of the river and fish.??Today?s decision is a prime example of the swift action needed to address declining salmon populations,? said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations. ?This is the best scientific solution for the Klamath River that will work for juvenile Coho and in turn will benefit generations of hardworking fishing families.?
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Feb  9 20:55:58 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2017 04:55:58 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Reclamation to Release Water Below Iron Gate Dam
 to Address Fish Health Concerns in Klamath River
In-Reply-To: <d9f8c483b85342d8a36095cc7cc1f3d0@usbr.gov>
References: <d9f8c483b85342d8a36095cc7cc1f3d0@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <1951070824.2473970.1486702558903@mail.yahoo.com>

On Thursday, February 9, 2017 4:47 PM, Laura Williams <ljwilliams at usbr.gov> wrote:

 Reclamation to Release Water Below Iron Gate Dam to Address Fish Health Concerns in Klamath RiverMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-022Media Contacts: Louis Moore, 916-978-5100, wmoore at usbr.gov and
Tara Jane Campbell-Miranda, 541-880-2540, tcampbellmiranda at usbr.gov????????????????????????For Immediate Release: Feb. 9, 2017Reclamation to Release Water Below Iron Gate Dam to Address Fish Health Concerns in Klamath River
Water release from Iron Gate Dam on the Klamath River will begin Friday, Feb. 10 at noon; Public urged to take safety precautions on or near the river while flows are highKLAMATH FALLS, Ore. ? The Bureau of Reclamation will increase flows below Iron Gate Dam to reduce the risk of disease for coho salmon in the Klamath River. Starting Feb. 10 through Feb. 13, flows below Iron Gate Dam will be elevated increasing from approximately 4,000 cubic feet per second to as much as 9,600 cfs. The public is urged to take all necessary precautions on or near the river while flows are high during this period.On Feb. 8, 2017, United States District Judge William H. Orrick ordered Reclamation to implement ?winter-spring flushing flows designed to dislodge and flush out polychaete worms that host C. shasta.? The increased flow event is consistent with Judge Orrick?s Order and was planned in coordination with the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Yurok, Karuk, Hoopa Valley and Klamath Tribes, Klamath Project water users, state and other fisheries experts, and PacifiCorp.Reclamation is implementing the increased flow event at this time to take advantage of the current hydrologic (rain on snow) conditions throughout the Klamath Basin. Pairing increased flow events with natural high flow hydrologic events maximizes the potential benefits and effectiveness of the event while reducing the amount of water required out of Upper Klamath Lake, which reduces potential for negative impacts to the overall water supply and endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers in Upper Klamath Lake. Based on current hydrologic conditions, there is high confidence that water used out of Upper Klamath Lake for these flows will be replenished quickly through inflows that are occurring into the lake.Beginning at about noon Feb. 10, flows will begin increasing from about 4,000 cfs to about 9,600 cfs at 9 a.m. Feb. 11. Flows will remain at this high level for approximately 24 hours. After that, flows will ramp down to about 6,000 cfs during the next 24 hours, where they are anticipated to remain until about 2 a.m. Feb. 14. After this approximately 3 day event, flows will return to levels calculated in accordance with the 2013 Biological Opinion on operation of the Klamath Project.?Reclamation recognizes that every acre-foot of water in the Klamath River Basin is extremely valuable and of limited supply, and we are making every effort to optimize the water released for fish health purposes to reduce disease among Klamath River salmonid species while balancing other demands,? said Jeff Nettleton, Reclamation?s Klamath Basin Area Manager.Reclamation will continue to work with National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other fisheries experts and Klamath Basin stakeholders to comply with the Order and applicable provisions of the Endangered Species Act while upholding contractual obligations to Klamath Project water users.# # #Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.?

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Feb 10 17:26:04 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2017 01:26:04 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Dan_Walters=3A_Brown=E2=80=99s_big_legacy?=
 =?utf-8?q?_projects_could_be_Trump=E2=80=99s_targets?=
References: <897872685.3205962.1486776364381.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <897872685.3205962.1486776364381@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/dan-walters/article131798944.html

Brown?s big legacy projects could be Trump?s targets
BY DAN WALTERSdwalters at sacbee.com
Gov. Jerry Brown devoted most of last month?s?State of the State?address to excoriating Donald Trump, who had been president for just four days.?We have seen the bald assertion of alternative facts,? Brown complained. ?We have heard the blatant attacks on science. Familiar signposts of our democracy ? truth, civility, working together ? have been obscured or swept aside.?However, buried in Brown?s anti-Trump screed were two paragraphs of semi-cordiality:?In his inaugural address, he (Trump) said: ?We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation.??And in this, we can all work together ? here in Sacramento and in Washington as well. We have roads and tunnels and railroads and even a dam that the president could help us with. And that will create good-paying American jobs.?Brown?s ?tunnels and railroads? obliquely refer to the two immense public works projects he hopes will be a legacy ??twin water tunnels?under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and a north-south?bullet train?system.Both are financially shaky, together lacking the $100 billion or so they would require, and both need federal money and/or permits to proceed.The Obama administration gave California a few billion dollars to partially finance an initial bullet train segment in the San Joaquin Valley ? money the state was supposed to match, but hasn?t yet, thanks to a waiver.Brown has?pitched for more, hoping that Trump?s fondness for??fast trains??would overcome his dislike of California, which he describes as ?out of control.?Trump could demand the matching money or cut off a $650 million grant for electrifying Caltrain commuter service on the San Francisco Peninsula, a vital part of the ?blended? bullet train system. California?s Republican congressional members have urged Trump to?hold up?the grant.Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, the House majority leader, is an implacable bullet train foe and has the?closest relationship?with Trump of any congressman, which should make its advocates very nervous.Without Caltrain electrification, the already uncertain ? and not popular ? bullet train project may become a zombie, not quite dead, but certainly not alive and well.And then there are the tunnels, which already face fierce opposition in Northern California and whose chief backers, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Westlands Water District, have not yet made multibillion-dollar commitments.There?s significant reluctance within those two agencies, most notably?mounting criticismabout the tunnels? need and cost by the Met?s biggest sub-agency, the San Diego County Water Authority.The state may need federal funds to make the project pencil out, but even if the feds don?t put up money, they still hold the whip hand on environmental permits.The train and the tunnels, in brief, are two very vulnerable targets should those in the White House and Congress want to score hits on California.Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/dan-walters/article131798944.html#storylink=cpy

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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Feb 11 11:08:42 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2017 19:08:42 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Klamath River dam releases for fish health begin
 shortly after court order
References: <1194135653.3658544.1486840122919.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1194135653.3658544.1486840122919@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170210/klamath-river-dam-releases-for-fish-health-begin-shortly-after-court-order&template=printart
Klamath River dam releases for fish health begin shortly after court order

Wet weather prevents full releases because of ?flooding concerns?
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardFriday, February 10, 2017The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation ramped up flows on the lower Klamath River on Friday morning in an attempt to reduce the risk of threatened fish from contracting a deadly parasite as had occurred in years past.?The move came just over a day after a federal judge found that the bureau?s past dam operations had caused harm to threatened juvenile Coho salmon in 2014 and 2015. The judge ordered the agency to draft a new flow plan in collaboration with local Native American tribes to reduce impacts this year.But due to recent storms increasing natural flows of the river, Yurok Tribe Counsel Daniel Cordalis stated Friday evening that the bureau has decided not to increase flows past 6,000 cubic-feet per second because of ?flooding concerns.??Cordalis said the bureau?s actions demonstrate its willingness to comply with the court order.?The strength of the court?s order is the collaborative process ? the ability to make real-time decisions to benefit the fish, but without causing safety concerns,? Cordalis said. ?We feel like the big flows are doing some good for the fish, and we hope we can get more later this winter.?Yurok Tribe Fisheries Program Director Dave Hillemeier said that the current dam releases will be enough to flush away parasites on the surface, but not enough to achieve deeper flushes. While this would not technically fulfill part of the court order, Yurok tribal officials said there will be other opportunities for these deep flushing flows ? those above 11,250 cubic-feet per second ? in the coming months.?In coordination with tribal scientists and the National Marine Fisheries Service, the bureau plans to ramp up flows through Feb. 13 in order to flush out an intestinal parasite known as Ceratanova shasta.??Reclamation recognizes that every acre-foot of water in the Klamath River Basin is extremely valuable and of limited supply, and we are making every effort to optimize the water released for fish health purposes to reduce disease among Klamath River salmonid species while balancing other demands,? Reclamation?s Klamath Basin Area Manager Jeff Nettleton said in a statement Thursday.On the Klamath River, up to 90 percent of juvenile Coho salmon, which are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, were infected by the parasite in 2014 and 2015. Under a 2013 National Marine Fisheries Services biological opinion, up to 49 percent of surveyed juvenile salmon on the Klamath River can be infected by the intestinal parasite as a result of the Bureau of Reclamation?s dam operations.Should the infection rates climb above 49 percent, the Bureau of Reclamation is obligated to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service to discuss possible changes of operations.After the National Marine Fisheries Service recommended in early 2016 that the bureau make no changes to its operations due to high infection rates being ?expected? during dry years, the Hoopa Valley Tribe sued the two agencies in federal court in July 2016. The Yurok Tribe, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Association, the Institute for Fisheries Resources and Klamath Riverkeeper filed a second lawsuit against the agencies in December.?On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick ordered the bureau and National Marine Fisheries Services to consult with tribal scientists to create a new flow plan for the river to reduce parasitic infections.This plan, as recommended by the tribal scientists, would include dam releases in winter and spring to flush out the parasites as well as providing emergency flow releases should infection rates of juvenile Coho salmon exceed 30 percent or by other agreed upon thresholds. These emergency flows would be used between April and June 15, according to the order.?Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Feb 11 18:25:54 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 2017 02:25:54 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: OROVILLE DAM, Saturday PM update: Water continues
 down Oroville auxiliary spillway; Flows are within downstream capacity;
 With photos
In-Reply-To: <88af2b23c65f1c863838dd9a5.ee51fcf060.20170212020033.2e87dc39e0.0a646342@mail125.suw13.rsgsv.net>
References: <88af2b23c65f1c863838dd9a5.ee51fcf060.20170212020033.2e87dc39e0.0a646342@mail125.suw13.rsgsv.net>
Message-ID: <217272112.3722702.1486866354886@mail.yahoo.com>

On Saturday, February 11, 2017 6:00 PM, Maven <maven at mavensnotebook.com> wrote:


 

  OROVILLE DAM, Saturday PM update: Water continues down Oroville auxiliary spillway; Flows are within downstream capacity; With photos#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382outlook a{padding:0;}#yiv1933753382 body{width:100% !important;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382ReadMsgBody{width:100%;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382ExternalClass{width:100%;}#yiv1933753382 body{}#yiv1933753382 body{margin:0;padding:0;}#yiv1933753382 img{border:0;height:auto;line-height:100%;outline:none;text-decoration:none;}#yiv1933753382 table td{border-collapse:collapse;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382backgroundTable{height:100% !important;margin:0;padding:0;width:100% !important;}#yiv1933753382 body, #yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382backgroundTable{background-color:#FAFAFA;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382templateContainer{border:1px solid #DDDDDD;}#yiv1933753382 h1, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382h1{color:#202020;display:block;font-family:Arial;font-size:34px;font-weight:bold;line-height:100%;margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;text-align:left;}#yiv1933753382 h2, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382h2{color:#202020;display:block;font-family:Arial;font-size:30px;font-weight:bold;line-height:100%;margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;text-align:left;}#yiv1933753382 h3, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382h3{color:#202020;display:block;font-family:Arial;font-size:26px;font-weight:bold;line-height:100%;margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;text-align:left;}#yiv1933753382 h4, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382h4{color:#202020;display:block;font-family:Arial;font-size:22px;font-weight:bold;line-height:100%;margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;text-align:left;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382templatePreheader{background-color:#FAFAFA;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382preheaderContent div{color:#505050;font-family:Arial;font-size:10px;line-height:100%;text-align:left;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382preheaderContent div a:link, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382preheaderContent div a:visited, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382preheaderContent div a .yiv1933753382yshortcuts {color:#336699;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382templateHeader{background-color:#FFFFFF;border-bottom:0;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382headerContent{color:#202020;font-family:Arial;font-size:34px;font-weight:bold;line-height:100%;padding:0;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382headerContent a:link, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382headerContent a:visited, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382headerContent a .yiv1933753382yshortcuts {color:#336699;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382headerImage{height:auto;max-width:600px !important;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382templateContainer, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382bodyContent{background-color:#FFFFFF;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382bodyContent div{color:#505050;font-family:Arial;font-size:14px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382bodyContent div a:link, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382bodyContent div a:visited, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382bodyContent div a .yiv1933753382yshortcuts {color:#336699;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382bodyContent img{display:inline;height:auto;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382templateFooter{background-color:#FFFFFF;border-top:0;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382footerContent div{color:#707070;font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;line-height:125%;text-align:left;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382footerContent div a:link, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382footerContent div a:visited, #yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382footerContent div a .yiv1933753382yshortcuts {color:#336699;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv1933753382 .yiv1933753382footerContent img{display:inline;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382social{background-color:#FAFAFA;border:0;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382social div{text-align:center;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382utility{background-color:#FFFFFF;border:0;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382utility div{text-align:center;}#yiv1933753382 #yiv1933753382monkeyRewards img{max-width:190px;}  
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Feb 12 17:44:35 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2017 01:44:35 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Twin tunnels preventing general water solutions
References: <1126397911.4317502.1486950275085.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1126397911.4317502.1486950275085@mail.yahoo.com>

East Bay Times?|?Page A14Sunday, 12 February 2017Twin tunnels preventing general water solutions?By Karen Mitchoff and Diane BurgisThis winter and spring may forever be known ? like many fishermen would say ? as ?the one that got away.?Over the past two months, California has experienced a series of severe storms, which caused numerous cities and counties to declare states of emergency. Rather than having the necessary storage capacity in place to collect and store storm water runoff for future use, massive amounts of rainwater from our bountifully wet winter flowed down swollen creeks and rivers, through the Delta and out the San Francisco Bay to the ocean. It?s water that we desperately need during drought conditions like those we?ve experienced for much of the last decade.And this spring, we will watch it happen again as the Sierra snowpack melts.Why the failure? State leaders have almost singularly focused on building giant tunnels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to ship water southward while ignoring the bigger picture to address California?s ongoing and future water needs.The state?s plan, known as the California WaterFix, has dominated the state?s water policy agenda at the expense of the Delta and other less fiscally and environmentally controversial water projects. As a result, the Delta will continue to deteriorate, and there may never be a genuine water solution for California.If the state continues to focus its political will on the WaterFix and its twin tunnels, it will continue to miss opportunities to be more effective and efficient managers of water. There are better, more cost-effective solutions that don?t pit Northern and Southern California against one another inthe quest for reliable and highquality water supplies.Local communities are already investing in storm water capture devices, low-impact development building standards, conservation measures and groundwater recharge, but we need to quickly implement these types of solutions on a larger scale in order for them to make a significant difference. Planning for drought may be difficult in wetter periods, but we must act.Capturing a portion of the more than 1 million gallons per second of water currently flowing out into the San Francisco Bay is also possible; however, additional above- and below-ground storage is needed for this to occur. With warmer winters and snow melt often occurring earlier in the season, water supply from our snow pack is less reliable, which emphasizes the need to start making storage a priority.The mission of the twin tunnels to move more water south is hopeless. The science is clear: Exporting too much water from the Delta in dry years, which is the unspoken goal of the California WaterFix, will cause irreversible impacts to the ecosystem, push protected fish species to the brink of extinction and damage our region economically and environmentally.Instead of the WaterFix, what if the state had focused its efforts on completing storage projects, levee improvements and better use of taxpayer-funded bond money to more swiftly construct essential statewide water projects?We should have been better prepared for the storms. Now we need state leadership and the Legislature to rededicate themselves to sustainable options that the state and local communities can afford and implementin a reasonable time frame. It?s imperative we take advantage of abundant rainfall and snowpack.If state leaders continue to have tunnel vision, we?ll continue to lose opportunities to move forward in a manner that benefits every Californian. It?s past time to get serious about taking the necessary steps for what will hopefully be the next bountiful rain year. We can?t ?let ?em all get away.?Karen Mitchoff is a member of the Delta Counties Coalition, vice chair of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and serves on the Delta Protection Commission and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Board. Diane Burgis is a member of the Delta Counties Coalition, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and the Delta Protection Commission. She also lives on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Feb 12 18:35:16 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2017 02:35:16 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Mercury News: Orville Dam is expected to fail within
	the hour!
References: <1507083794.4334638.1486953316600.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1507083794.4334638.1486953316600@mail.yahoo.com>

Orville Dam is expected to fail within the hour.?
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-residents-told-to-evacuate-spillway-failure-imminent/
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Feb 12 18:35:46 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2017 02:35:46 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Fw=3A_THIS_JUST_IN_=E2=80=A6_Evacuations_?=
 =?utf-8?q?ordered_for_low-lying_areas_around_Lake_Oroville?=
In-Reply-To: <88af2b23c65f1c863838dd9a5.ee51fcf060.20170213022831.120bcac69d.83f09d81@mail204.atl171.mcdlv.net>
References: <88af2b23c65f1c863838dd9a5.ee51fcf060.20170213022831.120bcac69d.83f09d81@mail204.atl171.mcdlv.net>
Message-ID: <1096844930.4318928.1486953346216@mail.yahoo.com>

On Sunday, February 12, 2017 6:28 PM, Maven <maven at mavensnotebook.com> wrote:


 

  THIS JUST IN ??? Evacuations ordered for low-lying areas around Lake Oroville#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823outlook a{padding:0;}#yiv5962824823 body{width:100% !important;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823ReadMsgBody{width:100%;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823ExternalClass{width:100%;}#yiv5962824823 body{}#yiv5962824823 body{margin:0;padding:0;}#yiv5962824823 img{border:0;height:auto;line-height:100%;outline:none;text-decoration:none;}#yiv5962824823 table td{border-collapse:collapse;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823backgroundTable{height:100% !important;margin:0;padding:0;width:100% !important;}#yiv5962824823 body, #yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823backgroundTable{background-color:#FAFAFA;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823templateContainer{border:1px solid #DDDDDD;}#yiv5962824823 h1, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823h1{color:#202020;display:block;font-family:Arial;font-size:34px;font-weight:bold;line-height:100%;margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;text-align:left;}#yiv5962824823 h2, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823h2{color:#202020;display:block;font-family:Arial;font-size:30px;font-weight:bold;line-height:100%;margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;text-align:left;}#yiv5962824823 h3, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823h3{color:#202020;display:block;font-family:Arial;font-size:26px;font-weight:bold;line-height:100%;margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;text-align:left;}#yiv5962824823 h4, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823h4{color:#202020;display:block;font-family:Arial;font-size:22px;font-weight:bold;line-height:100%;margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;text-align:left;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823templatePreheader{background-color:#FAFAFA;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823preheaderContent div{color:#505050;font-family:Arial;font-size:10px;line-height:100%;text-align:left;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823preheaderContent div a:link, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823preheaderContent div a:visited, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823preheaderContent div a .yiv5962824823yshortcuts {color:#336699;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823templateHeader{background-color:#FFFFFF;border-bottom:0;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823headerContent{color:#202020;font-family:Arial;font-size:34px;font-weight:bold;line-height:100%;padding:0;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823headerContent a:link, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823headerContent a:visited, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823headerContent a .yiv5962824823yshortcuts {color:#336699;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823headerImage{height:auto;max-width:600px !important;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823templateContainer, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823bodyContent{background-color:#FFFFFF;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823bodyContent div{color:#505050;font-family:Arial;font-size:14px;line-height:150%;text-align:left;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823bodyContent div a:link, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823bodyContent div a:visited, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823bodyContent div a .yiv5962824823yshortcuts {color:#336699;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823bodyContent img{display:inline;height:auto;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823templateFooter{background-color:#FFFFFF;border-top:0;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823footerContent div{color:#707070;font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;line-height:125%;text-align:left;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823footerContent div a:link, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823footerContent div a:visited, #yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823footerContent div a .yiv5962824823yshortcuts {color:#336699;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv5962824823 .yiv5962824823footerContent img{display:inline;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823social{background-color:#FAFAFA;border:0;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823social div{text-align:center;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823utility{background-color:#FFFFFF;border:0;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823utility div{text-align:center;}#yiv5962824823 #yiv5962824823monkeyRewards img{max-width:190px;}  
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THIS JUST IN ? Evacuations ordered for low-lying areas around Lake Oroville 
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From ddj at cah2oresearch.com  Sun Feb 12 18:57:45 2017
From: ddj at cah2oresearch.com (Deirdre Des Jardins)
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 2017 18:57:45 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Blog posts by California Water Research on Oroville
	Auxiliary spillway
Message-ID: <027001d285a4$f45f6930$dd1e3b90$@cah2oresearch.com>

Friday

 

cah2oresearch.com:  YCWA concerns about Oroville?s auxiliary spillway

 <http://wp.me/pU3p9-bs> http://wp.me/pU3p9-bs

 

Saturday

 

cah2oresearch.com:  Oroville's auxiliary spillway ? crisis engineering

 <http://wp.me/pU3p9-bz> http://wp.me/pU3p9-bz

            

 

Sunday

 

cah2oresearch.com:  Enviro groups warned of possible loss of crest control at Oroville auxiliary spillway in 2005

 <http://wp.me/pU3p9-c6> http://wp.me/pU3p9-c6

 

 

 

Deirdre Des Jardins

 <mailto:ddj at cah2oresearch.com> ddj at cah2oresearch.com

831 423-6857 v

831 566-6320 c

@flowinguphill

 

 <http://cah2oresearch.com/> 

 

 

 

 

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From lrlake at aol.com  Sun Feb 12 12:58:37 2017
From: lrlake at aol.com (lrlake at aol.com)
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 2017 15:58:37 -0500
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: OROVILLE DAM, Saturday PM update: Water
 continues down Oroville auxiliary spillway;
 Flows are within downstream capacity; With photos
Message-ID: <15a341ecacf-5a62-3808@webprd-a79.mail.aol.com>

And these guys are expected to manage forty-foot tunnels through a sensitive environment ?!?  Ouch...


Let's hope the morons don't undermine the dam footing.


Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net>
To: Env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Sent: Sat, Feb 11, 2017 6:26 pm
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: OROVILLE DAM, Saturday PM update: Water continues down Oroville auxiliary spillway; Flows are within downstream capacity; With photos



On Saturday, February 11, 2017 6:00 PM, Maven <maven at mavensnotebook.com> wrote:





  

 
                                                    			    
    	
        	
            	
                	
                                                
                            
                                
                                                                	                                    
                                    	
                                        	
                                            	
Breaking News from Maven's Notebook
                                            
                                            											
                                            	
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Just posted at Maven's Notebook:

OROVILLE DAM, Saturday PM update: Water continues down Oroville auxiliary spillway; Flows are within downstream capacity
With photo galleries
														
                                                    
                                                
                                                                                                                                            
                                        
                                    
                                                                    
                            
                        	
                            	
                                                                    	
                                    	
                                        	
                                                                                                                                            
                                                    
                                                        
                                                            
                                                                 follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend                                                             
                                                        
                                                    
                                                    
                                                        
                                                            
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P. O. Box 2342
Canyon Country,, CA  91386

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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Feb 13 08:13:25 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2017 08:13:25 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: THIS JUST IN ... Water stops flowing over
	emergency spillway; Governor issues emergency order
References: <88af2b23c65f1c863838dd9a5.ee51fcf060.20170213073806.ceeae2b5d2.576724ed@mail204.atl171.mcdlv.net>
Message-ID: <B613B42B-3C63-4C17-999C-D2B1F725DE50@att.net>



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Maven <maven at mavensnotebook.com>
> Date: February 12, 2017 at 11:38:25 PM PST
> To: <tstokely at att.net>
> Subject: THIS JUST IN ... Water stops flowing over emergency spillway; Governor issues emergency order
> Reply-To: Maven <maven at mavensnotebook.com>
> 
> 
> Breaking News from Maven's Notebook
> Is this email not displaying correctly?
> View it in your browser.
>                                              	                                                                                          
> Just posted at Maven's Notebook:
> 
> THIS JUST IN ? Water stops flowing over emergency spillway; Water continuing to be released down main damaged spillway to draw lake level down 
> Notebook coverage from the 10:00PM press conference
> 
> THIS JUST IN ? Governor Brown Issues Emergency Order to Help Response to Situation at Oroville Dam
>  
>  follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend 
> Copyright ? 2017 Maven's Notebook, All rights reserved. 
> You are receiving this email because you opted in at Maven's Notebook. 
> Our mailing address is: 
> Maven's Notebook
> P. O. Box 2342
> Canyon Country,, CA 91386
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> This email was sent to tstokely at att.net 
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Feb 13 19:31:38 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 03:31:38 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Best Photos of Oroville Disaster
References: <114124753.5448773.1487043098446.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <114124753.5448773.1487043098446@mail.yahoo.com>

There are a couple of videos near the bottom of the page.
Officials investigate Oroville Dam after water level drop
  
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Officials investigate Oroville Dam after water level drop
 Officials waited until Monday morning to investigate an erosion scar on the spillway at Oroville Dam, having war...  |   |

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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Feb 14 08:45:30 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 16:45:30 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] California farmers hope Congress and Trump team can
 deliver irrigation drain deal
References: <286282631.5889280.1487090730778.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <286282631.5889280.1487090730778@mail.yahoo.com>

The Trinity River was dammed specifically to supply water to the San Luis Unit of the CVP that includes Westlands, Panoche, Pacheco and San Luis water districts. ?See?http://www.northtrinitylake.com/water/HowTrinityRiveLostItsWater.pdfCalifornia farmers hope Congress and Trump team can deliver irrigation drain deal
Read more here:?http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/politics-government/article132509034.html#storylink=cpy???By Michael Doyle??mdoyle at mcclatchydc.com???WASHINGTON ?????The political terrain appears favorable for a mega-million-dollar irrigation drainage deal, with Congress still fully in Republican hands and California?s sprawling Westlands Water District with influential allies.?But there are complications. One is a legal cloud over a neighboring water district. The other comes with the state?s two Democratic senators, who remain uncommitted.???Legislation putting the drainage deal into effect could be introduced at any time.????I think I have the support of leadership,? Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, said in an interview.?But with that legislation will come a Capitol Hill fight.???It?s likely they have the votes to pass it in the House,? environmentalist Patricia Schifferle, of the firm Pacific Advocates, said Monday, ?but this is a cleanup they should be paying for, not you or I.??Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, on Monday added that the deal is ?still nothing more than a gift to the Westlands Water District.??Valadao represents Westlands, the Rhode Island-sized, 600,000-acre water district that?s the largest of its kind in the United States. A member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Valadao previously authored Westlands-related irrigation drainage legislation approved by a House of Representatives panel last November. He said his new bill will be ?pretty much the same? as last year?s.?The legislation would relieve Westlands of its roughly $375 million debt to the federal government, while the government would be freed of its obligation to build an expensive drainage system to haul away tainted irrigation water.???We believe it?s a good deal for both sides,? Johnny Amaral, Westlands? deputy general manager, said Monday.?But the magnitude of the irrigation drainage plan and Westlands? own political clout ensure controversy, potentially aggravated by issues outside of Westlands? control involving up to three smaller districts that serve 102,000 acres in western Fresno and Merced counties.??It is my hope that Congress, the Trump administration and the local water districts work together to reach a comprehensive resolution to the drainage issue in the San Luis Unit.Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno??The Interior Department?s Office of Inspector General and the FBI have been looking into unspecified issues with the Panoche, San Luis and/or the Pacheco water districts, officials revealed ambiguously in public hearings last year.?Last month, in a move that may or may not have been related, California State Controller Betty T. Yee assailed ?numerous deficiencies? in the Panoche district?s accounting and administrative controls.?Panoche?s problems included ?several instances of possible violations? of state law, including personal loans to district employees and use of district credit cards for personal expenses, Yee reported. Yee also noted the district has ?taken substantial corrective actions.? The report did not criticize the San Luis or Pacheco districts.?The Panoche problems have stirred speculation in San Joaquin Valley political circles and slowed the federal government?s final sign-off on a deal similar to that the Obama administration achieved with Westlands. While the Westlands irrigation drainage deal can proceed independently, Panoche?s documented problems may provide ammunition to Westlands? frequent critics.??I know there are people that will want to connect them,? Valadao acknowledged.?The office of Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, who supports the irrigation drainage settlements, has unsuccessfully sought details of the Office of Inspector General?s and FBI?s involvement with any of the northerly water districts. Lauren Horwood, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney?s Office for the Eastern District of California, said Monday that she ?cannot confirm or deny an investigation.??John Bennett, board president of the Panoche district, said Monday that ?as far as any ongoing investigations, unfortunately we aren?t allowed to comment whether or not there are any, or their status,? while also adding that the district ?strongly supports? an irrigation settlement.??The outcome of the state controller?s audit does not remove the obligation that the federal government has to provide drainage service to the San Luis Unit of the Central Valley Project,? Costa stressed Monday. ?Since 1964, the federal government has failed to meet its obligation to the individuals and communities served by (the) water districts.??The drainage was promised beginning with the legislation authorizing the Central Valley Project?s San Luis Unit, but only about 82 of the planned 188 miles were built before the drain terminated prematurely, for a variety of reasons, at Kesterson Reservoir in Merced County.??Without drainage, otherwise fertile soil becomes poisoned by a buildup of salty water. The accumulation of selenium-tainted groundwater at Kesterson killed and deformed thousands of birds in the mid-1980s, and the catastrophe spawned considerable litigation.?In 2012, for instance, Westlands lobbyist David Bernhardt was one of the named lawyers who signed on to a $1 billion lawsuit filed against the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The suit sought damages for the Bureau of Reclamation?s failure to build an irrigation drain serving the Westlands-area farmers.?A judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2013, after which Bernhardt and other Westlands attorneys filed an appeal that is now on hold. Bernhardt, who dropped Westlands as a lobbying client late last year, has since been identified in news accounts and private conversations as a top contender for the number two position at the Interior Department.?Bernhardt was also one of the presumed targets of a proposed House amendment last year that would have blocked any federal official who had worked or lobbied for Westlands in the past 10 years from overseeing implementation of the big irrigation drainage deal. The amendment, by Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Santa Rosa, failed by voice vote.?As part of the deal that would be implemented by Valadao?s legislation, Westlands would assume responsibility for managing the irrigation drainage. The district would receive favorable new water contracts, and retire 100,000 of its 600,000 acres.??Michael Doyle: 202-383-6153, @MichaelDoyle10??
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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Tue Feb 14 09:21:39 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 09:21:39 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Big Oil capture of CA politics shatters the "greenest
	state" narrative - Oil lobby tops spending in 2015-16 session
	with $36.1 million
In-Reply-To: <35FA987F-8A73-4654-8E3E-98E4A17AB10A@fishsniffer.com>
References: <1420692119.3926825.1487043693204.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1420692119.3926825.1487043693204@mail.yahoo.com>
	<35FA987F-8A73-4654-8E3E-98E4A17AB10A@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <ED2A44B6-A9A3-4579-8A0E-127214EEE50A@fishsniffer.com>

http://www.elkgrovenews.net/2017/02/california-oil-lobby-tops-spending-in.html


Photo: A water protector standing against Big Oil's  Dakota Access  
Pipeline in front of one of the project's investors, Wells Fargo, in  
Sacramento this January. Photo by Dan Bacher.

California oil lobby tops spending in 2015-16 session with $36.1 million

by Dan Bacher

In spite of California's reputation as a "green leader," Big Oil is  
the largest corporate lobby in the state and exerts enormous influence  
over the Governor's Office, Legislature and regulatory agencies.

As usual, the California Oil Lobby was the biggest spender in the  
2015-16 legislative session, spending an amazing $36.1 million as of  
December 31, 2016.

The spending amounts to $1.5 million per month ? nearly $50,000 per  
day ? over the last two years. The $36.1 million surpassed the $34  
million spent in the prior session, according to a report by the  
American Lung Association in California. ?That?s enough money to buy  
103,000 goats,? reported Stop Fooling California, stopfoolingca.org.

The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) was the top overall  
oil industry spender during the 2015-16 session, spending $18.7  
million. As is normally the case, WSPA ranked #1 among all lobbying  
spenders this session.

Chevron, the second overall oil industry spender, spent $7 million in  
the 2015-16 session. It spent $3 million in 2016, sixth among all  
lobbyists in the current session.

In the seventh quarter alone, WSPA dumped $2.6 million into lobbying  
legislators and state officials while billionaire Tom Steyer's Next  
Generation Climate Action spent an unprecedented $7.3 million, almost  
3 times the oil industry group?s expenses.

The spending by Steyer?s group helped propel the passage of Senate  
Bill 32, legislation that reduces greenhouse gas level to 40 percent  
below 1990 levels by 2030, in spite of strong opposition by the oil  
industry.

Since the 2007-08 Session, the oil industry has spent $133 million in  
lobbying in California.

To read the complete report, go to: http://www.lung.org/local-content/california/documents/Oil-Industry-Lobbying-2016-update-4_1-31-17.pdf

WSPA: Sacramento's most powerful corporate lobbying group

Although the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is the  
largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in the West and  
California, its enormous influence appears to be one of our state?s  
best-kept secrets. It has spent more than other lobbying organization  
in Sacramento in recent years to exert control over the Governor?s  
Office, regulatory agencies and the State Legislature.

Big Oil, along with Big Ag, Big Pharma, Big Timber and other corporate  
interests, dominate politics in California, as well as in Washington,  
D.C., as evidenced by President's Donald Trump?s nomination of EXXON  
CEO Rex Tilleson as Secretary of State,  Scott Pruitt as EPA  
Administrator, and other oil and energy corporation shills to his  
cabinet. The appointment of oil industry officials and their allies to  
California regulatory panels has been standard practice in California  
for many years.

The Western States Petroleum Association is a ?non-profit trade  
association? that represents companies that account for the bulk of  
petroleum exploration, production, refining, transportation and  
marketing in the five western states of California, Oregon,  
Washington, Arizona, and Nevada.

WSPA?s membership includes a who?s who oil, energy and pipeline  
corporations including Aera Energy LLC, Chevron, Californian Resources  
Corporation (formerly Occidental Petroleum), ConocoPhillips,  
ExxonMobil, Noble Energy, Inc., Phillips 66, Plains All American, Inc.  
Shell Oil Products US, Tesoro Refining and Marketing and Valero.

 From January 1, 2009 to November 8, 2016 alone, the oil industry  
spent $112,371,214 on lobbying expenses in California, according to a  
report, ?The Chevron Way: Polluting California and Degrading  
Democracy.? The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF)  
Sydney Office produced the report, in collaboration with a coalition  
of conservation, consumer and environmental justice groups.

The Western States Petroleum Association led the oil industry lobbying  
expenses with $49,491,104 during this period, followed by Chevron with  
$24,035,901 and Phillips 66 with $4,821,144. For more information, go  
to: http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/12/02/wspa-the-wests-most-powerful-corporate-lobbying-group/

The five way Big Oil exerts its influence

WSPA and Big Oil use their money and power in 5 ways: through (1)  
lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) getting appointed to positions on  
and influencing regulatory panels; (4) creating Astroturf groups: and  
(5) working in collaboration with media.

Big Oil and other corporate advocates have dominated appointments to  
Commissions and regulatory panels in California under Governors Gray  
Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown, ranging from the  
Department of Conservation, to the California Public Utilities  
Commission, to the California Energy Commission, to the Marine Life  
Protection Act Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force.

In a classic case of the ?fox guarding the hen house, Catherine Reheis- 
Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired  
the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task  
Forces to create faux ?marine protected areas? in Southern California  
from 2009 to 2012 at the same the oil industry was fracking South  
Coast ocean waters. Reheis-Boyd, appointed by Schwarzenegger, also  
served on the task forces for the Central Coast, North Central Coast,  
and North Coast from 2004 to 2012.

It gets worse. Reheis-Boyd?s husband, James D. Boyd, first appointed  
by Governor Davis, sat on on the California Energy Commission from  
2002 to 2012, including serving as Vice-Chair of the Commission from  
2/2007 to 1/2012.

In September 2016, the California Fair Political Practices Commission  
(FPPC) opened an investigation into the California Democratic Party in  
response to a report by a prominent consumer group, Consumer Watchdog,  
claiming that the party acted as a ?laundry machine? to funnel  
donations from oil, energy and utility companies to Brown?s 2014  
election campaign. For more information, go to: http://redgreenandblue.org/2016/09/29/jerry-browns-campaign-launder-dirty-money-big-oil/

In the "Brown's Dirty Hands" report, Consumer Watchdog revealed that  
that twenty-six energy companies including the state?s three major  
investor-owned utilities, Occidental, Chevron, and NRG?all with  
business before the state?donated $9.8 million to Jerry Brown?s  
campaigns, causes, and initiatives, and to the California Democratic  
Party since he ran for Governor for his third term. Donations were  
often made within days or weeks of winning favors. The three major  
investor-owned utilities alone contributed nearly $6 million

"Occidental?s attorney, former Governor Gray Davis, successfully  
pressured Brown to fire two oil and gas regulators who wouldn?t grant  
oil waste injection permits without proof that aquifers would not be  
contaminated," according to the group. "Two months later, when Brown?s  
new interim oil and gas supervisor granted Occidental a permit without  
an environmental review, Occidental contributed $250,000 to Prop 30,  
Brown?s ballot measure to raise taxes, then another $100,000 two weeks  
later to his favored Oakland Military Institute. Seven months later,  
Occidental made a second $250,000 donation to Prop 30."

You can download "Brown's Dirty Hands" at: www.consumerwatchdog.org/dirtyhands

More recently on February 6, twelve public interest groups, led by  
Consumer Watchdog and Food & Water Watch, unveiled a comprehensive  
report card on the Brown Administration?s environmental record  
revealing that he falls short in six out of seven key areas, including  
fossil fuel generated electricity, oil drilling, and coastal  
protection. Read the report ?How Green Is Jerry Brown?? at: www.consumerwatchdog.org/isbrowngreen

There is no doubt that Big Oil and other corporate interests dominate  
politics in California and Washington ? and that we must relentlessly  
work to get Big Oil out of politics by supporting efforts like the  
Move to Amend, movetoamend.org, and the California Clean Money  
Campaign, www.caclean.org.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Feb 14 10:25:35 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 18:25:35 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] From today's Chronicle - says it all
In-Reply-To: <BC7055A5-E453-4582-AD7E-8BFDB0A4FBE8@gmail.com>
References: <BC7055A5-E453-4582-AD7E-8BFDB0A4FBE8@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <880868528.6073716.1487096735924@mail.yahoo.com>











   
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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Tue Feb 14 12:16:01 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 12:16:01 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Delta Legislators and Advocates Respond to 'Alarming'
	Oroville Dam Fiasco
In-Reply-To: <ED2A44B6-A9A3-4579-8A0E-127214EEE50A@fishsniffer.com>
References: <1420692119.3926825.1487043693204.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1420692119.3926825.1487043693204@mail.yahoo.com>
	<35FA987F-8A73-4654-8E3E-98E4A17AB10A@fishsniffer.com>
	<ED2A44B6-A9A3-4579-8A0E-127214EEE50A@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <1DB7FD87-2BFA-4960-A8F1-C6D655D215BD@fishsniffer.com>

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/13/1633388/-Delta-Legislators-Respond-to-Alarming-Oroville-Dam-Fiasco



CDFW staff at the Feather River Fish Hatchery below Oroville Dam  
during the evacuation of salmon at the facility on February 10. CDFW  
photo.


Delta Legislators and Advocates Respond to 'Alarming' Oroville Dam  
Fiasco

by Dan Bacher

A day after state officials ordered the evacuation of over 188,000  
people from Butte, Yuba and Sutter Counties,  members of the newly- 
formed Delta Caucus of the California Legislature on February 13  
issued a statement regarding the ?hazardous situation? at Oroville Dam  
after The Mercury News reported that previous concerns about the  
safety of the Dam?s current infrastructure were ignored.


They said they have a ?duty to ensure California?s existing  
infrastructure is maintained and upgraded, and not sacrificed in favor  
of conveyance projects,? referring to Governor Jerry Brown?s plan to  
build two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River  
Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas.

The following bipartisan group of legislators said they wished to be  
part of this  statement: Senator Bill Dodd (Co-Chair), D-Napa; Senator  
Richard Pan, D-Sacramento; Assemblymember Jim Frazier (Co-Chair), D- 
Oakley; Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton;  
Assemblymember Catharine Baker, R-Dublin; Assemblymember Jim Cooper, D- 
Elk Grove; Assemblymember Tim Grayson, D-Concord:

?We are concerned that a clear alarm raised 12 years ago about the  
state of the Oroville Dam?s emergency spillway was discounted. There  
has been more than enough time since then for upgrades and maintenance  
to the structure. Instead, nearly 185,000 people have been displaced,  
and there are still people in harm?s way.

A catastrophic failure at Oroville would result in uncontrolled  
releases that do considerably more harm to the surrounding  
communities, and threaten those further downstream, including levee- 
protected communities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. For now, we  
have a collective responsibility to ensure that people are safe and  
that necessary steps are taken to prevent further compromise of the  
entire Oroville facility.

When the immediate threats have subsided, we need to clearly assess  
this disaster and its causes.  We have a duty to ensure California?s  
existing infrastructure is maintained and upgraded, and not sacrificed  
in favor of conveyance projects.?

The legislators released their statement just prior to Governor Jerry  
Brown?s meeting with emergency response officials at the State  
Operations Center in Mather regarding the ongoing response to the  
situation at the Oroville Dam's emergency spillway and subsequent  
local evacuations.

On February 12, Brown declared a state of emergency to help mobilize  
disaster response resources and support the local evacuations. ?The  
Governor's Office of Emergency Services has activated the State  
Operations Center in Mather, California to its highest level and is  
coordinating with personnel at the Incident Command Post in Oroville,  
California and with other local, state and federal emergency response  
officials to address all emergency management, evacuation and mutual  
aid needs,? according to a statement from the Governor?s Office.

Two organizations opposed to Governor Brown?s Delta Tunnels also  
responded  to the  breach in the Oroville auxiliary spillway and the  
evacuation of  over 188,000 people from Butte, Yuba and Sutter Counties.

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta  
(RTD), commented on the current situation, Oroville Dam, how the  
crisis was preventable, what should be done next, and the California  
WaterFix.

On the current situation, Barrigan-Parrilla  said, ?We are hopeful  
that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) can continue to keep the  
situation at Oroville under control.?

?We are grateful for all the courageous and hardworking people working  
day and night to keep the region safe ? from DWR employees to public  
safety officials. The evacuations seem to have been successfully  
executed,? explained Barrigan-Parrilla.

On Oroville Dam:  ?This dam is the primary reservoir for the State  
Water Project. One-third of Southern California?s water is State Water  
Project water. Oroville Dam also is the source for a portion of Bay  
Area water deliveries. Making Oroville safe is essential and must take  
priority over any other water project in the state,? she said.

Barrigan-Parrilla also emphasized that the crisis was preventable.  
?The Mercury News is reporting that Federal and State officials  
ignored warnings 12 years ago. Three environmental groups ? the  
Friends of the River, the Sierra Club and the South Yuba Citizens  
League ? filed a motion with the federal government on Oct. 17, 2005,  
as part of Oroville Dam?s relicensing process, urging federal  
officials to require that the dam?s emergency spillway be armored with  
concrete, rather than remain as an earthen hillside. They warned that  
the spillway could erode during heavy winter rains and cause a  
catastrophe.?

?FERC rejected that request, however, after the state Department of  
Water Resources, and the State Water Contractors argued that they  
would likely have had to pay the bill for the upgrades. They said the  
upgrades were unnecessary. The State Water Contractors & Metropolitan  
Water District of Southern California?s outsized influenced on DWR to  
NOT upgrade the emergency spillway is a story that must be thoroughly  
investigated once the emergency has passed,? said Barrigan-Parrilla.

?Because of this penny pinching, residents of these water districts  
will lose a significant portion of their water supply for this year.  
And almost 200,000 lives in the region downstream from the Oroville  
Dam have been disrupted, physically and economically (with no clear  
date set for when they can return home). Another series of storms are  
expected from Thursday through Tuesday of next week,? she stated.

?Millions of Chinook salmon have had to be relocated from the  
hatchery, with outcomes of disruption to their life cycle to be seen.  
Swollen rivers filled with debris can have negative impacts on public  
safety downstream and on wildlife, as levees will experience extreme  
pressure from emergency flows,? she added.

What Should Be Done? ?Safety comes first. Before spending a dime on  
any gold-plated, taxpayer-backed, water delivery service to  
agricultural interests, we need to upgrade our 678 high hazard dams in  
California. Making those facilities safe is now the priority over  
projects such as the Delta Tunnels that will largely serve industrial  
agricultural interests in the southern San Joaquin Valley.  We need to  
remind our state water resources agency that they really work for the  
people of California, not the water districts,? she said.

What about the Delta Tunnels? ?The Delta Tunnels are only 10%  
designed, with no seismic analysis, and no full soil samples, yet DWR  
is leading the charge for state and federal permits for the project.  
Are they going to repeat history with the Delta Tunnels and ignore the  
warnings that the design is flawed, and the impacts to health and  
human safety, and the environment are serious?? concluded Barrigan- 
Parrilla.

Food & Water Watch?s California Director Adam Scow said the current  
crisis should be a ?wake up call? to state officials.

?The crisis at the Oroville Dam should be a wake up call to State  
leaders that we should fix existing water infrastructure before  
spending billions on questionable projects like the proposed Delta  
tunnels and Sites Reservoir,? he stated. ?Repairing Oroville Dam will  
likely cost between $100 and $200 million and could force higher water  
rates throughout California.?

?California has more than one thousand dams, many of which are older  
than the Oroville Dam. Rising temperatures mean more rain and less  
snow, increasing the likelihood of future spillovers and similar  
crises. It is time for Governor Brown to stop wasting taxpayer dollars  
on new projects that will benefit California?s largest corporate  
agribusiness and for him to fix California?s crumbling water systems,?  
said Scow.

Governor Jerry Brown and administration officials, now under scrutiny  
by local, state, national and international media for their handling  
of the Oroville Dam crisis, have continually portrayed their  
environmental policies as ?green.? However, twelve public interest  
groups, led by Consumer Watchdog and Food & Water Watch, challenged  
Governor Brown?s ?green? credentials at a press conference in Santa  
Monica on February 4.

The groups unveiled a comprehensive report card on Jerry Brown  
Administration?s environmental record showing he falls short in six  
out of seven key areas, including fossil fuel generated electricity,  
oil drilling, and coastal protection.

The report calls for a moratorium on the building of natural gas  
powered electricity plants, given what they described as ?the glut of  
electric capacity? and calls for an outside audit of state?s energy  
needs. The groups showed how California can improve its environmental  
protections to meet standards set in other states.

The report, noting that Brown?s infrastructure projects, led by the  
California WaterFix, ?deplete water resources and threaten wildlife,?  
also urges the Governor to abandon the Twin Tunnels project.

The public interest groups concurring in the report?s analysis,  
assessments, and recommendations include:  Food & Water Watch,  
Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles, Restore The Delta,  
Rootskeeper, Powers Engineering, Basin and Range Watch, Aguirre &  
Severson LLP, Public Watchdogs, Southern California Watershed  
Alliance, The Desal Response Group, Committee to Bridge the Gap, and  
Consumer Watchdog.

  ?Far from the environmentalist that Brown claims to be, Brown has  
expanded the burning of heat-trapping natural gas and nurtured oil  
drilling and hydraulic fracturing while stifling efforts to protect  
the public from harm,? the report says. ?The Public Utilities  
Commission has approved a slew of unnecessary new fossil-fuel power  
plants when the state's three major investor-owned utilities have  
overbuilt their generating capacity by nearly triple the minimum extra  
capacity that the state requires. Under Brown, the number of active  
onshore oil and gas wells jumped by 23 percent since the year before  
he was elected Governor in a bid to produce more oil.?

Read the report ?How Green Is Jerry Brown?? at  
www.consumerwatchdog.org/...


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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Tue Feb 14 19:00:42 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2017 19:00:42 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] FEMA approves Oroville Dam spillway & January storm
	disaster declaration requests
In-Reply-To: <1DB7FD87-2BFA-4960-A8F1-C6D655D215BD@fishsniffer.com>
References: <1420692119.3926825.1487043693204.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1420692119.3926825.1487043693204@mail.yahoo.com>
	<35FA987F-8A73-4654-8E3E-98E4A17AB10A@fishsniffer.com>
	<ED2A44B6-A9A3-4579-8A0E-127214EEE50A@fishsniffer.com>
	<1DB7FD87-2BFA-4960-A8F1-C6D655D215BD@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <A571844E-1687-46D7-86C5-AC5695987AFC@fishsniffer.com>

  http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/2/14/1633851/-FEMA-approves-Oroville-Dam-spillway-January-storm-disaster-declaration-requests


FEMA approves Oroville Dam spillway & January storm disaster  
declaration requests

by Dan Bacher

Just hours after the Butte County Sheriff reduced the immediate  
evacuation order of Oroville region residents to an evacuation  
warning, President Donald Trump and the Federal Emergency Management  
Agency (FEMA) today approved both recent gubernatorial requests for  
federal assistance ? one to support the response to the situation at  
Oroville Dam and the other to help with the impacts of January storms.
'

?I want to thank FEMA for moving quickly to approve our requests,?  
said California Governor Jerry Brown in a statement. ?This federal aid  
will get money and resources where it?s needed most.?

A press release from the White House said Robert J. Fenton, the Acting  
Administrator of FEMA, Department of Homeland Security, has named  
Timothy J. Scranton as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal  
recovery operations in the impacted areas.

Yesterday, Governor Brown met with emergency response officials and  
sent a letter to President Donald Trump and FEMA requesting a  
Presidential Emergency Declaration for Direct Federal Assistance to  
support the communities impacted by the situation at the Oroville  
Dam's emergency spillway.

?Separately, last Friday, Governor Brown requested a Presidential  
Major Disaster Declaration for the state to bolster ongoing state and  
local recovery efforts following January storms that caused additional  
flooding, mudslides, erosion, power outages and damage to critical  
infrastructure across California,? according to the Governor?s Office.

On Sunday, Governor Brown declared a state of emergency to bolster the  
state?s response to the situation in Oroville and support local  
evacuations. The Governor?s Office of Emergency Services has also  
activated the State Operations Center in Mather, California to its  
highest level and is coordinating with personnel at the Incident  
Command Post in Oroville, California and with other local, state and  
federal emergency response officials to address all emergency  
management needs.

More information on state and federal disaster declarations can be  
found here.

The Butte County Sheriff?s Office today reduced the immediate  
evacuation order to an evacuation order, allowing residents in the  
region impacted by the order to return to their homes and businesses.

?Due to lower lake levels, further inspections, ongoing work to shore- 
up the Oroville Dam emergency spillway and updated weather forecasts,  
effective at 1:00 p.m. today, the Evacuation Order for the Oroville  
Dam Spillway Incident has been reduced to an Evacuation Warning,"  
according to a statement from the Butte County Sheriff?s Office. ?Any  
resident displaced by the evacuation may return home at 1:00 p.m.;  
however all residents are advised to remain vigilant and prepared as  
conditions can rapidly change. People who have special needs or  
require extended time to evacuate should consider remaining evacuated.  
An Evacuation Warning means the immediate threat has ended but the  
potential for an emergency remains and therefore residents must remain  
prepared for the possibility of an Evacuation Order.?  (www.dailykos.com/...)

On Sunday, February 12, state officials ordered the evacuation of over  
188,000 people from Butte, Yuba and Sutter Counties.

On the following day, members of the newly-formed Delta Caucus of the  
California Legislature on February 13 issued a statement regarding the  
?hazardous situation? at Oroville Dam after The Mercury News reported  
that previous concerns about the safety of the Dam?s current  
infrastructure were ignored.

They said they have a ?duty to ensure California?s existing  
infrastructure is maintained and upgraded, and not sacrificed in favor  
of conveyance projects,? referring to Governor Jerry Brown?s plan to  
build two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River  
Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas.

The following bipartisan group of legislators endorsed this statement:  
Senator Bill Dodd (Co-Chair), D-Napa; Senator Richard Pan, D- 
Sacramento; Assemblymember Jim Frazier (Co-Chair), D-Oakley;  
Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton; Assemblymember  
Catharine Baker, R-Dublin; Assemblymember Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove;  
Assemblymember Tim Grayson, D-Concord:

?We are concerned that a clear alarm raised 12 years ago about the  
state of the Oroville Dam?s emergency spillway was discounted. There  
has been more than enough time since then for upgrades and maintenance  
to the structure. Instead, nearly 185,000 people have been displaced,  
and there are still people in harm?s way.

A catastrophic failure at Oroville would result in uncontrolled  
releases that do considerably more harm to the surrounding  
communities, and threaten those further downstream, including levee- 
protected communities in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. For now, we  
have a collective responsibility to ensure that people are safe and  
that necessary steps are taken to prevent further compromise of the  
entire Oroville facility.

When the immediate threats have subsided, we need to clearly assess  
this disaster and its causes.  We have a duty to ensure California?s  
existing infrastructure is maintained and upgraded, and not sacrificed  
in favor of conveyance projects.?

For more information, go to: www.dailykos.com/...


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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Feb 15 15:56:22 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2017 23:56:22 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Klamath Basin Megatable 2016
In-Reply-To: <CY4PR09MB13031325D2277767868C469DCE5B0@CY4PR09MB1303.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>
References: <CY4PR09MB13031325D2277767868C469DCE5B0@CY4PR09MB1303.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <1210278046.257921.1487202983139@mail.yahoo.com>

On Wednesday, February 15, 2017 2:41 PM, "Lindke, Kenneth at Wildlife" <Kenneth.Lindke at Wildlife.ca.gov> wrote:


  <!--#yiv4672595886 _filtered #yiv4672595886 {font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}#yiv4672595886 #yiv4672595886 p.yiv4672595886MsoNormal, #yiv4672595886 li.yiv4672595886MsoNormal, #yiv4672595886 div.yiv4672595886MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri", "sans-serif";}#yiv4672595886 a:link, #yiv4672595886 span.yiv4672595886MsoHyperlink {color:blue;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv4672595886 a:visited, #yiv4672595886 span.yiv4672595886MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv4672595886 span.yiv4672595886EmailStyle17 {font-family:"Calibri", "sans-serif";color:windowtext;}#yiv4672595886 .yiv4672595886MsoChpDefault {font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri", "sans-serif";} _filtered #yiv4672595886 {margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}#yiv4672595886 div.yiv4672595886WordSection1 {}-->Hello all,  ? Please find attached the 2016 updated Klamath River Basin Fall Chinook Salmon Megatable. Total in-river run and hatchery returns in 2016 were the lowest since comprehensive basin-wide estimates began in 1978, and escapement to natural spawning grounds was the second lowest on record.  ? This list of recipients is a couple years old, so if you think of anyone I have omitted please let me know.? Thanks.  ? Ken Lindke Environmental Scientist Klamath-Trinity Program California Department of Fish and Wildlife ? Northern Region 707-822-4230 Kenneth.Lindke at wildlife.ca.gov  ? REPORT POACHERS AND POLLUTERS: 1-888-334-2258  ? 

   
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From DanielBacher at fishsniffer.com  Wed Feb 15 18:25:42 2017
From: DanielBacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2017 18:25:42 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] NEW Cal Water Book Reading 2/23 in Sacramento - Tim
	Stroshane, "Drought, Water Law,
	and the Origins of California's Central Valley Project"
In-Reply-To: <ED2A44B6-A9A3-4579-8A0E-127214EEE50A@fishsniffer.com>
References: <1420692119.3926825.1487043693204.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1420692119.3926825.1487043693204@mail.yahoo.com>
	<35FA987F-8A73-4654-8E3E-98E4A17AB10A@fishsniffer.com>
	<ED2A44B6-A9A3-4579-8A0E-127214EEE50A@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <7D16C130-0FFE-4DF8-81F3-89421F0A6C27@fishsniffer.com>

Good Evening

I highly recommend attending this book signing by Tim Stroshane at  
Time Tested Books in Sacramento on Thursday, February 23, at 7 pm.  
Stroshane will read from his
new book "Drought, Water Law, and the Origins of California's Central  
Valley Project." Please forward this announcement to others.

Thanks
Dan



LITERARY EVENTS: BOOK SIGNING
Drought and Water Law in California


click for larger image
Bay Area author Tim Stroshane, reads from his new book ?Drought, Water  
Law, and the Origins of California?s Central Valley Project.?

Stroshane explains how drought and legal conflict shaped statewide  
economic development and how the grand bargain of a San Joaquin River  
water exchange was struck from this monopoly legacy, setting the stage  
for future water wars.

When: Th, 2/23, 7pm

Price: Free

Ages: All ages

For more information about this activity, contact
Time Tested Books at
Phone: (916) 447-5696
E-mail: brian at bpspr.com
Website: http://timetestedbooks.blogspot.com/


Tags: Literary Events: Book Signing, Bookstore, Time Tested Books
Location

Time Tested Books
1114 21st St.
Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 447-5696
map to this location

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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Feb 16 08:08:31 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2017 16:08:31 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Chronicle OPED: To avoid catastrophe,
	diversify water supply
References: <297097589.826231.1487261311391.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <297097589.826231.1487261311391@mail.yahoo.com>

OPEN FORUM On California?s 1,404 Dams

To avoid catastrophe, diversify water supply
ADDRESS:

By Eric Wesselman and Ron StorkIn the wake of the Oroville Dam near-catastrophe, many are asking our organization what the state needs to do to ensure there aren?t problems with other dams and what they can do to make sure any problems are addressed.To ensure a safe and reliable water system that protects communities and the rivers that flow through them, Californians must invest in innovative, 21st century water solutions that diversify our water system and work with nature instead of against it.Twelve years ago, Friends of the River and other environmental groups warned state and federal agencies that the unarmored spillway at Oroville, our nation?s tallest dam, was dangerous. We were ignored. This time, we trust our words will not fall on deaf ears.California has always seesawed between periods of drought and extreme precipitation that can lead to flooding of biblical proportion. Climate change is making these shifts increasingly severe. We can and must shore up unsafe dams and levees ? or decommission them if they?re no longer serving the public interest. Relying on 20th century thinking such as building new dams simply no longer works.Over the last century, Californians built a vast network of more than 1,400 dams. Building more would do little to reduce flood risk or increase water supply, but it would add billions of dollars of debt for the next generation and destroy our rivers. Infrastructure planning by the Trump administration and the state of California should prioritize funding for existing structures instead of wasting billions of dollars on new dams that provide little more than ribbon-cutting photo ops for politicians. We can?t dam our way to paradise.We?re calling for action on four fronts:(1)?Identify unsafe dams and levees and shore them up or tear them down. The state should review other dams for dam-safety and flood-control performance issues and then mobilize resources to address their deficiencies. Meanwhile, dams such as Daguerre Point on the Yuba River in Yuba County, Searsville on San Francisquito Creek in San Mateo County and four on the Klamath River should be decommissioned.(2)?Invest in flood-control projects that work with nature to maximize public safety, as the Yolo Bypass does ? it is the only reason Sacramento wasn?t evacuated on Sunday night. Notching or setting back levees reduces flood risk downstream, replenishes our groundwater, and creates habitat for fish and wildlife.(3)?Employ sustainable water supply and efficiency solutions that reduce risks associated with over-relying on dams for both flood control and water supply. The Pacific Institute, an independent water policy organization, found that California could save up to 14 million acre-feet a year of untapped water through water-saving practices, recycling and storm water capture. Realizing just 10 percent of this potential would increase our water supply by twice as much as the proposed new dams.(4)?Stop encouraging development in floodplains below dams or behind levees, and encourage people to move away from unsafe floodplains.We need the public to make their voices heard. You can start by calling on Gov. Brown to invest in the safe, sound and reliable water future outlined above. Then stay informed by supporting groups such as Friends of the River.Eric Wesselman is the executive director and Ron Stork the senior policy advocate of Friends of the River, a statewide conservation organization..See this article in the e-Edition?Here
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Feb 19 18:27:35 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2017 02:27:35 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Oroville Spillway at 55,
 000 cfs- hardly any water is making it to the bottom of the
 spillway!
References: <274377748.963382.1487557655477.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <274377748.963382.1487557655477@mail.yahoo.com>


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| Your Highlights? |

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| Tehama Co. Spotter? |
| @tehamacospotter |

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| 
| A look at 55,000 cfs outflow. Pretty incredible.?twitter.com/yamphoto/statu? |

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From tgstoked at gmail.com  Tue Feb 21 15:36:49 2017
From: tgstoked at gmail.com (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2017 15:36:49 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Fw: Court supports order to divert water into to
	support salmon
In-Reply-To: <1298982777.2962778.1487720167630@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1975893272.2932638.1487719714616.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1975893272.2932638.1487719714616@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1298982777.2962778.1487720167630@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <CABnDsn8LkoS1uqQCN7LEuJxB4A==Bin1m-j7zjObjWQ69DGf1w@mail.gmail.com>

Yay!

http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Court-supports-
order-to-divert-water-into-to-10949050.php#comments

Court supports order to divert water into to support salmon
By Bob Egelko <http://www.sfchronicle.com/author/bob-egelko/>, San
Francisco Chronicle
February 21, 2017 Updated: February 21, 2017 3:21pm

The federal government can redirect water from a Northern California dam to
prevent mass die-offs of salmon in drought years, water that otherwise
would be shipped to Central Valley farmers, a federal appeals court ruled
Tuesday
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had authority under a 1955 federal law to
release Trinity River water from the Lewiston Dam in 2013 into the Klamath
River, where salmon were migrating to their spawning grounds, said the
Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
That law allowed the government to take ?appropriate measures? to preserve
fish and wildlife, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San
Francisco. And it gave the Bureau of Reclamation ?substantial discretion to
determine what constitutes ?appropriate measures? in the face of unforeseen
or changing circumstances,? Judge N. Randy Smith said in the 3-0 ruling. He
said the law specified maintaining Trinity River water flow as one of the
?appropriate measures? the bureau could take.
In addition, Smith said, under California law, dam owners, including the
federal government, are required, not merely permitted, to release enough
water ?to keep in good condition any fish that may be planted or exist
below the dam.?
ALSO

   - Trump considering ?streamlined? travel ban
   <http://www.sfchronicle.com/nation/article/Trump-considering-streamlined-travel-ban-10944498.php>
   - [image: In this 2008 photo provided by Whitman College, U.S. District
   Judge James Robart, right, talks with students at the college in Walla
   Walla, Wash. Robart ruled Friday, Feb. 3, 2017, in federal court in Seattle
   to suspend President Donald Trump's travel and refugee ban. (Greg
   Lehman/Whitman College via AP)]
   <http://www.sfchronicle.com/nation/article/Trump-s-attacks-raise-concerns-for-judges-10926036.php>
   Trump?s attacks raise concerns for judges
   <http://www.sfchronicle.com/nation/article/Trump-s-attacks-raise-concerns-for-judges-10926036.php>

Smith, generally one of the court?s more conservative judges, was appointed
by President George W Bush.
A lawyer for fishing groups that supported the increased water flows said
the state law would be a safeguard if the Trump administration refused to
order releases in future drought years.
?The court has said you have a duty under state law to protect these fish,?
said Trent Orr, an attorney with Earthjustice in San Francisco.
At a campaign rally in Fresno in May, candidate Donald Trump said
California?s drought, then in its fifth year, was a fiction and that the
state had ?plenty of water? but chose to ?shove it out to sea ... to
protect a certain kind of three-inch fish.?
That fish, the Delta smelt, is a threatened species that California
protects by limiting releases of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. Trump promised his supporters that, once elected, ?we?re going to
start opening up the water, so that you can have your farmers survive.?
The Justice Department, which represented the Bureau of Reclamation, did
not respond to a request for comment on the ruling. There was no immediate
comment from lawyers for the Westlands Water District and the San Luis &
Delta-Mendota Water Authority, which challenged the bureau?s actions.
For most of the last half-century, water from the Trinity River, a Klamath
tributary, has been largely diverted to the federal-state Central Valley
project for agricultural use, but the deaths of about 34,000 Klamath River
salmon prompted a federal judge in 2002 to authorize increased flows to the
river. As water supplies dwindled in 2013, the Bureau of Reclamation
ordered renewed flows from Lewiston Dam to protect the salmon, and did so
again the following two years.
In upholding the bureau?s actions, the court cited both the 1955
wildlife-protection law and other measures intended to protect the fishery
resources of the Hoopa Valley tribe, in the Trinity River basin, and the
Yurok tribe in the lower Klamath basin.
*Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
Email: begelko at sfchronicle.com <begelko at sfchronicle.com> Twitter: Bob
Egelko (@egelko) | Twitter <http://twitter.com/egelko>*

Bob Egelko (@egelko) | Twitter
The latest Tweets from Bob Egelko (@egelko). legal affairs writer, devoted
husband, fan of SF Giants and Stanfor...
<http://twitter.com/egelko>
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Feb 21 18:55:37 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2017 02:55:37 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] PCFFA Press Release: Salmon Score Big Win on Trinity
 and Klamath Rivers
References: <281051144.2223559.1487732137815.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <281051144.2223559.1487732137815@mail.yahoo.com>

For Immediate Release
Tues, Feb 20th, 2017

Glen Spain | 541.521.8655
*Northwest Regional Director of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations

Jan Hasselman | jhasselman at earthjustice.org<mailto:jhasselman at earthjustice.org> | 206.719.6512
*Earthjustice?s lead attorney on this case

Salmon Score Big Win on Trinity and Klamath Rivers
Appeals Court upholds the federal government?s ability to provide additional flow releases that protect salmon in Trinity and Klamath Rivers

SUMMARY
Today, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit broadly upheld the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation?s ability to provide additional flow releases in California?s Trinity River to protect salmon. The agribusiness-dominated San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority and Westlands Water District sued the Bureau, which controls water releases from the Trinity Reservoir to the Trinity and Lower Klamath rivers in Oregon. These rivers support significant runs of Chinook salmon, which commercial fishermen rely on for their livelihoods and the Yurok and Hoopa Valley Tribes depend on for sustenance.

RELEVANCE
Ultimately this case is about preserving the California salmon fishing industry. During drought, the Bureau?s water releases from the Trinity River to the Lower Klamath are critical to the survival of salmon as they return to the river in late summer by the thousands to spawn. In a previous ruling, a federal district court in Fresno turned back commercial irrigators? attempts to stop these critical flows, but questioned the Bureau?s authority to release the water. Today?s decision at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals strongly validates the Bureau?s authority.
OUR ROLE
Earthjustice represented the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations that intervened in the lawsuit to protect salmon and the local fishing industry.

QUOTES
>From Glen Spain, Northwest Regional Director of Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations:
?The Court clearly vindicated the Bureau?s efforts to use water to protect key salmon runs from more fish kills. It?s a common sense ruling that saw through Westland?s attempted water grab, and a victory for salmon.?

>From Earthjustice attorney, Jan Hasselman, who represented the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations:
"Commercial fishermen, Tribes and communities rely on healthy rivers and healthy salmon populations. We welcome the court?s strong opinion upholding the Bureau?s ability to protect these resources and, we hope this will put an end to Big Ag?s long-running and misguided water grab.?

RESOURCES

Please visit our main library page for this case<http://earthjustice.org/library/trinity>.

Read the court?s decision here<http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/9th%20Cir%20Trinity%20win.pdf>.

_________________________________
Earthjustice, the nation?s premier nonprofit environmental law organization, wields the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people?s health,
to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change.
Because the earth needs a good lawyer.?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Feb 22 08:24:53 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2017 16:24:53 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Times Standard: President Trump issues disaster
 declaration for Hoopa Valley Tribe
References: <1291253287.3617961.1487780693957.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1291253287.3617961.1487780693957@mail.yahoo.com>


President Trump issues disaster declaration for Hoopa Valley Tribe

By The Times-StandardThursday, February 16, 2017The following is a press release issued by the White House:The President today declared a major disaster exists for the Hoopa Valley Tribe and ordered Federal aid to supplement the Tribe?s recovery efforts in the areas affected by a severe winter storm from January 3 to January 5, 2017.Federal funding is available to the Hoopa Valley Tribe and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe winter storm on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation.Federal funding is also available to the Tribe on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures.Robert J. Fenton, Acting Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Timothy J. Scranton as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.?Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the Hoopa Valley Tribe and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Feb 22 17:24:24 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 01:24:24 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Increased Flows Begin at Link River Dam
In-Reply-To: <80c695a8b5354ceea41a718815382e02@usbr.gov>
References: <80c695a8b5354ceea41a718815382e02@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <1967593976.4139833.1487813064198@mail.yahoo.com>

Sarah McBride <smcbride at usbr.gov> wrote:


 

 Increased Flows Begin at Link River DamMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-028Media Contact: Russ Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: Feb. 22, 2017Increased Flows Begin at Link River DamKLAMATH FALLS, Ore. ? The Bureau of Reclamation and PacifiCorp are increasing flows at Link River Dam as Upper Klamath Lake has risen above the flood control guidelines. Beginning this afternoon, flows will be increased to bring the Upper Klamath Lake elevation below flood control thresholds.Link River flows will increase to about 6,000 cubic feet per second while Iron Gate Dam flows are expected to increase to a maximum of 7,700 cfs today, Feb. 22, 2017. The increased flows are expected to extend through the weekend.Residents and those recreating along the Link and Klamath rivers and on Lake Ewauna should be aware, expect rising water, and take appropriate precautions.This flow release is being done for flood control purposes, but will also provide a surface flushing flow contributing to fish disease mitigation in the Klamath River.There is potential for additional increased flows through Link River Dam if Upper Klamath Lake levels continue to rise over the next few months.For additional information, please contact Laura Williams, Reclamation?s Klamath Basin Area Office, at 541-880-2581 (TTY 800-877-8339) or ljwilliams at usbr.gov.# # #Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Feb 23 07:44:31 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 15:44:31 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Highway 299 open more hours to motorists
References: <985887081.4616307.1487864671600.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <985887081.4616307.1487864671600@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.redding.com/story/news/2017/02/22/highway-299-open-more-hours-motorists/98280754/



Highway 299 open more hours to motorists
Caltrans officials announced Wednesday that Highway 299 will be open more hours daily through the rock slide west of Weaverville.The highway was closed after a rock slide in mid-December about 30 miles west of Weaverville. But in recent weeks it has been open a few times a day to let residents and trucks through on a one-lane road around the damage.Beginning Wednesday afternoon, Caltrans began letting motorists through the construction zone at the following times: 5:30 a.m.?to 7:30 a.m.; 10:00 a.m.; noon; 2 p.m.; 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.; 6:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. with 1-hour delays.Caltrans said the openings are dependent on the weather. For more information, call 225-3452 or 225-3426.
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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Thu Feb 23 08:48:40 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 08:48:40 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Reminder: NEW Cal Water Book Reading today at 7 pm in
	Sacramento - Tim Stroshane, "Drought, Water Law,
	and the Origins of California's Central Valley Project"
In-Reply-To: <7D16C130-0FFE-4DF8-81F3-89421F0A6C27@fishsniffer.com>
References: <1420692119.3926825.1487043693204.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1420692119.3926825.1487043693204@mail.yahoo.com>
	<35FA987F-8A73-4654-8E3E-98E4A17AB10A@fishsniffer.com>
	<ED2A44B6-A9A3-4579-8A0E-127214EEE50A@fishsniffer.com>
	<7D16C130-0FFE-4DF8-81F3-89421F0A6C27@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <4DECB8EC-DADB-4104-8690-318E3583020E@fishsniffer.com>

Good Morning

I highly recommend attending this book signing by Tim Stroshane at  
Time Tested Books in Sacramento today, Thursday, February 23, at 7 pm.  
Stroshane will read from his
new book "Drought, Water Law, and the Origins of California's Central  
Valley Project." Please forward this announcement to others.

Thanks
Dan



LITERARY EVENTS: BOOK SIGNING
Drought and Water Law in California


click for larger image
Bay Area author Tim Stroshane, reads from his new book ?Drought, Water  
Law, and the Origins of California?s Central Valley Project.?

Stroshane explains how drought and legal conflict shaped statewide  
economic development and how the grand bargain of a San Joaquin River  
water exchange was struck from this monopoly legacy, setting the stage  
for future water wars.

When: Th, 2/23, 7pm

Price: Free

Ages: All ages

For more information about this activity, contact
Time Tested Books at
Phone: (916) 447-5696
E-mail: brian at bpspr.com
Website: http://timetestedbooks.blogspot.com/


Tags: Literary Events: Book Signing, Bookstore, Time Tested Books
Location

Time Tested Books
1114 21st St.
Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 447-5696
map to this location

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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Thu Feb 23 12:57:38 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 20:57:38 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] CDFW - TRP trapping summary through Julian week 8
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB137812D58E3589D720544EF2BA530@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Attached please find CDFW's Trinity River Project 2016 trapping summary through Julian week 8 (February 25).

I have been remiss! Here are Julian weeks 6, 7 and 8!
Time flies, and steelhead swim in the Trinity.
Cheers!
MC

*************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876   I   maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov<mailto:maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov>
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
**************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity

[SaveOurWater_Logo]<http://saveourwater.com/>
Every Californian should conserve water.  Find out how at:
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Feb 24 08:20:17 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2017 16:20:17 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Oped: Who Should Pay To Fix The Oroville Dam?
References: <1877521101.571601.1487953217993.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1877521101.571601.1487953217993@mail.yahoo.com>




Who Should Pay To Fix The Oroville Dam?
   
   -    
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore The Delta

February 22, 2017Commentary:?After a nail-biting week of rain, it looks like the Oroville Dam spillway crisis is under control, for now. Downstream communities, including the nearly 200,000 people whose lives were disrupted by a two-day evacuation, will remain on alert as the large snowpack in the Northern Sierra (more than 150 percent of normal) begins to melt this spring.Dam operators will be doing nervous mathematics to decide how much water should be let out to keep downstream communities like the Delta safe, versus how much they can keep to fill the needs of the 23 million Californians who depend on the water from the Oroville Dam, the main water supply for the State Water Project. The same type of mathematics will be applied to dam operations throughout the state, and the threat of flood will continue for months.?Early estimates for repairs to Oroville?s main and emergency spillways are falling between $100?$200 million. That price will likely go up as the full extent of the damage is evaluated by engineers and geologists working for the California Department of Water Resources. One thing nobody disputes is that this essential component of California?s water infrastructure must be repaired as quickly as possible.This urgency raises an important question: Who should pay?The answer is the State Water Contractors, the beneficiaries of the project. That?s according to the Department of Water Resources. Water supply benefits are paid for by water contractors, and spillways are part of water supply protection.The State Water Contractors include the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and big agricultural water districts like the Kern County Water Agency. Agricultural users like Stewart Resnick, owner of Paramount Farms and the Wonderful Company, consume 80 percent of the developed water in California, so they need to get out their checkbooks as well.George Skelton, the Los Angeles Times' capitol reporter in Sacramento, follows water policy very closely.?He was quite blunt?about who he thinks should pay for these repairs:?the people who use the water. ?Charge the water users.? Skelton writes. ?A spillway wouldn?t be needed at all without a dam to store water for farms, industry and homes.?
As climate change brings more extreme weather to California, we will need to invest in repairing our existing dams; many are more than 50 years old and approaching, or already past, the end of their useful lives. Some dams may need to be rebuilt or torn down entirely to be made safe. Spillways may need to be redesigned, while?floodplainsand technological connections between our existing dams and groundwater recharge need to be created.What we don?t need are the proposed $60 billion Delta Tunnels, which will sit empty more than half the time, yet will be designed with sedimentation ponds and fine fish screens not strong enough to handle flooding due to the volume of debris that moves downstream and into the Delta during flood events. Entire logs are floating down the Sacramento River right now.?All of our climate change calculations suggest wetter wets and drier dries,? says Jeffrey Mount, a water expert at the Public Policy Institute of California?told the Los Angeles Times. Mount expects less snow and more warm rain, and thus more rapid runoff into swollen rivers.Is our 20th Century infrastructure ready to take on the ?new normal? of a 21st Century climate? At least some of it seems to be.


   
   -    

The state and local farmers contribute to maintenance of levees through the San Francisco Bay-Delta, work ably performed by local reclamation district officials, engineers, and personnel. So far this winter, these combined state and local flood control investments in levee maintenance and emergency response have performed well despite the upstream threats of flooding.While much of our wet season remains and flood emergencies due to so much upstream runoff are a possibility, 1,100 miles of Delta levees have continued protecting farms, homes, bridges, power lines, schools, and other community facilities. Most reported levee failures and flooding so far this winter have occurred upstream of the Delta.In this new (very wet/very dry) climate, it could be that building new dams is?not the best use of our water infrastructure spending at all. They have been an absolute disaster for California?s native salmon population who remain largely cut off from their ancestral spawning streams. Groundwater recharge, conservation, stormwater capture, and water recycling are proving to be much cheaper ways to ensure local water resiliency in a changing climate.But for now, let?s focus on repairing the infrastructure we already have.Safety must take priority over pie-in-the-sky boondoggles like the $60 billion Delta Tunnels that would largely deliver water to Big Ag in the southern San Joaquin Valley growing almonds for export to Asia.The priority right now must be to make sure the dams and canals we already have can still protect the public, and will continue to do so in our changing climate.Safety First.Who Should Pay To Fix The Oroville Dam?

  
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Who Should Pay To Fix The Oroville Dam?
 The repair bill should go to those who use the water.  |   |

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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Feb 24 14:50:51 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2017 22:50:51 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Governor Brown Takes Action to Bolster Dam Safety and
 Repair Transportation and Water Infrastructure
References: <1374037227.877254.1487976651143.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1374037227.877254.1487976651143@mail.yahoo.com>


From:?"Governor's Press Office" <govpressoffice at gov.ca.gov>Date:?February 24, 2017 11:21:12 AM PST?

| View this email in a web browser???? | ????Forward to a friend????? |
| 
|  |
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| 
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: | Contact: Governor's Press Office |
| Friday, February 24, 2017 | (916) 445-4571 |


Governor Brown Takes Action to Bolster Dam Safety and Repair Transportation and Water Infrastructure
SACRAMENTO ??With extreme weather putting increasing stress on California?s roads, bridges and flood control system, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced a series of immediate and longer-term actions to bolster dam safety, improve flood protection and fix the state?s aging transportation and water infrastructure.??Recent storms have pounded the state of California resulting in a dam spillway eroding, roads crumbling and levees failing,? said Governor Brown. ?Our aging infrastructure is maxed-out. We can take some immediate actions ? and we will ? but going forward we?ll need billions more in investment.??WaterEarlier this week ? with a break in the weather and the situation in?Oroville?stabilizing ? ?the Governor?visited the Incident Command Post?and surveyed the regional flood control system, including areas recently impacted by flooding. This followed the?state of emergency?the Governor declared and the presidential emergency declaration the Governor?secured?to bolster the state?s response. ???On the heels of these actions, the Governor today announced a four-point plan to bolster dam safety and flood protection:?   
   - Invest $437 million in near-term flood control and emergency response actions by?redirecting $50 million from the General Fund and requesting a $387 million Proposition 1 appropriation?from the Legislature as soon as possible.
   - Require emergency action plans and flood inundation maps for all dams.
   - Enhance California?s existing dam inspection program.
   - Seek prompt regulatory action and increased funding?from the federal government to improve dam safety.
?Even with today?s action, California has nearly?$50 billion?in unmet flood management infrastructure needs. To address these needs, the Administration will continue to work with the Legislature through the budget process on solutions, including potential changes to Proposition 218, which continues to prevent local government from fixing core infrastructure.?TransportationRecent storms have not just damaged the state?s flood control system; they have also hammered the state?s roads and bridges. During the storm season alone, Governor Brown?s emergency declarations have enabled the California Department of Transportation to begin more than $595 million in repairs to the state?s roads and bridges damaged by erosion, mud and rock slides, sink holes and flooding.?Beyond the current storm season, California faces a broad array of transportation infrastructure challenges:?$59 billion in deferred maintenance?on highways and?$78 billion?on local streets and roads. To fix these roads and bridges, Governor Brown and legislative leaders are currently working to meet the goal they set to complete a transportation funding package by?April 6.?Following up on his?commitment to work with Washington, D.C.?to invest in California?s infrastructure, Governor Brown sent a letter to the President today?seeking expedited environmental review?under?Presidential Executive Order 13766. This request covers 10 projects: nine high-priority transportation projects and reconstruction of the Oroville Dam spillways.?Today?s request to the President includes projects on the?initial list of 51 priority infrastructure projects, which California submitted to the federal government?earlier this month. The Brown Administration is reviewing additional projects to submit for expedited review.?For additional information on the Governor?s four-point plan to bolster dam safety and flood protection, click?here. For more on California?s ongoing flood management, click?here.?###
? |

 |
| Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.?
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814? |




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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Feb 25 11:42:32 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2017 19:42:32 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Jerry Brown wants to spend nearly $450 million on
 flood control following dam emergency
References: <1897991292.1372664.1488051752184.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1897991292.1372664.1488051752184@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article134767129.html
Jerry Brown wants to spend nearly $450 million on flood control following dam emergency

BY CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO AND JIM MILLERccadelago at sacbee.com
After successfully appealing to the Trump administration for help with the Oroville Dam emergency, Gov. Jerry Brown announced Friday that he wants to accelerate state spending to reduce flood risks as he asked Washington to expedite federal environmental reviews on several projects, including repairs to the dam?s spillway.The Democratic governor?s flood protection plan combines $50 million in existing general fund money with $387 million from the $7.5 billion water bond approved by voters in 2014.Brown, who made a surprise visit to the dam?s incident command post Wednesday, said the state faces tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure needs.?There is real work to be done,? Brown told reporters at the Capitol, calling the proposed allotments ?basic government needs.??We got to belly up to the bar and start spending money,? he added.Friday?s funding package does not include any money to repair the Oroville Dam?s main spillway or its emergency spillway, where erosion prompted the evacuation of 188,000 people below the dam Feb. 12.?That expense is the responsibility of the more than 20 water districts and other water contractors that get water from the reservoir, the Department of Finance said Friday.The Department of Water Resources does not yet have a cost estimate for the spillway repairs, a spokesman said Friday. The association representing state water contractors could not be reached for comment.The $387 million in accelerated Proposition 1 spending would pay for high-priority flood prevention projects through June 2018. Those include reducing urban flood risks, particularly in the Sacramento and Stockton regions, maintaining levees, and building levee setbacks.The $50 million in redirected general fund money will pay for more immediate needs, such as stockpiling sandbags and other flood-fighting equipment as well as better coordination between government agencies.Also Friday, the administration announced that it will propose legislation requiring dams to have an emergency action plan that is updated every 10 years, as well as maps showing areas that would be flooded if there was a complete dam failure or other major problem.?Under the proposal, the state Department of Water Resources could impose fines and other measures for violators.Federal emergency officials earlier this month approved Brown?s requests to pay for January storm damages and to support the unfolding response to the emergency at the distressed dam.California legislators also have taken an interest.?A bipartisan group has been taking aerial tours of the site amid preparations for next week?s oversight hearing to review what happened in Oroville, including issues with the emergency spillway that forced the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people along the Feather River Basin.Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Le?n, D-Los Angeles, has said he wants to provide $500 million in competitive grants to local and regional agencies for flood protection.?On Friday, Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, said he was pleased with Brown?s proposed action to expedite repair of the spillways and increase flood control spending.?It shows that we will do everything necessary to make the dam and communities below it safe. Providing the funding and environmental streamlining is essential to getting that job done now,? Gallagher said.??We also need to have an immediate, robust and real discussion about ensuring investment in our water infrastructure,? he added.Friday?s announcement by Brown came as he sent to a letter to President Donald Trump with a list of 10 ?high-priority infrastructure projects? that need ?expedited environmental review.? Some of the projects were included in an earlier list of California projects for a possible federal public works plan that Trump has promised. In the case of spillway repairs, Brown wrote, ?We are asking the administration to exempt this project from any National Environmental Policy Act review.?California had more than $11.8 billion in unsold natural resources bonds as of Dec. 31, including $7.4 billion from Proposition 1. Brown said the state also is spending $634 million from earlier borrowing measures on flood control over the next two years.State Resources Secretary John Laird also sent letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation, calling on them to increase inspections and review of all federally owned dams as well as updating decades-old?operating manuals?for reservoirs.??Over the next two years, California will spend over $1 billion on flood control projects,? Laird wrote. ?It is our hope that the federal government can help us with its appropriate share.?Brown, meanwhile, included Laird?s letter in brief, separate correspondence to the agency secretaries overseeing those departments.?This is both an urgent need and a real opportunity!? Brown hand-wrote at the bottom of the letter to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article134767129.html#storylink=cpy
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Feb 27 16:26:44 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2017 16:26:44 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Early registration for the 2017 SRF Conference
	ends Friday
References: <58b4b98d64347_f0fc4ed97874892@asgworker-qmb2-6.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail>
Message-ID: <3109175F-B105-439B-BEF6-6212D8B96C7E@att.net>



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Sara Schremmer <sara at calsalmon.org>
> Date: February 27, 2017 at 3:43:09 PM PST
> To: Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net>
> Subject: Early registration for the 2017 SRF Conference ends Friday
> 
> 
> Visit our Website | Join us on Facebook               
>                     	
> Salmonid Restoration Federation
> 
> Hi Tom,
> 
> Early registration for the 35th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference ends this Friday, March 3. This year's conference will take place in Davis, CA from March 29 - April 1, 2017 and the Conference Agenda Packet is available online.
> 
> Register today to take advantage of the discounted early registration rates!
> 
> Please be aware that the following tours are now sold out: the Stanislaus River Restoration Sites Rafting Tour; the Fins, Feathers, Farms & Floodplain Fecundity: Multi-Use Floodplain Projects in the Lower Sacramento Valley Tour; and the American River Gravel Augmentation & Floodplain Restoration Tour.
> 
> Conference attendees are invited to participate in the Annual Conference Poster Session, which will be held Friday, March 31 from 7 ? 10 pm at the Veterans Memorial Center in Davis, CA. If you would like to present during the Poster Session, please sign up here. To have your name included in the Poster Session Directory in the Conference Proceedings, please sign up by Wednesday, March 1.
> 
> Other conference special events to look forward to include the Annual Membership Meeting, Dinner & Film Screening and the Conference Cabaret and Banquet. We recommend buying your tickets in advance before these events sell out!
> 
> For additional information, including details on hotel group blocks, please see the Conference FAQs. 
> 
> Thank you and please contact us with any questions,
> 
> Sara Schremmer
> Program Manager
> Salmonid Restoration Federation
> 
> For over three decades, Salmonid Restoration Federation has hosted an annual Salmonid Restoration Conference in different regions of California. The four-day annual conference highlights regional and topical issues that affect salmonids and their diverse habitats through field tours, technical workshops, panel discussions, and a Plenary session on the state of salmonid recovery in California. Visit our website for information on this year's exceptional final agenda, including detailed descriptions of all workshops, field tours, and concurrent sessions.
> 
>  	 	 	 
> Salmonid Restoration Federation ? 425 Snug Aly, Unit D, Eureka, CA 95501, United States 
> This email was sent to tstokely at att.net. To stop receiving emails, click here.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Mar  1 07:04:35 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 15:04:35 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Closer_to_glory=3B_Ins_and_outs_of_Trinit?=
 =?utf-8?q?y_Dam_differ_from_Oroville=E2=80=99s?=
References: <1049781218.4542968.1488380675934.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1049781218.4542968.1488380675934@mail.yahoo.com>

Closer to glory

  
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Closer to glory
 By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal While reservoirs around the North State have been releasing huge volumes of water to make room for storm inflow,...  |   |

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Closer to glory

Ins and outs of Trinity Dam differ from Oroville?s
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
?   
   - 38 min ago
?   
   - ?
While reservoirs around the North State have been releasing huge volumes of water to make room for storm inflow, Trinity Dam in contrast was the scene of a complete non-spectacle during a recent visit.The federal Bureau of Reclamation is evaluating any need for potentially increasing flows and will put out an announcement if and when any increases are scheduled, said Don Bader, Reclamation?s Northern California Area manager.At midday Friday there was no water at all coming through any of Trinity Dam?s exits. That would be changing around 5 p.m. when water would be sent through the Trinity PowerPlant to meet the increased demand for electricity, said Robert Stewart, hydraulic engineer with the Trinity River Restoration Program.After years of drought the Trinity reservoir started the water year extremely low. With bountiful rain and snowfall it has come up considerably, to the delight of boaters and tourism businesses in the area.Not only did Trinity Lake have low carryover storage, but due to its placement in the watershed it tends to fill more slowly than other reservoirs such as Shasta reservoir, where high releases have caused flooding, and state-run Lake Oroville where damage to two spillways forced large-scale evacuations.Although the Trinity reservoir is smaller than Shasta and Oroville, it is larger in proportion to the watershed that feeds it, Stewart noted.In an average water year half of what it would take to fill the reservoir flows in.?Most of the other reservoirs in California, the average inflow they get is larger than the total volume they can hold,? Stewart said.As of Monday, the Trinity reservoir held 1,916,611 acre-feet of water and was 78 percent full. That?s fuller than average for this time of year ? 106 percent of average to be exact. Last year at this time the reservoir held less than half what it holds now.Also on Monday the lake was at 2,335 feet elevation, 35 feet below the glory hole spillway.The agency will be looking at information on snowpack and incoming storms to determine if additional releases are needed, Bader said.During the winter the lake is kept down to certain maximum elevations, although the goal is to let it fill if possible in April and May, Bader said.There are several ways in which water is released through the 538-foot Trinity Dam, which was completed in 1962.It can flow into an intake that shepherds the water through the dam and into the power plant to generate electricity before entering Lewiston Lake. Or, water can be split off to bypass the generators and enter Lewiston via two hollow-jet valves that dissipate the force of the water to prevent erosion.If the lake rises to the lip of the glory hole at 2,370 feet elevation, it will automatically flow through a pipe in the dam and out the above-ground concrete spillway, ending with another energy dissipating structure known as a flip bucket that forms a ?rooster tail? of water as it enters Lewiston Lake. Trinity Lake can also be drawn down if needed with an auxiliary valve located deep in the reservoir. This water is let out via the same spillway connected to the glory hole. When the lake is low and water from the other access points is too warm for fish, this bottom auxiliary valve has at times been used to release cold water down the spillway.With water going through the glory hole and auxiliary valve, the spillway can release upwards of 25,000 cubic feet per second from the Trinity reservoir on top of what is released through the power plant and hollow jets, Bader said.Lewiston Dam has the capacity to release whatever is coming through the Trinity Dam, he said.Bader said the CVP reservoir structures are checked annually by Reclamation staff, and by outside inspectors every three years. He said he?s confident the spillways and outlets at Trinity are functioning well.However, inflow to the reservoir is capable of outstripping even these very high releases, and the earthen Trinity Dam is not designed to be overtopped. Also, even in an extremely wet year the peak spring release from Lewiston Dam for fish is 11,000 cubic feet per second to avoid damage to roads and other structures.Holding the reservoir down using safety of dams criteria, Bader said, ?That?s really your safeguard.??You?re managing that to discharge water ahead of the major storm event,? Bader said. ?You?re always trying to avoid the glory hole.?   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Mar  1 07:12:26 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 15:12:26 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Herb Burton: Big lake with a little hole;
	investment needed
References: <774352232.4550690.1488381146639.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <774352232.4550690.1488381146639@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/article_2efdb734-fe29-11e6-b769-735764f98305.html
Big lake with a little hole; investment needed
   
   - From Herb Burton Lewiston
Many will agree, Gov. Jerry Brown?s four-point plan to bolster dam safety and flood protection is long overdue and a positive step forward. California has nearly $50 billion in unmet flood management and infrastructure needs. However, as in the case of Oroville Dam, why should the public pay for repairing the spillway when the State Water Contractors benefit from the dam and the Department of Water Resources mismanaged the flood space in the reservoir that caused the evacuation of downstream communities?After years of controversy, millions invested and failure to achieve fishery restoration goals, maybe now is an appropriate time for both state and federal officials to consider better use of Trinity River Restoration Program?s annual $15 million funding base. Investing in Trinity Dam repairs and constructing a concrete lined emergency spillway, that surprisingly does not exist, would be prudent.Fishery flows coupled with emergency spillway releases to match extreme high water year inflows may prove a better bang for the buck and ultimately a safe investment that fulfills a longtime need to make Trinity Dam safer.?
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From pcatanese at dhscott.com  Wed Mar  1 07:50:20 2017
From: pcatanese at dhscott.com (Paul Catanese)
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 15:50:20 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Herb Burton: Big lake with a little hole;
	investment needed
In-Reply-To: <774352232.4550690.1488381146639@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <774352232.4550690.1488381146639.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<774352232.4550690.1488381146639@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <CY1PR04MB18326A91CBE793462B4D43DFBC290@CY1PR04MB1832.namprd04.prod.outlook.com>

Good points form Herb and interesting to note that Herb Burton and the late Byron Leydecker  were instrumental and a driving force behind the famous Record of Decision.

Paul J. Catanese, Partner

[cid:image001.gif at 01D29260.27BF7460]<http://www.dhscott.com/>
D.H. Scott & Company
O: 530.243.4300 | F: 530.243.4306
900 Market St, Redding, CA 96001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This communication (including any attachments) may contain privileged or confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this communication and/or shred the materials and any attachments and are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this communication, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. Thank you.

Disclaimer:  Any accounting, business or tax advice contained in this communication, including attachments and enclosures, is not intended as a thorough, in-depth analysis of specific issues, nor a substitute for a formal opinion, nor is it sufficient to avoid tax-related penalties.  If desired, D.H. Scott & Company would be pleased to perform the requisite research and provide you with a detailed written analysis.  Such an engagement may be the subject of a separate engagement letter that would define the scope and limits of the desired consultation services.

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Wednesday, March 1, 2017 7:12 AM
To: env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
Subject: [env-trinity] Herb Burton: Big lake with a little hole; investment needed

http://www.trinityjournal.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/article_2efdb734-fe29-11e6-b769-735764f98305.html
Big lake with a little hole; investment needed
?         From Herb Burton Lewiston
Many will agree, Gov. Jerry Brown?s four-point plan to bolster dam safety and flood protection is long overdue and a positive step forward. California has nearly $50 billion in unmet flood management and infrastructure needs. However, as in the case of Oroville Dam, why should the public pay for repairing the spillway when the State Water Contractors benefit from the dam and the Department of Water Resources mismanaged the flood space in the reservoir that caused the evacuation of downstream communities?
After years of controversy, millions invested and failure to achieve fishery restoration goals, maybe now is an appropriate time for both state and federal officials to consider better use of Trinity River Restoration Program?s annual $15 million funding base. Investing in Trinity Dam repairs and constructing a concrete lined emergency spillway, that surprisingly does not exist, would be prudent.
Fishery flows coupled with emergency spillway releases to match extreme high water year inflows may prove a better bang for the buck and ultimately a safe investment that fulfills a longtime need to make Trinity Dam safer.

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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Mar  1 10:37:25 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 18:37:25 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Federal water allocation offers good news for some
 Valley growers, bad news for others
References: <95942909.4806331.1488393445436.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <95942909.4806331.1488393445436@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/water-and-drought/article135545663.html



Federal water allocation offers good news for some Valley growers, bad news for others
BY ROBERT RODRIGUEZbrodriguez at fresnobee.comCentral San Joaquin Valley farmers got a dose of good and bad news Tuesday as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced a full supply of water for east-side farmers in the Friant Division, while telling west-side farmers they must wait a few more weeks to learn what they will get from the Central Valley Project.?Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation delayed the critical allocation announcement for water users north and south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, saying the unusually wet year is requiring them to take more time to refine their estimate. Those farmers may not have an answer until mid- to late March.?No sooner had we received the February forecast that it became obsolete,? said Reclamation?s acting Mid-Pacific Regional Director Pablo Arroyave. ?We also realized that the conditions on the ground have changed. And we want to be more prudent.?Farm leaders were not pleased with the delay.?While the short-term relief of this year?s water outlook should have our industry optimistic, reality says something much different,? said Ryan Jacobsen, chief executive officer of the Fresno County Farm Bureau.??The implications of the governmental-imposed drought continue with a vengeance. How, with reservoirs at their brim, flood releases happening by the hundreds of thousands of acre-feet a day, snowpack levels in most areas 150 percent-plus for this date and Delta outflows cumulatively adding up to 24 million acre-feet since October 2016, can Fresno County?s west side federal water contractors still have no initial allocation??NO SOONER HAD WE RECEIVED THE FEBRUARY FORECAST THAT IT BECAME OBSOLETE.Pablo Arroyave, Bureau of Reclamation?s Acting Mid-Pacific Regional Director?Historically, the initial announcement has come in the middle of February and can be updated later in the year based on an available supply of water. Arroyave said that despite the delay, the bureau is still working with farmers to ensure they have access to water.?We will be working closely with them based on their needs,? he said.?Arroyave said that because of the abnormally wet year, the bureau took the unusual step of issuing the allocation news in phases. On Tuesday, it announced a 100 percent allocation for the Central Valley Project?s Friant Division. The last time Friant received a 100 percent allocation was in 2011.?Bureau officials said a record snowpack, high river flows and ample reservoir storage contributed to the 100 percent allocation for Class 1 water users.?Last year, the Friant Division water users received a 75 percent allocation. In the two years before that they received zero percent allocation.?The bureau estimates that at least 900,000 acre-feet of water will be available for delivery to south-of-the-Delta water service contractors this year. Additional supplies will be available once seasonal operational forecasts are developed later in March.??The 2017 water year has been an extreme year thus far, with precipitation throughout the Central Valley on track to be the highest in our historic records,? Arroyave said.Jacobsen said the wet winter, with excess water being released to the ocean, highlights the importance of building the Temperance Flat Dam.?Over the long term, California does receive ample precipitation, but its weather patterns are cyclical,? Jacobsen said. ?Without investments in our water infrastructure, it will be economically devastating to the Valley to make it through the dry times, particularly with the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.??The act, passed in 2014, provides a framework for how to manage the state?s groundwater, including requiring the registration of wells and measuring and managing the amount of water used to avoid overdrafting groundwater basins.?Robert Rodriguez:?559-441-6327,?https://twitter.com/FresnoBeeBob


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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Mar  1 10:47:36 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 18:47:36 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Klamath River dam removal plan on track as
	administration shifts
References: <2113919870.4808892.1488394056272.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2113919870.4808892.1488394056272@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/article/20170228/NEWS/170229795&template=printart



Klamath River dam removal plan on track as administration shifts

Trump Administration could affect makeup of regulatory commission
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardTuesday, February 28, 2017The plan to remove four hydroelectric dams to improve fish passage and water quality on the Klamath River is proceeding on schedule for a 2020 demolition time, according to plan proponents.The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will ultimately have to approve or deny the plan, and the change in administration in Washington, D.C., has led to three of the five seats on the commission being vacated. President Donald Trump will be responsible for appointing the three new members, but plan proponents such as the dams? owning company PacifiCorp, do not believe this will affect the project?s timeline.?We don?t know what we?re dealing with until the new commission is in place,? PacifiCorp spokesman Bob Gravely said Tuesday. ?Our expectation is this will move as a regular administrative order that FERC takes up and deals with all the time. We have no reason to believe it won?t be treated like any other application of its kind.?Amy Cordalis, legal counsel for one of the plan?s signatories and California?s largest Native American tribe, the Yurok, stated the Trump administration supports ?economically beneficial business decisions.??The Klamath River dams are owned by PacifiCorp which has determined through extensive analysis that dam removal is the best economic decision for the corporation and its rate payers,? Cordalis wrote in an email to the Times-Standard. ?We are hopeful the administration will support PacifiCorp?s business decision to remove dams.?The dam removal plan ? known as the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement ? would be the largest dam removal project in U.S. history, and in that way it will need to jump through several regulatory hoops and agencies at both the state and federal level.Last year, PacifiCorp submitted an application to the commission to transfer ownership of four dams ? J.C. Boyle dam in southern Oregon and the Iron Gate, Copco 1 and Copco 2 dams in Siskiyou County ? to the newly created private nonprofit Klamath River Renewal Corporation, which was formed by the signatories of the dam removal agreement. At the same time, the Klamath River Renewal Corporation submitted an application to decommission the four dams by 2020.?The corporation?s Board of Directors President Mike Carrier said they have made significant progress since last year including securing funding agreements with both states and preparing required technical documents. The project will cost about $450 million to complete with PacifiCorp ratepayers in California and Oregon contributing $200 million and California contributing the other $250 million through the Proposition 1 water bond passed by voters in 2014.In order for the plan to be considered by the federal commission, Carrier said the corporation must prove its legal, technical and financial capability to carry out the dam removal. He said the corporation plans to submit this information to the commission Wednesday.?We need to keep the information flowing in all directions to the public, local communities, to the Congress and the regulators about how the project is going, what its real purpose is, how it?s funded and make sure the folks are well-informed,? Carrier said. ?That?s a major priority for this coming year.?Once this supplemental information is submitted, Carrier said the federal commission will send out a public notice inviting entities to intervene in the process either in support or opposition to the dam removal plan. Carrier said he has yet to see a project go before the commission that has not had interventions, and said this plan would not likely be any different.?The dam removal project has proven to be a political issue in the past.After being drafted in 2010, the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement initially attempted to make its way through Congress for approval, but failed because of continued opposition by House Republicans. The plan as well as other related bills to address water sharing between tribes and irrigators in the Klamath River Basin failed to pass through the committee process, causing one of the bills to expire.The plan was redrafted in early 2016 so that it would instead go through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, though the water sharing agreements have yet to be resurrected.The new plan must also acquire water quality permits from Oregon and California. The California Water Resources Control Board recently concluded a public comment period Feb. 1 and will now be working to issue a draft environmental impact report by early 2018. Water board Public Information Officer Tim Moran stated the board?s final certification of the project?s water quality certification and environmental review is targeted for 2019.Moran encourages anyone who would like to receive updates on this water quality certification process to sign up for the ?Lower Klamath Project License Surrender? email list under the ?Water Rights? section at?www.waterboards.ca.gov/resources/email_subscriptions/swrcb_subscribe.shtml?Dam removal is one of the most important steps toward salmon restoration on the Klamath River and its tributaries, including the Trinity River,? Cordalis wrote to the Times-Standard. ?Dam removal coupled with habitat restoration, and improved water quality and quantity, will restore the salmon and other fisheries.?Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From vina_frye at fws.gov  Wed Mar  1 10:52:25 2017
From: vina_frye at fws.gov (Frye, Vina)
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2017 10:52:25 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] TAMWG Federal Register Notice
Message-ID: <CANiLmTJiN3dFTZ+ZkO8+KChc2K6Br1D_126m2_eBzbz2Mzrapg@mail.gmail.com>

Hi Folks,

I have attached the Federal Register Notice.The Trinity River Adaptive
Management Working Group (TAMWG) will hold a public meeting in March 2017.

Best regards,
Vina

Vina Frye
Fish Biologist
Collateral Duty Safety Officer
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Arcata FWO
1655 Heindon Road
Arcata, CA  95521
Telephone: (707) 822-7201
Fax: (707) 822-8411
vina_frye at fws.gov
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Mar  2 07:53:07 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2017 15:53:07 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group DRAFT
 AGENDA 3.21.17
References: <360719265.566492.1488469987342.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <360719265.566492.1488469987342@mail.yahoo.com>

Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group

DRAFT AGENDA

Meeting of March 21, 2017

NOTE: TimesSubject to Change

?Location: Trinity RiverRestoration Program office (1313 South Main St, Weaverville, CA 96093)

Web Conference: http://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?sigKey=mymeetings&i=442336293&p=&t=c

Conference Call: 866-715-1246,pass code: 4251781

?
|  Tuesday March 21, 2017 

  |
|  Time

  |  Agenda Item

 ?  |  Presenter

  |
|  9:30 AM

  |  Welcome, Introductions, Approve Agenda & Minutes

 ?  |  TAMWG

  |
|  9:45 AM

  |  Public Comment?? Note: In accordance with traditional meeting practices, TAMWG will not act on any public comment item during its current business meeting

  |  ?  |
|  10:00 ?AM

  |  Designated Federal Officer Updates

 - election of TAMWG officers

  |  Joe Polos

  |
|  10:30 AM

  |  TMC Chair Report

  |  Seth Naman

  |
|  11:00 AM

  |  Executive Director Report ? including Implementation and Science Program updates

  |  Caryn Huntt? DeCarlo, Mike Dixon, Jennifer Norris

  |
|  12:00 PM 

  |  Lunch

  |  ?  |
|  1:00 PM

  |  Water Year 2017 flow and gravel augmentation recommendations

  |  Krause and others

  |
|  3:00 PM

  |  Current TMC Issues

  |  TBD

  |
|  3:30 PM

  |  Public Comment

  |  ?  |
|  4:00 PM

  |  Adjourn

  |  ?  |


?
?

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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Mar  2 15:20:02 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2017 23:20:02 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] DOI: Zinke literally takes the reins
References: <2001321253.1049252.1488496802408.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2001321253.1049252.1488496802408@mail.yahoo.com>

?http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/03/02/stories/1060050846


Zinke literally takes the reins
Corbin Hiar, E&E News reporterPublished: Thursday, March 2, 2017Flanked the U.S. Park Police, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke rides to his first day at work on horse named Tonto.Photo courtesy of @BSEEgov via Twitter.There's a new sheriff at the Interior Department, and his name is Ryan Zinke.On his first day leading the sprawling agency, which is responsible for managing 20 percent of the nation's land and 10 separate bureaus, the ex-Montana congressman and former Navy SEAL rode an Irish sport horse named Tonto from the National Park Service's stables on the National Mall to the steps of Interior's headquarters.When he arrived at 1849 C St. NW, in blue jeans and a black cowboy hat, Zinke was greeted by more than 350 employees, including one Bureau of Indian Affairs staffer from Montana's Northern Cheyenne Tribe who played a veterans' honor song for him on a hand drum.Former acting Secretary Jack Haugrud was also on the steps of the building to symbolically hand over leadership to Zinke, who was confirmed yesterday morning by the Senate and sworn into the Cabinet later that day by Vice President Mike Pence (E&E Daily, March 2)."Secretary Zinke was proud to accept an invitation by the U.S. Park Police to stand shoulder to shoulder with their officers on his first day at Interior ? the eve of the Department's anniversary," spokeswoman Heather Swift said in an email. The agency, originally founded as the Home Department, turns 168 years old tomorrow."As a Montanan, the new Secretary is excited to highlight the Department's rich and diverse cultural heritage as he gets to work advancing the Department's mission," Swift added.
Zinke's top priorities
In an?email?sent out to all of the agency's 70,000 employees this morning, Zinke reiterated his support for maintaining federal control of public lands ? a position out of step with the Republican Party platform that helped earn him the confirmation votes of 16 Democrats and independent Maine Sen. Angus King."I have absolutely and unequivocally opposed any attempts to transfer, sell, or privatize our public lands, and serving as their top steward is not a job I take lightly," he wrote. "I approach this job in the same way that Boy Scouts taught me so long ago: leave the campsite in better condition than I found it."Zinke also laid out "three main priorities that I hope you will join with me in working to achieve."The first was to address NPS's estimated $12.5 billion deferred maintenance backlog, which he suggested could be reduced by the forthcoming infrastructure bill Trump has been touting.Second was to "increase employee morale and ensure those of you on the front lines have the right tools, right resources, and flexibility to make the decisions to allow you to do your job," he said.And the third priority was to ensure that tribal "sovereignty needs to mean something," said Zinke, who is an adopted member of the Assiniboine-Sioux tribes of northeast Montana."I will do everything in my power to ensure respect to the sovereign Indian Nations and territories," he added. "My commitment to the territories and Nations is not lip service."Those top concerns differ slightly from the three "immediate tasks" he promised to focus on during his confirmation hearing.At that time, he said that "I fully recognize that there is distrust, anger and even hatred against some federal management policies," and pledged to focus on restoring "trust by working with rather than against local communities and states." Promoting tribal sovereignty, on the other hand, did not make the list (E&E News PM, Jan. 17).Zinke also shared with employees a story about public lands that he said had shaped who he is. He recounted how he broke his ankle while trying to show off rock-climbing skills to his future wife during a hike on public lands."I did what any guy would do in my situation: I stood up and kept on hiking, surely messing up my ankle a bit more," he wrote. "Lola and I finished the hike and I didn't collapse in pain, but the bigger accomplishment was I won Lola's heart. In the years since, Lola and I continued to hike and float on our public lands and waterways where we instilled in our children and grandchildren the same love and appreciation for America's great outdoors that helped build our own relationship."
Strengthening ethics
After changing into a suit and tie, Zinke sat down for his first meeting as secretary with the ethics office. "#LeadingByExample," he wrote in a?tweet?about the briefing.In a separate?all-employee email, the secretary said "our understanding and observance of Federal ethics rules are essential to maintaining that trust and carrying out our mission."Perhaps referring to sexual harassment allegations that have rocked the Park Service in recent years, he noted that "issues have been raised and, in some cases, actions have been taken to address them." But Zinke added, "I expect us to do better. We must conduct ourselves at all times with integrity and a focus on ethics."To aid in that effort, the secretary asked his deputy and other top officials "to report to me 30 days from today on actions to improve the Department's adherence, oversight, and accountability regarding the Federal ethics rules."Zinke committed travel fraud during his time in the Navy, but that incident and other ethical issues went largely unmentioned during his confirmation process (E&E Daily, Jan. 31).The secretary's effort to promote adherence to ethical guidelines at Interior may also be an attempt to distance himself from that past as well as conflict-of-interest questions swirling around the White House and failed Trump administration nominees. President Trump has refused to divest from his real estate empire or to release tax returns that would detail his holdings. Meanwhile, Trump's picks to lead the Army and Navy both recently withdrew from Senate consideration because of financial entanglements.Twitter:?@corbinhiar?Email:?https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=chiar at eenews.net

Zinke's e-mail to employees:
    As the son of a plumber who grew up in a little timber and rail town 22 minutes down the road fromGlacier National Park, I cannot express how humbled I am to lead this Department. It?s a big job and weall have a responsibility to the American people to be good stewards of our land. I believe you and I arehere for the same reason. We love our country. We love our public lands. And we want to give back tothe nation that gave us all so much. I?m new to the Department, but not new to the issues you are sodedicated to for the American people. I'm an unapologetic admirer and disciple of Teddy Roosevelt. I believe in the traditional mixed use"conservation ethics" doctrine laid out by Pinchot, but realize that there are special places where man ismore an observer than a participant, as outlined by Muir. I cherish our public lands. I have absolutely and unequivocally opposed any attempts to transfer, sell, orprivatize our public lands, and serving as their top steward is not a job I take lightly. I approach this jobin the same way that Boy Scouts taught me so long ago: leave the campsite in better condition than Ifound it.          To that end, I have three main priorities that I hope you will join with me in working to achieve. First is to prioritize the estimated 12.5 billion dollars in backlog of maintenance and repair in ourNational Parks. The Parks are part of our nation's crown jewels, famous the world over. The President iscommitted to a jobs and infrastructure bill, and I am going to need your help in making sure that billincludes shoring up our Nation?s treasures. Second is to increase employee morale and ensure those of you on the front lines have the right tools,right resources, and flexibility to make the decisions to allow you to do your job. We serve the people,not the other way around. Washington has too much power. I think we need to return it to the frontlines. And lastly, sovereignty needs to mean something. I will do everything in my power to ensure respect tothe sovereign Indian Nations and territories. I'm proud to be an adopted member of the Assiniboine-Sioux from Northeast Montana. My commitment to the territories and Nations is not lip service. Iworked hand in hand with many of Montana's tribal governments to advance important legislation inthe House. My first bill in Congress was to federally recognize the Little Shell of Chippewa Cree and mostrecently my Blackfeet Water Rights Settlement Act was signed into law earlier this year. The Department of the Interior is special. As Americans, we all have a story about our public lands thathelps shape who we are. I have many. But one sticks out: One of my first dates with my wife Lola, morethan 25 years ago, was hiking on public lands near my military base in California. I was trying to show offsome rock climbing skills I had just picked up training with the SEAL teams, but lost my hold and I brokemy ankle. I did what any guy would do in my situation: I stood up and kept on hiking, surely messing upmy ankle a bit more. Lola and I finished the hike and I didn't collapse in pain, but the biggeraccomplishment was I won Lola's heart. In the years since, Lola and I continued to hike and float on ourpublic lands and waterways where we instilled in our children and grandchildren the same love andappreciation for America?s great outdoors that helped build our own relationship. Working together I know we will do great things for America. We all rise and fall on the same tide. I lookforward to working with each and every one of you. On Friday, I?ll be at the Bison Bistro at 11:00 to talk about my vision for the Department and lay out alittle more in depth my guiding principles. I?d love to see you there, but if you can?t get away from yourdesk or you?re in another location, the remarks will be livestreamed here. May God Bless America, and God bless the men and women who defend her.Secretary Ryan K. Zinke P.S. ? I?ll be walking around the cafeteria and popping in to offices the next couple days. Please feel freeto say hello and introduce yourself.?   







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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Mar  3 10:12:38 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2017 18:12:38 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Live Webcast and Transcript of Interior Secretary
 Ryan Zinke's speech to DOI employees
References: <124365458.1756174.1488564758535.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <124365458.1756174.1488564758535@mail.yahoo.com>

https://www.doi.gov/live


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From sari at sisqtel.net  Fri Mar  3 10:35:35 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2017 10:35:35 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] PPIC: Water Stress and a Changing San Joaquin Valley
Message-ID: <02b801d2944c$f359f530$da0ddf90$@sisqtel.net>

 

 




California?s largest agricultural region faces growing water stress.

 



 PPIC New Publication <http://go.pardot.com/l/156151/2016-06-22/42x79/156151/5032/PPIC_Water_New_Publication_Header_600x150.gif> 





Water Stress and a Changing
San Joaquin Valley

  _____  



California?s largest agricultural region is facing growing water stress and a number of related environmental and public health problems. Tackling these issues with cooperative, coordinated approaches is key to success.
 
This research was supported with funding from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the TomKat Foundation, and the US Environmental Protection Agency.




 <http://go.pardot.com/e/156151/main-publication-asp-i-1224/7c7vq/295186161> Read more

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  _____  



Related event and webcast


On Tuesday, March 7, in Clovis, the PPIC Water Policy Center and the California Water Institute at Fresno State will hold a free, half-day public event featuring panels of local leaders and experts to discuss key water issues facing the San Joaquin Valley.




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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Mar  5 09:03:34 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2017 17:03:34 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Times-Standard: Tribes gather to present water
	protection rights
References: <212693147.2713200.1488733414778.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <212693147.2713200.1488733414778@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/article/20170304/NEWS/170309936&template=printart
Tribes gather to present water protection rights

By Natalya Estrada,?nestrada at times-standard.com,?@natedoge4412?on TwitterSaturday, March 4, 2017More than 70 people gathered at Humboldt State University on Saturday for a six-hour conference on the importance of indigenous and native water protectors and land defenders.?(My people say) we make the world by how we walk on it,? Tia Oros Peters of the Pueblo of Zuni said.Peters, who serves as executive director of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, spoke about fighting aquacide ? a term used to describe the oppression of water resources that directly impacts native land and people.??We need to stand up against the killing of the waters. Against mega industrial development, hydrofracking, toxins, violence, extractive industrial development,? she said. ?All the many ways that settled colonialism invaders have put here is running rampant like spiders across the world, devouring everything.?The event ? titled ?Water is Life: A gathering to Protect the Water? ? was presented by the HSU Environment and Community Club as well as the HSU Indian Natural Resources Science and Engineering Club.It featured speakers from dozens of tribes, both local and from across the United States. A major topic was exploring the history and future of water protectors beyond Standing Rock in North Dakota.The threat of a pipeline along rivers, according to Peters, extends to the Southern Oregon and Northern California border. The Canadian company Veresen is currently planning to build a?232-mile pipeline?across southern Oregon to transport liquefied natural gas along the Klamath River. The Karuk, Hoopa, Yurok and Klamath tribes have all passed resolutions opposing the pipeline.?Willard Carlson of the Yurok Tribe spoke about the Fish Wars along the Klamath River in the late 1970s.He said that in 1978, California imposed a ban on sports and Native American fishing in the Klamath River because the salmon run numbers had decreased.This ultimately led to a 1993 ruling in which the Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes were allowed to take 50 percent of harvestable surplus salmon returning to spawn in the Klamath Basin. Carlson said today the fish count is incredibly low, and the tribe has done a self imposed moratorium on their commercial fishing.??We have to look at everything and all the factors in order to take care of this resource. How we can take care of this is having solidarity. We look at Standing Rock, the ?78 Fish Wars and Wounded Knee and we can see how similar the stories are,? Carlson said. ?I knew that I was always going to fight for water, that?s why myself and others are still here.?Peters said the Standing Rock water protectors were not just fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline for several years, but that all Native Americans have been fighting for water rights and sovereignty for more than 500 years. She said the federal government did not recognize human rights for 500 million Native Americans until 2007.?It always leads to water,? Peters said. ?Everywhere there?s a fight for indigenous rights is linked to water. And everywhere there?s a fight to human rights is linked to water. Like the thousands of people at Standing Rock fighting for water, this is responsibility we have to future generations.?Natalya Estrada can be reached at 707-441-0510.
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Mar  6 10:06:23 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2017 18:06:23 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Somach,
 Simmons an Dunn: Ninth Circuit Holds That 2013 Trinity River
 Augmentation Releases Were Lawful
References: <1039476211.3509923.1488823583480.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1039476211.3509923.1488823583480@mail.yahoo.com>

http://somachlaw.com/policy-alert/ninth-circuit-holds-that-2013-trinity-river-augmentation-releases-were-lawful/



Ninth Circuit Holds That 2013 Trinity River Augmentation Releases Were Lawful
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the United States Bureau of Reclamation?s (Reclamation) 2013 release of Trinity River water in an amount greater than that contained in the applicable release schedule to prevent the death of winter-run salmon in the lower Klamath River.??San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority v. Haugrud, No. 14-17493 (9th Cir. 2017).? In a challenge to this release by the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority (SLDMWA) and Westlands Water District (Westlands), the Ninth Circuit found that the August 12, 1955 Act (1955 Act) authorizing construction of the Trinity River Division (TRD), an addition to the Central Valley Project (CVP), gave Reclamation the power to release the water.? The Ninth Circuit also held that the release did not violate various provisions of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA).The Trinity River flows from the Trinity Alps in Northern California to the Klamath River.? Water then flows forty miles to the Pacific Ocean.? The Hoopa Valley and Yurok Indian Tribes have reservations along the Trinity River and the Klamath River.? Specifically, the Trinity River bisects the Hoopa Valley Reservation and the Klamath River bisects the Yurok Reservation.? The congressional purpose of the TRD?s addition to the CVP was to divert water from the Trinity River to the Sacramento River ?for irrigation and other beneficial uses in the Central Valley.?? At the same time, Congress authorized the TRD to maintain and improve fishery conditions.? The TRD authorized construction of the Trinity and Lewiston Dams on the Trinity River.? Starting at the upstream end of the Trinity River, water is first impounded by Trinity Dam.? Water that continues downstream is then impounded by Lewiston Dam.? Lewiston Dam is the point where Reclamation diverts water to the Sacramento River.? Water that is not diverted continues downstream to the Klamath River.The TRD became operational in 1964, and for the first ten years diverted about 88 percent of the Trinity River flow to the Sacramento River.? These diversions ended up having a significant impact on fish populations.? In the late 1970s and early 1980s, fishery agencies were tasked with developing a plan for long-term management of the fish and habitat in the Trinity River.? The agency recommendation of releasing between 287,000 and 340,000 acre feet from Lewiston Dam, depending hydrologic year type, was ultimately made effective by the Secretary of the Interior.? In 1984, Congress directed the Secretary to ?formulate and implement a fish and wildlife management program for the Trinity River Basin designed to restore the fish and wildlife populations? to pre-TRD levels. In 1992, Congress authorized the CVPIA ?to protect, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife, and associated habitats in the Central Valley and Trinity River basins,? while also seeking ?to achieve a reasonable balance among competing demands for use of Central Valley Project water.?? Section 3406(b)(23) of the CVPIA provided for water releases ?to the Trinity River of not less than 340,000 acre feet per year? from 1992 through 1996. It also directed the Department of the Interior (DOI) to ?complete the Trinity River Flow Evaluation Study.?In 1999, having completed the flow evaluation study, DOI released its preferred alternative in which Reclamation would release between 369,000 and 815,000 acre feet from the Lewiston Dam.? By 2012, fishery conditions had improved.? In that year, however, Reclamation predicted a large return of salmon, but minimal flows in the Klamath River.? Reclamation therefore recommended an augmentation release of an additional 48,000 acre feet to prevent a fish die-off in the Klamath.? Reclamation claimed that the 1955 Act provided the principal authorization for the release.? Ultimately, Reclamation released an additional 39,000 acre feet.? In 2013, Reclamation recommended an additional release of 62,000 acre feet for the Klamath River fishery, citing the 1955 Act as well for authority to do so.? In 2013, Reclamation only released an additional 17,500 acre feet.In August 2013, after release of the environmental documents for the release, SLDMWA and Westlands filed suit claiming the release violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the CVPIA.? The District Court found for the defendants, United States Department of the Interior,?et al. on these claims, but also concluded that the 1955 Act did not provide authorization for defendants to implement the 2013 flow augmentation release to benefit fish in the lower Klamath.? Defendants appealed the District Court ruling on the 1955 Act and SLDMWA and Westlands appealed all claims except NEPA.The 1955 Act Provides Authorization for the 2013 ReleasesThe 1955 Act provides that the TRD will be integrated with the CVP in a manner that provides for economic use of water resources, provided, that, ?the Secretary is authorized and directed to adopt appropriate measures to insure the preservation and propagation of fish and wildlife, including, but not limited to, the maintenance of the flow of the Trinity River below the diversion point.?? The Ninth Circuit reviewed this language and did not find any ambiguity in this ?preservation and propagation? provision, and concluded that this language is not limiting either in geography or otherwise.? Absent any limiting language, the Ninth Circuit held that the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior (Secretary) had broad discretion to determine what constitutes ?appropriate measures? in the face of changing circumstances.? The Ninth Circuit reasoned that when Congress adopted the TRD it thought it could maintain fish populations in the Trinity River while diverting water to the Sacramento River.? Since Congress, however, was not sure what the downstream effects of the TRD might be, it provided the Secretary the authority to take necessary measures to preserve resources in the Trinity and Klamath Rivers.? The Ninth Circuit ultimately held that the 2013 augmentation release fit within the 1955 Act?s mandate that the Secretary ensure the preservation and propagation of fish and wildlife.? In response to claims by SLDMWA and Westlands that Section 3406(b)(23) permanently resolved how much water should be released, the Ninth Circuit concluded that there is no ?clear and manifest? intention in later legislation to repeal the 1955 Act.The 2013 Release Did Not Violate Section 3406(b)(23)Pursuant to Section 3406(b)(23), DOI established a permanent water release schedule for Lewiston Dam.? The Parties agreed that Section 3406(b)(23) sets a minimum and a maximum amount of water that Reclamation may release under Section 3406(b)(23), but SLDMWA and Westlands claimed this schedule set an absolute maximum and the 2012 and 2013 releases exceeded the cap.? The Ninth Circuit found that the releases provided for under Section 3406(b)(23) were intended to specifically benefit the Trinity River and that any water that Reclamation releases to benefit areas outside of the Trinity River is not subject to the release schedule in Section 3406(b)(23).? The Ninth Circuit found that because the 2013 release was intended to benefit the Klamath River, it did not violate Section 3406(b)(23).? Thus, the Ninth Circuit upheld the District Court on this issue.ConclusionThe Ninth Circuit upheld the District Court decisions on the other CVPIA claims, and found that SLDMWA and Westlands lacked standing to bring the ESA claims.For additional information please contact Aaron Ferguson at?aferguson at somachlaw.com?or 916-446-7979.Somach Simmons & Dunn provides the information in its Environmental Law & Policy Alerts and on its website for informational purposes only.? This general information is not a substitute for legal advice, and users should consult with legal counsel for specific advice.? In addition, using this information or sending electronic mail to Somach Simmons & Dunn or its attorneys does not create an attorney-client relationship with Somach Simmons & Dunn.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Mar  7 07:39:37 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2017 15:39:37 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] State Route 299 open to all travelers
References: <2096899475.549680.1488901177641.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2096899475.549680.1488901177641@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170306/state-route-299-open-to-all-travelers
State Route 299 open to all travelers
By The Times-StandardPOSTED:?03/06/17, 5:13 PM PST?|?UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO0 COMMENTSPress release from Caltrans:(Monday, March 6, 2017) ? Caltrans District 2 is pleased to announce that all six daily openings (morning, afternoon, overnight, 10 am, 12 noon, and 2 pm) are no longer restricted to local traffic only; all travelers are welcome to use the current detour opening schedules.Also, as of this week, every Sunday, the detour will be open starting at 5:30 am and continuing all day until Monday at 7:30 am, with one-way traffic control and up to 30-minute delays.All openings are subject to change at any time due to weather conditions or for safety reasons.Before and after the Sunday opening, the schedule continues same as before: Morning, 5:30 am to 7:30 am; Afternoon, 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm; and overnight (with expected 1-hour delays) 6:30pm to 5:30 am. Single-time openings at 10 am, 12 pm, and 2pm (Motorists must be in line right at those times in order to be let through.)We ask the public to continue checking Caltrans District 2 Facebook and Twitter pages, calling the information hotline at (530) 225-3452, downloading the app (Caltrans Quickmap) or checking Quickmap via online before travel.Caltrans D2 appreciates you, travelers and local residents, for your willingness to work with us during this complex project.Safe Travels!
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Mar  7 08:36:23 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2017 16:36:23 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Op-Ed_Our_wild=2C_wet_winter_doesn=27t_ch?=
 =?utf-8?q?ange_this_reality_=E2=80=94_California_will_be_short_of_water_f?=
 =?utf-8?q?orever?=
References: <1308330806.639892.1488904583165.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1308330806.639892.1488904583165@mail.yahoo.com>

Note:?
Studies by Tim Stoshane with the California Water Impact Network and Theodore Grantham/Joshua Viers at UC Davis found that consumptive water right claims in California are over five times the average annual surface water supply. ?Therefore, the drought is perpetual. ?
As long as the Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board allow water contracts and water rights in excess of the available water supply (paper water), there will always be a drought in California, no matter how much it rains. ?The whining will continue...
Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?Op-Ed Our wild, wet winter doesn't change this reality ? California will be short of water forever
Sprinklers water a field in the early morning hours at the Tanimura & Antle Farm outside Salinas. (Los Angeles Times)
| Jay Famiglietti and Michelle Miro |


Over the last 18 months, California has experienced one of the driest, wettest and wildest rides in its recorded water history.As the 2015-16 water year opened in October 2015, drought had driven the state?s reservoir and groundwater levels to all-time lows. Entire towns were left without water. Reports of lakes turned to puddles, of wells running dry by the thousands, and of the cracked ground above depleted aquifers sinking several feet a year dominated state headlines.Then came the deluge. Since last fall, a steady stream of ?atmospheric river? storm systems has been battering the coast, the Sierra Nevada and almost everywhere in between, restoring reservoirs and the snowpack to their highest points in years.All winter, Californians have been asking one question: Is the drought finally over? The federal monitor shows just a few lingering tan and yellow patches in Southern California, but for scientists, the beginning and end of drought conditions are exceptionally difficult to pinpoint. Still, after only a few more serious encounters with the ?Pineapple Express,? Gov. Jerry Brown may well declare the state?s 3-year drought emergency over.
The great thirst of our highly productive agricultural sector has never been and will never be satisfied by the annual winter storms.
Which leads us to the second most frequently asked question of this unusually wet winter: What?s our water future? The answer has been clear for a while: It?s going to be a lot like our water past, but more so ? California is, was and will be chronically water short.The drought has underlined three important realities that aren?t going to change.First, the way municipalities use water can be sustainable, even as their population grows, as long as they embrace conservation, water recycling and reuse, and a diverse portfolio of management options. However, agricultural water use at today?s scale in California is not sustainable. Agriculture is literally sucking the state dry.Food production requires nearly unfathomable volumes of water, and has resulted in the long-term decline of the total available fresh water in California. The great thirst of our highly productive agricultural sector has never been and will never be satisfied by the annual winter storms that feed the state?s rivers and reservoirs.
The shortfall is met by pumping groundwater at rates that greatly exceed those of replenishment. As a result, groundwater levels in much of the state, including the once-vast reserves beneath the Central Valley, have been declining for nearly a century.It is essential to understand that wet winters like the current one will not reverse this long-term decline. Historically, even the wettest multiyear periods result in only a modest uptick in the otherwise steady loss of Central Valley groundwater.Consequently, agriculture in California has to adapt to this dwindling supply. Farmers and ranchers will face more of the kinds of difficult decisions the drought has already forced, such as fallowing fields as groundwater levels drop, or worse, taking land out of production.Next, we must recognize that the classic definition of water as a sustainable resource ? that is, using only the surface and groundwater available on an annual, renewable basis ? is no longer tenable for the entire state. Instead, water sustainability in California must now refer to efforts to slow the rate of disappearance of the state?s groundwater reserves.The landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, passed in 2014 in Sacramento, acknowledges and confronts the declining availability of fresh water in California. Its requirements, however, will never result in the recovery of statewide groundwater levels, even if important efforts to enhance groundwater recharge and construct additional storage are pursued.Finally, it is simply impossible to effectively plan for California?s water future without knowing a lot more about how much water the state has, how much it needs and how these amounts are changing with time.The amount of groundwater remaining in the state?s aquifers hasn?t been adequately measured; it must be quantified by exploration. This includes characterizing how its quality degrades with depth, and estimating the costs and environmental consequences of pumping and treating this deeper, lower quality groundwater.Estimating California?s diverse water needs ? for food and energy production, for domestic and municipal supply, for the environment and for economic growth ? requires precise measurement, as well as a partnership between water management entities and the research community so that advanced, science-based tools can help establish trade-offs among allocation options.Climate change and population growth are the primary drivers of changing water supply and demand, but other factors will also be important in managing the gap between the two. For example, personal water-use habits, greater agricultural efficiency, new technologies like potable reuse and desalination, and changes in water pricing, rights and policy will all affect the state?s water availability and needs.At the beginning of this month, and with a few weeks of winter still to come, the snowpack in the southern Sierra measured 201% of average. That?s a lot of snow and great news for a parched state. But the long-term disappearance of groundwater will persist, and water scarcity is California?s once and future reality.Embracing this distinction, understanding its causes, working to mitigate them and monitoring our water down to the last drop are the essentials of the new, post-drought era of California water.Jay Famiglietti is a hydrologist and former professor of Earth system science and of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Irvine. Michelle Miro is a hydrologist and doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering at UCLA.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Mar  8 09:10:36 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2017 17:10:36 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity snow at 130 percent of average
References: <1685983929.1761464.1488993036816.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1685983929.1761464.1488993036816@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_86d6ab4e-039e-11e7-83f5-4b28dd7eb310.html
Trinity snow at 130 percent of average
A second snow survey has been taken in the mountains of Trinity County, revealing the snowpack to be at 130 percent of average for this time of year.In surveys taken from Feb. 25 to 27, the measurements were as follows:Deadfall Lakes at 7,200 feet, 100 inches of snow with a water content of 35 inches.Red Rock Mountain at 6,700 feet, 134.5 inches of snow with 52 inches of water content. Bear Basin at 6,500 feet, 107 inches of snow with 38 inches of water content. Shimmy Lake at 6,400 feet, 120 inches of snow with 42 inches of water content. Big Flat in the North County at 5,100 feet, 50 inches with 20 inches of water content.Overall, these water contents are 130 percent of the March 1 average and 117 percent of the April 1 average.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Mar  8 17:30:45 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2017 01:30:45 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Reclamation Announces Draft EA/IS and Public
 Meeting on Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek Project
In-Reply-To: <dcaf60b5b62c4aa09910a8f4656924fb@usbr.gov>
References: <dcaf60b5b62c4aa09910a8f4656924fb@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <227537522.2301360.1489023045231@mail.yahoo.com>

On Wednesday, March 8, 2017 4:37 PM, Lisa Navarro <lnavarro at usbr.gov> wrote:

 Reclamation Announces Draft EA/IS and Public Meeting on Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek ProjectMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-037Media Contact: Russell Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: March 8, 2017Reclamation Announces Draft EA/IS and Public Meeting on Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek Rehabilitation ProjectWEAVERVILLE, Calif. ? The Bureau of Reclamation, along with the Bureau of Land Management (federal co-lead agencies) and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (state lead agency), announce a draft Environmental Assessment/Initial Study (EA/IS) and a public meeting for the Trinity River Restoration Program?s (TRRP) proposed Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek Rehabilitation Project. The project is scheduled for implementation in the summer of 2017.The TRRP proposes to construct the Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek channel rehabilitation project to increase salmon and steelhead habitat downstream of Lewiston Dam, as authorized in the December 19, 2000, Record of Decision for the Trinity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Environmental Impact Statement. The public meeting will be held:Junction City, Calif.: Wednesday, March 15, 6 to 8 p.m., North Fork Grange Hall, 131 Dutch Creek RoadThe meeting will be in an open house format for the public to meet TRRP and Partner personnel, learn about the proposal, ask questions and provide input. Written comments will be accepted at the meeting.The draft EA/IS, which evaluates potential project impacts to the environment, was created in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act. To view the documents, please visit http://www.trrp.net/ or https://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=27594. If you encounter problems accessing the documents online, please call the Public Affairs Office at 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or email mppublicaffairs at usbr.gov. The documents will also be available for review at the TRRP office, 1313 Main Street, Weaverville, CA and at the Trinity County Library, 351 Main Street, Weaverville, CA.Written comments on the draft EA/IS must be received by close of business Friday, April 7, 2017. Please send comments to Brandt Gutermuth, TRRP, P.O. Box 1300, Weaverville, CA 96093 or bgutermuth at usbr.gov. For additional information, please contact Gutermuth at 530-623-1806 or Kevin Held at 530-623-1809.###?Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.
Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825 United States

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Mar  9 09:14:42 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2017 17:14:42 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Landmark ruling lets tribe tap Calif. aquife
References: <331098854.2854458.1489079682532.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <331098854.2854458.1489079682532@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060051141/print



WATER RIGHTS

Landmark ruling lets tribe tap Calif. aquifer?
Amanda Reilly, E&E News reporterGreenwire: Wednesday, March 8, 2017A federal court ruled that a tribe in California's arid Coachella Valley has rights to groundwater.?Photo courtesy of Max Pixel.A Native American tribe has a legal right to groundwater in Southern California's arid Coachella Valley, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled yesterday.When the United States established a reservation for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, it implicitly created a right to tap the water below, wrote Judge Charles Tallman for the three-judge panel.The ruling marks the first controlling opinion that the federal "reserved rights" doctrine applies to groundwater. The doctrine says that the United States intended to reserve water for tribes when it established reservations to the extent necessary to accomplish the purpose of the reservation."Water is inherently tied to the Tribe's ability to live permanently on the reservation," wrote Tallman, a Republican appointee. "Without water, the underlying purpose ? to establish a home and support an agrarian society ? would be entirely defeated."This is the first of three phases of litigation in the case. Future rulings will focus on whether the tribe has a right to a certain quality and quantity of groundwater.The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has lived in the Coachella Valley since before California became a state in 1850. The tribe's 31,396-acre reservation, laid out in a checkerboard pattern, was established by two executive orders in 1876 and 1877.Beneath the valley is an aquifer that supports nine cities, 400,000 people and 66,000 acres of farmland.The aquifer is the main source of water for the reservation, but the tribe doesn't directly pump water from the ground, purchasing it instead from state water agencies. While the reservation also receives some water from the nearby Whitewater River system, there is only enough surface water to irrigate 360 acres.Concerned about future availability of groundwater, the tribe filed the lawsuit at issue in 2013, asserting reserved rights and aboriginal rights to water from the aquifer.The federal government joined the suit in support of the tribe.The Coachella Valley Water District and Desert Water Agency argued that the tribe and United States were required to obtain water rights like any other private user under state water law.In yesterday's opinion, which upholds a district court decision, Tallman wrote that there is "no reason" to limit the reserved rights doctrine to surface waters."The creation of the Agua Caliente Reservation therefore carried with it an implied right to use water from the Coachella Valley aquifer," the court concluded.Tallman noted that the doctrine ? which also is known as the?Winters?doctrine ? was in part established to provide sustainable land for Indian tribes whose reservations were located in arid parts of the country.The Coachella Valley receives no more than 6 inches of precipitation a year."Survival is conditioned on access to water ? and a reservation without an adequate source of surface water must be able to access groundwater," the judge wrote.Tallman also found that neither the tribe's lack of drilling for groundwater nor state law affected its rights to the groundwater.Ninth Circuit Judge Morgan Christen and district court Judge Matthew Kennelly, both Democratic appointees, joined the opinion.The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians cheered the ruling."The Ninth Circuit's decision today validates the Tribe's work to protect and preserve the Coachella Valley's most important natural resource," tribal Chairman Jeff Grubbe said in a statement. "This is another critical step toward how water will be responsibly managed in the future."The Coachella Valley Water District has defended its management of the aquifer and warned that giving the tribe groundwater rights could force substantial cutbacks in water to other customers.The district yesterday said that it is reviewing the court's decision."The CVWD board will discuss next steps in this case that could ultimately determine control over the region's groundwater," General Manager Jim Barrett said in a statement.Click here?to read the court's opinion.Twitter:?@apeterka?Email:?areilly at eenews.net
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Mar  9 09:22:05 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2017 17:22:05 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: March 1 Snow Surveys from Klamath National Forest
In-Reply-To: <DM2PR09MB0559425CC9C9C8C22DEDD86CA0210@DM2PR09MB0559.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>
References: <DM5PR09MB1388FC5ACA666ECDA7EFF518A32E0@DM5PR09MB1388.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>
	<002501d2984a$5d8d2a20$18a77e60$@snowcrest.net>
	<DM2PR09MB0559425CC9C9C8C22DEDD86CA0210@DM2PR09MB0559.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>
Message-ID: <941448863.2917195.1489080125106@mail.yahoo.com>

From: Klamath National Forest [mailto:klamathinfo=fs.fed.us at mail1.atl51.rsgsv.net]On Behalf Of Klamath National Forest


Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2017 8:13 AM
Subject: News Update from Klamath National Forest  ? 
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U.S. Forest Service
 
Klamath National Forest
1711 South Main Street
Yreka CA 96097
Voice: 530-842-6131
Email: klamathinfo at fs.fed.us
Web: www.fs.usda.gov/klamath
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News Release
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March 8, 2017

Media Contact: Nichole Noyer
530-841-4485 
nnoyer at fs.fed.us

District Hydrologist: Christopher Ester
530-468-1241
cester at fs.fed.us
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| March 1st Snow Survey Results  |

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| FORT JONES, CA ? The Klamath National Forest has completed the March 1st snow surveys. These measurements are a part of the statewide California Cooperative Snow Survey program, which helps the State forecast the amount of water available for agriculture, power generation, recreation, and stream flow releases later in the year.
The March 1 snow measurements for 2017 are vastly improved compared to the last several years. ?Winter started early in Scott Valley and the Marble Mountains with snow falling as early as September and accumulating since October.? Regular snow has fallen since that time, with few impactful melting periods.? An above average snow pack was surveyed in February.? March data has continued to be above average compared with historic data at the same locations.? According to the current measurements, the snowpack is at 125% of the historic average snow height (snow depth) and at 125% of the historic average Snow Water Equivalent (SWE, a measure of water content) across the Scott River watershed survey points.? These data are very similar to last month?s data, however, the snowpack has become slightly denser.? Historically, the snowpack reaches its annual maximum by late-March/early-April.
Snow surveys are conducted monthly during the winter and spring months (March-May). Forest Service employees travel to established sites in the headwaters of the Scott River watershed to collect information about snow accumulation in the mountains of the Klamath National Forest. ?The newest measuring site at Scott Mountain has been monitored for 31 years; the oldest site at Middle Boulder has been monitored for 71 years.? Some sites are located close to Forest roads with good access, while others require hours of travel by snowshoe and/or snowmobile.
The height of snow and SWE are measured by a snow sampling tube with a cutter end that is driven through the snow pack, measuring depth. The snow core is then weighed to determine the water content (SWE). The information is forwarded to the State of California, where the data is compiled with other snow depth reports and becomes part of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys program. The data is managed by the California Department of Water Resources; more information is available on their website athttp://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow/current/snow/index.html.
All news releases, including past snow survey results, are posted on the Klamath National Forest?s website athttp://www.fs.usda.gov/newsarchives/klamath/newsarchive. 
March 1st 2017 Snow Survey Results Scott River Sub-Basin
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| Snow Course  | Height of Snow  | Snow Water Equivalent  |
| Measured  | Historic Average for Mar 1  | % of Historic Average  | Measured  | Historic Average for Mar 1  | % of Historic Average  |
| Middle Boulder 1
(Established 1946 / Elevation 6600?)  | 69.5"  | 65.1?  | 107%  | 37.5"  | 26.0?  | 144%  |
| Middle Boulder 3
(Established 1948 / Elevation 6200?)  | 84.5"  | 60.0?  | 141%  | 32.0"  | 23.1"  | 138%  |
| Dynamite Meadow
(Established 1955 / Elevation 5700?)  | 49.0"  | 47.0?  | 104%  | 15.5?  | 16.2?  | 96%  |
| Swampy John
(Established 1951 / Elevation 5500?)  | 89.5"  | 71.0?  | 126%  | 27.0"  | 24.9?  | 108%  |
| Scott Mountain
(Established 1986 / Elevation 5900?)  | 75.5"  | 51.1?  | 148%  | 27.5"  | 19.6"  | 140%  |
| Total average  | 125%  | 125%  |

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Photo of snow telemetry station near Scott Mountain under 6 feet of snow.


Snow telemetry station near Scott Mountain, Callahan, CA, January 30, 2017. 


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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Mar 13 09:40:31 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2017 16:40:31 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] CV Biz Times: Despite losing key lawsuit,
 state forges ahead with Delta Twin Tunnels scheme
References: <759721917.5934922.1489423231558.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <759721917.5934922.1489423231558@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=32251
Despite losing key lawsuit, state forges ahead with Delta Twin Tunnels scheme?
by Gene Beley, Delta Correspondent

SACRAMENTO?
March 12, 2017 9:01pm????
?? Is Brown administration ignoring the courts??? ?These massive tunnels don?t solve these problems and may aggravate them??? WITH EXCLUSIVE VIDEO?
Jan McCleery, a Discovery Bay resident who has been dueling with Gov. Edmund Gerald Brown Jr.?s California Delta tunnel vision for more than eight years with strong, organized support from her upscale community, says it is nearly ?unbelievable? that the Delta Stewardship Council is holding workshops to amend the Delta Plan that still promotes the twin tunnels as the first alternative to ?fix? the Delta.?After all, Discovery Bay Delta residents, along with Friends of the River, Restore the Delta, and others who joined in with them to consult on the arguments, won a lawsuit against the twin tunnels, Mrs. McCleery said.?She and other Delta advocates, including Restore the Delta, have pointed out for many years now that the present plan would destroy the Delta as a place to live, operate businesses, and attract tourism if construction is allowed to begin on Jerry Brown?s twin tunnels project.And some of the stakeholders providing input to the recent DSC. in Sacramento seemed to agree with her.Attorney Thomas Zuckerman of Stockton told the DSC staff they have the cart before the horse. ?Given the history of the development of the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project, there?s a big deficit in supply on the north side of the Delta that conveyance doesn?t resolve. What I mean by this is, as the State Water Project was developed, there was an assumption plan to develop about five million acre feet of firm annual yield from the North Coast rivers. That went bye-bye for a number of difficult reasons,? he said.?The thing that is necessary to understand when we talk about conveyance is the water supply that was contemplated north of the Delta. There is (now) a huge deficit in the system,? Mr. Zuckerman told the meeting. ?Just focusing on conveyance and particularly the conveyance that this focuses on now ? the tunnels with dual operation ? doesn?t really address the problem. The supply was never developed and never will be.?He added that a conveyance facility such as the governor?s twin tunnels cannot be designed ?until you identify what the water supply is that you need to convey.?If built, Mr. Brown?s scheme would see construction of two massive tunnels ? each 40 feet in diameter. That is so large that half of the 43,000 Cessna 172 aircraft ever built could fly in one direction through one tunnel while the other half could be flying through the adjacent tunnel in the other direction. The tunnels would suck fresh and comparatively clean water out of the Sacramento River before the water could flow into the Delta. It would then be piped to the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project for sale to San Joaquin Valley growers, urban users in Southern California and Silicon Valley.It would be, in essence, an underground version of Mr. Brown?s voter-rejected Peripheral Canal.Robert Wright, senior attorney for Friends of the River and Restore the Delta, told the DSC staff that it appears they don?t understand the discussion in that the draft proposal amendment designates the twin tunnels as the first choice again.?This happens sometimes when there is a volume of paperwork produced by consultants where folks don?t really realize the consequences,? he said. ?If you adopt the discussed draft amendment, you will be declaring the ?Water Fix? water tunnels to be the preferred alternative. Our position is, under the Delta Reform Act, that law specifies that three alternatives must be considered.?He said the staff may want to come up with many more, ?but one of them is through-conveyance. ?To be perfectly candid with you, one of them is also dual conveyance. Of course we would love for you to make through Delta conveyance the preferred alternative. The water exporters and the Department of Water Resources would love for you to make dual conveyance the preferred alternative.?Mr. Wright said the DSC staff needs to change its discussion draft, proposing mandatory approval, to not have the governor?s tunnels as a preferred alternative at this time.?Instead, go through and do all the comprehensive review analysis and then make the decision after getting all the evidence and comments?instead of right from the start,? he said.?The ballgame is conveyance. Is it going to be through Delta? Dual conveyance water tunnels or isolated conveyance? That?s the ball game and why folks are here. That?s why this thing has been controversial. That?s why there was a peripheral canal fight back in 1981 and 1982,? he said.The Elephant in the Room?If the DSC wants to make the water tunnels the preferred alternative in the beginning, we can?t stop you from doing that. But before you do that, we want you to know we really don?t think you should do that,? Mr. Wright said. ?This is the elephant in the room.?Sacramento attorney Osha Meserve, from the Soluri Meserve Law Corp., said more emphasis should be put on investing in improvements of the current system. ?That would be the least damaging environmentally,? she said. ?The tunnels are doing their own environmental review. The things that need analysis are some of these other options.?Sam Safi, an associate engineer in policy and planning for the Sacramento Area Sewer District, feels the DSC has a communications problem with the public. He says the presentations made to the public ?will make it sound like an irrelevant document.?Mr. Zuckerman said that after the recent rainstorms, the state needs to revisit flood control issues in the foothill reservoirs. ?Apparently we have made some miscalculations that have allowed the dams to spill in some circumstances where they are not designed to spill,? he said.?That means these reservoirs are going to provide less water to the system than they have historically. That is a very good reason to go back to this suggestion to look at the available water supply after the need of the downstream and Delta fisheries are satisfied. What we have left ? if that is not enough ? where are we going to go to develop the additional supply in order to meet reasonable needs? These massive tunnels don?t solve these problems and may aggravate them and is the wrong approach.?Mrs. McCleery said there will be a Town Hall meeting in Discovery Bay?s Elementary School Gymnasium at 6:30 p.m., Monday, March 13 to rally residents against the tunnels preferred plan being pushed by the Department of Water Resources and the DSC.Watch the DSC at work in this video:Delta Stewardship Council Meeting 3-9-17?Breakout session input to D.S.C?from?Gene Beley?on?Vimeo.
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From kheld at usbr.gov  Mon Mar 13 16:46:49 2017
From: kheld at usbr.gov (Held, Kevin)
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2017 16:46:49 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Nature walk planned for March 18 at Bucktail site on
	Trinity River
Message-ID: <CAG7O7qot_BWbvavan=Y98aOKGEkC5ewLfrS+YfyxyaE_kAxw+Q@mail.gmail.com>

*Nature walk planned for March 18 at Bucktail site on the Trinity River*

Join naturalists from the Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) on
Saturday, March 18, for a guided nature walk at the 2016 Bucktail project
site near Lewiston, Ca.

This free event will start at 9:30 a.m. The site location is 3 miles from
the intersection of Highway 299 and Lewiston Road. Travel 2.9 miles on
Lewiston Road to Brown's Mountain Road and turn left. Park on the right by
the Bucktail Bridge.

The group will walk the site and learn about the plants, fish and wildlife
that live there. TRRP installed a beaver dam analogue at the site to
simulate the benefits of water storage created by natural beaver dams.

The walk will take about two hours and is over uneven ground. Wear good
walking shoes and dress for the weather. All ages are welcome.

For more information call the Trinity County Resource Conservation District
at 623-6004
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Mar 14 09:51:31 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2017 16:51:31 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Lake still rising,
 but water being moved to Sacramento River
References: <1825690427.7087839.1489510291150.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1825690427.7087839.1489510291150@mail.yahoo.com>

For those of you who live downstream Trinity and Lewiston dams and are concerned about Trinity Lake getting too full with a huge snowpack, the Bureau of Reclamation is now moving water to the Sacramento River and making hydroelectric power. ?Trinity Lake continues to rise, but more slowly.
See?http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryDaily?CLE?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Mar 14 10:32:15 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2017 17:32:15 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Draft TAMWG Agenda, Weaverville 3/21/17
References: <1084064120.7143442.1489512735466.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1084064120.7143442.1489512735466@mail.yahoo.com>

Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group

DRAFT AGENDA

Meeting of March 21, 2017

NOTE: TimesSubject to Change


?
Location: Trinity RiverRestoration Program office (1313 South Main St, Weaverville, CA 96093)

Web Conference: http://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?sigKey=mymeetings&i=442336293&p=&t=c?

Conference Call: 866-715-1246,pass code: 4251781


?

|  Tuesday March 21, 2017 

  |
|  Time

  |  Agenda Item

 
?
  |  Presenter

  |
|  9:30 AM

  |  Welcome, Introductions, Approve Agenda & Minutes

 
?
  |  TAMWG

  |
|  9:45 AM

  |  Public Comment?? Note: In accordance with traditional meeting practices, TAMWG will not act on any public comment item during its current business meeting

  |  
?
  |
|  10:00 ?AM

  |  Designated Federal Officer Updates

 - election of TAMWG officers

  |  Joe Polos

  |
|  10:30 AM

  |  TMC Chair Report

  |  Seth Naman

  |
|  11:00 AM

  |  Executive Director Report ? including Implementation and Science Program updates

  |  Caryn Huntt? DeCarlo, Mike Dixon, Jennifer Norris

  |
|  12:00 PM 

  |  Lunch

  |  
?
  |
|  1:00 PM

  |  Water Year 2017 flow and gravel augmentation recommendations

  |  Krause and others

  |
|  3:00 PM

  |  Current TMC Issues

  |  TBD

  |
|  3:30 PM

  |  Public Comment

  |  
?
  |
|  4:00 PM

  |  Adjourn

  |  
?
  |


?
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From pcatanese at dhscott.com  Tue Mar 14 10:40:09 2017
From: pcatanese at dhscott.com (Paul Catanese)
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2017 17:40:09 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Lake still rising,
 but water being moved to Sacramento River
In-Reply-To: <1825690427.7087839.1489510291150@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1825690427.7087839.1489510291150.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1825690427.7087839.1489510291150@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <CY1PR04MB1832F9E5EBD8B9CB7045FDC3BC240@CY1PR04MB1832.namprd04.prod.outlook.com>

Tom thank you for the update. It s greatly appreciated.

Paul J. Catanese, Partner

[cid:image001.gif at 01D29CAF.595B4810]<http://www.dhscott.com/>
D.H. Scott & Company
O: 530.243.4300 | F: 530.243.4306
900 Market St, Redding, CA 96001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This communication (including any attachments) may contain privileged or confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this communication and/or shred the materials and any attachments and are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this communication, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. Thank you.

Disclaimer:  Any accounting, business or tax advice contained in this communication, including attachments and enclosures, is not intended as a thorough, in-depth analysis of specific issues, nor a substitute for a formal opinion, nor is it sufficient to avoid tax-related penalties.  If desired, D.H. Scott & Company would be pleased to perform the requisite research and provide you with a detailed written analysis.  Such an engagement may be the subject of a separate engagement letter that would define the scope and limits of the desired consultation services.

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2017 9:52 AM
To: Env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Lake still rising, but water being moved to Sacramento River

For those of you who live downstream Trinity and Lewiston dams and are concerned about Trinity Lake getting too full with a huge snowpack, the Bureau of Reclamation is now moving water to the Sacramento River and making hydroelectric power.  Trinity Lake continues to rise, but more slowly.

See http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryDaily?CLE

Tom Stokely
Salmon and Water Policy Analyst
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and
Institute for Fisheries Resources
530-524-0315
tstokely at att.net<mailto:tstokely at att.net>

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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Mar 14 11:06:52 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2017 18:06:52 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Lake still rising,
 but water being moved to Sacramento River
In-Reply-To: <1825690427.7087839.1489510291150@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1825690427.7087839.1489510291150.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1825690427.7087839.1489510291150@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1910858832.7131471.1489514812506@mail.yahoo.com>

You can track the amount of water going from the Trinity River to the Sacramento River at this link:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/staMeta?station_id=JCR

CDEC has been slow to respond today, so be patient if it doesn't work at first.
TS 

    On Tuesday, March 14, 2017 9:51 AM, Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net> wrote:
 

 For those of you who live downstream Trinity and Lewiston dams and are concerned about Trinity Lake getting too full with a huge snowpack, the Bureau of Reclamation is now moving water to the Sacramento River and making hydroelectric power. ?Trinity Lake continues to rise, but more slowly.
See?http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryDaily?CLE?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?

_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity


   
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Mar 14 16:38:56 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2017 23:38:56 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] TRRP Proposal to Address Refinements has been posted
 to Federal Business Opportunities (FBO)
In-Reply-To: <CAJE=Uc+y-Pkss4Cr1x3riJHfY0nTFhk6F9FOXavykBxKAFO6dg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAJE=Uc+y-Pkss4Cr1x3riJHfY0nTFhk6F9FOXavykBxKAFO6dg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <72704528.335638.1489534736376@mail.yahoo.com>

On Tuesday, March 14, 2017 3:35 PM, "Walker, Linsey" <lwalker at usbr.gov> wrote:
  Show original message 


 Good Afternoon All,
This email is to inform you that the solicitation for the TRRP Proposal to Address Refinements has been posted to Federal Business Opportunities (FBO).? You can find the solicitation at this?LINK.?The proposals are due to Nanci Pigeon by?4 pm?Pacific Time on?April 3, 2017. ??Deadline to submit questions is?March 24, 2017?by?4 pm?Pacific Time. A list of questions and answers will be compiled and posted on FBO by?March 28,2017.
Everyone who submits a proposal must be registered in System for Awards Management (SAM) at the time of proposal submittal. Information on SAM can be found this?LINK
?Don will be in contact to coordinate a technical review team to meet on April 20-21 to review received proposals.?
Thanks
Linsey

-- 
Linsey WalkerBureau of Reclamation16349 Shasta Dam Blvd.Shasta Lake, CA 96019530-276-2144

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Mar 15 12:49:15 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2017 19:49:15 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Just weeks after Oroville Dam crisis,
 damage found in another key California reservoir
In-Reply-To: <411699C1-D3E4-47E6-A1C0-D1D2DD2C5968@restorethedelta.org>
References: <CAOPObbrXJ5PeyrpoAVPQbmHO6qz5w0RprUD0BWuhR1eXBoDQMA@mail.gmail.com>
	<9F50D929-48C6-482E-95FC-6518BFB9BCE8@gmail.com>
	<099901d29d0d$985d4230$c917c690$@cah2oresearch.com>
	<AAC7115AA411FC41874DA7DCDBD49376018FF654E8@SFMAIL5A.nrdc.org>
	<BY2PR11MB0615E38B22B73CF8FC5836F6C4270@BY2PR11MB0615.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
	<411699C1-D3E4-47E6-A1C0-D1D2DD2C5968@restorethedelta.org>
Message-ID: <373980665.1200780.1489607355926@mail.yahoo.com>





  ? <image002.png> 
WATER & DROUGHT
 ? MARCH 14, 2017 4:35 PM 
Just weeks after Oroville Dam crisis, damage found in another key California reservoir
 <image003.jpg> 'Belly up to the bar and start spending money' on dam safety, Jerry Brown says?0:33 ? <image003.jpg> Jerry Brown says the state needs to spend some money to maintain its dams, roads and other public works during a Feb. 24, 2017 press conference at the Capitol. Video courtesy of the California Channel.?Jim Miller?jmiller at sacbee.com BY RYAN SABALOW AND DALE KASLER rsabalow at sacbee.com  ? California water officials, still struggling with fixes at?Oroville Dam,?will have to temporarily shut down the pumping station that delivers water to much of Southern California and Silicon Valley after discovering damage at another key state reservoir. The state Department of Water Resources confirmed Tuesday that operators discovered damage to the intake structure at the Clifton Court Forebay, a nearly two-mile-wide reservoir that stores water for the State Water Project pumping plant in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta near Tracy. Repairs will begin Wednesday. It?s not clear how long they will last. However, state officials said State Water Project customers won?t lose any water deliveries. ?This is not an emergency of any kind,? said Doug Carlson, a spokesman for the Department of Water Resources. ?The water is going to continue to flow to contractors.? Clifton Court is a crucial piece of the State Water Project?s plumbing. Water stored in the forebay is piped to the nearby pumping station, where it?s delivered to 19 million residents of Southern California, portions of Silicon Valley and about 750,000 acres of farmland in the San Joaquin Valley. Ted Page, board president of the Kern County Water Agency, one of the top customers of the SWP, said he was told the state will deliver water from the San Luis Reservoir in Merced County while repairs are being made at Clifton Court. Page said he?s been told the shipments from San Luis should be enough to meet customer demands while repairs are under way. ?San Luis is full, completely full,? Page said. ?And I think the period of time they?re talking about to do the repairs won?t be a big deal.? The state also could ask the federal government to help pipe water to Southern California through the state-run California Aqueduct by using the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation?s pumping facility. Though it?s less powerful than the state facility and has its own set of contractor demands, the federal pumping station is located near the state?s facilities at the south end of the Delta. The federal system can connect to the California Aqueduct through a connector canal. San Luis Reservoir, jointly owned by the SWP and the federal government?s Central Valley Project, is 99 percent full with a little more than 2 million acre-feet in storage. An acre-foot is 326,000 gallons. Page said he was told the problem started because of heavy use of the intake structure at Clifton Court. State officials had been pushing unusually large volumes of water into the reservoir for lengthy periods because of high river flows in the Delta. ?They were pumping at a higher rate than even what the pumps are rated for in my old blue book of the State Water Project,? said Jay Lund, director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis. The problem at Clifton Court comes barely a month after a near catastrophe struck Lake Oroville, the SWP?s primary reservoir. A giant fracture developed in Oroville Dam?s main spillway, prompting a temporary shutdown of the structure during a heavy storm. Five days later, water flowed over the dam?s emergency spillway for the first time, nearly causing the spillway to fail. Approximately 188,000 downstream residents were evacuated for two days. Dam operators averted disaster by ramping up outflows from the damaged main spillway, which lowered lake levels and arrested the flow of water over the faulty emergency spillway. The main spillway has been shut down for two weeks for temporary repairs but is expected to resume water releases Friday as spring snowmelt increases inflow into the reservoir. Temporary repairs to Oroville Dam have cost at least $100 million, Nancy Vogel, a spokeswoman for the California Natural Resources Agency, said Tuesday. It?s not clear yet what it will cost to repair the damage in Clifton Court?s intake structure, which consists of five 20-by-20-foot radial gates that take water from the Old River. Work started on the forebay in 1967 and was completed in 1969. Oroville Dam was completed in 1968. Ryan Sabalow:?916-321-1264,?@ryansabalow 
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article138528578.html#1#storylink=cpy  ? ??
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From bgutermuth at usbr.gov  Thu Mar 16 15:57:13 2017
From: bgutermuth at usbr.gov (Gutermuth, F.)
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2017 15:57:13 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek Project follow up after
 March 15th public meeting.
Message-ID: <CAMnws3JhP3zt81CsXDKQDe1ghZ004msaeAX-_GxWqUb1d4T6ZA@mail.gmail.com>

Dear Trinity River enthusiasts -

We had an good pubic meeting in Junction City last night. Thanks to those
folks who attended for your time.

For those who were unable to attend or are interested in written project
details, please refer to the currently available Draft Deep Gulch and
Sheridan Creek environmental document. Chapter 2 of this document includes
a detailed project description and Chapter 3 analyses the potential
environmental impacts associated with implementing the proposed project
(e.g., traffic and noise impacts, etc.).  A full copy of the document is
available at: http://odp.trrp.net/Data/Documents/Details.aspx?document=2315

Please call with questions or send your written comments regarding this
proposed project to bgutermuth at usbr.gov by April 7, 2017.

Thank you-

Brandt




Brandt Gutermuth
Trinity River Restoration Program
530.623.1806 work
http://www.trrp.net/




---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net>
Date: Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 5:30 PM
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Reclamation Announces Draft EA/IS and Public
Meeting on Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek Project
To: Env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>


On Wednesday, March 8, 2017 4:37 PM, Lisa Navarro <lnavarro at usbr.gov> wrote:


[image: Reclamation News Release Header]
*Mid-Pacific Region*
*Sacramento, Calif.*
MP-17-037
Media Contact: Russell Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.gov
For Immediate Release: March 8, 2017

*Reclamation Announces Draft EA/IS and Public Meeting on Deep Gulch and
Sheridan Creek Rehabilitation Project*

WEAVERVILLE, Calif. ? The Bureau of Reclamation, along with the Bureau of
Land Management (federal co-lead agencies) and the North Coast Regional
Water Quality Control Board (state lead agency), announce a draft
Environmental Assessment/Initial Study (EA/IS) and a public meeting for the
Trinity River Restoration Program?s (TRRP) proposed Deep Gulch and Sheridan
Creek Rehabilitation Project. The project is scheduled for implementation
in the summer of 2017.

The TRRP proposes to construct the Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek channel
rehabilitation project to increase salmon and steelhead habitat downstream
of Lewiston Dam, as authorized in the December 19, 2000, Record of Decision
for the Trinity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Environmental Impact
Statement. The public meeting will be held:
*Junction City, Calif.*: Wednesday, March 15, 6 to 8 p.m., North Fork
Grange Hall, 131 Dutch Creek Road
The meeting will be in an open house format for the public to meet TRRP and
Partner personnel, learn about the proposal, ask questions and provide
input. Written comments will be accepted at the meeting.

The draft EA/IS, which evaluates potential project impacts to the
environment, was created in accordance with the National Environmental
Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act. To view the
documents, please visit http://www.trrp.net/ or
https://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=27594*.* If
you encounter problems accessing the documents online, please call the
Public Affairs Office at 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or email
mppublicaffairs at usbr.gov. The documents will also be available for review
at the TRRP office, 1313 Main Street, Weaverville, CA and at the Trinity
County Library, 351 Main Street, Weaverville, CA.

Written comments on the draft EA/IS must be received by close of business
Friday, April 7, 2017. Please send comments to Brandt Gutermuth, TRRP, P.O.
Box 1300, Weaverville, CA 96093 or bgutermuth at usbr.gov. For additional
information, please contact Gutermuth at 530-623-1806 or Kevin Held at
530-623-1809.
###

Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States,
and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its
facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and
wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on
Twitter @USBR <https://twitter.com/usbr> and @ReclamationCVP
<https://twitter.com/ReclamationCVP>.

Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA
95825 United States



_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Mar 17 08:27:37 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2017 15:27:37 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Thousands of irrigators could be eligible to join
	'takings' suit
References: <1955213111.3077194.1489764457913.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1955213111.3077194.1489764457913@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.heraldandnews.com/klamath/thousands-of-irrigators-could-be-eligible-to-join-takings-suit/article_91606b17-d0f8-5864-9e09-30d634f217de.html



Thousands of irrigators could be eligible to join 'takings' suit

Forms must be submitted for compensation
   
   - By HOLLY DILLEMUTH H&N Staff Reporter?
?   
   - Mar 7, 2017
?   
   - ?(0)
Irrigators who owned or leased land in the Klamath Reclamation Project on April 6, 2001, are urged to join a class-action lawsuit in order to receive compensation, pending a decision in the so-called ?takings? case.Those who believe they may have a claim to compensation related to the water shutoffs of 2001 have approximately 90 days to fill out one form allowing them to join the case, certified by Federal Claims Court Judge Marian Blank Horn as a class-action.Irrigators can expect to receive an ?Entry of Appearance? form partially filled out by their irrigation district. Forms must be returned to Klamath Falls water attorney Bill Ganong by May 19 in order to be eligible to join the suit for compensation.BackgroundThe case stems from when the Bureau of Reclamation shut off water to Basin irrigators in order to protect endangered fish downstream in the Klamath River in 2001.Reclamation argues water had to be used to meet the requirements of biological opinions issued that year to promote the health of the sucker and coho salmon.If they prevail, the irrigators may be awarded up to $28 million. More importantly to them, the irrigators hope a ruling in their favor would mean that federal agencies must balance agriculture?s loss against the benefits to fish downstream.?(The Entry of Appearance) lays out the timelines and the requirements for giving notice to people who owned land in 2001 or were leasing and farming land in 2001,? Ganong said.?You have to have owned land that is related to the Klamath Project in 2001 or leased it in 2001 to be in the class,? Ganong said. ?It also says it only applies to the west side of the project that receives water from Upper Klamath Lake. The east side, which is Langell Valley, which is served from Clear Lake and Gerber ? they actually had water in 2001.?Since then, they?ve had a lot tougher time but then they were okay,? Ganong said, referencing the east side.He emphasized to return the form as soon as possible.?If you think there?s any possibility you have a claim, file it,? Ganong said. ?You do not get penalized for filing it. If you don?t file it, then you?re out.?Upwards of 4,000 people could qualify for compensation, Ganong said, which could be distributed by Judge Horn in one of two ways, pending if her decision favors irrigators. One is a lump sum of approximately $28 million, plus interest.?We said there were 336,000 acre feet of water that were not delivered and we said each acre foot was worth $88.86,? Ganong said. ?If you do that math, you come up with about $28 million.?After 16 years since the start of the case, Ganong said the interest on top of the proposed lump sum could double the award, if such an option is chosen by the judge.Another option would be to award funds to individual irrigators who opt in to the case, depending on how much irrigation water they used in 2001.?It?s completely up to the judge, and she may say we?re not entitled to any money at all,? Ganong said. ?That?s part of the spectrum of options.?Consolidated caseAttorneys for the plaintiff ? Marzulla Law, a Washington, D.C.-based firm ? filed the third part of the takings case in federal court on Feb. 24: Lonny E. Baley, et al, v. United States and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations. The case is consolidated, also including John Anderson Farms, Inc., et al, v. United States.The case completed testimonies by the plaintiff and defendant in the Federal Claims Court in the nation?s capital Feb. 10. Final oral arguments by the plaintiff and defendant will take place on May 9, according Ganong.?It?ll be a while before we get a decision,? Ganong said.Water contractsKlamath Project water refers to land subject to one of two types of contracts with the United States: Repayment or ?A? districts; or Warren Act contracts also called ?B? contracts.?There is land, such as the Running Y Ranch, that has a Warren Act contract that?s not served by the district but is eligible because they use Klamath Project water,? Ganong said.?There?s other land on both the west and east sides of the lakes that have Warren Act contracts that we will notify,? he added. ?Anybody that was served by an irrigation district will receive this notice and this form from the irrigation district. The order requires that the district fill in the second page.?Ganong will submit entries for a shared databank-style spreadsheet with Marzulla Law in Washington, D.C.?There?ll be thousands of them, I hope,? Ganong said. ?The idea is to make sure as many people opt in as they can.?The form addresses a number of scenarios for landowners, including in the case where a landowner or lessee who died in the years after 2001 can be reimbursed through a claim by way of a relative.Irrigation districts are no longer plaintiffs in the case, but individual irrigators are.?The reason we initially named the districts is to give the court the option of certifying this as a class-action, which is now where we?re at,? Ganong said. ?Because the court distributed it as a class-action, there just wasn?t any need for the districts to be plaintiff any longer.?Potential class-action members include irrigators from the following districts: Enterprise Irrigation District, Klamath Basin Improvement District, Klamath Drainage District, Klamath Hills District Improvement Company, Klamath Irrigation District, Malin Irrigation District, Pine Grove Irrigation District, Poe Valley Irrigation District; Shasta View Irrigation District, Sunnyside Irrigation District; Tulelake Irrigation District, Van Brimmer Ditch Company.Starting on March 17, Ganong and Marzulla Law will submit an updated list of irrigators who are joining the class action suit.By April 17, both plaintiffs and defendants will file a post trial brief with the court, followed by an opportunity for both sides to respond.All documents related to joining the class-action are due to Ganong?s office by May 19.?It?s been pending for 17 years,? Ganong said. ?I don?t have any false hopes,? Ganong added. ?We were all pleased that she took the bull by the horns and got it to trial and didn?t let it get postponed. She gave us as much time as we wanted in a full, complete trial.?
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From tgstoked at gmail.com  Fri Mar 17 12:07:44 2017
From: tgstoked at gmail.com (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2017 12:07:44 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Fishery groups receive state project funding
In-Reply-To: <332190430.3163514.1489777294375@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <874277105.3047366.1489763477541.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<874277105.3047366.1489763477541@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1263021894.3219106.1489777244436@mail.yahoo.com>
	<332190430.3163514.1489777294375@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <CABnDsn_v99R0k3yuv+KHMO0q03WAyZ30pPXmfO-OMA3MhSiJRQ@mail.gmail.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/article/20170317/NEWS/
170319859&template=printart

Fishery groups receive state project funding
19 Humboldt County projects receive CDFW funding
By Natalya Estrada, nestrada at times-standard.com, @natedoge4412
<http://twitter.com/natedoge4412> on Twitter
Friday, March 17, 2017
[image: Supply Creek holding pool along the Trinity River. The second phase
of the Supply Creek Restoration Project is one of 19 Humboldt County
projects receiving funding from a California Department of Fish and
Wildlife grant, which aims to restore, enhance and protect salmonid
habitat.]
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Wednesday selected 19
Humboldt County projects to receive funding for the restoration,
enhancement and protection for salmonid habitat.
One of those projects is the second phase of the Hoopa Valley Tribe?s
Supply Creek Restoration Project, which was granted $730,000.
?Specifically this restoration will significantly increase coho salmon
habitat,? Mike Orcutt, the tribe?s fisheries department director, said.
In total, Orcutt said, the tribe has received more than $2 million in
funding for Supply Creek.
?In Phase I, we removed artificial levees and built habitats important for
coho salmon, such as an off-channel pond and wetland complex,? Orcutt said.
?... This award is for Phase II of the project and will fully restore the
entire length of salmon bearing stream.?
The state fish and wildlife department granted a total of $15 million to 43
watershed projects, including the 19 in Humboldt County.
Department director Charlton Bonham said in a statement that restoring the
ecological function of critical fish habitat was an ongoing priority within
the state.
?Our successes happen when the entire restoration community works together,
and we are so fortunate to have stakeholders in California committed to
this goal,? Bonham said.
The Salmon Creek project, according to Orcutt, was selected based on
significant potential benefits to species recovery and the tribe?s positive
track record in restoring habitat throughout the basin.
Orcutt said although the project?s goal is to increase habitat for coho
salmon, other species including Chinook, steelhead and Pacific lamprey will
also benefit from the improvements.
?These tributaries get used by juvenile coho salmon migrating downstream
from throughout the Trinity Basin that need cold water refuge in the summer
and areas of slow water in the winter,? Orcutt said
He said the project will remove a levee built from cars and concrete after
the 1964 flood, allowing for more natural stream processes and improve the
conditions of the creek for fish.
The Whitethorn-based Sanctuary Forest ? the only Humboldt County project
categorized under water conservation ? received around $85,000.
Sanctuary Forest Water Program Director Tasha McKee said the Mattole
Storage and Forbearance project stores of up to 50,000 gallons of water
using installed water tanks.
?Ever since the project?s been in place, (the Mattole) hasn?t dried up in
the summer,? McKee said. ?The project focused on having enough water in
stream for the summertime.?
The watershed grant would allow for the project, which has been in place
since 2007, to continue until 2020.
McKee said that after 2020 Sanctuary Forest would apply for more funding to
help young juvenile fish and their habitats through better flow systems.
?We?re very grateful for the department?s award because it makes a big
impact to the fisheries here,? she said.
*Natalya Estrada can be reached at 707-441-0510 <(707)%20441-0510>.*

The list of funded and contingency projects can be found at
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Grants/FRGP/Funded
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From lrlake at aol.com  Fri Mar 17 13:27:28 2017
From: lrlake at aol.com (lrlake at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2017 16:27:28 -0400
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Fishery groups receive state project funding
Message-ID: <15addf42140-3c09-52ff@webprd-a52.mail.aol.com>

All,


Not to say these projects are not worthy, but I have followed the Trinity, Klamath and Sacramento river saga to the point of repulsion and disgust for nearly 40 years.  There have been some projects with demonstrated, positive results.  Nevertheless, most of the $ have been spent for BS and overhead expenses and not on-the-ground improving habitat (if habitat improvement is even feasible or has lasting benefits).  


It is time that "real work" be done.  I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that in-river and side-stream restoration seems to work; sometimes.  The bureaucracy costs too much, even for grant funding.  Adaptive Management and Monitoring is a joke with no punch line.  Everything just seems to be job security for folks, who mean well, but prefer expensive studies and consultants as opposed to doing real work.  


This has got to stop!


Larry


Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Stokely <tgstoked at gmail.com>
To: env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Sent: Fri, Mar 17, 2017 12:07 pm
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Fishery groups receive state project funding



http://www.times-standard.com/article/20170317/NEWS/170319859&template=printart












Fishery groups receive state project funding


19 Humboldt County projects receive CDFW funding

By Natalya Estrada, nestrada at times-standard.com, @natedoge4412 on Twitter

Friday, March 17, 2017






The California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Wednesday selected 19 Humboldt County projects to receive funding for the restoration, enhancement and protection for salmonid habitat.
One of those projects is the second phase of the Hoopa Valley Tribe?s Supply Creek Restoration Project, which was granted $730,000.
?Specifically this restoration will significantly increase coho salmon habitat,? Mike Orcutt, the tribe?s fisheries department director, said.
In total, Orcutt said, the tribe has received more than $2 million in funding for Supply Creek.

?In Phase I, we removed artificial levees and built habitats important for coho salmon, such as an off-channel pond and wetland complex,? Orcutt said. ?... This award is for Phase II of the project and will fully restore the entire length of salmon bearing stream.?
The state fish and wildlife department granted a total of $15 million to 43 watershed projects, including the 19 in Humboldt County.
Department director Charlton Bonham said in a statement that restoring the ecological function of critical fish habitat was an ongoing priority within the state. 

?Our successes happen when the entire restoration community works together, and we are so fortunate to have stakeholders in California committed to this goal,? Bonham said.
The Salmon Creek project, according to Orcutt, was selected based on significant potential benefits to species recovery and the tribe?s positive track record in restoring habitat throughout the basin. 
Orcutt said although the project?s goal is to increase habitat for coho salmon, other species including Chinook, steelhead and Pacific lamprey will also benefit from the improvements. 

?These tributaries get used by juvenile coho salmon migrating downstream from throughout the Trinity Basin that need cold water refuge in the summer and areas of slow water in the winter,? Orcutt said 
He said the project will remove a levee built from cars and concrete after the 1964 flood, allowing for more natural stream processes and improve the conditions of the creek for fish.
The Whitethorn-based Sanctuary Forest ? the only Humboldt County project categorized under water conservation ? received around $85,000.

Sanctuary Forest Water Program Director Tasha McKee said the Mattole Storage and Forbearance project stores of up to 50,000 gallons of water using installed water tanks.
?Ever since the project?s been in place, (the Mattole) hasn?t dried up in the summer,? McKee said. ?The project focused on having enough water in stream for the summertime.?
The watershed grant would allow for the project, which has been in place since 2007, to continue until 2020.
McKee said that after 2020 Sanctuary Forest would apply for more funding to help young juvenile fish and their habitats through better flow systems. 

?We?re very grateful for the department?s award because it makes a big impact to the fisheries here,? she said.
Natalya Estrada can be reached at 707-441-0510.




The list of funded and contingency projects can be found at https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Grants/FRGP/Funded 





  
 
  





  
 
  




_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity

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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Mar 20 17:55:59 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2017 00:55:59 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Federal Scientists Find Delta Tunnels Plan Will
 Devastate Salmon
In-Reply-To: <34E8A7C1-6DD9-4E6D-B783-7FC347DE735C@fishsniffer.com>
References: <1420692119.3926825.1487043693204.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1420692119.3926825.1487043693204@mail.yahoo.com>
	<35FA987F-8A73-4654-8E3E-98E4A17AB10A@fishsniffer.com>
	<ED2A44B6-A9A3-4579-8A0E-127214EEE50A@fishsniffer.com>
	<D2342DD3-ED44-46C3-8518-88D0C88AA918@fishsniffer.com>
	<7FAC7629-6AA3-44F8-BDB5-755E56FAF1C5@fishsniffer.com>
	<257611E0-D2D2-47C7-ABAB-CBCD6DEF5E0E@fishsniffer.com>
	<02B63D1A-0477-45D0-ACD9-33B89E4218B3@fishsniffer.com>
	<34E8A7C1-6DD9-4E6D-B783-7FC347DE735C@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <1065339369.172502.1490057760014@mail.yahoo.com>

On Monday, March 20, 2017 3:49 PM, Dan Bacher <danielbacher at fishsniffer.com> wrote:

 http://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2017/03/20/federal-scientists-find-delta-tunnels-plan-will-devastate-salmon/ ?
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/20/1645388/-Federal-Scientists-Find-Delta-Tunnels-Plan-Will-Devastate-Salmon?

?While the Governor focused on promoting the environmentally destructive Delta Tunels plan, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and other agencies failed to maintain and improve Oroville Dam and existing water infrastructure. DWR photo. ?
Federal Scientists Find Delta Tunnels Plan Will Devastate Salmon
by Dan Bacher
Governor Jerry Brown and administration officials claim that the California WaterFix,?a controversial plan to build two 35-mile long tunnels?under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta,?is based on ?science.??The best scientific thinking says California needs the project,? Governor Brown told Dan Morain,?Sacramento Bee editorial page editor in a interview in December of 2016. (www.sacbee.com/...)However, federal scientists strongly disagree with Brown?s claim that ?best scientific thinking" supports the construction of the tunnels. In fact, the?National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has released a draft biological opinion documenting the harm the tunnels would cause to salmon, steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, other fish and wildlife species, and water quality. ??An independent peer review panel found the NMFS findings are backed ?by ?comprehensive analyses, new data, and modeling,? according to a statement from the Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA).?The panel further found NMFS used the ?best available science? and produced evidence of??significant adverse impacts? to species and critical habitat, including unacceptable harm to salmon.The draft biological opinion is available?at http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/central_valley/WaterFix/WaterFixPeerReview2BMaterials.htmlFor the section focusing on the impacts on salmon and other fish species, go to:?http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/Central_Valley/CAWaterFix/Peer%20Review%202B/section_2.5.1.2_effectsanalysis_partb_operations_upstream.pdf Based on new scientific data documenting that the California WaterFix?project would worsen water and habitat?conditions for migrating Central Valley?salmon, GGSS said it opposes the?tunnels plan as ?currently envisioned.??The NMFS science and the peer review both make clear the current twin tunnels proposal will likely drive the salmon to extinction and will harm other wildlife. GGSA has no option but to oppose this project,? said John McManus, GGSA executive director.?Some of the many problems highlighted in the NMFS report are the following:? The heavy flow through the fish screens at the giant water intakes in the Sacramento River, located just downstream of Sacramento, could impinge the juvenile salmon to the screens where they will perish.? Those that survive impingement and are stressed or injured will be subject to heavy predation.? The Sacramento River below the screens will be reduced to a relative trickle. ?The tiny salmon need strong flows to push them downstream. Without that, more predation and heavy losses will result.? Lower flows downstream of the intakes will cause more juvenile salmon lost to the interior Delta through the Delta Cross Channel and Georgiana Slough.? A major decrease of freshwater downstream of the intakes will also highly degrade water quality, resulting in increased contaminants and decreased food sources.??The models used to gauge the damage to salmon showed a zero percent chance the tunnels would help winter-run Chinook salmon,??noted McManus. ?Instead the modeling showed a slow steady decline towards extinction for these salmon if the tunnels are built and operated as currently envisioned.?NMFS scientists forecast? increases in winter run Chinook redd (nest) dewatering (page 78) and spring run Chinook redd (nest) dewatering (page 86) on the Sacramento River if the tunnels are built.The NMFS report also highlights two upstream issues of concern to anglers and public trust advocates:? Salmon egg and alevin mortality on the American River under the tunnels project ?clearly? results in adverse effects on fall run salmon, the mainstay of the sport and commercial fishing industries.? Increased loss of federally protected winter and spring run salmon will occur from dewatering of their incubating eggs in upstream river gravels.??This project will not only destroy the salmon, but it also threatens the jobs of the thousands of people who depend on healthy salmon runs, including fishermen, tackle shops, boat shops, launch ramp operators, marinas, and many others,? said GGSA director Mike Aughney. ?It?s time to admit this version of the tunnel idea won?t work. ?There?s no doubt the status quo is very bad for salmon, but this giant twin tunnels proposal obviously isn?t the answer.?GGSA secretary Dick Pool added, ?The State Water Board?s update of the water quality control plan, including new flow standards to protect salmon, water quality, and the health of the delta, also needs to be completed before any tunnel project can be properly considered and designed.?The Governor continues to promote his tunnels as recreational, commercial and Tribal fishermen face reduced ocean and inland salmon seasons this year. Pre-season numbers unveiled by Dr. Michael O?Farrell of the National Marine Fisheries Service at a meeting in Santa Rosa on March 1 estimate only 230,700 Sacramento River fall run Chinook adults and 54,200 Klamath River fall run adults will be in the ocean this year. ? Both forecasts are lower than those of recent years, with the forecast for Klamath fall run being among the lowest on record.?Ocean regulatory management for salmon fisheries on the ocean from Cape Falcon in Oregon to the Mexico-US Border is heavily based on these runs.The Delta Tunnels will also have a huge detrimental impact on Delta smelt, a state and federally listed endangered species.??The PA will result in substantial adverse effects by the constriction/reduction in available habitat to delta smelt that support the migration, spawning, transport, and rearing processes that are necessary for reproduction and therefore survival of the species,? the report states.?(page 251)?
The document also states, ?The delta smelt population will be most affected by the constriction and reduction in the quantity and quality of available suitable habitat to rearing juveniles and adult spawners. Their habitat size will be greatly reduced from restricted access in the north, altered flows in the south Delta, and interior Delta movements of the LSZ. The quality of habitat will be further degraded by small changes in salinity, water temperature, water clarity, food supply, Microcystis, and selenium under the PA.? (Page 260)?
Delta longfin smelt and other fish species continue to remain at the edge of extinction. ?The Delta smelt has not yet become extinct, but the numbers of fish collected in the fall 2016 midwater trawl survey conducted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) remained alarmingly low.This is in spite of improved precipitation last winter and spring, followed by a very wet fall that should have resulted in much higher numbers of smelt surviving.The Delta smelt index, a relative measure of abundance, in the latest survey was 8, the second lowest in history. Seven Delta smelt were collected in November ? and none were collected in September, October, or December, according to a memo from James White, environmental scientist for the CDFW?s Bay Delta Region, to Scott Wilson, Regional Manager of the Bay Delta Region. (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/delta/data/fmwt/bibliography.asp )From 1967 through 2015, populations of striped bass, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, American shad, splittail and threadfin shad declined by 99.7, 98.3, 99.9, 97.7, 98.5 and 93.7 percent, respectively, according to Bill Jennings, Executive Director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA).?For more information, read: fishsniffer.com/??While?Governor Jerry Brown and other state officials proclaim that?the Delta Tunnels project will ?restore? the Delta ecosystem, they revealed their real plans ?when the administration applied for a permit to kill winter-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and other endangered species with the project.On October 7, 2016,?California Department of Water Resources (DWR) submitted an ?incidental take? application for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in ?compliance? with the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) in order to build the Delta Tunnels, also known as the California WaterFix. 
For more information, go to: http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/10/1580366/-Brown-administration-applies-for-permit-to-take-endangered-species-killed-by-Delta-Tunnels?The NMFS draft biological opinion confirms and expands upon what previous scientific reviews of the Delta Tunnels project, including a scathing 43-page report by the U.S. EPA in 2014, have already documented - that the project, rather than restore the ecosystem, is likely to further imperil struggling populations of salmon, steelhead and other fish species in Central Valley rivers, the San Francisco Bay-Delta and the ocean.The Delta Tunnels project is based on the absurd assumption that diverting more water out of a river and estuary will somehow ?restore? that river and estuary. It addition to hastening the extinction of Sacramento River Chinook salmon,?Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and green sturgeon, the California WaterFix also threatens already imperiled salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.


   
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Mar 20 19:50:49 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2017 02:50:49 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Draft Trinity Management Council Agenda March 27-28,
	Weaverville
References: <89017895.322882.1490064649937.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <89017895.322882.1490064649937@mail.yahoo.com>

TRINITY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL?
Trinity River Restoration Program Office?Hwy 299, Weaverville, CA?Agenda for March 27-28, 2017?WebEx and Call in information provided below?Monday, March 27, 2017?Time Topic, Purpose and/or Decision to be Made Discussion Leader?Regular Business:?9:30 Introductions: Seth Naman, Chair?? Welcome?? Approval of Agenda?? Approval of September minutes?
10:00 Open Forum: Comments from the public Seth Naman?10:15 Report from TAMWG Tom Stokely?10:45 Federal/Regional Updates Don Bader, Vice Chair?? TRRP refinements process update?? Letter from Reclamation to TMC RE:?
Lewiston Reservoir study-next steps?? Trinity Reservoir storage/CVP update?? Other?
11:00 Break All?Information / Decision Items:?11:15 Executive Director TRRP Report Caryn Huntt DeCarlo?12:00 Open Forum: Comments from the public Seth Naman?12:15 Lunch All?1:30 -3:00 2017 Flow Schedule Hydrograph Andreas Krause/Dave?Gaeuman/Jenny Norris?? Flow proposals?? Gravel Recommendation?
3:00 Break All?3:45 Restoration Project Planning Mike Dixon?4:15 FEMA designation of Trinity Floodway Brandt Gutermuth?4:45 Public forum Seth Naman?5:00 Adjourn?6:30 Group Dinner-La Grange, Indian Creek Lodge, or Golf Course-TBD?
Tuesday, March 28, 2017?Regular Business:?9:30 Open Forum: Comments from the public Seth Naman?Information / Decision Items:?9:45 Riparian Revegetation and Monitoring Plan James Lee/Mike Dixon?10:30 Break All?10:45 2018 Draft Budget Linsey Walker/Caryn Huntt DeCarlo?11:45 Open Forum: Comments from the public Seth Naman?12:00 Lunch All?1:15 Bylaws Seth Naman?? Changes to bylaws o Teleconference voting?o Succession planning?o Unanimous voting?
? Approval of bylaws?? Signature of bylaws?
2:30 Officer Elections All?3:00 Review 2017 TMC meeting and Teleconference?schedule Seth Naman?3:15 Public forum Seth Naman?3:30 Action items Seth Naman?3:45 AdjournWebex and Call in Information:?JOIN WEBEX MEETING?https://trrp.webex.com/trrp/j.php?MTID=mb02a0be4b72128fa6843fedd0cd35faf?Meeting number (access code): 800 613 282?Meeting password: rUxVAJx2?JOIN BY PHONE?1-408-792-6300 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Mar 21 19:57:05 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2017 02:57:05 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Increased Flows May Occur at Link River Dam (up
 to 12, 000 cfs from Iron Gate!)
In-Reply-To: <0944226aab494ffa9918d9ea90f2ddb9@usbr.gov>
References: <0944226aab494ffa9918d9ea90f2ddb9@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <1034576657.1462571.1490151425888@mail.yahoo.com>

On Tuesday, March 21, 2017 5:19 PM, Sarah McBride <smcbride at usbr.gov> wrote:

 Increased Flows May Occur at Link River DamMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-049Media Contact: Russell Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: March 21, 2017Increased Flows May Occur at Link River DamKLAMATH FALLS, Ore. ? The Bureau of Reclamation and PacifiCorp may be increasing releases from Upper Klamath Lake at Link River Dam to maintain adequate flood control capacity in Upper Klamath Lake. The increased releases, if needed, would be a result of increased inflows to Upper Klamath Lake due to recent and forecasted precipitation in the Upper Klamath Basin. The exact timing and magnitude of increased releases will be dependent upon the actual precipitation that occurs in the Upper Klamath Basin over the next several days.Link River flows may increase to a maximum of 7,700 cfs, and Iron Gate Dam releases may increase to a maximum of 12,000 cfs. If increased releases are warranted, the risks of flooding in the Klamath River downstream of Iron Gate Dam will be evaluated and the releases will be made in a manner that does not exacerbate flooding conditions along the Klamath River corridor.Residents and those recreating along the Link and Klamath rivers, and on Lake Ewauna, should be aware, expect rising water, and take appropriate precautions.This flow release is being done for flood control purposes but may also provide ecologic benefits including contributing to fish disease mitigation in the Klamath River below Iron Gate Dam.For additional information, please contact Laura Williams, Reclamation?s Klamath Basin Area Office, at 541-880-2581 (TTY 800-877-8339) or ljwilliams at usbr.gov.# # #Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Mar 22 14:21:34 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2017 21:21:34 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Reclamation Announces the 2017 Water Supply
 Allocation for the Central Valley Project
In-Reply-To: <a4714e88051f4534ac91348210df2fc2@usbr.gov>
References: <a4714e88051f4534ac91348210df2fc2@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <855654334.2322755.1490217694718@mail.yahoo.com>

On Wednesday, March 22, 2017 12:49 PM, Janet Sierzputowski <jsierzputowski at usbr.gov> wrote:

 Reclamation Announces the 2017 Water Supply Allocation for the Central Valley ProjectMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-051Media Contact: Russell Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: March 22, 2017Reclamation Announces the 2017 Water Supply Allocation for the Central Valley ProjectSACRAMENTO, Calif. ? The Bureau of Reclamation today announced the 2017 water supply allocation for the remaining Central Valley Project contractors. On Feb. 28, 2017, Reclamation announced the water supply allocation for CVP contractors in the Friant Division (Millerton Reservoir), Eastside Division (New Melones Reservoir), and the American River Division (Folsom Reservoir).The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) reports that as of March 20, the statewide average snow water equivalent in the Sierra Nevada was 44 inches, as compared to 25 inches last year. Precipitation is currently 199 percent of the seasonal average to date for the Sierra Nevada for this point in the water year (which began Oct. 1, 2016).?As previously announced, Reclamation is taking a unique approach to announcing CVP water allocations,? said Acting Mid-Pacific Regional Director Pablo Arroyave. ?In February, we notified the Refuge Contractors, San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors, and Sacramento River Settlement Contractors that, since this is not a Shasta Critical Year, they will receive 100 percent of their contract supply. We then provided additional allocations on February 28. Now, following DWR?s March 1 snow survey and completion of runoff forecasts, we are able to announce the remainder of the CVP contractors? allocations. While this allocation approach was warranted for this water year, in future years Reclamation will continue to strive to release initial allocations for all water users in February.?Reclamation determines the water allocation based upon many factors, including hydrologic conditions, reservoir storage levels, water quality requirements, water rights, contractual obligations, and endangered species protection measures. After evaluating these factors, Reclamation is announcing initial allocations to the following:North-of-Delta Contractors   
   - M&I water service contractors North-of-Delta are allocated 100 percent of their contract supply.
   
   - Agricultural water service contractors North-of-Delta are allocated 100 percent of their contract supply.
In-Delta   
   - The Contra Costa Water District, which receives water directly from the Delta, is allocated 100 percent of its contract supply.
South-of-Delta Contractors   
   - M&I water service contractors South-of-Delta are allocated 90 percent of their contract supply.
   
   - Agricultural water service contractors South-of-Delta are allocated 65 percent of their contract supply.
Given the magnitude of this allocation, the amount of water carried over from last year, and the overall availability of surface water, Reclamation strongly encourages the use of surface supplies instead of ground water wherever possible through the remainder of the 2017 water year. In order to promote effective use of supplies in San Luis Reservoir this year and efficiency for next year?s operations, Reclamation will limit the overall amount of water to be carried over to the 2018 contract year to 150,000 acre-feet. This represents approximately 10 percent of this year?s allocation. In addition, Reclamation will work with contractors regarding a strategy for water carried over from the 2016 water year and plans to effectively carry over water for the 2018 contract year.As the water year progresses, changes in hydrology and opportunities to deliver additional water will influence future allocations. Water supply updates will be made as appropriate and posted at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvp-water/index.html.For additional information, please contact the Public Affairs Office at 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or email mppublicaffairs at usbr.gov.# # #Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825 United States

   
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From sari at sisqtel.net  Fri Mar 24 11:49:22 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2017 11:49:22 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Island Press: Marine Ecosystem-Based Management in
	Practice
Message-ID: <01d701d2a4cf$5a90f2c0$0fb2d840$@sisqtel.net>

Case studies include Port Orford, OR.

https://islandpress.org/book/marine-ecosystem-based-management-in-practice?u
tm_source=Island+Press+Newsletter
<https://islandpress.org/book/marine-ecosystem-based-management-in-practice?
utm_source=Island+Press+Newsletter&utm_campaign=461afd8d52-WondolleckYaffee_
20_Mar2017&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ec2fe5ec1a-461afd8d52-54049813>
&utm_campaign=461afd8d52-WondolleckYaffee_20_Mar2017&utm_medium=email&utm_te
rm=0_ec2fe5ec1a-461afd8d52-54049813

 

Marine Ecosystem-Based Management in Practice Julia Wondolleck and Steven
Yaffee are hopeful.  Rather than lamenting the persistent conflicts in
global marine ecosystems, they instead sought out examples where managers
were doing things differently and making progress against great odds. They
interviewed planners, managers, community members, fishermen, and
environmentalists throughout the world to find the best lessons for others
hoping to advance marine conservation. Their surprising discovery?
Successful marine management requires not only the right mix of science,
law, financing, and organizational structure, but also an atmosphere of
collaboration-a comfortable place for participants to learn about issues,
craft solutions, and develop the interpersonal relationships, trust, and
understanding needed to put plans into action.
 
Marine Ecosystem-Based Management in Practice is the first practical guide
for the marine conservation realm. In a unique collection of case studies,
the authors showcase successful collaborative approaches to ecosystem-based
management. The authors introduce the basic concepts of ecosystem-based
management and five different pathways for making progress from community to
multinational levels. They spotlight the  characteristics that are evident
in all successful cases -the governance structures and social motivations
that make it work. Case analyses ranging from the Gulf of Maine to the
Channel Islands in Southern California comprise the bulk of the book,
augmented by text boxes showcasing examples of guiding documents important
to the process. They devote several ending chapters to discussion of the
interpersonal relationships critical to successful implementation of marine
ecosystem-based management. The book concludes with a discussion of the
implications for policy and on-the-ground practice.
 
This book offers a hopeful message to policy makers, managers,
practitioners, and students who will find this an indispensable guide to
field-tested, replicable marine conservation management practices that work.

 

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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Mar 25 10:04:12 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2017 17:04:12 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Klamath_River_salmon_season_faces_closure?=
 =?utf-8?q?_due_to_=E2=80=98unprecedented=E2=80=99_forecast?=
References: <1206142645.10096110.1490461452292.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1206142645.10096110.1490461452292@mail.yahoo.com>

Klamath River salmon season faces closure due to ?unprecedented? forecast

Pacific Fishery council: Salmon season closure is being considered Tribe: ?Money doesn?t replace the resource that we?re going to be losing?
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardThursday, March 23, 2017Both sport and commercial salmon fishing near the Klamath River could be completely closed this year as a result of what the Pacific Fishery Management Council is projecting to be the lowest return of spawning Chinook salmon on record.?The salmon runs this year will present a challenge for ocean fishermen and managers throughout the West Coast,? Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy said in a statement. ?In the north, several coho runs will keep ocean quotas lower than normal. In the south, the low forecast for Klamath River fall Chinook is unprecedented, and the most restrictive alternative the council will consider allows no ocean fishing between Cape Falcon, Oregon and the U.S./Mexico border after April 30 this year.?The council recommends fishery management measures to the federal government each year and provides several alternative options. For the Klamath Management Zone, which runs between the Oregon border to the Humboldt Bay south jetty, every alternative the council is recommending would close sport and commercial ocean salmon fishing.Local salmon fisherman David Bitts who serves as the California troll salmon advisor to the council said that this year?s season looks very much like 1992, which he said was the leanest year he?s experienced. Bitts said they expect about 12,000 Chinook salmon spawners to return to the river this year when they would want to see about 35,000 to 40,000.?It?s going to be a grim year and I hope there are enough fish in the ocean that people can catch enough to get through the year,? he said.In-river harvest could be completely closed or limited to a total of 120 fish, which Bitts said would likely result in a full closure due to the low number.Last year, the Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes were allocated about 7,000 salmon to harvest by the management council. This was the second lowest harvest the tribes have ever received, prompting the Yurok Tribe to close its commercial fishery and limit the number of fish tribal members could catch for food. Yurok Tribe general counsel and tribal member Amy Cordalis said last year?s harvest was not enough for every tribal member to harvest even one fish.?This year, the management council is recommending the tribes be allocated as few as 200 salmon to a maximum of about 800, according to the council?s preseason report.?We?re looking at a collapse of the coho and chinook genes on the Klamath River,? Cordalis said.Hoopa Valley Tribe Fisheries Director Mike Orcutt said this is the worst available harvest the tribes have received and will affect not only the tribe?s fisheries, but also its cultural ceremonies such as the deerskin dance.?I don?t think the realization of what we?re looking at has hit home for people,? he said.The now former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker declared a fisheries disaster for the Yurok Tribe in January because of last year?s poor Chinook salmon, which opens the tribe up to federal relief funds. Congress will have to appropriate funding for the tribe, which could occur within the next several weeks.?Our commercial fishery is one of the only ways we can make money,? Cordalis said. ?There are very limited economic opportunities in Klamath. So we have suffered. There are challenges for tribal members to pay their bills, kids are going without school clothes. The delay has been very challenging for us.?While federal disaster relief funds will help temporarily, Orcutt said, ?Money doesn?t replace the resource that we?re going to be losing.?Both the management council and Cordalis state that this year?s low run is the result of a combination of drought as well as poor river and ocean conditions during the past three years.Tribal studies conducted in 2014 and 2015 found up to 90 percent of juvenile Chinook salmon on the lower Klamath River were infected by a deadly intestinal parasite, which Cordalis said is a contributing factor in this year?s low returns.Both the Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribes filed a lawsuit against two federal agencies last year that alleged the federal government?s control of dam water releases on the Klamath River resulted in the high infection rate. In February, a federal judge ordered the federal agencies and the tribes to work to create a new dam water release plan for the Klamath River to prevent further outbreaks from occurring.Cordalis said that the proposed removal of four Klamath River dams along with improved management of the river will work to revitalize the salmon runs.?Restoring the salmon runs is economic development for Humboldt and Del Norte counties,? Cordalis said.Bitts said this year?s increased rainfall and improved river conditions are encouraging. While he remembers 1992 as one of the poorest salmon seasons on record, the fish that spawned that year resulted in one of the largest returns in 1995 and 1996.?So we?ll cross our fingers that the few fish that make it up the river this year find good conditions and the little ones coming down find good conditions in the ocean,? Bitts said.The Pacific Fishery Management Council is set to meet in Sacramento between April 6 and April 11 to select a final alternative to recommend. This final recommendation is expected to be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval and implementation by May 1.?Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.??URL: http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170323/klamath-river-salmon-season-faces-closure-due-to-unprecedented-forecast? 2017 Eureka Times-Standard (http://www.times-standard.com)
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Mar 30 08:58:12 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2017 15:58:12 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Legislators,
	fishermen discuss future of state fisherie
References: <1007017875.541274.1490889492756.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1007017875.541274.1490889492756@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/article/20170329/NEWS/170329852&template=printart

Legislators, fishermen discuss future of state fisheries

Legislators, fishermen discuss uncertain future for fisheries
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardWednesday, March 29, 2017Speaking at California?s 44th annual ?state of the fisheries? forum at the State Capitol on Wednesday, North Coast Sen. Mike McGuire and other state officials conveyed a dire future as the state experiences its lowest forecast salmon return on record and continuing poor ocean conditions.?We are facing a true calamity here in California,? McGuire (D-Healdsburg) said during the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture?s Zeke Grader fisheries forum in Sacramento. ?Many families who have relied on the mighty Pacific for their livelihood are on the brink of economic ruin.?The theme of Wednesday?s forum was fisheries in a changing climate and occurred a day after President Donald Trump?signed an executive order calling for the rollback of climate change laws?put into effect under Barack Obama?s administration. McGuire, who is chairman for the committee, said the state must ?remain vigilant? of any federal actions, some of which in the past he said have led to catastrophic consequences such as the 2002 fish kill on the Klamath River and more recently?a die-off of baby salmon on the river.?We?re facing a new reality,? McGuire said.The proposed closure of the commercial and sport salmon fishing season on the Klamath River this year was a main topic of discussion at the forum. Last week, the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which recommends fishing regulations to the federal government, forecast?the lowest return of spawning Chinook salmon on the Klamath River on record, with about 12,000 fish expected. The council is set to finalize these recommendations in early April.The Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes face significant reductions in their salmon allocations this year. The Yurok Tribe anticipates it will receive about 650 fish total, or about one fish for every 10 tribal members, which the tribe?s Chairman Thomas P. O?Rourke Sr. described as a ?nightmare.??I have never in my life dreamed that it could get this bad,? O?Rourke Sr. said in statement last week. ?This is devastating to our people, not only physically but emotionally. It?s saddening and hard to believe.?California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton ?Chuck? Bonham told the committee he understands what this forecast means to the two tribes as well as the Karuk Tribe. Bonham said he expects he will likely have to ask the governor to declare a fisheries disaster for this year?s salmon season.Pacific Fishery Management Council California troll salmon advisor Dave Bitts concurred. Bitts said that ocean fishing will likely be limited to about 700 Klamath River Chinook salmon when four years ago it was about 70,000 fish.?We?re looking at either no fishing after April 30 or a couple little scraps of a commercial fishing season below Point Arena this year,? Bitts said. ?In either case, the odds are excellent that this is going to be a disaster season by the federal standard. It?s not too soon to be laying the groundwork.?Both Bonham and Bitts said the proposed?plan to remove four Klamath River hydroelectric dams?will work to address many of the issues such as low flows and warm waters that led to?recent die-offs of baby salmon on the river.Morro Bay crab fisherwoman Lori French, whose husband is also a fisherman, told the committee the poor salmon return will be ?the straw that broke the camel?s back? for many young crab fishermen who also rely on salmon for income.The poor season comes after the crab fleet experienced up to six-month delays in the 2015-16 crab season because of large toxic algae blooms. Bonham said crabbers are expected to have an average haul this year, but that many of them are still requiring federal disaster funding to make up for last season?s losses. Congress is working to?appropriate these disaster funds in the coming weeks.McGuire said the committee is planning to hold a hearing on the salmon season in May and another later in the year.Another major topic of discussion was Gov. Jerry Brown?s proposed landing fee increase for the state?s fishing fleet, which came under fire from legislators and fishermen alike.?Committee Vice Chairman and North Coast Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) said he is ?adamantly opposed? to the increase.?It is the wrong amount at the wrong time affecting the wrong people,? Wood said. ?I will push back.?The landing fee has not been increased since 1993. To address a $20 million budget shortfall in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Department, Brown is proposing to raise landing fees by as much as 1,300 percent. Landing fees are collected on a per pound basis of the amount of seafood fishermen catch or land.?However, McGuire said Brown?s proposal would increase the landing fees for crab fisherman by up to 13,000 percent.?No industry should have to absorb these hikes,? McGuire said.Bonham stated that the landing fees currently make up only a fraction of the department?s budget for regulating the commercial fisheries.For the 2015-16 seasons, Bonham said fishing fleets brought in about $133 million of product, but only paid $322,000 in landing fees. Bonham said he recognizes the proposed fee increase is only a short-term solution that would not address the department?s predicted budget shortfall in the 2018-19 fiscal year. He said he has been directed by Brown to come up with a long-term funding plan.?I have a sustainable financing source program for my whole department,? Bonham said.Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations Executive Director Noah Oppenheim said the ?excessive, capricious landing tax proposal? would result in buyers purchasing product from other states because of higher prices, would cause seafood prices to increase for consumers and place devastating financial burdens on a fleet working to recover from a disastrous season.?It will absolutely shock the industry,? Oppenheim said.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Mar 30 16:18:28 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2017 23:18:28 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Caselaw: HOOPA VALLEY INDIAN TRIBE v. RYAN
References: <1278797009.8662745.1490915908462.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1278797009.8662745.1490915908462@mail.yahoo.com>

For those of you who have time to read up on what responsibilities the Interior Department has and does not have to the Hoopa Valley Tribe, see below. ? It's a bit long but explains a lot of history and legalese regarding the Trinity River Restoration Program and its funding.
TS

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1085609.html


   
   - FindLaw
   - Caselaw
   - United States
   - US 9th Cir.
   - HOOPA VALLEY INDIAN TRIBE v. RYAN

HOOPA VALLEY INDIAN TRIBE v. RYAN
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United States Court of Appeals,Ninth Circuit.


HOOPA VALLEY INDIAN TRIBE, a federally recognized Indian tribe, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Michael J. RYAN, Northern Area Manager, Bureau of Reclamation; ?Gale A. Norton, Secretary of the Interior; ?United States of America, Defendants-Appellees.
No.?03-16940.

????Decided: July 08, 2005
Before HUG, THOMPSON, and RYMER, Circuit Judges.Kyme A.M. McGaw, Thomas P. Schlosser, Morisset, Schlosser, Jozwiak, & McGaw, Seattle, WA, for the appellant. John S. Koppel, Attorney, Civil Division, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for the appellees.In an effort to address ongoing declines in salmon and steelhead populations in the Trinity River basin, the Bureau of Reclamation adopted a multifaceted restoration program. ? The Hoopa Valley Indian Tribe sought funding to implement many of the proposed restoration projects under the mandatory contracting provisions of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. After the Bureau refused to execute mandatory contracts for the Tribe's proposals, the Tribe brought suit. ? On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court held that the programs at issue are not ?for the benefit of Indians because of their status as Indians,? and thus are not eligible for mandatory contracts. ? We have jurisdiction over the Tribe's appeal under 28 U.S.C. ??1291, and we affirm.IThe Trinity River, originating in the coastal mountains of Northern California, flows through the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation before joining with the Klamath River and emptying into the Pacific Ocean. ? The Klamath-Trinity river system historically produced bountiful runs of salmon and steelhead. ? These fisheries played a central role in the livelihood and culture of the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Indian Tribes, as well as in the region's economy and way of life as a whole. ? Beginning in the latter half of the last century, however, the river was dammed and nearly all of its water was diverted to agricultural uses in California's Central Valley. ? The Trinity's legendary fishery, and those dependent on it, suffered dearly as a result.1In 1955, Congress authorized the Trinity River Division, a system of dams and diversions that ultimately diverted nearly ninety percent of the upper river's inflow to the Central Valley. ? The Division eliminated more than 100 miles of upstream spawning habitat, dramatically reduced downstream flows necessary to flush fine sediment from the gravel beds in which the fish spawned, contributed to channelization of the river, and otherwise degraded what habitat remained below the dams. ? By 1980, suitable habitat was all but eliminated from the river, and salmon and steelhead populations had plummeted by as much as eighty percent.Congress has taken steps to mitigate the impact of the Trinity River Division. ? In the legislation first authorizing the Division, Congress directed the Secretary of the Interior to ?adopt appropriate measures to insure the preservation and propagation of fish and wildlife,? including a minimum summer flow below the diversion of 150 cubic feet per second. ?Pub.L. No. 84-386, ??2, 69 Stat. 719 (1955). ? In 1980, Congress appropriated additional funds to remedy sediment problems originating in Grass Valley Creek, a tributary of the Trinity. ?Pub.L. No. 96-335, 94 Stat. 1062 (1980).As the situation on the river grew more dire, Congress responded with the Trinity River Basin Fish and Wildlife Management Act, Pub.L. No. 98-541, 98 Stat. 2721 (1984) (hereafter ?1984 Act?), which directed the Secretary to ?formulate and implement? a restoration program ?designed to restore the fish and wildlife populations in [the Trinity River] basin to the levels approximating those which existed immediately before? construction of the Division. ? Id. at ??2(a). ? This legislation also required the Secretary to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Hoopa Valley Tribe in order to ?facilitate the implementation of those activities ? over which the Secretary does not have jurisdiction.? ? Id. at ??2(b)(2). ? It also provided for appointment of a Hoopa Valley Tribe representative to the newly created Trinity River Basin Fish and Wildlife Task Force. ? Id. at ??3(a)(14).In 1996, Congress reauthorized and expanded the 1984 Act, mandating that the success of restoration be measured in part ?by the ability of dependent tribal, commercial, and sport fisheries to participate fully, through enhanced in-river and ocean harvest opportunities, in the benefits of restoration.? ? Trinity River Basin Fish and Wildlife Management Reauthorization Act of 1995, Pub.L. No. 104-143, ??2(2), 110 Stat. 1338 (1996). ? Congress also added the long-term goal of ?aid[-ing] in the resumption of commercial, including ocean harvest, and recreational fishing activities,? and allowed representatives of the Yurok and Karuk Tribes to serve on the Task Force. ? Id. at ???2(3), 4(a)(3).Although direct funding for activities under the 1984 and 1996 Acts expired on October 1, 1998, id. at ??5(a)(1), Congress separately continued to support Trinity River restoration through the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, Pub.L. No. 102-575, ???3401-3412, 106 Stat. 4600, 4706-31 (1992) (hereafter ?CVPIA?). ? Specifically, ?in order to meet Federal trust responsibilities to protect the fishery resources of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, and to meet the fishery restoration goals? of the 1984 Act, Congress directed the Secretary to provide a minimum instream release of water into the Trinity River and to consult with the Hoopa Valley Tribe in completing a ?Trinity River Flow Evaluation Study? that could lead to further increases in the minimum flow. ? Id. at ??3406(b)(23), 106 Stat. 4720-21.Following completion of this study, the Department of the Interior finalized its Trinity River Mainstream Restoration Program and issued a Record of Decision. ? The Record of Decision recommended variable increases in the amount of water released into the river, depending on water availability during any given year. ? The document also recommended other restoration measures, including mechanical channel rehabilitation, sediment management and watershed restoration programs, adaptive management, and monitoring. ? The Department also reaffirmed that congressional mandates, grounded in the federal government's trust responsibilities to the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes, required restoration of Trinity River salmon and steelhead populations to levels existing before the dams were built.The Hoopa Valley Tribe first proposed a mandatory ?self-determination contract,? under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (hereafter ?ISDEAA?), for Trinity River restoration activities in August, 1999. ? The Bureau of Reclamation denied the Tribe's proposal, finding that Trinity River restoration was a national program designed to benefit the public as a whole rather than the Tribe in particular. ? The Tribe appealed to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals, which affirmed the Bureau's decision in part. ? The Administrative Law Judge found that the particular programs, functions, services, and activities related to the Trinity Flow Study and the Record of Decision were eligible for a self-determination contract because these activities were directly connected to tribal authority granted under the CVPIA. ? The judge also concluded, however, that the other proposed restoration projects could not be funded under self-determination contracts because they were designed to benefit the public as a whole rather than ?Indians because of their status as Indians.?The Tribe again sought mandatory contracts for fiscal year 2002 covering nineteen restoration activities, many of which involved monitoring, channel rehabilitation, and fishery enhancement activities affecting habitat throughout the Trinity River system. ? The Bureau again denied the Tribe's request, citing the reasoning in the Administrative Law Judge's decision. ? The Tribe responded with another proposed scope of work for mandatory contracts, this time encompassing twenty-six restoration activities. ? The Bureau, once again employing the Administrative Law Judge's criteria, found that only two of the proposed activities (those related to the Trinity Flow Study process) fell within the mandatory contracting provisions of ISDEAA. ? Disagreeing with the Bureau's analysis, the Tribe submitted a ?last best offer? covering nineteen activities. ? The Bureau again determined that most of the activities were not eligible for mandatory self-determination contracts, but offered to negotiate discretionary funding for those activities under a separate ISDEAA provision.The Tribe then filed suit in the district court challenging the Bureau's interpretation of ISDEAA. ? In paragraph 41 of its complaint, the Tribe specified five activities for which it sought mandatory contracts: ?(A) basic sediment transport monitoring; ?(B) channel rehabilitation site physical monitoring; ?(C) rehabilitation site biological monitoring; ?(D) main-stem outmigrant monitoring; ?and (E) participation in the Channel Restoration Subcommittee. ? The Tribe also sought a declaratory judgment that all other programs, services, functions, and activities necessary to implement the Record of Decision were eligible for mandatory self-determination contracts. ? On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court held that restoration activities designed to benefit the Trinity River and its users as a whole, rather than the Tribe in particular, did not fall within ISDEAA's mandatory contracting provisions. ? The Tribe timely appealed.II?We review the district court's decision on cross-motions for summary judgment de novo. ? See United States v. City of Tacoma, 332 F.3d 574, 578 (9th Cir.2003).IIIWe first examine whether the district court correctly concluded that Trinity River restoration programs do not fall within the mandatory contracting provisions of the ISDEAA. ? We then address the Tribe's argument that the government's trust obligations, as acknowledged in the various statutes governing Trinity River restoration, require the Bureau to execute mandatory contracts.AContracts between the federal government and Indian tribes under the ISDEAA take two basic forms. ? Under Title I of the ISDEAA, tribes are entitled to enter into ?self-determination? contracts, defined as contracts ?for the planning, conduct and administration of programs or services which are otherwise provided to Indian tribes and their members pursuant to Federal law.? ?25 U.S.C. ??450b(j). ?The government must enter into self-determination contracts allowing tribal organizations to plan, conduct, and administer certain federal programs, including programs ?for the benefit of Indians because of their status as Indians.? ?25 U.S.C. ??450f(a)(1)(E). ? In other words, self-determination contracts are mandatory rather than discretionary.Tribes also may obtain mandatory contracts under Title IV of the ISDEAA, which allows Tribes participating in ?self-governance? to negotiate comprehensive ?annual funding agreements? containing contracts for a wide range of programs. ? See generally 25 U.S.C. ??458aa-458hh. ? The Department of Interior is required to negotiate contracts for administration of Department ?programs, services, functions, and activities? that are ?otherwise available? to Indian tribes or Indians. ?25 U.S.C. ??458cc(b)(2). ? The Department has interpreted ?otherwise available? as describing programs eligible for self-determination contracts under Title I. See Final Rule, 65 Fed.Reg. 78,688, 78,695 (Dec. 15, 2000). ? In other words, tribes participating in self-governance under Title IV may incorporate mandatory self-determination contracts-including contracts for programs ?for the benefit of Indians because of their status as Indians? -in their annual funding agreements with federal agencies. ? See 25 C.F.R. ???1000.123, 1000.124.2Title IV also gives federal agencies discretion to fund programs and activities that are not eligible for self-determination contracts. ? Annual funding agreements ?may ? also include other programs, services, functions, and activities, or portions thereof, administered by the Secretary of the Interior which are of special geographic, historical, or cultural significance to the participating Indian tribe requesting a compact.? ?25 U.S.C. ??458cc(c). ?The Department has interpreted this subsection as granting the government discretion to fund programs ?that may coincidentally benefit Indians but that are national in scope and [are] not by definition ?programs for the benefit of Indians because of their status as Indians.??? 65 Fed.Reg. at 78,695. ? The Department's final regulations reflect this view. ? See generally 25 C.F.R. ???1000.122-1000.136.?[1]?Therefore, the Secretary of the Interior must enter into contracts with tribes for the planning, conduct, and administration of federal programs ?for the benefit of Indians because of their status as Indians,? whether the Secretary does so under Title I or Title IV of the ISDEAA. ? The Secretary also has discretion to negotiate (in annual funding agreements under Title IV) contracts for other programs which, although ?of special geographic, historical, or cultural significance? to Indians, are national rather than narrowly tribal in scope.The Tribe argues that Trinity River restoration programs are activities ?for the benefit of Indians because of their status as Indians,? and therefore are eligible for mandatory inclusion within the Tribe's annual funding agreements under Title IV of the ISDEAA. ? The Bureau contends, and the district court agreed, that the restoration program is designed to benefit the public in general rather than the Tribe in particular, and that the mandatory self-determination contracting provisions of the ISDEAA are therefore inapplicable.We recently examined the scope of federal programs ?for the benefit of Indians because of their status as Indians? in concluding that the Navajo Nation was not entitled to a mandatory contract for administration of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. ?Navajo Nation v. Dep't of Health & Human Servs., 325 F.3d 1133 (9th Cir.2003) (en banc). ? We held that TANF, a ?pass-through program that funnels federal money to states for state-run welfare programs,? was not ?a federal program designed specifically to benefit Indians.? ?Id. at 1135, 1138. ? In so holding, we contrasted TANF with other programs statutorily eligible for mandatory self-determination contracting under Title I of the ISDEAA. ? See id. at 1137-38 (discussing 25 U.S.C. ??450f(a)(1)(A)-(C)). ?All of those programs-covering contracts under the Johnson O'Malley Act for Indian education, under the Snyder Act for general support of Indian welfare, and under the Transfer Act of 1954 for maintenance and operation of Indian health care facilities-are ?specifically targeted to Indians and not merely programs that collaterally benefit Indians as a part of the broader population, as is the case with TANF.? Id. at 1138. ? Accordingly, we held that TANF is not a program eligible for mandatory contracting under 25 U.S.C. ??450f(a)(1)(E).Like TANF, the Trinity River restoration program is not ?specifically targeted? to Indians, but rather is intended to benefit a far wider range of interests in the Trinity River and its fisheries. ? The 1984 Act, which first established the goal of restoring fish populations to pre-dam levels, contemplated that state, local, and tribal participation would be necessary to achieve this goal, and included representatives of these interests on the Trinity River Basin Fish and Wildlife Task Force. ?Pub.L. No. 98-541, ??3(a), 98 Stat. 2721, 2722-23 (1984). ? The 1996 amendments to the 1984 Act clarified that restoration would be measured in part ?by the ability of dependent tribal, commercial, and sport fisheries to participate fully, through enhanced in-river and ocean harvest opportunities, in the benefits of restoration.? ?Pub.L. No. 104-143, ??2(2), 110 Stat. 1338 (1996). ? Congress also stated that the Trinity Basin fish and wildlife management program, if successful, would ?aid in the resumption of commercial, including ocean harvest, and recreational fishing activities.? ? Id., ??2(3). ? These amendments show a clear intent to benefit the entire range of interests dependent upon a restored Trinity River fishery.We also must be careful to identify the precise benefits Congress intended to confer by authorizing restoration: ?increased populations of salmon and steelhead, more abundant in-river and ocean harvests, and recovery of tribal as well as non-tribal commercial and recreational fisheries. ? These benefits will accrue to the Tribe and others no matter who does the actual restoration work. ? It is undisputed that the Tribe is eligible to apply for funds to do this work.3??There is nothing in the relevant statutes or elsewhere in the record, however, showing that Congress ?specifically targeted? the Tribe in its capacity as a restoration contractor rather than as one ultimate beneficiary of a restored fishery.Accordingly, in comparison to other programs eligible for self-determination contracts, see 25 U.S.C. ??450f(a)(1)(A)-(C), the Trinity River restoration program is not ?specifically targeted? to the Hoopa Valley Tribe, but rather ?collaterally benefit[s] Indians as a part of the broader population.? ? Cf. Navajo Nation, 325 F.3d at 1138. ? Although Congress clearly intended that the Tribe should benefit from a restored fishery, nothing in the authorizing statutes or the Record of Decision suggests that Congress ?specifically targeted? the tribe as a beneficiary of funding for the particular restoration projects listed in Paragraph 41 of the Tribe's complaint. ? Therefore, the Bureau's restoration projects were not proposed ?for the benefit of Indians because of their status as Indians,? 25 U.S.C. ??450f(a)(1)(E), and thus are not eligible for mandatory self-determination contracting under either Title I or Title IV of the ISDEAA.4BThe Tribe argues that the government's obligation as a trustee must take precedence over its other statutory obligations. ? In the Tribe's view, congressional acknowledgment of this trust obligation in the CVPIA means that the Tribe's interest trumps all others recognized in the statutes authorizing Trinity River restoration. ? We disagree.?The Supreme Court has long recognized ?the distinctive obligation of trust? that binds the government in its dealings with Indian people. ? Seminole Nation v. United States, 316 U.S. 286, 296, 62 S.Ct. 1049, 86 L.Ed. 1480 (1942). ? In carrying out its treaty obligations, the governmentis something more than a mere contracting party. ? Under a humane and self imposed policy which has found expression in many acts of Congress and numerous decisions of this Court, it has charged itself with moral obligations of the highest responsibility and trust. ? Its conduct, as disclosed in the acts of those who represent it in dealings with the Indians, should therefore be judged by the most exacting fiduciary standards.Id. at 296-97, 62 S.Ct. 1049. ? As the Tribe points out, we have ?read the [trust] obligation to extend to any federal government action.? ? Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of Indians v. United States Dep't of Navy, 898 F.2d 1410, 1420 (9th Cir.1990). ? Accordingly, the Bureau's actions here must be viewed in light of the obligations imposed by the trust doctrine.The government's trust obligations, however, can coexist with its other responsibilities. ? See, e.g., Nevada v. United States, 463 U.S. 110, 128, 142-43, 103 S.Ct. 2906, 77 L.Ed.2d 509 (1983) (recognizing the government's dual statutory obligations to Indian tribe and water users, but declining to evaluate government's representation of both interests according to private-law fiduciary standards); ?Arizona v. California, 460 U.S. 605, 626-27, 103 S.Ct. 1382, 75 L.Ed.2d 318 (1983) (finding no conflict of interest in the government's simultaneous representation of Indians' water rights and its own interests in securing water for other federal property, notwithstanding its fiduciary obligation to Indians); ?see also Conference of W. Attorneys General, American Indian Law Deskbook 14-16 & n. 83 (3d ed.2004). ? Clearly, the government may satisfy a range of statutory responsibilities while still honoring its trust obligations to Indians.Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe is especially instructive here. ? In that case, the Department of the Navy was diverting water from the Truckee River to support irrigated ?buffer zones? along runways at an airbase near Fallon, Nevada. ?898 F.2d at 1412. ? The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe sued, arguing that the diversions reduced the water level in Pyramid Lake and imperiled a critical tribal fishery. ?Id. at 1413. ? We held that because the Navy had complied with the Endangered Species Act in implementing the diversions, it had taken steps necessary to conserve the tribal fishery, and therefore had not violated its trust obligations. ? See id. at 1420-21.Here, the Bureau is implementing a restoration program specifically designed to improve the Trinity River fishery and thereby to benefit the Tribe along with other dependent interests. ? This program honors the trust obligation recognized in the CVPIA: ??to protect the fishery resources of the Hoopa Valley Tribe.? ? CVPIA ??3406(b)(23). ? The government need not provide the Tribe with an exclusive or primary right to restoration contracts, however, in order to fulfill this obligation. ? Indeed, the 1996 amendments to the 1984 Act specifically provided that ?[n]othing in this Act shall be construed as establishing or affecting any past, present, or future rights of any Indian or Indian tribe or any other individual or entity.? ?Pub.L. No. 104-143, ??6, 110 Stat. 1338, 1341 (1996). ? Had Congress wished to establish any entitlement to or preference for restoration contracts throughout the Trinity River basin, it easily could have done so. ? Cf. Navajo Nation, 325 F.3d at 1139 n. 7.It is indisputable that the United States and the Bureau have a fiduciary obligation of the highest order in their dealings with the Tribe. ? Congress has properly recognized in this obligation the duty to conserve and restore the Trinity River and its fisheries. ? The Bureau has not violated its trust obligation to the Tribe, however, by determining that contracts for the restoration work itself should be negotiated under the discretionary, rather than the mandatory, provisions of the ISDEAA.IVFor the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.FOOTNOTES1.???We recently recounted the history of the river, including the dramatic decline of its fisheries and the government's restoration efforts, in Westlands Water District v. United States Department of the Interior, 376 F.3d 853, 860-64 (9th Cir.2004).2.???The Department's Federal Register notice and final regulations refer to Title I of the ISDEAA by its Public Law number, 93-638.3.???Indeed, the Bureau ultimately funded fourteen of the nineteen projects proposed by the Tribe in its ?last best offer? and paid the Tribe $1,606,472 for that work. ? The Bureau offered to include the five remaining projects under a discretionary contract, but the Tribe declined so that it could bring suit challenging the Bureau's refusal to execute mandatory contracts. ? Those five remaining projects are the ones listed in Paragraph 41 of the Tribe's complaint.4.???We generally agree with the Tribe that a statutory scheme as a whole need not be exclusively targeted to Indians in order to create eligibility for mandatory self-determination contracts. ? The CVPIA provides an excellent example of a statute that both specifically targets some benefits to Indians and more generally directs other benefits to a wider population. ? See CVPIA ??3406(b)(23)(A), (B) (specifically providing for the Tribe's participation in the Trinity Flow Evaluation Study and allowing for future flow increases with the Tribe's concurrence). ? The Bureau agreed that the Tribe's participation in these activities could be funded under a mandatory self-determination contract. ? Other restoration activities proposed by the Tribe, however, were intended by Congress to benefit a wider population. ? We merely follow Navajo Nation in holding that those activities are ineligible for mandatory contracts.HUG, Circuit Judge.
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From bgutermuth at usbr.gov  Fri Mar 31 16:49:17 2017
From: bgutermuth at usbr.gov (Gutermuth, F.)
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2017 16:49:17 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Public Meeting for 2017 Trinity River Flow and Gravel
	Recommendations
Message-ID: <CAMnws3+NwEy18PzVwPyDJ+9nAAank0m4SFYyMB5tcan8wh7SZQ@mail.gmail.com>

*Mid-Pacific Region*

*Sacramento, Calif.*



MP-17-059



Media Contact: Russell Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.gov



For Immediate Release: March 31, 2017



*Reclamation Schedules Public Meeting for 2017 Trinity River Flow and
Gravel Recommendations*



WEAVERVILLE, Calif. ? The Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP), a
multi-agency program with eight Partners established by the Department of
the Interior, will host a public informational meeting to present the
recommended 2017 spring restoration flow releases from Lewiston Dam and
gravel augmentation plans. TRRP staff will be available to answer questions
on the presentations. The public meeting will be held:



*Weaverville, Calif.: *Tuesday, April 11, 6 to 7:30 p.m., TRRP Office, 1313
S. Main Street (in the Tops Shopping Center)



The TRRP was established to restore the ecological function and anadromous
fisheries of the Trinity River severely degraded by dams and historic
mining and logging. A 2000 Record of Decision includes five water year
types with a minimum volume of water to be released into the Trinity River
for each type. Gravel augmentation is combined with the flow releases to
replace gravel trapped by the upstream dams that is necessary for salmon
habitats. The gravel is locally supplied from the Trinity River Basin.



Under the five water year types that the Program operates under, ranging
from ?critically dry? to ?extremely wet?, a ?wet? and ?extremely wet? water
year are likely for 2017. In a ?wet? water year, 701,000 acre-feet of water
are allocated for restoration flows, compared to an ?extremely wet? water
year when 815,000 acre-feet is allocated.



The water year type is used to establish the flow release schedule. The
California Department of Water Resources estimates the inflow volume to
determine the water year type which will be identified on April 10, 2017.
Therefore, two potential schedules have been developed until the water year
type is ascertained. The actual flow schedule will be known and presented
at the public meeting. Under the two schedules, flows are expected to
increase beginning on April 22 and reach their highest peaks either April
26 or May 10. The river could remain elevated as late as   May 16.



For additional information, please contact Kevin Held at 530-623-1809 (TTY
800-877-8339) or kheld at usbr.gov or visit www.trrp.net.



###



Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States,
and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its
facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and
wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on
Twitter @USBR <https://twitter.com/usbr> and @ReclamationCVP
<https://twitter.com/ReclamationCVP>.





*U.S. Department of the Interior*

*Bureau of Reclamation*
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Apr  3 10:38:23 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2017 17:38:23 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Increased Releases to the Trinity River
In-Reply-To: <CAGpyTHTYejaQfGSVtRgczT+FvS8jkvE1HM-XvMKxo2ZYRiT=Eg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAGpyTHTYejaQfGSVtRgczT+FvS8jkvE1HM-XvMKxo2ZYRiT=Eg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1205611821.12472215.1491241103871@mail.yahoo.com>

On Monday, April 3, 2017 10:24 AM, "Huntt DeCarlo, Caryn" <chunttdecarlo at usbr.gov> wrote:


 The Bureau of Reclamation will begin releases?from Lewiston Dam to the Trinity River starting this Wednesday April 5, 2017.? The releases are for Trinity Lake storage management?purposes. ??
?Date?????????? ?????Time???????? From (cfs)?? ??To (cfs)04/05/2017 ? ? ?0200 ? ? ? ? ? 300 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?40004/05/2017 ? ? ?0400 ? ? ? ? ? 400 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?50004/05/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ? 500 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?70004/05/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? 700 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?90004/05/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? 900 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1100
04/05/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?1100 ? ? ? ? ? ?1300
04/05/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ?1300 ? ? ? ? ? ?1500
Reclamation will be continuously monitoring daily and making adjustments?to the releases?as necessary.
Caryn
Caryn Huntt DeCarloExecutive DirectorBureau of Reclamation ???

   
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From pcatanese at dhscott.com  Mon Apr  3 10:43:19 2017
From: pcatanese at dhscott.com (Paul Catanese)
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2017 17:43:19 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Increased Releases to the Trinity River
In-Reply-To: <1205611821.12472215.1491241103871@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <CAGpyTHTYejaQfGSVtRgczT+FvS8jkvE1HM-XvMKxo2ZYRiT=Eg@mail.gmail.com>
	<1205611821.12472215.1491241103871@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <CY1PR04MB18329F7D6CD4C5BA10FD6ECABC080@CY1PR04MB1832.namprd04.prod.outlook.com>

Thank for the update from all involved

Paul J. Catanese, Partner

[cid:image001.gif at 01D2AC67.1AE6D4B0]<http://www.dhscott.com/>
D.H. Scott & Company
O: 530.243.4300 | F: 530.243.4306
900 Market St, Redding, CA 96001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This communication (including any attachments) may contain privileged or confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law. If you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this communication and/or shred the materials and any attachments and are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this communication, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited. Thank you.

Disclaimer:  Any accounting, business or tax advice contained in this communication, including attachments and enclosures, is not intended as a thorough, in-depth analysis of specific issues, nor a substitute for a formal opinion, nor is it sufficient to avoid tax-related penalties.  If desired, D.H. Scott & Company would be pleased to perform the requisite research and provide you with a detailed written analysis.  Such an engagement may be the subject of a separate engagement letter that would define the scope and limits of the desired consultation services.

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Monday, April 3, 2017 10:38 AM
To: Env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Increased Releases to the Trinity River

On Monday, April 3, 2017 10:24 AM, "Huntt DeCarlo, Caryn" <chunttdecarlo at usbr.gov<mailto:chunttdecarlo at usbr.gov>> wrote:


The Bureau of Reclamation will begin releases
from Lewiston Dam to the Trinity River starting this Wednesday April 5, 2017.  The releases are for Trinity Lake storage management purposes.

?
Date                Time         From (cfs)     To (cfs)
04/05/2017      0200           300              400
04/05/2017      0400           400              500
04/05/2017      0600           500              700
04/05/2017      0800           700              900
04/05/2017      1000           900             1100
04/05/2017      1200          1100            1300
04/05/2017      1400          1300            1500

Reclamation will be continuously monitoring daily and making adjustments to the releases as necessary.

Caryn

Caryn Huntt DeCarlo
Executive Director
Bureau of Reclamation

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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr  6 09:26:43 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2017 16:26:43 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Letter calls for approval of fishery disaster funds
References: <2026796446.926136.1491496003803.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2026796446.926136.1491496003803@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170405/letter-calls-for-approval-of-fishery-disaster-funds&template=printart

Letter calls for approval of fishery disaster funds

Spending bill must pass before April 28 to prevent government shutdown
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardWednesday, April 5, 2017A bipartisan group of congressional representatives sent a letter to House and Senate leaders Wednesday urging them to include disaster relief funds for nine West Coast crab and salmon fisheries in a government spending bill this month.??The closures of commercial and recreational fisheries along the West Coast during the 2014, 2015, and 2016 fishing seasons caused severe economic hardship in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California,? the letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer states.The House and Senate are set to vote on a government spending bill in the coming weeks that they must pass by midnight April 28 to prevent a government shutdown.?California 2nd District Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) is among the 17 members of Congress who signed the letter. Huffman is asking Congress to approve millions of dollars for the North Coast crab fleet and the Yurok Tribe. In January, the former Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker issued disaster declarations for nine fisheries along the West Coast, which allows Congress to appropriate relief funds.West Coast crab fisheries were closed up to six months in the 2015-16 season due to an unprecedented toxic algae bloom, causing many crabbers to fall into debt as their crews, equipment and boats remained tied to land.The Yurok Tribe experienced one of its worst Chinook salmon seasons on record in 2016 and is now faced with?an even more dire season.With only about 12,000 spawning Chinook salmon expected to return to the Klamath River this year ? the lowest on record ? the Pacific Fishery Management Council is recommending a full closure of salmon fishing on the Klamath River. The council recommends fishery management measures to federal regulators.?The Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribes are entitled to salmon stocks for harvest under federal law. However, the Yurok Tribe expects to be allotted fewer than 700 fish this year. This equates to one fish for every tribal member, according to tribe?s spokesman Matt Mais. The council is set to begin finalizing its recommendations starting Thursday through April 11.California fisheries officials such as Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton ?Chuck? Bonham said at a state of the fisheries forum at the State Capitol last week that they?will likely have to ask Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a statewide salmon fisheries disaster?for the 2017 season based on the poor predictions.Congress will begin a two-week recess on Friday, leaving it just one week to draft a $1 trillion spending package to pass through both the House and Senate in order to keep the government running through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.Since President Donald Trump will need Democrats? help in getting the legislation through, Republicans are already tamping down expectations. Republican New York Rep. Chris Collins predicted last week that the legislation would be kept mostly free of controversial add-ons.?We?re probably going to need bipartisan votes to keep the government open,? Collins said.The key complications are Trump?s requests for $30 billion for an immediate infusion of cash for the Pentagon and $3 billion for additional security measures on the U.S.-Mexico border, including $1 billion to build fencing and a levee wall along 60 miles or so in Texas and near San Diego.Democrats like Pelosi vow to oppose any wall funding, but are open to other security measures such as drones and sensors. Many Republicans, however, are also wary of Trump?s vision for a wall.?It might not be a physical wall everywhere, which has always been my point,? Republican Rep. Steve Pearce, who represents New Mexico?s entire southern border, said. ?So we?ll take a look at it when they get it a little more developed.?Collins told reporters the wall could be handled in another, additional bill. ?We don?t need to deal with that? in the catchall spending bill, he said.The Associated Press contributed to this article. Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.??URL: http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170405/letter-calls-for-approval-of-fishery-disaster-funds? 2017 Eureka Times-Standard (http://www.times-standard.com)
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr  6 13:54:57 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2017 20:54:57 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal articles on TRRP (LTE by Jerry Payne
 and Public Meeting notice)
References: <1456647044.2150839.1491512097787.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1456647044.2150839.1491512097787@mail.yahoo.com>

Beginning of the end for county?s salmon fishing industry

>From Jerry Payne Junction City
?

The Trinity River Restoration Program has cost communities millions, maybe even billions.

There will likely be no commercial salmon fishing on the North Coast or any recreational fishing in the Klamath/Trinity rivers this year as the Pacific Fisheries Management Council is set to vote to stop all fishing.

The salmon numbers are so low they fear that the endangered salmon will become extinct if they allow any type of fishing. This is the beginning of the end of the salmon fishing industry in Trinity County.

The stores, hotels and guides will all be affected in Trinity. The communities of Eureka, Crescent City and others will be impacted the most. Their livelihoods revolve around the salmon fishing industry. This closure has happened in the past and will become the norm in the future.

Ask yourself WHY? In my opinion it is the fault of the River Restoration?s activities, period. They claim it is ocean conditions and the poor seals eating the fish. The simple fact is the restoration activities of gravel augmentation and disturbing the river bed with restoration activities has caused the gravel to fill in all the cold deep pools that the adult salmon need to survive in until they spawn.

The high flows are the only thing that helps the fish. It creates deep pools and scours the sediments from spawning areas.

They need to stop working in the river and stop gravel augmentation practices immediately. This has been proposed in the past but the $15 million per year given to the restoration activities and paying all the individuals involved in the restoration creates a situation that the decisions makers vote on continuing restoration to make them pay themselves with our tax dollars. This is a conflict of interest! It is not in the best interest of the fish or the communities that are supported by the fish.

Please attend TRRP meeting at 6 p.m. April 11, at 1313 S. Main St., Weaverville, when they will announce TRRP?s Flow-Gravel augmentation schedules. Please voice your concerns with the management of TRRP to help save the fish. If we don?t speak up we will not have a viable river in the future.
---
Public meeting Tuesday on Trinity River flow, gravel


Trinity Journal staff

The Trinity River Restoration Program will host a public informational meeting to present the recommended 2017 spring restoration flow releases from Lewiston Dam and gravel augmentation plans.

The meeting will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, at the restoration program office at 1313 S. Main St. in the Tops shopping center in Weaverville. Restoration program staff will be available to answer questions on the presentations.

The TRRP was established to restore the ecological function and anadromous fisheries of the Trinity River, severely degraded by dams and historic mining and logging. The 2000 Trinity River Record of Decision includes five water year types with a minimum volume of water to be released into the Trinity River for each type.

Gravel augmentation is combined with the flow releases to replace gravel trapped by the upstream dams that is necessary for salmon habitats. The gravel is locally supplied from the Trinity River Basin.

Under the five water year types that the Program operates under, ranging from ?critically dry? to ?extremely wet,? a ?wet? or ?extremely wet? water year is likely for 2017. In a ?wet? water year, 701,000 acre-feet of water is allocated for restoration flows, compared to an ?extremely wet? water year when 815,000 acre-feet is allocated.

The water year type is used to establish the flow release schedule. The California Department of Water Resources estimates the inflow volume to determine the water year type which will be identified on April 10. Therefore, two potential schedules have been developed until the water year type is ascertained. The actual flow schedule will be known and presented at the public meeting.

Under the two schedules, flows are expected to increase beginning on April 22 and reach their highest peaks either April 26 or May 10. The river could remain elevated as late as May 16.


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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Apr  7 11:58:51 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2017 18:58:51 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Reclamation Announces Extension of Comment Period to
 April 14,
 2017 on Draft EA/IS for the Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek Rehabilitation
 Project
References: <1204898067.2183806.1491591531578.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1204898067.2183806.1491591531578@mail.yahoo.com>



Reclamation Announces Extension of Comment Period?to April 14, 2017?on Draft EA/IS for the Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek Rehabilitation Project?


WEAVERVILLE,?Calif.???The Bureau of Reclamation, along with the Bureau of Land Management (federal co-lead agencies) and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (state lead agency), announce a draft Environmental Assessment/Initial Study (EA/IS for?the Trinity River Restoration Program?s (TRRP) proposed Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek Rehabilitation Project. The project is scheduled for implementation to start in the summer of 2017.
A request was made to TRRP on April 6 to extend the comment period.? In concurrence with the Bureau of Land Management, the comment Period will be extended one week.

Written comments on the draft EA/IS must be received by close of business Friday, April 14, 2017.? The previous due date was April 7, 2017.? Please send comments to Brandt Gutermuth, TRRP, P.O. Box 1300, Weaverville, CA 96093 or?bgutermuth at usbr.gov. For additional information, please contact Gutermuth at 530-623-1806 or Kevin Held at 530-623-1809.?The draft EA/IS, which evaluates potential project impacts to the environment, was created in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act. To view the documents, please visit?http://www.trrp.net/?or?https://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=27594.?If you encounter problems accessing the documents online, please call the Public Affairs Office at 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or email?mppublicaffairs at usbr.gov. The documents will also be available for review at the TRRP office, 1313 Main Street, Weaverville, CA and at the Trinity County Library, 351 Main Street, Weaverville, CA.






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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Apr  9 10:10:36 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2017 17:10:36 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?The_=E2=80=98last_generation_of_salmon_fi?=
	=?utf-8?b?c2hlcm1lbuKAmT8=?=
References: <2050683988.3319602.1491757836016.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2050683988.3319602.1491757836016@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170406/the-last-generation-of-salmon-fishermen&template=printart

The ?last generation of salmon fishermen??

Tribes, fishing fleet call for solutions in wake of record low salmon run forecast
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardThursday, April 6, 2017California tribes and fishermen stated Thursday they will be calling on Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a fisheries disaster because of the dismal forecast for this year?s salmon season.?There is a lot of tears and there?s a lot of questions about how am I going to feed my family?? Yurok Tribe General Counsel Amy Cordalis said during a Thursday teleconference, relaying concerns brought up by tribal members. ?People are in distress.?These statements came exactly a year after top state, federal and tribal officials gathered at the mouth of the Klamath River?to sign a renewed agreement to remove four dams from the river. The agreement seeks to improve water quality for fish and downstream communities such as the Yurok, Karuk and Hoopa Valley tribes.?Tribes and other organizations see dam removal and changes to the federal government?s management of the river as being key solutions to the underlying causes of this year?s low salmon return.?The solution for this problem is to remove the Klamath dams now,? Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Association Executive Director Noah Oppenheim said. ?We need to revive cold water for fish and fundamentally re-evaluate the way we treat water in California.?
A record low
Last month, the Pacific Fishery Management Council ? which recommends fishery management measures to federal regulators ? forecast the lowest return of spawning Chinook salmon to the Klamath River on record at about 12,000 fish. The council began meeting Thursday to finalize its recommendations, all of which include a full closure of commercial and sport fishing in Klamath Management Zone, which runs from the Oregon-California border to Humboldt Bay?s south jetty. Salmon fisherman further south also expect major reductions in their harvest.The council is expected to finalize its recommendations by April 10.Tribal fishery scientists such as Michael Belchik of the Yurok Tribe stated the low return of spawners is the result of several severe years of drought conditions and river management practices, which caused the waters to warm and become hot beds for toxic algae and deadly parasites. In 2014 and 2015, up to 90 percent of juvenile Chinook salmon on the Klamath River are estimated to have died from an intestinal parasite, believed to be a major cause for this year?s low run, as were poor ocean conditions.?All these things together conspire to create a real catastrophe for fisheries,? Karuk Tribe Natural Resources Policy Advisor Craig Tucker said.After conservation groups as well as the Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes sued the federal government last year for the deadly outbreaks, a federal judge ordered the dam-controlling U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and National Marine Fisheries Service in February to?develop new flow plans to prevent future outbreaks. The following day, the bureau?ramped up flows on the river.The new flow plan as well as significant winter rainfall came as hopeful signs for Belchik, but he was wary to say how successful spawners will be when they enter the river in late summer.?But that doesn?t help us right now with the terrible run that we?re having,? he said of the rainfall. ?We can?t overemphasize how much trouble we?re in once the spawning numbers get this low.?
The last generation?
Following a poor salmon season last year and a disastrous crab season in the 2015-16 season, Oppenheim said the state?s fishing fleet will need to ?stand tough.??This means fishermen are going to be facing hardship unlike anything they have ever seen,? he said.Some fishermen say that the fleet will have to look to other species to make a living.?The long-term health of salmon is more important than just one season,? Reel Steel Sportfishing owner and captain Tim Klassen of Eureka said in a Thursday statement. ?We?ve been through this before and it hurts, but if we don?t do something soon to improve our salmon runs, we will be the last generation of salmon fishermen in California.?North Coast tribes, which have throughout their history relied on the Klamath River?s bounty, now fear a potential collapse of the Chinook salmon species on the river.?If we don?t have enough spawners the fish won?t be able to reproduce and that?s sort of a one-way direction toward extinction,? Cordalis said.Yurok Tribe Fisheries Department Director David Hillemeier said in good years the tribes would be allocated nearly 100,000 salmon by the Pacific Fishery Management Council for harvest. This year, Cordalis said they anticipate receiving 650 fish for the entire 6,100-member tribe. This equates to about one fish per every 10 tribal members and is one-tenth of what the tribe was allocated last year, which at the time was the worst allocation the tribe had ever received.?Cordalis said this year?s low harvest will not only exacerbate economic issues in their already impoverished community ? she said about 80 percent of the tribe lives below the federal poverty line ? but will also cause the cultural and social fabric of the tribe to ?fall apart.??What we?ll be doing is dividing salmon into one-eighths and distributing them to tribal members,? Cordalis said with a worried laugh.Congress will consider?providing millions of dollars in relief funds?for the Yurok Tribe, the California crab fleet and seven other fisheries across the West Coast in the coming weeks. Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker declared a fishery disaster for the nine fisheries earlier this year, opening them up for relief funding.At a?Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture meeting in Sacramento last week, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton ?Chuck? Bonham stated he will likely have to request the governor declare a fisheries disaster for this year?s salmon season.
Dam removal
Many of the hopes to restore the Klamath River and its fish runs are encompassed in a single agreement known as the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement. The agreement, finalized in 2010, would remove four hydroelectric dams owned by the Oregon-based company PacifiCorp from the river by 2020.The first version of the agreement failed to advance through Congress because of opposition by House Republicans. On April 6, a coalition of federal, state and tribal officials signed a renewed version of the agreement that would not require Congressional approval and would instead go through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The agreement must first acquire water quality certifications from both Oregon and Washington before it can be considered for final approval, which is expected to occur by 2019. Supporters of the agreement also anticipate a court challenge.The removal project will cost about $450 million, with $250 million coming from California?s $1 billion water bond Proposition 1 and the remaining $200 million from PacifiCorp ratepayers.At the signing ceremony last year, then U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell stated that ?coming together is our only path forward.??While today is a historic day in the Klamath Basin, it is just the first of many steps needed to restore the water and the fisheries resources of this basin, as well as the communities that rely upon them,? she said.Solutions to decades of water rights disputes between tribes and Klamath Basin ranchers as well as restoring habitat on the river for endangered fish are still being vetted and?will likely require congressional cooperation. Previous attempts to address the issues through legislation have failed.?I do believe that by working together, by using science, by using data, by updating the river?s operating system, we can find a way to make our communities up and down the river sustainable,? Cordalis said.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Sun Apr  9 10:17:10 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2017 10:17:10 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Record low Klamath salmon run spurs Tribal,
	commercial and sport fishery closures
In-Reply-To: <2050683988.3319602.1491757836016@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <2050683988.3319602.1491757836016.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<2050683988.3319602.1491757836016@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <A1741AE4-E9EE-4232-BCB6-256A3CBCEFFA@fishsniffer.com>

http://www.sacmetronews.com/2017/04/record-low-klamath-salmon-run-spurs.html

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/4/7/1651258/-Record-low-Klamath-salmon-run-spurs-Tribal-commercial-and-recreational-fishery-closure



Photo of the mouth of the Klamath courtesy of the Pacific Fishery  
Management Council (PFMC).

Record low Klamath salmon run spurs Tribal, commercial and sport  
fishery closures

by Dan Bacher

Fishery scientists are expecting a record low return of fall-run  
Chinook salmon to the Klamath River this year, due to a combination of  
several years of drought, water diversions in the Klamath Basin and to  
the Sacramento River and the continued presence of the PacifiCorp dams.
Tribal, commercial and recreational fishermen are currently waiting  
for the decision by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) on  
the fishing seasons at its meeting in Sacramento on Monday, April 10,  
but the outlook is dismal, based on the low Klamath salmon estimates.

The pre-season numbers released by Michael O?Farrell of the National  
Marine Fisheries Service in March estimate only 54,200 Klamath River  
fall Chinook adults and 230,700 Sacramento River fall Chinook adults  
will be in the ocean this year.

Commercial fishermen and families and sport anglers are facing an  
?unmitigated disaster? in the Klamath Management Zone (KMZ) of the  
ocean extending from Humbug Mountain, Oregon to Horse Mountain,  
California, according to Noah Oppenheim, Executive Director of the  
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations.

This disaster takes place as Governor Jerry Brown continues to move  
forward with a Delta Tunnels project that will not only hasten the  
extinction of Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley  
steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and green sturgeon, but will  
further imperil the salmon and steelhead fisheries of the Klamath and  
Trinity rivers.

Due to the poor status of Klamath River fall Chinook this year, none  
of the three alternatives proposed by the Council provide for any  
Chinook?directed fisheries in the Klamath Management Zone, although  
one alternative does include a mark-selective coho fishery in the  
Oregon portion of the zone and extending north to Cape Falcon.

?California and Oregon are facing an unprecedented crisis,? said  
Oppenheim, in a press teleconference on April 6. ?We are facing a  
closure in the Klamath Management Zone and we also expect to see  
restricted seasons in Northern and Central California. This follows a  
disastrous salmon season last year.?

?Even if Klamath stocks were healthier, we would likely see fishing  
restrictions due to below average returns to California?s Central  
Valley. Salmon, the West?s original water users, are paying the  
highest price for this tragic water management failure,? stated  
Oppenheim.

Yurok Tribe: worst year in history for Klamath salmon

For the Yurok Tribe, who have fished the Klamath for thousands of  
years, the looming closure will be also be an ?unprecedented  
disaster,? according to Amy Cordalis, the Tribe?s General Counsel, a  
Yurok Tribe member and fisherwoman.  Her family lives and fishes in  
Requa at the mouth of the Klamath River.

??This is the worst year in history for Klamath salmon,? said  
Cordalis. ?There is no mystery as to why. The effects of an  
unprecedented drought were exacerbated by dams and diversions. This  
year, Yurok, Karuk and Hupa people will have little to no salmon for  
the first time in history. Although the fish are important  
economically, they are more important as an irreplaceable part of our  
identity as people who care for the river.?

?Since time immemorial we have practiced a fishing way of life. We  
have never ever relocated, but we are still on our river and continue  
our fisheries way of life,? she stated.

The Tribe will have no commercial fishing season this year, a fishery  
that many tribal members depend on for their income. And the  
subsistence allocation is 650 fish, the lowest allocation ever.

?That?s only 650 fish for a total of 6100 members of the tribe,?  
Cordalis said ?Last year, it was 5,800 fish, the second lowest ever  
allocation. People in the community are devastated. They are coming to  
the tribal offices in shock. People are asking how they are going to  
feed their families and how they are going to keep the lights on.?

?When the fish leave our area, we are back home smoking and canning  
fish and talking about the great times we had,? said Cordalis. ?None  
of this will happen this year. The great sense of community won?t be  
there. Our community is also suffering from already high unemployment  
and an 80 percent poverty rate. This is a social justice and is  
survival issue.?

?Our cultural covenant requires that we never take more than we can  
sustainably harvest,? Cordalis said. ?Because there are not enough  
fish, we won?t have a commercial harvest this year. We won?t have  
income to support our families. Our people left with no other options.?

She emphasized, ?Closing the fishery same for us as closing the plant  
in one plant town. It will be a hard time for us.?

Cordallis said this year?s fishery failure is the result of ?200 years  
of water development and consumptive use in the Klamath Basin,? noting  
that the PacifCorp dams were built without fish ladders. The dams also  
cause poor water quality, spurring big toxic blue algae blooms and  
creating warm water conditions that allow fish diseases to spread.

The fish disease C. Shasta killed 81 percent of juvenile salmon on the  
Klamath and 90 percent in 2015 , resulting in this year?s record low  
numbers of fish. ?These are sampled Chinook juveniles that are a  
surrogate to indicate rates of coho salmon (ESA) listed species)  
infection,? noted Craig Tucker, Natural Resources Policy Advocate for  
the Karuk Tribe. ?You need a surrogate species as there are too few  
coho to sample.?

Lawsuits spur plan to increase river flows to mitigate disease

Although the outlook for 2017 is grim, Tribal, commercial and  
recreational fishermen say they have some cause for optimism, due to  
the current efforts to restore the river and the heavy snow and rain  
that fell in the Klamath and Trinity watersheds this season.

Water managers are currently developing a plan to increase river flows  
to mitigate for fish disease outbreaks. This plan is the result of  
successful lawsuits by the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Yurok Tribe,  
PCFFA, the Klamath Riverkeeper and Earthjustice.

On February 8, a U.S. District Court judge ordered federal agencies to  
immediately take steps to protect juvenile coho salmon after several  
years of deadly disease outbreaks in the Klamath River. Klamath River  
coho salmon are listed as threatened species under the federal  
Endangered Species Act. The Hoopa Valley Tribe, who initiated the  
lawsuit, lauded the decision challenging the government?s inaction  
during two years of high disease rates and poor adult salmon returns.

?The Hoopa Valley Tribe depends on salmon for our livelihood and will  
not stand idle while our people?s culture is jeopardized,? said Ryan  
Jackson, Chairman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. ?This decision is a win  
for the Tribe and all communities that depend on Klamath salmon.?

The Hoopa Valley Tribe will also be greatly impacted by the looming  
salmon season restrictions, particularly  during their biannual white  
deer skin dance and world renewal ceremonies that will begin in  
August, according to Mike Orcutt, the Tribe?s Fisheries Director.

?Approximately on 130 fish will available for the  3400 members of the  
Tribe,? said Orcutt. ?Not to have salmon for people participating in  
our ceremonies will be unfathomable.?

Dam removal plan moves forward

Tucker also said Warren Buffett?s Berkshire Energy, operating as  
PacifiCorp, has proposed ?an ambitious plan? to remove the lower four  
Klamath River Dams, ?a product of years of negotiations with basin  
stakeholders along with state and federal agencies." Many consider  
this the largest salmon restoration project in history.

Tribal fishery biologists said the high, flushing flows this year  
point to more promising salmon runs in future years. Mike Belchick,  
Yurok fishery biologist, said the trouble with the fishery we?re now  
seeing is largely the result of the disease problem the juvenile  
salmon migrating out of the river and its tributaries encountered in  
2014 and 2015.

?It?s too early to determine what happen with disease this year,"  
Belchik said. ?With this year's large winter flows, we have hope for  
the future, althought it doesn?t help with the salmon run this year.?

Cordallis called on the entire nation to join the Yurok Tribe in  
supporting the restoration of the Klamath ? and emphasized that this  
year?s salmon collapse impacts people throughout the Klamath watershed  
and in coastal communities through Oregon and California.

She said she is more hopeful than ever over dam removal, scheduled to  
occur in 2020. ?According to the agreement, environmentalists, Tribes  
and fishermen will facilitate dam removal by going through the FERC  
process. I am so encouraged to have all the partners committed to dam  
removal now," she said.

Cordalis also said that river advocates must review and update the  
?whole set of laws" that determine how the operations system on the  
river is managed. She pointed out the need for comprehensive river  
management on an ecosystem basis.

Mike Orcutt emphasized, ?In addition to the dam removal that we have  
supported through the FERC process, there?s major water quality and  
quantity ssues we need to address in the areas where the dams will be  
removed.?

Leaf Hillman, Natural Resources Director for the Karuk Tribe, said  
PacifiCorp?s dam removal plan gives him hope for the future.

?They know that dam removal is in the best economic interests of their  
shareholders and customers. And I know dam removal is in the best  
interests of the Karuk Tribe.?

?We?re confident that dams will come down,? concluded Cordalis. ?We?ve  
always been on the Klamath and we will continue to be there. This  
fishery disaster will come to pass.?

Tucker said the dam removal plan requires no federal spending.  
PacifiCorp is contributing $200 million and California has committed  
up to $250 million in additional funds as needed. The Tribes and  
anglers are hopeful that the Trump administration will support dam  
removal, as did both the Bush and Obama administrations.

The dam removal proposal is now awaiting approval from the Federal  
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). A 2012 Environmental Impact  
Statement and other studies have concluded that Klamath dam removal is  
safe and will dramatically benefit Klamath fisheries and water  
quality, according to Tucker.

This will be last generation of salmon fishermen ? unless salmon runs  
improve

Meanwhile, Oppenheim said commercial fishermen, along with Tribes, are  
working with state and federal agencies to take all of the steps  
necessary for securing disaster relief.

?We will hunker down and make this work,? he noted. ?Commercial  
fishermen are a resilient bunch and will get support from local  
communities. Commercial fishermen will be defaulting on loans, selling  
boats, and taking other measures to get by. We need change and we need  
it now.?

Recreational anglers and charter boat skippers, particularly in the  
Klamath Management Zone, will also be impacted by the looming closures.

?This announcement means we?re going to have to fish for other species  
in order to make a living, that?s a fact,? said Tim Klassen, captain  
of the charter fishing vessel Reel Steel, fishing out of Eureka. ?The  
long term health of salmon is more important than just one season.  
We?ve been through this before and it hurts, but if we don?t do  
something soon to improve our salmon runs, we will be the last  
generation of salmon fishermen in California.?

For the latest information on the Pacific Fishery Management Council?s  
decision on the salmon fishing seasons, go to: www.pcouncil.org.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Apr 11 10:01:15 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2017 17:01:15 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Reclamation Releases 2017 Klamath Project
	Operations Plan
In-Reply-To: <bb6e927dfa8a4901acfc60ce68ded561@usbr.gov>
References: <bb6e927dfa8a4901acfc60ce68ded561@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <2010623460.927746.1491930076010@mail.yahoo.com>

On Tuesday, April 11, 2017 9:40 AM, Sarah McBride <smcbride at usbr.gov> wrote:

 Reclamation Releases 2017 Klamath Project Operations PlanMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-065Media Contact: Russell Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: April 11, 2017Reclamation Releases 2017 Klamath Project Operations PlanKLAMATH FALLS, Ore. ? The Bureau of Reclamation today announced its 2017 Klamath Project (Project) Operations Plan (Plan). The Plan is based upon the expected hydrologic conditions from the April 1 Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) inflow forecasts and current reservoir elevations.?Klamath Project water users are looking forward to a great water year,? said Pablo Arroyave, Reclamation?s Mid-Pacific Acting Regional Director. ?We are experiencing the best hydrologic conditions since 2011, and it?s a refreshing start for the irrigation season.?The Plan outlines water deliveries for the 2017 irrigation season for more than 200,000 irrigated acres in southern Oregon and northern California. The Plan provides an estimate of the 2017 water supply available for the Project and the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, the volume of water to be released to the Klamath River for Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed threatened coho salmon, and the volume of water to be reserved in Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) for ESA-listed endangered Lost River and shortnose suckers. The Plan is also used by agricultural water users, Klamath Basin tribes, national wildlife refuge managers, and others as a planning and informational tool.As of April 1, the snowpack was 122 percent of average and the total precipitation was 139 percent of average. This is the first time the Klamath Basin has had a wet winter since the release in 2013 of the Biological Opinions on the Effects of Proposed Klamath Project Operations from May 31, 2013, through March 31, 2023, on Five Federally Listed Threatened and Endangered Species (2013 BiOp).As of April 1, UKL had an elevation of 4,142.70 feet, which is equivalent to approximately 465,596 acre-feet of storage. The NRCS April 1 forecast for inflows to UKL from April 1 to Sept. 30 is 615,000 acre-feet, about 128 percent of average inflow. Under these conditions, the Project supply consistent with the 2013 BiOp from UKL for the 2017 irrigation season is expected to be 390,000 acre-feet, which is a full supply.Based on current lake levels and projected inflows for Clear Lake and Gerber reservoirs, the anticipated water supplies for the 2017 irrigation season are 35,000 acre-feet from Clear Lake Reservoir and approximately 35,000 acre-feet from Gerber Reservoir; both are 100 percent of a full supply.Despite a forecasted full supply, the Plan encourages water conservation to ensure available water throughout the season. Reclamation will manage Project deliveries throughout the irrigation season to meet requirements under the 2013 BiOp and all other legal and contractual obligations.The Project?s 2017 Operations Plan is available online at https://www.usbr.gov/mp/kbao/programs/ops-planning.html. If you encounter problems accessing the document, please call 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or email mppublicaffairs at usbr.gov.For more information, please contact Laura Williams at 541-880-2581 or ljwilliams at usbr.gov.# # #Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.?

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Apr 11 13:11:32 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2017 20:11:32 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Reclamation Releases 100 Percent Water Supply
 Allocation for CVP Contractors South-of-Delta
In-Reply-To: <d063d425d4d64d96b31561dbd70a5a87@usbr.gov>
References: <d063d425d4d64d96b31561dbd70a5a87@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <688837659.1098255.1491941492677@mail.yahoo.com>

On Tuesday, April 11, 2017 1:09 PM, Janet Sierzputowski <jsierzputowski at usbr.gov> wrote:


 Reclamation Releases 100 Percent Water Supply Allocation for CVP Contractors South-of-DeltaMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-066Media Contact: Russell Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: April 11, 2017Reclamation Releases 100 Percent Water Supply Allocation for Central Valley Project Contractors South-of-DeltaSACRAMENTO, Calif. ? The Bureau of Reclamation today announced an update to the 2017 water supply allocation for all Central Valley Project contractors South-of-Delta to 100 percent of their contract supply for the first time since 2006.?Following the California Department of Water Resources exceptional March 30 snow survey results, Reclamation is pleased to announce this increase to a 100 percent allocation for our South-of-Delta water contractors,? said Acting Regional Director Pablo Arroyave. ?However, as Governor Brown reminded us last week when lifting California?s drought state of emergency, the next drought could be around the corner. It is crucial that we remain vigilant in conserving our precious water resources.?On Feb. 28 and March 22, 2017, Reclamation announced a 100 percent allocation for all CVP contractors with the exception of agricultural water service contractors South-of Delta (contractors in the Delta Division, San Felipe Division, and the San Luis Unit), who were initially allocated 65 percent of their contract supply, and Municipal and Industrial (M&I) contractors South-of-Delta, who were initially allocated 90 percent of their contract supply.On March 30, 2017, DWR reported an average statewide snow water equivalent in the Sierra Nevada of 45.8 inches, or 164 percent of the historical average for March 30 (27.9 inches). As a result of the water availability south of the Delta and the amount of snowpack in the central and southern Sierra Nevada, Reclamation is able to make this significant water supply allocation increase.Reclamation is announcing the following updated allocations:South-of-Delta Contractors   
   - M&I water service contractors South-of-Delta are allocated 100 percent of their contract supply.
   
   - Agricultural water service contractors South-of-Delta are allocated 100 percent of their contract supply.
Given the magnitude of this allocation, the amount of water carried over from last year, and the overall availability of surface water, Reclamation strongly encourages the use of surface supplies instead of ground water wherever possible through the remainder of the 2017 water year. In order to promote effective use of supplies in San Luis Reservoir this year and efficiency for next year?s operations, Reclamation will limit the overall amount of water to be carried over to the 2018 contract year to 150,000 acre-feet. Reclamation will continue to work with contractors regarding a strategy for water carried over from the 2016 water year and plans to effectively carry over water for the 2018 contract year.Information on CVP water supplies is available at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvp-water/index.html. For additional information, please contact Public Affairs at 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or mppublicaffairs at usbr.gov.# # #Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825 United States

   
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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Tue Apr 11 18:53:19 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2017 18:53:19 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Jerry Brown to meet with Interior Secretary Ryan
	Zinke Thursday/Feds Adopt West Coast Salmon Seasons
In-Reply-To: <504A4B51-2F32-4904-9370-E2B6CF3651AD@fishsniffer.com>
References: <A1CB8660BEB1214B959A01123100173E2C54E618@FOTRSBS01.fotr.local>
	<504A4B51-2F32-4904-9370-E2B6CF3651AD@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <FD4D6800-F212-4611-B893-8584C73BC30E@fishsniffer.com>

Good Evening

Here are my latest two stories - the first a brief piece about  
Governor Jerry Brown's meeting with Secretary Ryan Zinke this Thursday  
and the second about the PFMC adoption of West Coast salmon seasons  
today.

Thanks
Dan

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/4/11/1652376/-Jerry-Brown-to-meet-with-Interior-Secretary-Ryan-Hinke-about-water-fire-public-lands



Photo of Secretary Zinke courtesy of Department of Interior website.

Jerry Brown to meet with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke about water,  
fire & public lands

by Dan Bacher

Governor Jerry Brown will meet with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in  
Sacramento this Thursday ? and many opponents of the Delta Tunnels  
fear that that one of the major points of discussion will be the  
controversial California WaterFix project.
In an an email to me this afternoon, Heather Swift, Department of  
Interior spokesperson said, ?The Secretary plans to discuss water,  
fire and public lands priorities? during his meeting with Brown.

The meeting will take place before Zinke travels to Yosemite, Sequoia  
and Kings Canyon national parks on Thursday and Friday.

I have not yet received a response to an email I sent to the  
Governor?s Office regarding whether the tunnels will be specifically  
one of the points of discussion. However, since the California  
WaterFix is a priority water project of Brown?s, it will likely be a  
key item discussed.

The Department of Interior?s Bureau of Reclamation has been the  
primary federal agency promoting the construction of the Delta Tunnels  
through a partnership with the State Department of Water Resources  
(DWR).

Brown?s Delta Tunnels project has come under increasing fire from  
scientists, economists and public trust advocates over the past few  
years. Brown and his administration  claim that the California  
WaterFix, a controversial plan to divert Sacramento River water  
through two 35-mile long tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin  
Delta, is based on ?science.?

?The best scientific thinking says California needs the project,?  
Governor Brown told Dan Morain, Sacramento Bee editorial page editor  
in an interview in December of 2016. (www.sacbee.com/...)

However, federal scientists strongly disagree with Brown?s claim that  
?best scientific thinking" supports the construction of the tunnels.  
In fact, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has released a  
draft biological opinion documenting the harm the tunnels would cause  
to salmon, steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, other fish and wildlife  
species, and water quality.

An independent peer review panel found the NMFS findings are backed   
by ?comprehensive analyses, new data, and modeling,? according to the  
Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA). The panel further found NMFS  
used the ?best available science? and produced evidence of  
?significant adverse impacts? to species and critical habitat,  
including unacceptable harm to salmon.

The draft biological opinion is available at http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/central_valley/WaterFix/WaterFixPeerReview2BMaterials.html

Secretary Zinke heads a department that employs 70,000 people,  
including expert scientists and resource-management professionals, in  
nine technical bureaus and various offices. The U.S. Department of the  
Interior ?protects America's natural resources and heritage, honors  
our cultures and tribal communities, and supplies the energy to power  
our future,? the DOI website states.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) ?protects and manages the  
Nation's natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific  
and other information about those resources; and honors its trust  
responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska  
Natives, and affiliated island communities,? according to the agency?s  
website.

The DOI includes the following Bureaus: Bureau of Indian Affairs,  
Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau  
of Reclamation, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement,  
National Park Service, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and  
Enforcement, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Geological Survey.




2. http://fishsniffer.com/index.php/2017/04/11/breaking-feds-adopt-west-coast-salmon-seasons/

Breaking: Feds Adopt West Coast Salmon Seasons

by Dan Bacher

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) at its meeting in  
Sacramento today adopted ocean salmon season recommendations that  
offer some recreational and commercial opportunities for most of the  
West Coast.

Due to low ocean abundance forecasts, the Klamath Management Zone  
(KMZ) from Cape Falcon, Oregon, to Horse Mountain, California, will be  
completely closed to the take of Chinook salmon this season.

The recommendations will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries  
Service (NMFS) for approval by May 1, 2017.

This year?s run of Klamath River fall Chinook salmon is projected to  
be the smallest in history- 11,000 fish, about 10% of average for the  
last 3 decades. "Before colonization, scientists estimated that over  
1.2 million salmon returned to the Klamath annually," according to  
Craig Tucker, Natural Resources Policy Advocate for the Karuk Tribe.

Other areas, including sections of the coast from Horse Mountain to  
the U.S./Mexico border, offer restricted recreational and commercial  
fishing seasons.

While allowing for some fishing opportunities, the PFMC pointed out  
that the adopted salmon fisheries off the coasts of California,  
Oregon, and Washington do achieve the conservation goals set for the  
numerous West Coast salmon stocks.

?The Council has recommended commercial and recreational ocean salmon  
seasons in Washington, Oregon, and California this year that provide  
important protections for stocks of concern including Klamath River  
fall Chinook, Washington coastal coho, and Puget Sound Chinook," said  
Council Executive Director Chuck Tracy.

Before the adoption of the measure, Brett Kormos, the CDFW's  
representative on the PFMC, told the Council, "This has been a  
challenging fishery planning process due to our continued concerns  
over winter run and the depressed status of the Klamath stock."

"We have all spent a great deal of time and effort attempting to  
develop appropriate regulations given these considerations and the  
added likelihood that the Klamath stock will face similar levels of  
risk under all of the scenarios we examined, including total closure  
of the fishery. These regulations are a reflection of the deliberative  
process we have undergone, including concern for the future of our  
salmon stocks and our stakeholders and the Tribes up and down our  
coast," Kormos explained.

Commercial and recreational fishing families in the Klamath Management  
Zone on the ocean and tribal and recreational fishermen on the Klamath  
and Trinity rivers will be hurt particularly hard by the closures this  
season.

?This announcement means we?re going to have to fish for other species  
in order to make a living; that?s a fact,? said Tim Klassen, captain  
of the charter fishing vessel Reel Steel, fishing out of Eureka. ?The  
long term health of salmon is more important than just one season.  
We?ve been through this before and it hurts, but if we don?t do  
something soon to improve our salmon runs, we will be the last  
generation of salmon fishermen in California.?

Recreational salmon fishing further south below Horse Mountain opened  
on April 1, with surprisingly good fishing at times in the Half Moon  
Bay and Monterey Bay areas.

The fisheries south of Point Arena are also affected by the need to  
protect Sacramento River winter Chinook, a listed species under the  
federal and state Endangered Species that has been hammered by decades  
of water diversions throughout the river system and in particular by  
massive water exports out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

In the Fort Bragg area from Horse Mountain to Point Arena, the season  
will close during June, July, and half of August, then reopen through  
November 12.

In the San Francisco area from Point Arena to Pigeon Point, the season  
will close during the first half of May and reopen through October 31.

Salmon fishing will remain open through July 15 in the Monterey Bay  
area and through May 31 for areas south of Monterey Bay.

After hearing the announcement, Noah Oppenheim, Executive Director of  
the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA), said  
thousands of West Coast commercial salmon fishing families are going  
to be impacted by "another significantly curtailed salmon season" this  
year.

"For California fishermen the drought is far from over, and its  
lasting effects are sending a shudder through coastal communities  
today," he emphasized. "The effects of climate change and a five year  
drought, exacerbated by unnecessary dams and unsustainable water  
diversions, have resulted in this disastrous situation. Preventable  
declines in salmon populations will cost commercial fishermen millions  
of dollars this year and have already severely reduced the public's  
access to the natural resources that they rightfully own."

"We know that these closures are caused by the same flawed projects  
and policies that closed the fishery nine years ago. Salmon need cold  
water, good habitat, and adequate flows now and into the future, and  
salmon fishing families and seafood consumers need sustainable,  
locally caught salmon. If deadbeat dams remain standing and exorbitant  
water exports continue apace, threatened and endangered salmon runs  
won't have much of a future in California," he concluded.

Oppenheim noted that the commercial non-tribal salmon fishery in the  
Klamath Management Zone, a 200 mile stretch of coast from Humbug  
Mountain in Oregon to Horse Mountain in California, will be closed  
this year.

There will be a limited fishery (up to 3,000 fish) with a limit of 60  
fish per week per boat) in the Fort Bragg area in September.

The area surrounding San Francisco will open for a limited time in  
August, September, and parts of October, according to Oppenheim. The  
commercial salmon fishery will be open in May and June solely in areas  
south of Pigeon Point.

Tribal fisheries are also greatly impacted by the Klamath River salmon  
collapse. The Yurok Tribe will have no commercial salmon fishing  
season this year. The subsistence allocation is 650 fish, the lowest  
allocation ever.

"This is the worst year in history for Klamath salmon,? said Amy  
Cordalis, the Tribe?s General Counsel, a Yurok Tribe member and  
fisherwoman. "There is no mystery as to why. The effects of an  
unprecedented drought were exacerbated by dams and diversions."

"This year, Yurok, Karuk and Hupa people will have little to no salmon  
for the first time in history. Although the fish are important  
economically, they are more important as an irreplaceable part of our  
identity as people who care for the river," she stated.

The Hoopa Valley Tribe will be greatly impacted by the looming salmon  
season restrictions, particularly during their biannual white deer  
skin dance and world renewal ceremonies that will begin in August,  
according to Mike Orcutt, the Tribe?s Fisheries Director.

?Approximately 130 fish will available for the 3400 members of the  
Tribe,? said Orcutt. ?Not to have salmon for people participating in  
our ceremonies will be unfathomable.?

On April 10, the Karuk Tribal Council took the "unprecedented step "of  
placing restrictions on subsistence fishing by Tribal Members for the  
first time in history.

?It?s my saddest day as Chairman,? said Karuk Tribal Chairman Russell  
?Buster? Attebery, ?this is the first time in our history that we have  
imposed limits on traditional dip net fishermen working to feed their  
extended families and tribal elders.?

The Tribe will allow the harvest of 200 Chinook salmon for substance  
and ceremonial purposes, according to Attebery. Typically, Karuk  
fishing requires little in the way of regulation due to the fishing  
method. Karuk fishermen use a traditional dip net about 12 feet long  
to scoop out salmon from behind rocks in the rapids below Ishi Pishi  
Falls.

?You can only catch a very small percentage of the fish that are  
moving through the falls with dip-nets. Our fishing method limits our  
take so as to ensure plenty of fish make it up- stream to spawn,?  
explains Attebery.

For more information about the salmon seasons, go to: Pacific Fishery  
Management Council: http://www.pcouncil.org?

Description of 2017 salmon management process: http://www.pcouncil.org/salmon/current-season-management/


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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Apr 12 08:30:23 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2017 15:30:23 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal: Anticipation rises with lake level
References: <68249638.620625.1492011023201.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <68249638.620625.1492011023201@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_6f116706-1f28-11e7-a0ad-dfe7550bfe6c.html

Anticipation rises with lake level
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
?- 2 hrs ago
?- ?0
   
   - 
   - 
   - 
   
   - Justin Zabel | Special to The Trinity Journal
Trinity Alps Marina with a near-full Trinity Lake and snow-capped mountains in the background.?   
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The Trinity Lake area is brimming with excitement as the lake continues to fill, reaching elevations it hasn?t attained in years.As of Sunday, the lake was 92 percent full, holding 2,261,276 acre-feet of water, and was still rising. At 12 feet from the top of the spillway it was at 2,358 feet elevation, the highest it?s been since 2012.From the Trinity Alps Marina located by the dam, owners Darrell and Marilyn Marlin are preparing for an increase in business.?Everybody?s calling for places to park their boats for the season,? Marilyn Marlin said.The nearby Fairview boat ramp is in the water after being unusable for several years, and the Marlins plan to re-open their bar and grill that had been closed. The business rents boats as well. ??I think it?s going to be a really good year,? she said, noting that a recent fishing tournament on the lake drew 40 boats.?Everybody is very excited to have the lake full again,? said Stephanie Storer, manager of the Trinity Center General Store.Aerial photos taken by the store owner were posted on the store?s Facebook page which ?blew up,? she said. ?I think it?s going to be a busy year.?While the release to the Trinity River will be high this year which is anticipated to fall in the ?wet? or ?extremely wet? categories and water will also be diverted for Central Valley Project uses, Storer noted there is a good snowpack to feed the lake as well.The high river release is an underlying worry for many, said Kelli Gant from the Trinity Lake Revitalization Alliance. ?Otherwise,? she said, ?I think everyone is really looking forward to having a lake most of the people can get to off the ramps most of this year.?   
   - 

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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Apr 12 08:58:13 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2017 15:58:13 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Big_L=2EA=2E_water_agency_antes_up_for_a_?=
 =?utf-8?q?share_of_Valley=E2=80=99s_Sites_Reservoir?=
References: <1277016359.679858.1492012693215.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1277016359.679858.1492012693215@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article143994694.html



Big L.A. water agency antes up for a share of Valley?s Sites Reservoir
BY DALE KASLERdkasler at sacbee.com
The water agency that supplies drinking water to Los Angeles agreed Tuesday to contribute $1.5 million toward the planning of Sites Reservoir in the Sacramento Valley, giving the agency a toehold in a potentially valuable storage project.The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, as expected, approved the expenditure by a unanimous vote. If the agency eventually decides to contribute to the construction project itself, it would entitle?Metropolitan to control?up to 50,000 acre-feet of storage in the reservoir. Sites, to be built on the Glenn-Colusa county line, would store up to 1.8 million acre-feet.Metropolitan General Manager Jeff Kightlinger has said he isn?t interested in investing in Sites unless California moves ahead with plans to build twin tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, but he believes Metroplitan should contribute to planning and development costs as a way of maintaining its interest in the Sites project in the interim.The controversial tunnels project is designed to overhaul the Delta?s troubled plumbing system and ease water delivery to Southern California. Critics have called Metropolitan?s investment in Sites a means of siphoning more Northern California water to the south.Sites has the backing of Gov. Jerry Brown?s administration and is preparing to apply for financial aid from?Proposition 1, the voter-approved water bond that has $2.7 billion available for reservoirs and other infrastructure. Sites would seek up to $2.2 billion of the funds, representing half the estimated cost of the reservoir.Dale Kasler:?916-321-1066,?@dakasler
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article143994694.html#storylink=cpy
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Apr 12 11:32:03 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2017 18:32:03 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Governor=E2=80=99s_train_a_better_deal_th?=
 =?utf-8?q?an_his_tunnels=2C_Feds_say?=
References: <603311684.791018.1492021923092.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <603311684.791018.1492021923092@mail.yahoo.com>

Also see?http://valleyecon.blogspot.com/?
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=32424

Governor?s train a better deal than his tunnels, Feds say?

STOCKTON?
April 10, 2017 2:13pm????
?? Treasury Department skips twin tunnels for its short list of major U.S. projects?? ?It amazes me that anyone still believes public officials who say the tunnels can be built without substantial taxpayer funds??
The controversial high-speed rail system that is one of Gov. Edmund Gerald Brown Jr.?s ?legacies? he hopes to leave to Californians is actually a better deal for taxpayers than the governor?s other legacy project: massive twin water tunnels in the Delta, says a federal report.Both projects have lined up only a tiny fraction of their probable cost, although construction has started on the bullet train project in the Central Valley.In creating a list of significant transportation and water infrastructure projects that have been proposed but face challenges to completion, the U.S. Treasury Department has identified 40 transportation and water construction proposals, says economist Jeffrey Michael, director of the Center for Business and Policy Research at the University of the Pacific.He says the Treasury Department is looking for projects that would have high economic benefits relative to their costs.?The high-profile tunnels project clearly hits all the screening criteria to have its benefits and costs evaluated for consideration for the list, Mr. Michael says.?The screening criteria are:? Significant (defined as more than $300 million? Estimates of capital and operating costs, and a basis for estimating benefits? Completed a portion of environmental review? Could be at least partially completed within 10 years? Face a challenge to completion (technical, environmental, funding, etc.)Mr. Michael says that is a list of criteria that the governor?s proposed twin tunnels ?passes with flying colors.?But wait.?The Delta Tunnels are conspicuously absent from the final list of recommended projects, Mr. Michael notes.Why? Mr. Michael quotes from the Treasury Department report:"The study team selected those projects for the final list which had significant net national or regional economic benefits based either on estimates of costs and benefits that had already been calculated using acceptable methods or on interim project outputs that could be converted to estimates of costs and benefits. Projects in the final list were chosen based on their net economic benefits.... "?While I may have been the first, it is increasingly clear that I am not the only analyst to conclude that the [governor?s tunnels project] has a lousy benefit-cost ratio,? he says.?Three California projects did make the final list of 40 recommended projects: The high-speed rail; HOV express lanes throughout the Bay Area freeway network, and Sutter Basin flood control improvements.?Yes, it is true that high-speed rail has stronger economic justification than the Delta tunnels, although its financial viability is equally questionable,? Mr. Michael says.However, Mr. Michael notes that the tunnels do make another list, this one by consultants for the Trump transition team. He says it looks at project financing, most notably its revenue potential for private investors, rather than its overall economic benefits and cost.?The governor?s tunnels make this list of 50 priority projects, ?but it is notable that the assessment finds that it needs a large taxpayer subsidy. The consultants estimate that user revenue is only sufficient to pay 50 percent of project costs, in sharp contrast to a decade of statements by the state and water contractors that they would pay 100 percent of the projects costs,? Mr. Michael says.The governor?s tunnels project has yet to issue a draft financial plan, Mr. Michael notes, ?and they suppressed their own economic consultants assessment that the project required a large taxpayer subsidy.?If they are ever built, Mr. Brown?s two tunnels ? each so tall and wide that light planes could fly through them without touching the walls ? would suck comparatively clean water out of the Sacramento River before it could flow into the California Delta. This water would be piped underground for about 35 miles to the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project for resale to growers in the San Joaquin Valley and urban users in Silicon Valley and Southern California.The governor?s tunnels proposal is essentially an underground version of his voter-rejected Peripheral Canal of the 1980s.Mr. Michael offers the list of the five California projects that made the transition team list, along with their estimated construction cost and the percentage of the costs that could be paid by facility users.? I-405 Improvements, $1.9 billion, 50 percent.? Veterans Health Research Institute, $1 billion, 90 percent.? Cadiz Water, $250 million, 100 percent.? Huntington Beach Desalinization plant, $350 million, 100 percent.? The governor?s tunnels, $15 billion, 50 percent.Mr. Michael points out that the tunnels? economics ?are much worse than desalination (frequently criticized for high costs) and it appears the transition consultants agree.??It amazes me that anyone still believes public officials who say the tunnels can be built without substantial taxpayer funds. While it has taken a long time, the media and the public are slowly catching on. And now it appears that infrastructure consulting firms working for the federal government, who have a strong incentive to promote mega-infrastructure projects, recognize that the project cannot be financed as claimed by project proponents and that the overall economic justification is lacking,? Mr. Michael says.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Apr 12 20:49:41 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2017 03:49:41 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Radio interview: Retired Rep. George Miller and John
	Lawrence
References: <531765777.1232581.1492055381544.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <531765777.1232581.1492055381544@mail.yahoo.com>

From:?John Lawrence [mailto:jal221b at gmail.com]?
Sent:?Wednesday, April 12, 2017 7:29 PM
Subject:?Miller/Lawrence interview on Central Valley public radio: California water program?George Miller and I were guests on Lloyd Carter's radio program, talking about California water policy. If you are interested in hearing the show (running time: 1 hour), here is the info:go to?www.kfcf.org?where it will be live streaming at 4 p.m. EDT (Eastern time) on Thursday (April 13).--?John LawrenceVisiting ProfessorUniversity of?CaliforniaWashington DC Center??Read the DOMEocracy blog:?johnalawrence.wordpress.com?
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr 13 13:45:30 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2017 20:45:30 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Record precipitation
References: <1621776360.1938347.1492116330386.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1621776360.1938347.1492116330386@mail.yahoo.com>

Today the cdec 8 stations in the "northern sierra" broke their precipitation record. This includes Mt Shasta and Shasta Dam.
See the chart at:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/products/PLOT_ESI.pdf
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr 13 13:57:07 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2017 20:57:07 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] PRESS ADVISORY: Fishing Communities Plan Fundraiser,
 Educational Event as Response to Salmon Crisis
In-Reply-To: <CAKoN7edUuPV2O3qDxo57ye23WtE_2tmS6TwzhOnOb_7X9suMVQ@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAKoN7ecvqcycpL0dEZKLA8OygFTR1CCWiMz0WBa9=ZXNz1wmkQ@mail.gmail.com>
	<848470166.1974229.1492116407027@mail.yahoo.com>
	<CAKoN7edUuPV2O3qDxo57ye23WtE_2tmS6TwzhOnOb_7X9suMVQ@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <669764910.1948186.1492117027350@mail.yahoo.com>




PRESS ADVISORYApril 12, 2018 
Contact: Regina Chichizola, Save the Klamath Trinity Salmon 541 951-0126Dave Bitts, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations 707 498-3512 
Fishing Communities Plan Fundraiser, Educational Event as Response to Salmon Crisis 
When: May 27th at 6pm. What: Benefit Concert, Seafood Dinner and Education Event Where: Save Our Salmon will be hosted at the Inn at 2nd and C in the historic Eagle House in Eureka. 
Commercial and Tribal Fishermen will be hosting a fundraiser and education event on May 27th to draw attention to this year?s salmon fisheries disaster and local salmon issues. The bands ?Digging Dirt and Irie Rockers will play music, speakers will talk about local community action to protect salmon, and a seafood dinner will be served. All proceeds from the event and related auction will go directly to fund fishermen and Tribal lead community action ?to restore and defend salmon populations in Northern California.
Salmon populations, and the fishermen and tribal members who depend on them, are facing the worst salmon returns on the Klamath in recorded history, which has lead to the closure of the commercial season locally and a Tribal allotment of about one fish per 10 Tribal members. This situation was caused by a combination of climate change, drought, water diversions, and dams. 
While there are causes for hope, such as the proposed Klamath Dam removal project, political threats to the salmon way of life are mounting. California?s Twin Tunnels plan, petroleum pipelines, and federal anti-environmental policies continue to threaten North Coast salmon and communities. 
Speakers and representatives from the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations, the Institute for Fisheries Resources, Save the Klamath-Trinity Salmon, Ancestral Guard, True North, the Native Women's Collective, and local Tribes will be on hand to talk about community action for the Trinity, Klamath, Sacramento, Eel, and Elk Rivers along with how to support water justice, fishing communities, and local wild seafood. More information can be found on the Save Our Salmon event page on facebook. 

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr 13 14:31:02 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2017 21:31:02 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fall-run king salmon fishing looks bleak
References: <143316593.1973787.1492119062199.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <143316593.1973787.1492119062199@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/environment/article_5d12604a-1f29-11e7-aa61-83238c076b29.html

Fall-run king salmon fishing looks bleak
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
?- Apr 12, 2017
?- ?0
   
   - 
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   - 
   
   - File
Low estimates of Klamath/Trinity fall run chinook salmon in the ocean could close in-river sports fishing for the run. A decision is expected this week.?   
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An abysmally low estimate for the number of Klamath and Trinity river fall-run chinook salmon in the sea is expected to translate into an allowable catch this season of zero to hardly any.State and federal fishery scientists have presented an estimate of only 54,200 Klamath River fall run adult chinook in the ocean as of Sept. 1. The number includes fish bound for the Klamath?s largest tributary, the Trinity River.The figures for Sacramento River fall chinook are also low, although not in the dire straits the Klamath stocks are facing.The Pacific Fishery Management Council is recommending to the National Marine Fisheries Service that the ocean commercial salmon fishery from the Florence South Jetty in Southern Oregon to Horse Mountain in California be closed for the entire season to reduce impacts to the Klamath fall chinook. For recreational ocean fishing, the recommendation is closure of the Brookings, Ore., and Crescent City and Eureka, Calif. areas. Those recommendations along with many others for the West Coast will be forwarded to the fisheries service for approval by May 1.Also this week, the state Fish and Game Commission is expected to come out with the allowable catch in the Klamath and Trinity rivers.Looking at the estimated number of fish in the ocean and the goals for the number of chinook spawning in the river, the math does not work out well.The 54,200 figure for Sept. 1 is the lowest preseason ocean abundance estimate ever, noted Wade Sinnen, associate biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.Since September many of those fish will have died in the ocean, and some will not have matured enough to return to the river, he said.Even if there were no ocean fishing, only 18,800 adult fall chinook would be expected to enter the mouth of the river, including hatchery and wild fish. Typically, the goal is to have 40,700 natural adult spawn in the river, allowing any amount over that for fishing.?Obviously, we?re not going to get there,? Sinnen said. ?We?re not even close to meeting that threshold.??Needless to say we?re going to have slim to no salmon fishing this year,? he added.There are rules that could allow for a harvest of about 1,600 of those 18,800 fish when the threshold can?t be met ? but that?s a low number to divide among ocean commercial and recreational fishing and in-river tribal and recreational fishing. For the in-river sports fishing, what shakes out in this scenario is an allowable catch for the Klamath and Trinity rivers combined of 129 fish. A quota that small would be very difficult to try to manage, Sinnen said, and although that is the allocation from the fisheries management? council the Fish and Game Commission could decide not to allow in-river sport fishing.The tribes also could decide not to catch their full allocations, and the Yurok Tribe has announced it will not have a commercial fishery for the second year in a row. They still have sustenance fishing.Separate from the adult numbers, fishing for immature ?jacks? might be allowed, although there would still have to be consideration of incidental catch and release of adult fish.Sinnen attributed the cause of the low fall chinook projections to three strikes against these fish, including several years of drought impacting survival in the river, high incidences of disease by out-migrating juvenile fish on the Klamath side of the system, and poor ocean conditions.The saving grace, he said, is the long-term data showing that even in low abundance years the salmon populations can rebound quickly if this year?s young encounter good river and ocean conditions. If so, those effects will be seen when they return in a few years.Two Trinity County fishing guides were in agreement that the fall run chinook need a break from harvest.Fishing Guide Liam Gogan from Trinity River Outfitters predicted a ?jacks only? season.?Economically that would be a disaster,? he said. ?People won?t come from out of town to fish for sub-adult king salmon on the Trinity River.?But at the same time, he added, ?I think with the quantity of fish they?re forecasting they should probably call it a zero limit fishery and take the year off.?That includes jacks. He?s concerned that here and there people will do the wrong thing, and keep an adult while ostensibly fishing for jacks.Four years of drought have hurt the fish, Gogan said. He also lambasted the Trinity River Restoration Program, calling it ?an absolute failure.?Another fishing guide, Travis Michel, feels the fish have been overharvested.?Our fish runs have been for a long time managed for maximum profit for tribes and commercial fishing,? he said.A different model is needed to ensure enough fish survive to spawn, he said.Regarding the Trinity River Restoration Program, Sinnen noted that fall chinook populations on the Klamath side and other rivers are also down, indicating global conditions at play.?They?ve identified what need for habitat, particularly juvenile salmon,? he said, ?and they?re building that habitat.?The tribes point to the unprecedented drought exacerbated by dams and diversions.
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From unofelice at gmail.com  Thu Apr 13 19:35:46 2017
From: unofelice at gmail.com (Felice Pace)
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2017 19:35:46 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] There's a new post at KlamBlog
Message-ID: <CA+BcFPnV+KUj=P4bx5Y78Qkh66XL0kyykTYKKWyc5_sHudciTA@mail.gmail.com>

The new post at KlamBlog is titled:

          The Klamath's Salmon Disaster: Why it happened, who's responsible
and what's needed now
<http://klamblog.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-klamaths-salmon-disaster-why-it.html>

This post is in response to press releases and PR based media reports that
misrepresent the reasons why there is a Klamath Salmon Disaster this year.
It explains why families which depend on Klamath Salmon will suffer for at
least the next three years, including the corruption of science in
implementing the ESA with respect to the Bureau of Reclamation's Klamath
Irrigation Project. It reveals that tribal and fishing leaders could have
prevented, or at least limited, the disaster and suggests why they failed
to do what should have been done in 2013. I hope you will read it.
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Apr 14 15:14:02 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2017 22:14:02 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Reclamation Announces 2017 Schedule for Release
 into Trinity River as Part of Restoration Program
In-Reply-To: <66b319d012074c5799e876b9a99a3d7f@usbr.gov>
References: <66b319d012074c5799e876b9a99a3d7f@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <1027452208.776941.1492208042402@mail.yahoo.com>

On Friday, April 14, 2017 2:57 PM, Janet Sierzputowski <jsierzputowski at usbr.gov> wrote:

 Reclamation Announces 2017 Schedule for Release into Trinity River as Part of Restoration ProgramMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-067Media Contact: Russell Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: April 14, 2017Reclamation Announces 2017 Schedule for Release into Trinity River as Part of Restoration ProgramWEAVERVILLE, Calif. ? The Bureau of Reclamation announced today that releases from Lewiston Dam into the Trinity River will increase on Saturday, April 22, and will reach approximately 11,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) by Wednesday, April 26. The peak flow will continue until Friday, April 28.Releases will decrease to 2,050 cfs on May 7 and ramp up to 5,400 cfs on May 10. The releases will start ramping down on June 4 until the summer base flow of 450 cfs is reached on August 11.People residing near the river or recreating on the river can expect river levels to increase and should take appropriate safety precautions. Landowners are advised to clear personal items from the floodplain prior to the releases.The December 2000 Trinity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Record of Decision (ROD) created a plan for the restoration of the Trinity River and its fish and wildlife populations. The Program?s restoration strategy includes four different restoration elements, two of which include increased releases to the river and sediment management. Flow regimes link two essential purposes deemed necessary to restore and maintain the Trinity River?s fishery resources: (1) flows to provide physical fish habitat (i.e., appropriate depths and velocities, and suitable temperature regimes for anadromous salmonids) and (2) flows to restore the riverine processes that create and maintain the structural integrity and spatial complexity of the fish habitats. More information on the Trinity River ROD can be found at www.trrp.net/background/rod/.The releases for this ?extremely wet? 2017 water year will result in an annual total volume of 815,000 acre-feet. The releases meet ?extremely wet? water year objectives of the ROD and efficiently promote additional geomorphic change in the river by increasing hydrologic variability.A daily schedule of flow releases is available at www.trrp.net/restore/flows/current/, and the public may subscribe to automated notifications (via phone or email) of Trinity River release changes. The flow release schedule is posted at the Trinity River Restoration Program office, located at 1313 South Main Street, Weaverville.For additional information, please contact Kevin Held at 530-623-1809 (TTY 800-877-8339) or kheld at usbr.gov or visit www.trrp.net.# # #Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825 United States

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Apr 15 15:15:42 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2017 22:15:42 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] California tribes fear abysmal salmon run may trigger
 public health crisis
References: <1607209278.1336296.1492294542629.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1607209278.1336296.1492294542629@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article144768959.html



WATER & DROUGHT
APRIL 14, 2017 7:37 PM
California tribes fear abysmal salmon run may trigger public health crisis
BY RYAN SABALOWrsabalow at sacbee.com
Native American communities are bracing for a public health crisis this year in California?s misty, rugged northwestern corner.In the Pacific Ocean off the mouth of the Klamath River, record-low numbers of fall-run adult Chinook salmon are ready to make their annual migration up the river and its primary tributary, the Trinity River, to spawn.?The run this year is so miniscule that for the first time there will be practically no tribal fishing on the rivers.?ADVERTISINGTo protect what?s left of a Klamath River salmon run decimated by California?s epic five-year drought, disease and other environmental woes, state and federal regulators last week announced they would be closing or severely limiting ocean fishing for fall-run Chinook from south of Eureka to Central Oregon. The Klamath and Trinity rivers are completely off-limits to recreational salmon anglers this fall.The Yurok, Hoopa Valley and Karuk tribes on the Klamath and Trinity rivers this year will only catch a few hundred fall-run fish ? mostly for ceremonial purposes. Normally, the tribes? combined catch numbers in the tens of thousands when the fall-run fishery is strongest.?The loss of the region?s largest fishing season has triggered an existential crisis for the tribes.?When that?s gone, it?s literally like the social fabric that holds our entire community together unravels,? said Amy Cordalis of?the Yurok Tribe. ?We are already a very economically depressed community, and we have a lot of drug and alcohol problems, and we have a suicide crisis on the reservation. I guarantee you all that stuff is going to be even worse this year because there?s no fishery. Our very core of who we are and the core of what we do, it?s gone. It?s gone.?Commercial fishing plays an important role in regional and tribal economies. Salmon also provide a critical food source on tribal lands. Between a third and a half of the people on North Coast Indian reservations have incomes below the federal poverty level, according to U.S. Census data.?Instead of tribe members receiving dozens of fish each to feed them throughout the year, this year tribal leaders are talking in single servings.?Hunger is a very real concern, said?Ryan Jackson, chairman of the?Hoopa Valley Tribe on the Trinity River.?It?s a staple for a lot of folks? diet,? Jackson said. ?We have high unemployment and poverty and all of those things. Salmon and subsistence food for a lot of folks is all that they have in a lot of ways.?There are also less tangible worries.Tribal leaders fear what will happen to their communities without the excitement, the sense of purpose and the community interactions that come with readying gear, moving into fishing camps and smoking and canning fish.In an example of how much fishing is tied to life on the Klamath, Cordalis of the Yurok Tribe proudly points out that not only is a she a member of her tribe?s legal team, she?s also a fisherwoman. When the Chinook are running, she trades courtroom attire for rain slickers covered in fish slime, blood and scales. She hauls in fish at the mouth of the Klamath, same as other tribal anglers.?Jackson, who fishes with members of his family, said the annual fall run provides a vital connection to traditions that stretch back long before California was colonized by European settlers.?It?s who we are. It?s how we connect to the land,? Jackson said. ?It?s how we connect to a lot of the cultural aspects of the tribe.?Experts on tribal mental health said those connections help tribe members cope with the unresolved trauma from the various atrocities that have been committed on indigenous peoples. Europeans brought fatal diseases, massacres and forced relocations. It wasn?t all that long ago that native children were taken from their families and forced to attend government boarding schools in a concerted effort to wipe away indigenous traditions, culture and language.?Experts said losing something as important as the salmon season could reopen some of those wounds.?If there is a lack of salmon for tribes that have relied on it for millennia and whose culture is based around it, then we might very well anticipate some of these very negative mental health outcomes and behavioral health issues,? said Myra Parker, a Native American who studies tribal wellness issues at the University of Washington?s?Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors.If there is a bright spot to the worst salmon season on record, tribal leaders say the situation has only strengthened their resolve to have four hydroelectric dams torn down on the Klamath River and to force federal dam operators to better manage river flows to help the fish.?The Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes recently prevailed in lawsuits arguing federal officials needed to release more water into the the rivers at certain times of year to ward off disease outbreaks.Tribal biologists say that during the drought, a disease outbreak fueled by low water levels sickened almost all of the juvenile fish in the river. The disease played a substantial role in why there so few adult fish this year, said Mike Orcutt, director of the Hoopa Valley Tribe?s fisheries department.On the Klamath, where four dams in California and Oregon are seen by the tribes not as just fish killers but also symbols of the subjugation of the native peoples of the West, members of the Karuk and Yurok tribes say they?re optimistic the structures will soon come down.?Last year, those tribes revived a dam-removal agreement?with Oregon and California and the dams? owner, PacifiCorp.?The move came a few months after?Congress let expire a hard-fought compromise?reached a decade earlier by broader array of tribes, farmers and other groups that had promised habitat restoration and guaranteed Klamath Basin farmers a more reliable supply of water. The accords hinged on the removal of the four Klamath dams ? three in California and one in Oregon. Congressional Republicans, philosophically opposed to removing the dams, had refused to sign off. Key parts of the agreements expired.Leaf Hillman, natural resources manager for?the Karuk Tribe, said that in spite of being shunned by Congress ? and the abysmal numbers of fish this year ? he believes the revived pact the parties reached last year ensures the dams will come down in his lifetime ? and the fish will come back.??These fish are resilient animals,? he said. ?If we just allowed them the chance, they will do the hard work that Congress was unable or unwilling to do.?In the shorter term, a wet winter has brought its own sense of optimism, said Annelia Hillman, a member of the Yurok Tribe who works through a federally funded grant program to try to stem the suicide crisis among her people.??It?s definitely brought hope that we?ll have a healthy salmon run,? she said. ?It almost feels like some of our prayers are manifesting with the rain.??Ryan Sabalow:?916-321-1264,?@ryansabalow. The Bee?s Phillip Reese contributed to this report.
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article144768959.html#storylink=cpy
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Apr 17 10:04:54 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2017 17:04:54 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: [Trinity Releases] Change Order - Lewiston Dam
In-Reply-To: <CAF2zoAp1Q_KgrDTG29unyUuFYLxfa6gSJVnjy_nbStcqkBFOHg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAF2zoAp1Q_KgrDTG29unyUuFYLxfa6gSJVnjy_nbStcqkBFOHg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1981308533.2401393.1492448694132@mail.yahoo.com>

On Monday, April 17, 2017 9:42 AM, "Field, Randi" <rfield at usbr.gov> wrote:


 Project:?Lewiston?Dam
Please make the following release?changes?to the Trinity River:?Date?????????? ?????Time???????? From (cfs)?? ??To (cfs)?04/19/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ?1500 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?140004/19/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?1300
04/19/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ?1300 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?1200
04/19/2017 ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?1100

04/20/2017 ? ? ?0000 ? ? ? ? ?1100 ? ? ? ? ? ? ?100004/20/2017 ? ? ?0400 ? ? ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 900
04/20/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ?900 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 800
04/20/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ? ?800 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 700
04/20/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ? ?700 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 600
04/20/2017 ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ? ?600 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 500

04/21/2017 ? ? ?0000 ? ? ? ? ? ?500 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 400
Comment: ?Preparation for ROD releasesIssued by: R. Field-- 
View online at http://www.trrp.net/restore/flows/release-email/
--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "trinity-releases" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to trinity-releases+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


   
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From sari at sisqtel.net  Mon Apr 17 11:24:08 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2017 11:24:08 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: Study tracks California Dryness,
	Recovery Challenges Back to 16th Century
Message-ID: <015001d2b7a7$ce523080$6af69180$@sisqtel.net>

http://www.cbbulletin.com/438703.aspx#

 

Columbia Basin Bulletin

 <http://www.cbbulletin.com/438703.aspp> Print this Story Print this Story
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/Email_EmailContent.aspx?id=438703> Email this
Story Email this Story 


Study Tracks California Dryness, Recovery Challenges Back To 16th Century 
Posted on Friday, April 14, 2017 (PST) 


Between October 2011 and September 2015, California saw its driest four-year
period in the instrumental record, which dates back to 1895.

 

Parts of the state lost more than two full years of precipitation during the
prolonged, severe dry spell. But, a new study by NOAA scientists
<http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0423.1>
http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0423.1 suggests that
from the longer-term view of paleoclimate records, the southern Central
Valley and South Coast parts of the state saw their worst dry spell in
nearly 450 years.

 

California?s hardest hit areas would likely need several decades for their
long-term average precipitation to recover back to normal levels.

 

This study also looked at how long it would take the state to recover from
its current precipitation deficits.

 

And, the scientists found that California?s hardest hit areas would likely
need several decades for their long-term average precipitation to recover
back to normal levels, starting from the 2012?2015 deficits.

 

?The odds of the state completely recovering from its extreme dryness within
two years are estimated at less than 1 percent,? said Dr. Eugene R. Wahl,
NCEI paleoclimatologist and lead author of the study. ?But, that may be
what's happening right now if very wet conditions continue into spring.?

 

The extreme El Ni?o conditions between 2015 and 2016 helped jumpstart
recovery in the northern half of the state.

 

And, the scientists found that when very strong or extreme El Ni?o events
followed a similar deep dryness, California?s full recovery time was nearly
cut in half. 

 

The high amounts of precipitation California has received during the current
wet season have already set the state up for a faster recovery time than 80
percent of similar events.

 

If it continues to be an extremely wet year for the state, like fall 1982
through summer 1983, California would be looking at an even shorter recovery
time.

 

But, different parts of the state have felt the impacts of the dryness
differently, and they will likely recover at different rates. To get a
better view of these regional differences, the scientists also looked at
each of the seven standard climate divisions in California and their
histories of extreme dry spells.

 

In most of these regions, the scientists found that similar very dry events
had occurred since the late 16th century.

 

However, two of the state?s hardest hit regions?the San Joaquin Drainage and
the South Coast Drainage?likely hadn?t seen a four-year period as dry since
at least before 1571.

 

?These two regions include the agriculturally important Central Valley and
the densely populated greater Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas,?
said Wahl, ?So, the social and economic impacts are of particular importance
there.?

 

According to analysis of instrumental data, the Southeast Desert Basin
division had the highest likelihood of recovering within two years at around
4 percent. The San Joaquin Drainage and the South Coast Drainage divisions
effectively had a zero percent chance of recovery within two years. And, the
state's other four climate divisions ranged from a less than 0.1 percent to
around a 1.5 percent chance.

 

With the paleoclimate records, the results were similar for the Northeast
Interior Basins, Central Coast Drainage, San Joaquin Drainage, and South
Coast Drainage divisions. But, the likelihood of recovering within two years
dropped even lower for the North Coast Drainage, Sacramento River Drainage,
and Southeast Desert Basin divisions.

 

By looking at precipitation alone, the study says it provides a unique view
of California?s past climate as well as insights into its future. Under
current conditions, the scientists found that precipitation patterns alone
are capable of producing unprecedented dry conditions such as occurred in
the San Joaquin Drainage and the South Coast Drainage regions during
2012?2015, without the compounding factor of increasing temperatures.

 

If temperatures continue to rise as they have, says the study, the U.S.
Southwest could be facing ?megadroughts? -- worse than any droughts in the
region since medieval times. In a warming world, says the study, higher
temperatures could combine with and amplify severe precipitation deficits. 

 <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a73074e66d2b0b0>
Bookmark and Share

	

 

	

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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Apr 18 12:57:33 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2017 19:57:33 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Big water year leaves dearth of information
References: <115101670.3779268.1492545453331.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <115101670.3779268.1492545453331@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.redding.com/story/opinion/columnists/tom-elias/2017/04/17/big-water-year-leaves-dearth-information/100570580/



Big water year leaves dearth of information
Thomas Elias11:12 a.m. PT April 17, 2017In this remarkable water year, which ended more than five years of severe drought in California, there are still plenty of noteworthy water questions to contemplate and act upon.Here?s the central one: Three years after California passed what?s often called a landmark groundwater regulation law, no one knows how much under-surface water remains accessible to wells and no one has a clue to how much replenishment the state?s supplies actually got from last winter?s massive storms.It?s easy to see that once-depleted reservoirs are back at peak levels, again drowning abandoned towns, buildings, corrals and other structures sacrificed decades ago to the need for water storage.But groundwater remains a mystery.Things may not be quite as mysterious as years ago, but one thing for sure: supposed new information the state now possesses about groundwater basins is essentially common sense stuff understood long ago by anyone with even a modicum of knowledge about California rainfall, lakes and rivers.Example A is a somewhat breathless mid-winter report from the?California Department of Water Resources called ?Water Available for Replenishment,? showed demand for local water and imports from other regions is highest in the Tulare Basin of the southern San Joaquin Valley.The same report says ?runoff, natural recharge and outflow are highest on the North Coast.? And we were told the estimated water available for replenishing groundwater basins is highest in the Sacramento River region (about 640,000 acre feet a year, enough to satisfy the needs of 1.4 million families).This is all the stuff of common-sense: Virtually no one familiar with California?s water world doesn?t know that farms in the Tulare Basin consume a lot of water, both from the Central Valley Project and from wells. Who doesn?t know it typically rains more on the North Coast than anywhere else in the state? And who doesn?t know the Sacramento River watershed contains some of California?s largest reservoirs, from which water could be shifted to replenish aquifers?So this was essentially a useless report, telling interested Californians little they didn?t already know. There is still no way to tell how much water remains in easily reachable aquifers around the state. For example, no one has a clue how much water lies in most California underground lakes. We do, for example, know golf courses in the Coachella Valley portion of Riverside County, including Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and the aptly named Indian Wells, always remained green even as the state Capitol lawn and many others went brown in the drought.Drought or not, the vast underground lake beneath the Coachella Valley keeps water shortages there at bay year after year. Plus, much of the water sprayed onto the valley?s myriad greens and fairways eventually filters back down to the aquifer.Far more important would be to know the extent of aquifers and their winter replenishment in the Central Valley. During the drought, farmers spent heavily to deepen wells and reach new, lower levels of underground supplies, but no one had the foggiest notion how long that could persist. Winter storms at least partially replenished supplies, but it?s still anyone?s guess how much water rests there or how long it might last.Water meters, reported Leon Szeptycki, executive director of Stanford University?s Water in the West program, could help a bit with this. He told a university magazine that ?If everyone had a meter on their well and you knew how much everyone was using, you could sort of calculate everyone?s contribution to aquifer depletion. But if you don?t know any of those things, they just become things to fight about.?That?s pretty much where we are today, more than 12 years before the new state law?s eventual deadline for controlling and measuring use of groundwater as thoroughly as surface water is managed now.The bottom line: We know that after a winter of heavy rain, there is no more drought in California. Even Gov. Jerry Brown admitted that.We also know at least some Californians want controls on groundwater use, but that?s many years off. All of which means that we know startlingly little more now than before the groundwater law passed three years ago, and that?s a crying shame.Email Thomas Elias at tdelias at aol.com.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Apr 18 14:11:27 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2017 21:11:27 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Fishing Communities Plan Fundraiser,
 Educational Event as Response to Salmon Crisis
In-Reply-To: <6E5ADCEE-6FEE-40D4-A43A-09FA4E1B0CB6@fishsniffer.com>
References: <1420692119.3926825.1487043693204.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1420692119.3926825.1487043693204@mail.yahoo.com>
	<35FA987F-8A73-4654-8E3E-98E4A17AB10A@fishsniffer.com>
	<ED2A44B6-A9A3-4579-8A0E-127214EEE50A@fishsniffer.com>
	<D2342DD3-ED44-46C3-8518-88D0C88AA918@fishsniffer.com>
	<7FAC7629-6AA3-44F8-BDB5-755E56FAF1C5@fishsniffer.com>
	<257611E0-D2D2-47C7-ABAB-CBCD6DEF5E0E@fishsniffer.com>
	<02B63D1A-0477-45D0-ACD9-33B89E4218B3@fishsniffer.com>
	<34E8A7C1-6DD9-4E6D-B783-7FC347DE735C@fishsniffer.com>
	<5DE390B5-AD8D-4E06-8B5D-88089938D9C7@fishsniffer.com>
	<59D27843-7EAF-44CB-9F17-E2CB35E23714@fishsniffer.com>
	<C989D2DF-F89E-4190-8D08-4F2C18670FC8@fishsniffer.com>
	<DFA0E252-3D68-4578-98A5-29793C9F6403@fishsniffer.com>
	<553CF078-62F9-4703-834D-1B335B486FEC@fishsniffer.com>
	<F248CAE8-69F8-435E-ABC2-0183324CC1C1@fishsniffer.com>
	<34F0A5AB-8142-414E-9469-FE9C67C6E463@fishsniffer.com>
	<3EDB3D96-BE32-430C-B7E2-54E6E8BA8840@fishsniffer.com>
	<4EC7BDF2-36DE-47F0-929E-38F9925035AA@fishsniffer
	.com> <50986E2C-12FB-45CF-9964-E4ED5BC08F85@fishsniffer.com>
	<93B3326B-05EF-49DF-9397-5402BB7C6CA6@fishsniffer.com>
	<E5F372F8-CD13-4E4D-BE3D-4A9BCAAB5570@fishsniffer.com>
	<45C8E3BF-2E57-45C8-A968-7A0532D8533A@fishsniffer.com>
	<6E5ADCEE-6FEE-40D4-A43A-09FA4E1B0CB6@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <1366481314.3854462.1492549887527@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/4/18/1654061/-Fishing-Communities-Plan-Fundraiser-Educational-Event-as-Response-to-Salmon-Crisis




Iron Gate Dam on the Klamath River. Photo by Dan Bacher.
Fishing Communities Plan Fundraiser, Educational Event as Response to Salmon Crisis
by Dan Bacher
Commercial and Tribal fishermen will be hosting a ?Save Our Salmon??fundraiser and education event?on May 27, 2017 at 6 p.m. at the Inn at 2nd and C in the?historic Eagle House in Eureka??to draw attention to this year?s salmon fisheries disaster and local salmon issues.The bands Digging Dirt and Irie Rockers will play music, speakers will talk about local community action to protect salmon, and a seafood dinner will be served. All proceeds from the event and related auction will go directly to fund fishermen and Tribal-led community action ?to restore and defend salmon populations in Northern California.?Salmon populations, and the fishermen and tribal members who depend on them, are facing the worst salmon returns on the Klamath in recorded history, which has lead to the closure of the commercial season locally and a Tribal allotment of about one fish per 10 Tribal members,? said?Regina Chichizola of Save the Klamath Trinity Salmon.??This situation was caused by a combination of climate change, drought, water diversions, and dams.??While there are causes for hope, such as the proposed Klamath Dam removal project, political threats to the salmon way of life are mounting. California?s Twin Tunnels plan, petroleum pipelines, and federal anti-environmental policies continue to threaten North Coast salmon and communities,? said Chichizola.Speakers and representatives from the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations, the Institute for Fisheries Resources, Save the Klamath-Trinity Salmon, Ancestral Guard, True North, the Native Women's Collective, and local Tribes will be on hand to talk about community action for the Trinity, Klamath, Sacramento, Eel, and Elk Rivers along with how to support water justice, fishing communities, and local wild seafood. More information can be found on the Save Our Salmon event page on facebook.For more information about the current salmon crisis,?read:?www.dailykos.com/??or?fishsniffer.com/???Contact: Regina Chichizola, Save the Klamath Trinity Salmon 541 951-0126Dave Bitts, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations 707 498-3512

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Apr 19 08:20:15 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2017 15:20:15 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: [Trinity Releases] Change Order - Lewiston Dam
In-Reply-To: <CAF2zoApKGSOzTpd8-U+_G2gCHiVxeyEQKbaGihuxt-FgqbGD9g@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAF2zoApKGSOzTpd8-U+_G2gCHiVxeyEQKbaGihuxt-FgqbGD9g@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <2430508.4617055.1492615215560@mail.yahoo.com>

On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 7:37 AM, "Field, Randi" <rfield at usbr.gov> wrote:


 Project:?Lewiston?Dam
Please make the following release?changes?to the Trinity River:?Date?????????? ?????Time???????? From (cfs)?? ??To (cfs)?04/22/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ? ?400 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 500
04/22/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? ?500 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 800
04/22/2017 ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ? ?800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1000
04/22/2017 ? ? ?2200 ? ? ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1200

04/23/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ? ? 140004/23/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1500
04/23/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ?1500 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1800
04/23/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2000
04/23/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2500

04/24/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ?2500 ? ? ? ? ? ? 3000
04/24/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ?3000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 3500
04/24/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ?3500 ? ? ? ? ? ? 4000
04/25/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ?4000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 5000
04/25/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ?5000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 6000
04/25/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ?6000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 7000
04/26/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ?7000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 8000
04/26/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ?8000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 9000
04/26/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ?9000 ? ? ? ? ? ?1000004/26/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ?10000 ? ? ? ? ? ?11000
Comment: ?Trinity ROD releases
Issued by: R. Field-- 
View online at http://www.trrp.net/restore/flows/release-email/
--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "trinity-releases" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to trinity-releases+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


   
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr 20 08:51:43 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 15:51:43 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Trinity_Journal=3A_Extremely_wet=E2=80=99?=
	=?utf-8?q?_year_for_the_Trinity?=
References: <1694079242.5757502.1492703503910.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1694079242.5757502.1492703503910@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_cbc54de6-2496-11e7-83da-333ee265298a.html

?Extremely wet? year for the Trinity

Declaration will release more water down river; lake fans worry


   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
?- Apr 19, 2017
?- ?0
   
   - 
   - 
   - 
   
   - Cathy Anderson | Special to the Trinity Journal
A kayaker paddles through the waters of Trinity Lake. While the lake is near-full now, the ?extremely wet? designation will send additional water down the Trinity River this year.?   
   
   - 
   - 
   - 
   - 
   - 
Trinity River Restoration Program staff presented this year?s river flow and gravel augmentation plans last week and were met with many questions from an audience concerned with Trinity Lake levels and fish returns.Based on record inflow to the Trinity reservoir since Oct. 1 and the good snowpack, this has been designated an ?extremely wet? year under the 2000 Trinity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Record of Decision. The last time that happened was 11 years ago.Under the Record of Decision, lots of water entering the reservoir means a large amount should be released for fisheries ? 815,000 acre-feet in this extremely wet year when 2,265,000 acre-feet is forecast to gush in.At the recommendation of the Trinity Management Council, the federal Bureau of Reclamation announced a large chunk of that allotment will be released to the river for a high spring flow of 11,000 cubic feet per second.During the April 11 meeting, restoration program Data Steward Eric Peterson noted that the river and its ability to support fish was hit hard first by gold dredging and later by the dams, which ?took away the power of the river.?The high spring flow is meant to mimic snowmelt and provide diverse habitat for fish by moving sediment, aiding in development of river bars and floodplains, scouring riparian vegetation that keeps the river from spreading, moistening floodplains and scouring pools used by fish.A second spike in releases, not as high, is intended to aid in cottonwood tree germination on floodplain surfaces.Program staff also shared plans to add 3,500 cubic yards of gravel to the river in the Lewiston area ? 1,500 cubic yards near Lewiston Dam and 2,000 cubic yards at the Upper Lowden Ranch site.?Dams not only stop water, they also stop gravel from moving down,? Peterson said.About 25 Trinity County residents attended the meeting held April 11, and many who spoke out were unhappy.A couple of people felt that the big problem for fisheries is overharvesting. One claimed that the reason the returns are so low is Russian and Japanese fishing fleets 12 miles off the coast.Another said with the Native American reservations getting as many fish as they want, ?You guys are spending an awful lot of money for nothing.?From the restoration program, Hoopa Valley Tribe Senior Hydrologist Robert Franklin responded, saying foreign fleets fishing off the coast ?hasn?t happened for decades,? and the reservation fish harvest is subject to an allocation process every year by the Pacific Fishery Management Council.Due to the record low fall chinook salmon run expected, the Yurok Tribe has announced it will suspend commercial fishing for the second year in a row. Hoopa tribal members voted in 2011 to ban commercial fishing on the reservation.Franklin also noted that the restoration program is paid for by Central Valley Project water and power users.?So why isn?t it working?? they were asked.Restoration program staff noted there are a number of factors that affect fish that they have no control over, including dam operations, the fish hatchery, fish harvest, and conditions on the Klamath River and in the ocean.?We?re talking chinook there,? Franklin said, ?and they live most of their lives in the ocean.?Program staff also noted that outgoing juvenile fish naturally spawned in the river are increasing. However, the adult returns go back and forth with ?no trend,? said a biologist with the program, Kyle De Juilio.De Juilio said while this year is not looking good for the fall chinook, the 2012 return was among the top five years of the last 35.There were many questions from people concerned with business and recreation in the Trinity Lake area. Although at eight feet from the top the lake is now the highest it?s been since 2012, the spring high flow and CVP diversions will put a dent in that. The last few summers the lake has been very low.Eleanor Scott asked that businesses and recreation in Trinity County be given consideration in the decisions.?My boat has not been in the water in four years,? she said. ?Our recreation business is destroyed.?De Juilio noted that long-term the amount of water leaving the lake is not changed, because water going to the river is not going to the CVP.?It?s political science, not science,? argued Jerry Payne, who questioned the staff as to how they justify the late fall and the summer release to the river that is higher than the inflow to the reservoir.?Mother Nature didn?t do it that way,? he said.Physical Scientist Andreas Krause said that the restoration program doesn?t do the high fall flows that have been released from the Trinity reservoir to protect fish in the lower Klamath River. The summer baseflow of 450 cubic feet per second is higher than prior to the dam, he agreed, and that is to try to assist the spring fish that prior to construction of the Trinity River Division would move up to the higher elevations for cool water.Jim Smith asked if anyone is trying to rework the Record of Decision to take into consideration multiple drought years, although he acknowledged this would probably take an act of Congress.?The businesses are really struggling to the point people are thinking about moving out,? he said.The Record of Decision does have five different water year scenarios from critically dry to extremely wet, with differing releases. It isn?t perfect, restoration staff agreed, and in multiple drought years the low reservoir does make it difficult to release cold water for fish.In response to a question about turning down the Record of Decision flows, restoration program Executive Director Caryn Huntt DeCarlo said, ?We are mandated to follow the water year volumes.?Krause said restoration staff has requested Reclamation to consider establishing a minimum elevation for the Trinity reservoir to have enough cold water for fish.And Elizabeth Hadley, deputy area director for Reclamation, said the agency is thinking about the issue of consecutive drought years.Program staff also said they are looking at ways to move up the high spring flow to more closely mimic the snowmelt that has been occurring earlier.A resident who lived in the area when the dam was built, Jim Skinner, said he doesn?t want to see restoration program staff take the rap for problems that are very hard to fix. ?It?s a hard job and you?ve got to wear a lot of hats, but we need solutions for sure,? he said.While water volumes are mandated in the Record of Decision, program staff noted they have made adjustments in other areas. Asked by Trinity County Sup. Bill Burton about the possibility of pausing the gravel augmentations while the science is evaluated, Huntt DeCarlo noted the effects are monitored and based on that the gravel has been significantly reduced.This year?s gravel augmentation is a tenth of what the Record of Decision called for.Concerns raised by fishing guides that the gravel added to the river is filling deep pools used by adult fish led to studies indicating that overall the pool depths are not increasing or decreasing. More information is being collected on the topic.   
   - 
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From lrlake at aol.com  Thu Apr 20 12:02:36 2017
From: lrlake at aol.com (lrlake at aol.com)
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 15:02:36 -0400
Subject: [env-trinity]
 =?utf-8?q?Trinity_Journal=3A_Extremely_wet=E2=80=99?=
 =?utf-8?q?_year_for_the_Trinity?=
Message-ID: <15b8cbea67d-4a36-2b22e@webprd-a52.mail.aol.com>

After the 30 years I have paid attention, Same crappola; different year...


The bureaucracy of the Trinity River, the dudes with the $ - BOR- , dink around with the river to maintain a welfare flow of money for Trinity Co.  Of course, BOR doesn't care about Trinity, Humboldt or any other county nor Tribe; they care for their jobs.  I don't believe that BOR or Dept. of the Interior has any incentive to resolve the problems caused by their dams.

Don't get me started on "adaptive management and monitoring."  Government job security, guaranteed!  Hey!, lets do a $100,000 study to analyze the recent winter "hydrologic event"...<G>  Hopefully, the TRRP will have room on the shelf for another report without having to buy more shelves or additional office space.  Look in your library TRRP.  High flows and wet winter events have been analyzed, over and over, for 50 years.


Disgusted...


Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net>
To: Env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Sent: Thu, Apr 20, 2017 8:52 am
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal: Extremely wet? year for the Trinity





http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_cbc54de6-2496-11e7-83da-333ee265298a.html


?Extremely wet? year for the Trinity
Declaration will release more water down river; lake fans worry


By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
 
Apr 19, 2017
 
 0
























Cathy Anderson | Special to the Trinity Journal


A kayaker paddles through the waters of Trinity Lake. While the lake is near-full now, the ?extremely wet? designation will send additional water down the Trinity River this year. 









































Trinity River Restoration Program staff presented this year?s river flow and gravel augmentation plans last week and were met with many questions from an audience concerned with Trinity Lake levels and fish returns.

Based on record inflow to the Trinity reservoir since Oct. 1 and the good snowpack, this has been designated an ?extremely wet? year under the 2000 Trinity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Record of Decision. The last time that happened was 11 years ago.

Under the Record of Decision, lots of water entering the reservoir means a large amount should be released for fisheries ? 815,000 acre-feet in this extremely wet year when 2,265,000 acre-feet is forecast to gush in.


At the recommendation of the Trinity Management Council, the federal Bureau of Reclamation announced a large chunk of that allotment will be released to the river for a high spring flow of 11,000 cubic feet per second.

During the April 11 meeting, restoration program Data Steward Eric Peterson noted that the river and its ability to support fish was hit hard first by gold dredging and later by the dams, which ?took away the power of the river.?

The high spring flow is meant to mimic snowmelt and provide diverse habitat for fish by moving sediment, aiding in development of river bars and floodplains, scouring riparian vegetation that keeps the river from spreading, moistening floodplains and scouring pools used by fish.

A second spike in releases, not as high, is intended to aid in cottonwood tree germination on floodplain surfaces.

Program staff also shared plans to add 3,500 cubic yards of gravel to the river in the Lewiston area ? 1,500 cubic yards near Lewiston Dam and 2,000 cubic yards at the Upper Lowden Ranch site.

?Dams not only stop water, they also stop gravel from moving down,? Peterson said.

About 25 Trinity County residents attended the meeting held April 11, and many who spoke out were unhappy.

A couple of people felt that the big problem for fisheries is overharvesting. One claimed that the reason the returns are so low is Russian and Japanese fishing fleets 12 miles off the coast.

Another said with the Native American reservations getting as many fish as they want, ?You guys are spending an awful lot of money for nothing.?

>From the restoration program, Hoopa Valley Tribe Senior Hydrologist Robert Franklin responded, saying foreign fleets fishing off the coast ?hasn?t happened for decades,? and the reservation fish harvest is subject to an allocation process every year by the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Due to the record low fall chinook salmon run expected, the Yurok Tribe has announced it will suspend commercial fishing for the second year in a row. Hoopa tribal members voted in 2011 to ban commercial fishing on the reservation.

Franklin also noted that the restoration program is paid for by Central Valley Project water and power users.

?So why isn?t it working?? they were asked.

Restoration program staff noted there are a number of factors that affect fish that they have no control over, including dam operations, the fish hatchery, fish harvest, and conditions on the Klamath River and in the ocean.

?We?re talking chinook there,? Franklin said, ?and they live most of their lives in the ocean.?

Program staff also noted that outgoing juvenile fish naturally spawned in the river are increasing. However, the adult returns go back and forth with ?no trend,? said a biologist with the program, Kyle De Juilio.

De Juilio said while this year is not looking good for the fall chinook, the 2012 return was among the top five years of the last 35.

There were many questions from people concerned with business and recreation in the Trinity Lake area. Although at eight feet from the top the lake is now the highest it?s been since 2012, the spring high flow and CVP diversions will put a dent in that. The last few summers the lake has been very low.

Eleanor Scott asked that businesses and recreation in Trinity County be given consideration in the decisions.

?My boat has not been in the water in four years,? she said. ?Our recreation business is destroyed.?

De Juilio noted that long-term the amount of water leaving the lake is not changed, because water going to the river is not going to the CVP.

?It?s political science, not science,? argued Jerry Payne, who questioned the staff as to how they justify the late fall and the summer release to the river that is higher than the inflow to the reservoir.

?Mother Nature didn?t do it that way,? he said.


Physical Scientist Andreas Krause said that the restoration program doesn?t do the high fall flows that have been released from the Trinity reservoir to protect fish in the lower Klamath River. The summer baseflow of 450 cubic feet per second is higher than prior to the dam, he agreed, and that is to try to assist the spring fish that prior to construction of the Trinity River Division would move up to the higher elevations for cool water.

Jim Smith asked if anyone is trying to rework the Record of Decision to take into consideration multiple drought years, although he acknowledged this would probably take an act of Congress.

?The businesses are really struggling to the point people are thinking about moving out,? he said.

The Record of Decision does have five different water year scenarios from critically dry to extremely wet, with differing releases. It isn?t perfect, restoration staff agreed, and in multiple drought years the low reservoir does make it difficult to release cold water for fish.

In response to a question about turning down the Record of Decision flows, restoration program Executive Director Caryn Huntt DeCarlo said, ?We are mandated to follow the water year volumes.?

Krause said restoration staff has requested Reclamation to consider establishing a minimum elevation for the Trinity reservoir to have enough cold water for fish.

And Elizabeth Hadley, deputy area director for Reclamation, said the agency is thinking about the issue of consecutive drought years.

Program staff also said they are looking at ways to move up the high spring flow to more closely mimic the snowmelt that has been occurring earlier.

A resident who lived in the area when the dam was built, Jim Skinner, said he doesn?t want to see restoration program staff take the rap for problems that are very hard to fix. ?It?s a hard job and you?ve got to wear a lot of hats, but we need solutions for sure,? he said.

While water volumes are mandated in the Record of Decision, program staff noted they have made adjustments in other areas. Asked by Trinity County Sup. Bill Burton about the possibility of pausing the gravel augmentations while the science is evaluated, Huntt DeCarlo noted the effects are monitored and based on that the gravel has been significantly reduced.

This year?s gravel augmentation is a tenth of what the Record of Decision called for.

Concerns raised by fishing guides that the gravel added to the river is filling deep pools used by adult fish led to studies indicating that overall the pool depths are not increasing or decreasing. More information is being collected on the topic.












_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity

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From bgutermuth at usbr.gov  Thu Apr 20 17:35:39 2017
From: bgutermuth at usbr.gov (Gutermuth, F.)
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2017 17:35:39 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Restoration Program Flow schedule
Message-ID: <CAMnws3KsM3rkGVJcyCOL=_VMsLjwK-X_qkX_jHitu+rXrxjU9g@mail.gmail.com>

Trinity River Restoration Program flows for the spring release are set to
start on Saturday, 22 April 2017.
Flows will reach 11,000 cfs from Lewiston dam on 26 April as shown in the
graph below.

 A copy of daily average flows is included under the hydrograph. A pdf of
this handout is available on at: http://www.trrp.net/

[image: Inline image 1]

[image: Inline image 2]

Best Regards -
Brandt



Brandt Gutermuth
Trinity River Restoration Program
530.623.1806 work





On Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 3:14 PM, Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net> wrote:

> On Friday, April 14, 2017 2:57 PM, Janet Sierzputowski <
> jsierzputowski at usbr.gov> wrote:
>
>
> [image: Reclamation News Release Header]
>
> *Mid-Pacific Region Sacramento, Calif.*
> MP-17-067
> Media Contact: Russell Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.gov
> For Immediate Release: April 14, 2017
> *Reclamation Announces 2017 Schedule for Release into Trinity River as
> Part of Restoration Program*
> WEAVERVILLE, Calif. ? The Bureau of Reclamation announced today that
> releases from Lewiston Dam into the Trinity River will increase on
> Saturday, April 22, and will reach approximately 11,000 cubic feet per
> second (cfs) by Wednesday, April 26. The peak flow will continue until
> Friday, April 28.
> Releases will decrease to 2,050 cfs on May 7 and ramp up to 5,400 cfs on
> May 10. The releases will start ramping down on June 4 until the summer
> base flow of 450 cfs is reached on August 11.
> People residing near the river or recreating on the river can expect river
> levels to increase and should take appropriate safety precautions.
> Landowners are advised to clear personal items from the floodplain prior to
> the releases.
> The December 2000 Trinity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Record of
> Decision (ROD) created a plan for the restoration of the Trinity River and
> its fish and wildlife populations. The Program?s restoration strategy
> includes four different restoration elements, two of which include
> increased releases to the river and sediment management. Flow regimes link
> two essential purposes deemed necessary to restore and maintain the Trinity
> River?s fishery resources: (1) flows to provide physical fish habitat
> (i.e., appropriate depths and velocities, and suitable temperature regimes
> for anadromous salmonids) and (2) flows to restore the riverine processes
> that create and maintain the structural integrity and spatial complexity of
> the fish habitats. More information on the Trinity River ROD can be found
> at www.trrp.net/background/rod/.
> The releases for this ?extremely wet? 2017 water year will result in an
> annual total volume of 815,000 acre-feet. The releases meet ?extremely wet?
> water year objectives of the ROD and efficiently promote additional
> geomorphic change in the river by increasing hydrologic variability.
> A daily schedule of flow releases is available at
> www.trrp.net/restore/flows/current*/*, and the public may subscribe to
> automated notifications (via phone or email) of Trinity River release
> changes. The flow release schedule is posted at the Trinity River
> Restoration Program office, located at 1313 South Main Street, Weaverville.
> For additional information, please contact Kevin Held at 530-623-1809 (TTY
> 800-877-8339) or kheld at usbr.gov or visit www.trrp.net.
> # # #
> Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States,
> and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its
> facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and
> wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on
> Twitter @USBR <https://twitter.com/usbr> and @ReclamationCVP
> <https://twitter.com/ReclamationCVP>.
>
>
> If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of
> Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
> <http://br.pr-optout.com/OptOut.aspx?686x817x84412x3x1542066x24000x6&Email=tstokely%40att.net>
> Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825
> United States
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> env-trinity mailing list
> env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
> http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity
>
>
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr 20 20:12:59 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2017 03:12:59 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Klamath Long Term Plan ROD Released
References: <265442549.6325465.1492744379976.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <265442549.6325465.1492744379976@mail.yahoo.com>



The Klamath LTP ROD has been posted here:
https://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=22021


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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr 20 20:23:28 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2017 03:23:28 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Record of Decision for the Long-Term Plan to
 Protect Adult Salmon in the Lower Klamath River Project
In-Reply-To: <8d842eeef5bf4813bd390e7af45e857e@usbr.gov>
References: <8d842eeef5bf4813bd390e7af45e857e@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <1257626614.6371591.1492745008784@mail.yahoo.com>

On Thursday, April 20, 2017 3:04 PM, Loredana Potter <lpotter at usbr.gov> wrote:

 Record of Decision for the Long-Term Plan to Protect Adult Salmon in the Lower Klamath River ProjectMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-070Media Contact: Russ Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: April 20, 2017Record of Decision for the Long-Term Plan to Protect Adult Salmon in the Lower Klamath River ProjectSHASTA LAKE, Calif. ? The Bureau of Reclamation signed a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Long-Term Plan to Protect Adult Salmon in the Lower Klamath River fulfilling its commitment to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District to provide a long-term approach to avoiding a fish die-off in the lower Klamath River. With this decision, Reclamation is providing greater certainty for all stakeholders involved while decreasing the costs that were associated with implementing an annual program. Additionally, by signing this ROD, Reclamation is committing to improved science, greater transparency, and improved collaboration through the adaptive management process during future flow augmentations. Water will only be used for the fish when the fish are actually in the river.The preferred alternative (Alternative 1) includes augmenting flows in the lower Klamath River with water from Trinity Reservoir (via Trinity River) to reduce the likelihood and the severity of any fish disease outbreak that could lead to an associated fish die-off, as occurred in 2002. Augmentation flows are to be considered under an adaptive management approach when flow of the lower Klamath River is projected to be less than 2,800 cubic feet per second in late summer. The ROD will establish management direction through 2030. Reclamation will work to avoid or minimize any water supply impacts from the releases, in years when they occur.The ROD and Environmental Impact Statement were developed pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act and are available at https://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=22021. If you encounter problems accessing the documents online, please call 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or email mppublicaffairs at usbr.gov.For additional information or to review a paper copy, please contact Julia Long at 530-276-2044 (TTY 800-877-8339) or jlong at usbr.gov.# # #Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Apr 26 08:25:38 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2017 15:25:38 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: [Trinity Releases] Change Order - Lewiston Dam
In-Reply-To: <CAF2zoAonw5D1cNzaLDXbBSTjYjt-JUjcmqL-h0uogKtp-hXw1w@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAF2zoAonw5D1cNzaLDXbBSTjYjt-JUjcmqL-h0uogKtp-hXw1w@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1223210739.5204699.1493220338545@mail.yahoo.com>

On Wednesday, April 26, 2017 8:08 AM, "Field, Randi" <rfield at usbr.gov> wrote:



 Project:?Lewiston?Dam
Please make the following release?changes?to the Trinity River:?Date?????????? ?????Time???????? From (cfs)?? ??To (cfs)?04/29/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? 11,000 ? ? ? ? ? 10,500
04/29/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? 10,500 ? ? ? ? ? 10,000
04/29/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? 10,000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 9,500
04/29/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? 9,500 ? ? ? ? ? ? 9,000

04/30/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ? 9,000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 8,500
04/30/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? 8,500 ? ? ? ? ? ? 8,000
04/30/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ? 8,000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 7,500
04/30/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? 7,500 ? ? ? ? ? ? 7,000

05/01/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ? 7,000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 6,500
05/01/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? 6,500 ? ? ? ? ? ? 6,000
05/01/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ? 6,000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 5,600
05/01/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? 5,600 ? ? ? ? ? ? 5,200
05/02/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ? 5,200 ? ? ? ? ? ? 4,800
05/02/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? 4,800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 4,400
05/02/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ? 4,400 ? ? ? ? ? ? 4,000
05/02/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? 4,000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 3,800
05/03/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ? 3,800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 3,600
05/03/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? 3,600 ? ? ? ? ? ? 3,400
05/03/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ? 3,400 ? ? ? ? ? ? 3,200
05/03/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? 3,200 ? ? ? ? ? ? 3,00005/03/2017 ? ? ?2200 ? ? ? ? ? 3,000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2,800

05/04/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ? 2,800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2,700

05/05/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ? 2,700 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2,500

05/06/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ? 2,500 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2,40005/06/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? 2,400 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2,30005/06/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? 2,300 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2,200
05/06/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ? 2,200 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2,100

05/07/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ? 2,100 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2,000
05/07/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? 2,000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2,100

Comment: ?Trinity ROD releases
Issued by: R. Field-- 
View online at http://www.trrp.net/restore/flows/release-email/
--- 



   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Apr 26 08:52:41 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2017 15:52:41 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] ROD signed on Trinity flows for lower Klamath
References: <258349716.11467262.1493221961330.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <258349716.11467262.1493221961330@mail.yahoo.com>

ROD signed on Trinity flows for lower Klamath

  
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ROD signed on Trinity flows for lower Klamath
 By Trinity Journal staff The federal Bureau of Reclamation signed a Record of Decision for the Long-Term Plan to Protect Adult Salmon in ...  |   |

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ROD signed on Trinity flows for lower Klamath
   
   - Trinity Journal staff
?- 2 hrs ago
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The federal Bureau of Reclamation signed a Record of Decision for the Long-Term Plan to Protect Adult Salmon in the Lower Klamath River.This fulfills Reclamation?s commitment to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District, to provide a long-term approach to avoiding a fish die-off in the lower Klamath River. Reclamation said with this decision it is providing greater certainty for all stakeholders involved while decreasing the costs that were associated with implementing an annual program.The preferred alternative includes augmenting flows in the lower Klamath with water from the Trinity reservoir, via Trinity River, to reduce the likelihood and severity of any fish disease outbreak that could lead to an associated fish die-off, as occurred in 2002.Augmentation flows are to be considered under an adaptive management approach when flow of the lower Klamath River is projected to be less than 2,800 cubic feet per second in late summer.The ROD will establish management direction through 2030. Reclamation said it will work to avoid or minimize any water supply impacts from the releases in the years they occur.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Apr 26 17:41:03 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 00:41:03 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Golden Gate Salmon Ass'n issues statement: David
 Bernhardt's Potential Appointment to the Department of the Interior
References: <102548280.11983576.1493253663770.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <102548280.11983576.1493253663770@mail.yahoo.com>


Golden Gate Salmon Ass'n issues statement: David Bernhardt's Potential Appointment to the Department of the Interior?FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:??April 26, 2017?Statement re. David Bernhardt?s Potential Appointment to the Department of the Interior?Today, the Golden Gate Salmon Association, which represents sport and commercial salmon fishermen and women and related businesses along California?s coast and rivers, issued the following statement by?John McManus, GGSA?s Executive Director:??The Golden Gate Salmon Association is opposed to the potential appointment of?David Bernhardt?as the Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior.???For many years, Mr. Bernhardt has served as a lobbyist and litigator for the Westlands Water District, the largest federal water contractor in the nation.????Mr. Bernhardt and Westlands have spent the past decade attacking salmon protections and, by extension, the tens of thousands of California fishing jobs tied to salmon,? said McManus.? ?It strains credibility to suggest that Mr. Bernhardt, were he to be appointed, would refrain from occupying himself with key departmental decisions that he has spent the last decade working to influence.? In fact, those seeking his appointment are almost certainly counting on him to weigh in on their behalf.??According to McManus, ?Fishermen saw a pattern during the George W. Bush Administration, including suppressing science and damaging salmon runs.? We should learn from that history, not repeat it.??Background:? The appointment of Mr. Bernhardt would raise multiple conflicts. On behalf of Westlands, Mr. Bernhardt was deeply involved in drafting legislation, which passed at the end of 2016, that weakened federal protections for salmon.? In coming years, federal agencies, particularly the Department of the Interior where he wants to work, will make decisions regarding implementing that bill.? Westlands will, no doubt, lobby Interior to use that legislation to increase water diversions from the San Francisco Bay-Delta which will further weaken salmon protections.? An even more dramatic legislative assault on salmon (H.R. 23), which Bernhardt helped craft, was introduced by Congressman Valadao in January.? The Westlands Water District is pushing this bill and, if it moves forward, Interior will be asked to take a position.?Mr. Bernhardt also represented Westlands in courtroom attacks on federal Endangered Species Act protections for salmon and other imperiled native fish species.?? Had he succeeded, some salmon runs might now be extinct.??In addition, Westlands is currently working to pass legislation (H.R. 1769), which will be heard by the House Committeee on Natural Resources tomorrow.? That bill would authorize a sweetheart deal with the Bureau of Reclamation to settle litigation regarding contamination discharged into the San Joaquin River from land in Westlands that is irrigated with water from the federal Central Valley Project.? That settlement is worth approximately $300 million to Mr. Bernhardt?s former clients.???Finally, in recent weeks, the media has covered a decision by Interior that benefits the Cadiz water project, which is represented by Brownstein Hyatt, the law firm at which Mr. Bernhardt is a senior partner.? It is important to note that Mr. Bernhardt has served as the Department of the Interior transition chair for the Trump Administration.????The Westlands Water District is the largest water district in the nation and relies almost exclusively on subsidized water delivered by the federal government from Northern California?s salmon rivers.? Westlands is not new to political interference with the work of federal agencies responsible for the protection of the San Francisco Bay-Delta and salmon.? During the George W. Bush Administration, salmon fishermen watched as political manipulation prevented the best science from being used to protect ESA listed species in the Bay-Delta, including species of salmon.? Interior?s own Inspector General concluded that the resulting biological opinion, issued in 2004, was the result of political interference.? That biological opinion was overturned by the courts, resulting in a new opinion in 2009 with stronger protections.? Westlands and Mr. Bernhardt have fought ever since to weaken them.??The revolving door between Westlands and Interior was spinning rapidly during the Bush years.? Julie McDonald and Craig Manson went to work for Westlands after they left federal agencies.? Ms. McDonald in particular was deeply involved in the political interference with the work of Interior biologists and resigned following the disclosure of that interference.?######?Media contact:? Michael Coats (707) 935-6203 or?michael at coatspr.com?
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr 27 08:20:08 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 15:20:08 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] FERC requests more information on Klamath dam request
References: <1283533392.12600313.1493306408260.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1283533392.12600313.1493306408260@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20170426/NEWS/170429682



FERC requests more information on Klamath dam request
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is currently considering an application to transfer the license for four dams on the Klamath River, and a recent letter from FERC to the dam owner?s general counsel gives a slight indication of where the agency is in that process.By David Smith / dsmith at siskiyoudaily.comThe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is currently considering an application to transfer the license for four dams on the Klamath River, and a recent letter from FERC to the dam owner?s general counsel gives a slight indication of where the agency is in that process.?
Over the past several years, a number of groups in the Klamath River Basin have been attempting to initiate the removal of four dams ? operated by utility company PacifiCorp ? on the river.?
In April of 2016, a number of those groups, including PacifiCorp, the states of Oregon and California, the Karuk Tribe, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and others, signed an amended agreement setting forth a new path for dam removal.?
As laid out in the amended Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, the appropriate parties submitted an application to FERC requesting that the license for the dams be transferred to an entity that would be responsible for dam removal ? in this case, a newly formed nonprofit designated as the Klamath River Renewal Corporation.
A separate application was also submitted to request that FERC allow the KRRC to surrender the license to the dams so that they can be removed ?to achieve a free-flowing condition and volitional fish passage through the reach currently occupied by? the J.C. Boyle, Copco 1, Copco 2 and Iron Gate dams.?
Not many updates have been provided since September, when the applications were submitted, but an April 24 letter to PacifiCorp Vice President and General Counsel Sarah Kamman requests that the company provide more information for FERC to consider in its application review.?
The requested information covers a wide array of topics, including documentation of how funds collected from PacifiCorp?s California ratepayers will be disbursed to pay for dam removal and updated cost estimates for dam removal and restoration of the dam sites.
The KHSA caps the amount of money to be spent on dam removal at $450 million, with PacifiCorp?s California and Oregon ratepayers splitting $200 million and the remaining $250 million expected to come from a California water bond under Proposition 1.?
Two items in the FERC letter request clarification in the event that funding sources fall through. The first is with respect to the Oregon Public Utility Commission?s funding agreement for dam removal. Specifically, the letter notes that the Oregon PUC can terminate its agreement to fund dam removal using monies collected from ratepayers if a ?change in law makes performance or completion of facilities removal in compliance with the KHSA no longer possible.?
FERC asks for a clarification of what ?change of law? means, and for an explanation of how funds already collected by the Oregon PUC will be disbursed if the funding agreement is terminated.?
The next funding inquiry has to do with the deadline for using the grant funding from California ? which, according to the California Natural Resources Agency Grant Agreement, is June 30, 2021.?
FERC asks PacifiCorp to clarify how dam removal would be achieved if the anticipated grant funds were to revert back to the state if the project is not completed by the deadline.?
The target date for dam removal is in 2020, and advocates have stated in various press releases and at press conferences that they are confident that the target will be met.?
FERC also asks for clarification on the futures of Keno Dam ? which is in Oregon and is not targeted for removal ? and the Iron Gate fish hatchery, the transfer of which to the state of California, FERC states, has not been adequately detailed.?
PacifiCorp will have 60 days from April 24 to respond to the request for information.?
Prior reports on the FERC process have indicated that it will include opportunities for public comment, but thus far, no dates or places have been detailed.
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From oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us  Thu Apr 27 09:19:07 2017
From: oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us (Oshun O'Rourke)
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 09:19:07 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] bi-weekly catch update for WC screw traps
Message-ID: <07968F55C4B6674AAB697ABE5DFD21F80114F42A6A62@exchange.yuroktribe.nsn.us>

Hi,

Attached is the bi-weekly update for raw catch for the rotary screw traps at the Yurok Tribe Willow Creek site.  Please let me know if you have any questions or need more info.


Thanks,

Oshun Orourke
Yurok Tribe Fisheries
530-629-3333
oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us<mailto:oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us>

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From oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us  Thu Apr 27 09:19:07 2017
From: oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us (Oshun O'Rourke)
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 09:19:07 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] bi-weekly catch update for WC screw traps
Message-ID: <07968F55C4B6674AAB697ABE5DFD21F80114F42A6A62@exchange.yuroktribe.nsn.us>

Hi,

Attached is the bi-weekly update for raw catch for the rotary screw traps at the Yurok Tribe Willow Creek site.  Please let me know if you have any questions or need more info.


Thanks,

Oshun Orourke
Yurok Tribe Fisheries
530-629-3333
oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us<mailto:oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us>

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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr 27 13:15:50 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2017 20:15:50 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Orleans activist wins Earth Day award
References: <1672848149.12935206.1493324150918.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1672848149.12935206.1493324150918@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170426/orleans-activist-wins-earth-day-award&template=printart

Orleans activist wins Earth Day award

She plans to donate cash prize to local river group
By Natalya Estrada,?nestrada at times-standard.com,?@natedoge4412?on TwitterWednesday, April 26, 2017Orleans-based activist and Klamath River protector, Regina Chichizola was awarded the 2017 Anthony Grassroots Prize, an annual $1,000 Earth Day award recognizing an outstanding example of grassroots environmental stewardship through the Rose Foundation, an environment and community group in Oakland.Chichizola said she would be donating the prize to Save the Klamath-Trinity Salmon, which will use the money for community led efforts to protect the Klamath River?s salmon, including a Save our Salmon benefit concert and seafood dinner on May 27.??I was informed by the Rose Foundation about the award by a phone call,? Chichizola said. ?Of course I was honored, but I feel that the award should really go to all the people working hard with me. None of the work I do is done in a bubble. We all take community action for the salmon.?She said supporting communities along the Klamath and Trinity Rivers, who depend on salmon was a major priority in her work and has been for about 20 years. She said the 2002 fish kill impacted her work more and focused it around the Klamath.??We have to make sure people who are most affected by these salmon and river issues are educated about these policy making decisions and have the support to engaged in these decisions,? Chichizola said. ?Most of those decisions that affect the North Coast are made in Sacramento, San Francisco, D.C. or Portland and Salem, Oregon.?In addition to the Klamath and Trinity rivers, Chichizola has also volunteered extensively on work in the Eel and Sacramento rivers.?Anthony Prize founder Juliette Anthony, said in statement Chichizola recognized the need for action when it came to salmon survival and water sustainability with the state.??Regina Chichizola lives in a place that most Californians have never visited, but she sees the connections between water issues throughout our state better than many of our representatives in Sacramento,? Anthony said. ?She advocates for the tribal leaders that are combining hard science with deep spirituality to help all of us understand that the proposals to build the Delta Tunnels, raise the Shasta Dam and drain our aquifers are unjust, shortsighted and unsustainable.?Tim Little, of the Rose Foundation said the goal of the Anthony Prize was to reward an outstanding example of grassroots efforts largely at a volunteer level. Little said the foundation and the founder go through hundreds of nominations, but that Chichizola really stood out.??She is at the center of helping people in California understand that the impacts of the drought have been real and one rainy winter is not going to change that,? Little said. ?Regina is a strong voice to help people move forward and that?s why she was awarded this year.?Natalya Estrada can be reached at 707-441-0510.
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Apr 27 18:33:25 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2017 01:33:25 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?The_West_has_a_tricky=2C_expensive_water_?=
 =?utf-8?q?problem_=E2=80=93_and_even_solving_it_is_controversial?=
References: <755326751.13168328.1493343205867.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <755326751.13168328.1493343205867@mail.yahoo.com>

Attached is a an opposition letter from some House members.TShttp://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/article147156219.html



The West has a tricky, expensive water problem ? and even solving it is controversial
BY MICHAEL DOYLEmdoyle at mcclatchydc.com
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/article147156219.html#storylink=cpyWASHINGTON?A controversial California irrigation drainage deal designed to resolve one of the West?s trickiest, most expensive and longest-running water problems won approval from a key House of Representatives panel Thursday.But the debate ? and uproar over the proposal ? is only beginning, and its long-term fate is uncertain.On a mostly party-line 23-16 vote, the House Natural Resources Committee approved the bill to settle the irrigation dispute between the mammoth Westlands Water District and the federal government.?The measure relieves Westlands?of a big construction debt, and in turn shifts the burden for solving the toxic drainage problem from the government to the water district.ADVERTISING?Once authorized by law, the settlement agreement . . . will end the decades of frustration that began when the United States government decided in the 1980s not to uphold the promise to provide drainage service,? said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno.Opponents counter that Westlands is the only winner in the legislation.?It doesn?t adequately protect the taxpayer,? said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, ?and it certainly doesn?t protect the environment or the interests of other water users.?Authored by Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, whose congressional district includes the 600,000-acre Westlands district, the bill unquestionably involves a lot of money and follows a legacy of poisoned birds and legal combat.?The district?s debt to be forgiven has been estimated at around $375 million, while the cost of providing drainage is pegged at more than $3 billion.The Rhode Island-sized Westlands district, in the southern San Joaquin Valley, would also receive favorable new water contracts under the settlement, and in return would retire 100,000 acres.WE MUST LOOK AT THE FACTS ON THE GROUND TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LEGISLATION.?Rep. Jim Costa, D-FresnoThe irrigation drainage was promised beginning with the 1960 legislation authorizing the Central Valley Project?s San Luis Unit, but only about 82 of the planned 188 miles were built before the drain stopped at Kesterson Reservoir in Merced County.Without drainage, otherwise-fertile soil becomes poisoned by a buildup of salty water. The accumulation of selenium-tainted groundwater at Kesterson killed and deformed thousands of birds in the mid-1980s.The settlement covered by Valadao?s bill was originally reached between Westlands and the Obama administration, which faced a court order to provide drainage. The Trump administration essentially?inherited the settlement, prompting one of several amendments from Huffman on Thursday.?Attorney David Bernhardt, who was formerly a registered lobbyist for Westlands, is reportedly a top candidate to serve as deputy secretary of the Interior Department. Citing Bernhardt, Huffman proposed that former Westlands lobbyists or officials who join the administration not be allowed to work on the drainage issue for five years.?This is the same water district that has long had a revolving door with Republican administrations,? Huffman said, adding that ?a bad deal should not be made worse by toxic conflicts of interest.?The committee rejected Huffman?s amendment by 16-24.While the 19-page bill is now poised for passage through the Republican-controlled House, its fate in the Senate remains uncertain.Neither of California?s senators, Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, has yet taken a public position on the irrigation drainage settlement, whose details?were first revealed?19 months ago. Without at least one of the state?s senators picking up the bill, it?s very unlikely to reach the White House.The House panel also approved legislation by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, designed to coordinate the state and federal permitting processes for surface water storage projects on federal lands.Michael Doyle:?202-383-6153,?@MichaelDoyle10
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/news/politics-government/article147156219.html#storylink=cpy
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Apr 30 08:14:55 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 15:14:55 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Another giant California dam has downstream residents
	worried
References: <1776428608.870310.1493565295872.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1776428608.870310.1493565295872@mail.yahoo.com>


?Quick glance at Trinity and Lewiston dams?0:12?Northern California has several significant dams that represent important parts of the state's water management and flood-control projects, including Trinity and Lewiston.?Video edited by David Caraccio
LOCAL
APRIL 29, 2017 11:56 AM
Another giant California dam has downstream residents worried
BY JANE BRAXTON LITTLEBee Correspondent?TRINITY DAM?Deep in the Trinity Alps, 130 miles northwest of the troubled Oroville Dam, local officials are raising alarms about another earthen dam with documented weaknesses and limited capacity for releasing the water that has poured in from storms and melting snow.Trinity Lake, the state?s third-largest reservoir, was filled to 97 percent of its storage capacity Tuesday, and a snowpack estimated at 150 percent of normal still looms over the watershed.If the reservoir were to overtop the dam, the results would be catastrophic, said Keith Groves, a Trinity County supervisor representing the district that includes Trinity Dam.?It would take out bridges ? and a big section of (Trinity County) would be wiped off the face of the planet,? Groves said. He said 3,500 people live in the immediate pathway of potential flooding.More than a month ago, on March 21, the Trinity County Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation asking for a public presentation about the safety of Trinity Dam, climate change and the possible need to build another spillway. This week, Groves said the bureau has agreed to make a presentation for the supervisors on June 6.Bureau officials are aware of the accumulation of snow above the reservoir and the mounting water levels, but they are not concerned about water overtopping the structure, said Russell Grimes, acting public affairs officer for the Bureau?s mid-pacific region in Sacramento.?Even at 96 percent (of capacity) there?s quite a lot of space for inflow,? he said.Completed in 1962 as part of the Central Valley Project, Trinity Dam was the largest earthen dam in the world until it was eclipsed by Oroville. It sits on the Trinity River, 45 miles northwest of Redding, and just above Lewiston Lake, which was formed by a second dam 8 miles downstream. A 3-mile tunnel diverts water from the Trinity River Basin to the Sacramento River Basin, providing water for hydroelectric production at four power plants and irrigation to the agricultural industry in the San Joaquin Valley.Concerns about the dam?s safety date to 1974, when an unseasonably warm storm, known as a ?pineapple express,? dropped heavy rain and snow in the Trinity Alps. The water level in the lake rose so high it nearly overwhelmed the dam, said Groves.At that time, the Reclamation Bureau, which operates the dam, reduced the reservoir level it considers safe to 1.85 million acre feet, around 75 percent of the lake?s total capacity. This week, the reservoir was holding more than 2.3 million acre feet of water.Although Bureau officials say they aren?t worried, some residents who live below the dam say they are. Glenn Burton, a contractor who owns several vacation rentals, has lived in Lewiston for over 30 years. He remembers the winter of 1996, when flows into Trinity reservoir were 10 times higher than its discharge capacity.?A dam is not going to fail? Convince those below Oroville Dam of that,? Burton said.Despite documented hazards, neither Trinity County nor the state or federal government has developed evacuation notifications or procedures, a situation that Burton called ?utterly inexcusable.?Trinity Dam has three ways to release water: an uncontrolled concrete-lined tunnel that starts flowing when the lake gets high enough, a type of spillway often called a glory hole; a concrete-lined outlet at the bottom of the dam, and an outlet associated with the dam?s hydroelectric power plant. Together they can release about 35,000 cubic feet of water per second (cfs). By comparison, the damaged spillway on Oroville Dam was releasing 100,000 cfs in February as the state worked furiously to lower a dangerously high lake level.Although Reclamation officials never expect any dam to face a maximum flood event, the bureau?s 2000 report says the Trinity Dam could not withstand one should it occur. ?The resulting breach would discharge in excess of 1,000,000 cfs,? the report states.The report also cites a landslide that could potentially block the exit of the glory hole spillway. If that were to happen when the spillway was discharging, the internal water pressures could damage the spillway and surrounding rock abutment, the 2000 bureau report states.Engineers design spillways carefully to handle possible maximum floods ? ?the absolutely humungous events? that test dam structures, said Jay Lund, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Davis. Spillways almost always work, he said. And while Lund expressed surprise at how small Trinity?s spillways are, he said the size of the reservoir should be encouraging.The number of facilities constructed for spilling water from a dam depends on the size of the watershed, said Grimes, the bureau spokesman. Trinity Lake, which drains a 3,000-square-mile watershed, can store nearly 2.5-million acre feet of water. Oroville, which drains a 6,000-square-mile watershed, can store 3.5-million acre feet of water.Trinity?s relatively large capacity increases the bureau?s confidence in operating it safely, Grimes said. Although the Bureau of Reclamation has not done additional dam safety studies since its 2000 report, Trinity Dam falls within the current guidelines for operation and thus has triggered no new investigations, he said.That is not comforting to Groves, the county supervisor. Residents of his district watched the crisis at Oroville unfold after damage to the main spillway prompted the state to allow water to flow over the dam?s untested emergency spillway for the first time. The unlined hillside below the emergency spillway quickly eroded, raising fears it could collapse and prompting the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people.?Our constituents are hyper-sensitive,? said Groves. ?They want to know exactly where the dangers are.?Following the crisis at Oroville Dam, it?s reasonable to expect more inspections and attention to dams, said Lund: ?I can understand why people below the dam are on edge after Oroville.?U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman, who represents the Trinity region, has asked for a new safety review of Trinity Dam that includes consideration of a new concrete emergency spillway. In a March 24 letter to Ryan Zinke, secretary of the Department of Interior which oversees the Bureau of Reclamation, Huffman noted that maximum uncontrolled releases from the dam are about 30,000 to 35,000 cfs. A maximum probable flood is 10 times that ? about 400,000 cfs, according to the 2000 technical report.His letter prompted agency officials to review the conditions at Trinity Dam for public safety, said Grimes. The Bureau remains confident that the facility is being operated safely despite the current high level of water in the reservoir, he said.About a week ago, the bureau began taking some pressure off Trinity Dam with a series of scheduled water releases that are part of a federally mandated plan to help restore fish populations.
Read more here:?http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article147609839.html#storylink=cpy??
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon May  1 11:06:39 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 1 May 2017 18:06:39 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: [Trinity Releases] Change Order - Lewiston Dam
References: <225437010.1639035.1493661999101.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <225437010.1639035.1493661999101@mail.yahoo.com>

?On Monday, May 1, 2017 10:19 AM, "Field, Randi" <rfield at usbr.gov> wrote:
 Project:?Lewiston?Dam
Please make the following release?changes?to the Trinity River:?Date?????????? ?????Time???????? From (cfs)?? ??To (cfs)?05/08/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ?2,100 ? ? ? ? ? ?2,400

05/10/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ?2,400 ? ? ? ? ? ?2,90005/10/2017 ? ? ?0200 ? ? ? ? ?2,900 ? ? ? ? ? ?3,400
05/10/2017 ? ? ?0400 ? ? ? ? ?3,400 ? ? ? ? ? ?3,900
05/10/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ?3,900 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,400
05/10/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ?4,400 ? ? ? ? ? ?5,400

05/15/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ?5,400 ? ? ? ? ? ?5,200

05/16/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?5,200 ? ? ? ? ? ?5,000

05/18/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ?5,000 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,800

05/19/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ?4,800 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,700

05/20/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ?4,700 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,600

05/21/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ?4,600 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,400

05/22/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ?4,400 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,300

05/23/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?4,300 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,100

05/24/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ?4,100 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,500

05/25/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ?4,500 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,100
05/25/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?4,100 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,000

05/26/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ?4,000 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,500

05/27/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?4,500 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,100
05/27/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ?4,100 ? ? ? ? ? ?3,900

05/28/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ?3,900 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,400

05/29/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?4,400 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,000

05/30/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ?4,000 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,500

05/31/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ?4,500 ? ? ? ? ? ?4,200

Comment: ?Trinity ROD releases
Issued by: R. Field
-- 
View online at http://www.trrp.net/restore/flows/release-email/
--- 



   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed May  3 16:33:15 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 3 May 2017 23:33:15 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Klamath Coho Fund RFP Online
References: <325948912.2530862.1493854395502.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <325948912.2530862.1493854395502@mail.yahoo.com>

Klamath Coho Fund RFP OnlineThe combined PacifiCorp Klamath River Coho Enhancement Fund and Bureau of Reclamation Klamath River Coho Habitat Restoration Program Request for Proposals is?now live. ?

The deadline for proposals is June 5th. Attendance at the May 10th Open House in Yreka is encouraged since many changes have been implemented since the combination of these programs.
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu May  4 10:09:36 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 4 May 2017 17:09:36 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?No_fishery_disaster_relief_funds_in_Congr?=
 =?utf-8?q?ess=E2=80=99_=241T_spending_bill?=
References: <352608711.3312310.1493917776142.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <352608711.3312310.1493917776142@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170501/no-fishery-disaster-relief-funds-in-congress-1t-spending-bill&template=printart



No fishery disaster relief funds in Congress? $1T spending bill

Lawmakers settle on $1T plan to avoid federal government shutdown
By Andrew Taylor, The Associated PressMonday, May 1, 2017WASHINGTON >> Lawmakers on Monday unveiled a huge $1 trillion-plus spending bill that would fund most government operations through September but would deny President Donald Trump money for a border wall and rejects his proposed cuts to popular domestic programs.The bill also does not include millions in disaster relief funds for nine West Coast fisheries that fishermen and a group of 17 West Coast senators and members of Congress had hoped congressional leaders would include.?We?re definitely not holding out hope for any sort of last minute tack-on for the deal, but there is always the opportunity for Congress to appropriate separately,? Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations Executive Director Noah Oppenheim told the Times-Standard on Monday. ?Although, the chances of that happening are slim to none.?
Fisheries disaster
Then-Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker declared a fisheries disasters for nine West Coast fisheries in January, including for the 2015-16 crab season in California and the 2016 salmon season for the Yurok Tribe. California 2nd District Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) was one of 17 members of Congress who drafted a bipartisan letter to congressional party leaders in early April urging that they include the disaster funds in the new spending bill. Huffman was traveling to Washington, D.C., on Monday and did not return requests for comment by the Times-Standard deadline.Oppenheim said these past poor seasons have already taken a toll on California fishing fleets, with some fishermen leaving the industry for good and others facing another dismal salmon season this year that many suspect will result in another disaster declaration. Oppenheim states disaster relief funds will help struggling fishermen, but said changes need to be made to address how quickly the funds can be made available as well as the underlying fisheries management and climate issues.?We have faith in our congressional representatives and senators, but really the institution needs to step up,? Oppenheim said. ?We are big fans of Congressman Huffman and his efforts and we?re hopeful the other California members of Congress who care about fishermen in their districts and coastal communities will recognize the need to support them.?
Catchall bill
The 1,665-page bill agreed to on Sunday is the product of weeks of negotiations. It was made public in the predawn hours Monday and is tentatively scheduled for a House vote Wednesday.The catchall spending bill would be the first major piece of bipartisan legislation to advance during Trump?s short tenure in the White House. While losing on funding for the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump won a $15 billion down payment on his request to strengthen the military, though that too fell short of what he requested.Vice President Mike Pence said the administration ?couldn?t be more pleased? and noted that it would include a boost in military spending, a ?down payment? on border security and provide money for health benefits for coal miners.?It will avert a government shutdown but more important than that, it?s going to be a significant increase in military spending,? Pence said in an interview with ?CBS This Morning.? He called it a ?budget deal that?s a bipartisan win for the American people.?The measure funds the remainder of the 2017 budget year, through Sept. 30, rejecting cuts to popular domestic programs targeted by Trump such as medical research, the Environmental Protection Agency, and infrastructure grants.?The omnibus (spending bill) is in sharp contrast to President Trump?s dangerous plans to steal billions from lifesaving research, instead increasing funding for the NIH (National Institutes of Health) by $2 billion,? said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California.Successful votes later this week would also clear away any remaining threat of a government shutdown ? at least until the Oct. 1 start of the 2018 budget year. Trump has submitted a partial 2018 budget promising a whopping $54 billion, 10 percent increase for the Pentagon from current levels, financed by cuts to foreign aid, the EPA, and other nondefense programs by an equal amount. Negotiators on the pending measure, however, rejected a smaller $18 billion package of cuts and instead slightly increased funding for domestic programs.
Reaction to bill
Democrats were quick to praise the deal.?This agreement is a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table,? said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a key force in the talks. ?The bill ensures taxpayer dollars aren?t used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison pill riders, and increases investments in programs that the middle class relies on, like medical research, education and infrastructure.?House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., praised the bill as well, saying it ?acts on President Trump?s commitment to rebuild our military for the 21st century and bolster our nation?s border security to protect our homeland.?Some Republican conservatives, however, were wary. ?I think you?re going to see conservatives have some real concerns with this legislation,? Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said on CNN, citing domestic spending obtained by Democrats and other issues. ?We told (voters) we were going to do a short-term spending bill that was going to come due at the end of April so that we could fight on these very issues, and now it looks like we?re not going to do that.?Trump said at nearly every campaign stop last year that Mexico would pay for the 2,000-mile border wall, a claim Mexican leaders have repeatedly rejected. The administration sought some $1.4 billion in U.S. taxpayer dollars for the wall and related costs in the spending bill, but Trump later relented and said the issue could wait until September.Trump, however, obtained $1.5 billion for border security measures such as 5,000 additional detention beds, an upgrade in border infrastructure and technologies such as surveillance.The measure is assured of winning bipartisan support in votes this week; the House and Senate have until midnight Friday to pass it to avert a government shutdown. It?s unclear, however, how much support the measure will receive from GOP conservatives such as Jordan and how warmly it will be received by the White House.Times-Standard reporter Will Houston contributed to this report.
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri May  5 07:31:49 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 5 May 2017 14:31:49 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Bills seek to provide $140M to fishing fleets
References: <697064500.4311426.1493994709714.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <697064500.4311426.1493994709714@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170503/bills-seek-to-provide-140m-to-fishing-fleets

Bills seek to provide $140M to fishing fleets

Huffman: Legislation could provide $140M in relief left out of spending bill
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardWednesday, May 3, 2017After Congress chose not to include millions in disaster relief funds for West Coast fishing fleets in its newest spending bill this week, 2nd District Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) announced he is contributing to two bills on Wednesday that would provide $140 million to struggling California fishermen.Huffman and California Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) also urged Gov. Jerry Brown and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Wednesday to?declare a new fisheries disaster?for the 2017 salmon season.?Hardworking fishermen and coastal economies along the North Coast are experiencing real economic hardship from several disastrous fishing seasons in a row, causing these fishermen to miss boat payments or even decide to leave their fishing business altogether,? Huffman said in a statement.?They have played by the rules, and the state and federal governments have agreed that they?re eligible for financial relief, but now that the money is owed Congress has fallen down on the job. We have a responsibility to these fishing communities to keep up the fight until Congress delivers the money.?The two bills written by Huffman and Speier would provide nearly $22.5 million in relief funds to the Yurok Tribe to aid salmon fishing communities and salmon restoration and monitoring projects. The bills would also provide more than $117 million for California Dungeness crab and rock crab fishermen affected by the delayed 2015-16 season.It also allocates $1 million for monitoring and sampling toxic algae blooms that led to the poor crab season as well as another $5 million for federal grants to research algal bloom prediction, according to Huffman?s office.Then-Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker issued disaster declarations for the Yurok Tribe?s 2016 salmon season and the 2015-16 crab seasons in January, which authorized Congress to appropriate relief funds.
Spending bill
The House on Wednesday passed a $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government through the end of September, the first significant piece of bipartisan legislation of Donald Trump?s presidency.The 309-118 vote sends the bill to the Senate in time to act before a midnight Friday deadline to avert a government shutdown.While Huffman told the Times-Standard last week that he would not vote in favor of a bill that would approve an unwarranted increase in military spending, Huffman said he voted in favor of the bill on Wednesday to secure ?key priorities.??I voted for today?s funding bill not because I think that it is a perfect piece of legislation, but because it preserves key policies and activities that were under very real threat from President Trump and this Republican Congress,? Huffman said in a statement. ?From Planned Parenthood?s health services to fisheries research that sustains our coastal economy, today?s bill protected many federal efforts that make a difference in the lives of my constituents.?The White House says Trump will sign the measure, which gives him much of the money he sought for defense and border security and a $15 million increase in military spending, but denies startup construction funding for Trump?s oft-promise wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.The measure is the product of weeks of Capitol Hill negotiations in which Democrats blocked Trump?s most controversial proposals, including cuts to domestic programs backed by both parties and new steps to punish so-called sanctuary cities.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504. The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue May  9 13:06:50 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 9 May 2017 20:06:50 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trump Nominates Westlands Lobbyist for Deputy
	Interior Secretary
In-Reply-To: <9582E471-4419-4A33-B950-CAD54FDE9CD1@fishsniffer.com>
References: <2F5A922A-48F3-4268-93C2-F07410E72A69@fishsniffer.com>
	<D0FF28AF-CE51-4670-BA6F-18AFFF152550@jwcox.com>
	<0AE2323D-D978-4042-831C-2D8158CE2A4A@fishsniffer.com>
	<CAAK1EQWaTiezMwwoRbo=9Lc1V=8m7hkVYx=aX+qFNef8QqpSQQ@mail.gmail.com>
	<E2957B34-A93C-423D-9436-6203E2E9FFE0@fishsniffer.com>
	<CAAK1EQUgJ0xJhVvqwTAg+wbLddMf6vz16rVKQSK0NtPjJ08rCg@mail.gmail.com>
	<CAAK1EQXkzbrW3BHBavmTe4z4J1kO29GV-8fFYv-LuCcQoxAqfg@mail.gmail.com>
	<CAAK1EQXwMP17L5vtv79OabJ61VL1vmg15wQx11LCUcLjG_9Rcg@mail.gmail.com>
	<872C06E2-2FA3-49C0-AAFD-7E341845E37A@fishsniffer.com>
	<AFE886F6-3210-415D-BCAF-0C87EE2C023A@fishsniffer.com>
	<BE3F4921-5913-4E92-855F-5760EDC16845@fishsniffer.com>
	<8CC7D14C-92F3-4666-B0CF-3617C5ABA47D@fishsniffer.com>
	<9582E471-4419-4A33-B950-CAD54FDE9CD1@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <1023624484.5510673.1494360410066@mail.yahoo.com>

On Tuesday, May 9, 2017 11:15 AM, Dan Bacher <danielbacher at fishsniffer.com> wrote:

 
David Bernhardt photo courtesy of ?Brownstein, Hyatt Farber and Schreck, LLP.

Trump Nominates Westlands Lobbyist for Deputy Interior Secretary
by Dan Bacher ?
On April 28,?President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate David Bernhardt of Virginia, who has served as a lobbyist for the politically powerful?Westlands Water District, for Deputy Secretary of the Interior. ?Interior is?the agency?in charge of managing and conserving public land and natural resources, including rivers and lakes,?in the U.S. Bernhardt will serve under Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, who recently came to Sacramento to meet with California Governor Jerry Brown to discuss water infrastructure, the Delta Tunnels, public lands and other issues.The appointment drew condemnation from fishing and environmental groups, but praise from Ducks Unlimited.??Bernhardt, born in?Rifle, Colorado, is ?an avid hunter and fisherman," according to an announcement from the White House."I am excited to announce the President and I have selected Dave Bernhardt to help me lead the Interior Department," said Secretary Zinke. "Bernhardt's extensive experience serving under former Interior Secretaries Norton and Kempthorne and his esteemed legal career is exactly what is needed to help streamline government and make the Interior and our public lands work for the American economy."Bernhardt?recently served on the Board of Game and Inland Fisheries for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He has previously served as the United States Commissioner to the International Boundary Commission, U.S. and Canada, according to the White house.?From 2001 and 2009, he held several positions within the Department of the Interior, including, after unanimous confirmation, serving as Solicitor, which is the Interior?s third ranking official and chief legal officer,? the White House said.Bernhardt currently chairs the natural resource law practice at Brownstein, Hyatt Farber and Schreck, LLP.John McManus, Executive Director of the?Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA),?an organization representing?sport and commercial salmon fishermen and women and related businesses along California?s coast and rivers, issued a statement strongly opposing Bernhardt?s nomination.Bernhardt has for many years?served as a lobbyist and litigator for the Westlands Water District, the largest federal water contractor in the nation and a strong advocate of the construction of the Delta Tunnels?and the weakening?of environmental laws protecting Sacramento River?salmon, Central Valley?steelhead, Trinity and Klamath River salmon and other imperiled fish populations.??Mr. Bernhardt and Westlands have spent the past decade attacking salmon protections and, by extension, the tens of thousands of California fishing jobs tied to salmon,? said McManus. ??It strains credibility to suggest that Mr. Bernhardt, were he to be appointed, would refrain from occupying himself with key departmental decisions that he has spent the last decade working to influence. ?In fact, those seeking his appointment are almost certainly counting on him to weigh in on their behalf.?? McManus emphasized,??Fishermen saw a pattern during the George W. Bush Administration, including suppressing science and damaging salmon runs. ?We should learn from that history, not repeat it.?On the other hand, Ducks Unlimited (DU), a?wetlands and waterfowl conservation organization, said it ?looks?forward to working with? Bernhardt.?"I have known and worked with David Bernhardt for more than 10 years and could not be more pleased with his nomination for Deputy Secretary of the Interior,? said Ducks Unlimited CEO Dale Hall. ?He is a man with personal and professional integrity that is beyond reproach and has always advocated for the proper implementation of the law. We urge the Senate to quickly confirm Mr. Bernhardt for this extremely important position to the Department's expansive conservation responsibilities."??Prior to serving as solicitor, the controversial?Bernhardt?held several high-level positions with the DOI including Deputy Solicitor, Deputy Chief of Staff, Counselor to the Secretary of the Interior and Director of the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.In contrast with Hall?s claim that Bernhardt has ?always advocated for the proper implementation of the law,??McManus pointed out, ?The appointment of Mr. Bernhardt would raise multiple conflicts. On behalf of Westlands, Mr. Bernhardt was deeply involved in drafting legislation, which passed at the end of 2016, that weakened federal protections for salmon.? ??In coming years, federal agencies, particularly the Department of the Interior where he wants to work, will make decisions regarding implementing that bill. ?Westlands will, no doubt, lobby Interior to use that legislation to increase water diversions from the San Francisco Bay-Delta which will further weaken salmon protections. ?An even more dramatic legislative assault on salmon (H.R. 23), which Bernhardt helped craft, was introduced by Congressman Valadao in January. ?The Westlands Water District is pushing this bill and, if it moves forward, Interior will be asked to take a position,? said McManus.Bernhardt also represented Westlands in courtroom attacks on federal Endangered Species Act protections for winter-run Chinook?salmon and other imperiled native fish species. ?Had he succeeded, some salmon runs might now be extinct,? said McManus.Bernhardt briefly led Trump?s transition team after the November election until he was replaced by Doug Domenech, a Big Oil think tank director, on November 26, 2016. (www.dailykos.com/...?)?To read GGSA?s statement?s on Bernhart?s potential appointment to the DOI, go to: www.goldengatesalmon.org/...For a report on Bernhardt?s many conflicts of interest, go to:?medium.com/...

   
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From oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us  Wed May 10 14:56:51 2017
From: oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us (Oshun O'Rourke)
Date: Wed, 10 May 2017 14:56:51 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Willow Creek screw trap bi-weekly update
Message-ID: <07968F55C4B6674AAB697ABE5DFD21F80121BD49EB87@exchange.yuroktribe.nsn.us>

Raw catch bi-weekly update for rotary screw traps in Willow Creek
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun May 14 08:23:22 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 14 May 2017 15:23:22 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] East Bay Times: Science says tunnel will hurt Delta
References: <612495120.60830.1494775402008.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <612495120.60830.1494775402008@mail.yahoo.com>

http://eastbaytimes.ca.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=0edf35199
East Bay Times?|?Page A14Sunday, 14 May 2017Science says tunnel will hurt Delta?Gov. Jerry Brown is never more convincing than when he is blasting President Donald Trump for his failure to make policy decisions based on the best science available.It?s too bad the governor doesn?t see the hypocrisy of his approach to the Delta Tunnels project, which has clearly stated, coequal goals of ecosystem restoration and water supply reliability.Brown told the Sacramento Bee in December that ?the best scientific thinking says California needs the project.?It is a Trumpian fallacy.Building the tunnels will produce a more reliable source of water for California, but federal scientists have been saying for years that the massive, $17 billion project will also only make things worse for the fragile Delta, the largest estuary west of the Mississippi that is responsible for much of the state?s drinking water.A recently released draft analysis of Brown?s Delta tunnels WaterFix project ? this one by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service ? adds another scientific voice saying the project not only won?t help the salmon and Delta smelt populations, it also will likely do additional damage.Specifically, the draft report says, ?using the best science available, the Fish Agencies have provided evidence that some aspects of the proposed action will have significant adverse effects on listed species and critical habitat.?Among other issues, it is expected that Delta smelt habitat would be negatively impacted for 10 years during construction and the project would result in killing an additional 7 percent of the Chinook salmon winter run, doing further harm to a valued endangered species. The scientists also say the proposed habitat restoration isn?t enough to offset environmental damage.The report is undergoing review and is subject to change, but the conclusions are similar to previous scientific reviews.In 2016, the Delta Independent Science Board found gaping holes in thetunnel project.?The board reviewed the project draft environmental impact review and found it contained no analysis of how the project would affect the existing Delta levee system, the impacts of climate change or alternatives to building the tunnels.In 2012, the prestigious National Academy of Sciences took a comprehensive look at the twintunnel plan and found it riddled with holes and inconsistencies, including the failure to examine the potential to reduce demand for Delta water through efficiencies andconservation.?The science on the Delta is clear. The only way to restore the Delta?s health is to get more water flowing through it, not less. And if you believe Southern California water districts are fighting for a $17 billion system that gives them not a drop more water ? we?d like to sell you a nice big redbridge.
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun May 14 11:22:34 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 14 May 2017 18:22:34 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?=27Lethal_arrogance=E2=80=99=3F_Oroville_?=
 =?utf-8?q?Dam_crisis_sprang_from_Pat_Brown=E2=80=99s_towering_ambition?=
References: <1976053130.1093480.1494786154530.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1976053130.1093480.1494786154530@mail.yahoo.com>

Interesting story about Oroville Dam and its construction at:
?Lethal arrogance?? Oroville Dam crisis sprang from Pat Brown?s towering ambition

  
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?Lethal arrogance?? Oroville Dam crisis sprang from Pat Brown?s towering am...
 California Governor Pat Brown?s zeal in erecting the Oroville Dam in the 1960s left a mess for his son, current ...  |   |

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?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?
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From kierassociates at att.net  Sun May 14 12:59:08 2017
From: kierassociates at att.net (Kier Associates)
Date: Sun, 14 May 2017 12:59:08 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity]
	=?utf-8?q?=27Lethal_arrogance=E2=80=99=3F_Oroville_?=
	=?utf-8?q?Dam_crisis_sprang_from_Pat_Brown=E2=80=99s_towering_ambi?=
	=?utf-8?q?tion?=
In-Reply-To: <1976053130.1093480.1494786154530@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1976053130.1093480.1494786154530.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1976053130.1093480.1494786154530@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <002301d2ccec$8ce239b0$a6a6ad10$@att.net>

As a whippersnapper in the CA Resources Agency 51 years ago I wrote a speech for the Secretary?s (nee ?Administrator?) presentation at SF?s Commonwealth Club in which a I included a much-used boast of the day ?When man reaches the moon and turns to view Earth he will be able to discern only two of the works of man - the Great Wall of China and the California Aqueduct?

 

?Somehow doesn?t thrill me like it used to

 

Bill

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces+kierassociates=att.net at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2017 11:23 AM
To: Env-trinity
Subject: [env-trinity] 'Lethal arrogance?? Oroville Dam crisis sprang from Pat Brown?s towering ambition

 

Interesting story about Oroville Dam and its construction at:

 

?Lethal arrogance?? Oroville Dam crisis sprang from Pat Brown?s towering ambition <http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article150278687.html> 

 




	
		
 



Text Box: 



	

?Lethal arrogance?? Oroville Dam crisis sprang from Pat Brown?s towering am...


California Governor Pat Brown?s zeal in erecting the Oroville Dam in the 1960s left a mess for his son, current ...

	

 

 

Tom Stokely 

Salmon and Water Policy Analyst

Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and 

Institute for Fisheries Resources

530-524-0315 

tstokely at att.net 

 

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From tstokely at att.net  Mon May 15 13:15:53 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 15 May 2017 20:15:53 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] The Klamath River Renewal Corporation Announces New
 Executive Director
References: <712615028.2222979.1494879353027.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <712615028.2222979.1494879353027@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.klamathrenewal.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/17_0515_ED_press-release_final.pdf
?May 15, 2017?
MEDIA ADVISORY: For Immediate Release?Contact Darcy Wheeles, Communications Director, KRRC Phone: 415.602.4213 Email: darcy at klamathrenewal.org?
The Klamath River Renewal Corporation Announces New Executive Director?
The Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), a nonprofit corporation formed in 2016 to revitalize the Klamath River Basin by improving the local economy, benefitting PacifiCorp?s customers, and enhancing environmental conditions on the Klamath River, has announced Mark Bransom as its Executive Director. Mark will officially assume this new role in early June 2017.?
?We are especially pleased to announce this appointment,? reported Michael Carrier, KRRC Board President. ?Mark will bring leadership, construction management, and hands-on knowledge of the region to successfully carry out KRRC?s mission and to help address the Basin?s environmental, economic, and cultural needs.??
Mark?s background uniquely positions him to assume this post. He brings over 20 years of planning, engineering, and construction experience in water resources and environmental management for state and local governments, federal agencies, Tribal Nations, NGOs, and private sector clients throughout the Western United States.?Mark comes to KRRC from CH2M HILL, where he worked as a Senior Vice President in Water Resources & Environmental Management and oversaw a variety of large water infrastructure and environmental restoration projects. Mark holds a BS in Natural Resources Planning from Humboldt State University and earned his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Oregon State University. ?I look forward to serving and building relationships with all Klamath Basin stakeholders and KHSA signatories to achieve this important milestone in the region,? Bransom stated. ?I believe the KRRC will play a key role improving the region?s quality of life and vitality.??
The KRRC will make every effort to reestablish more than 400 miles of critical fisheries habitat and improve water quality by decommissioning four hydroelectric dams in partnership with PacifiCorp, the owner of the facilities, while ensuring an open and collaborative engagement of all stakeholders in the region.?
Sarah Link, Vice President and General Counsel of Pacific Power (dam owner) added, "We are pleased that Mark is on board as we continue to work together with the KRRC to implement this important agreement. Mark?s background in water resources, as well as his experience in the Klamath Basin and with complicated projects will serve the KRRC well.??
The KRRC was formed by the signatories of the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement. It is funded by PacifiCorp customers and the citizens of California through Proposition 1 monies. It is governed by a Board of Directors nominated by the states of Oregon and California, as well as representatives from Tribal Nations, fishing interests, and conservation groups.?
###?
About the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC)?
The KRRC is a nonprofit corporation formed in 2016 to revitalize the Klamath River basin by improving the local economy, benefitting PacifiCorp?s customers, and enhancing environmental conditions on the Klamath River. The KRRC?s sole purpose is to oversee the decommissioning of four dams on the Klamath River (Iron Gate Dam, Copco No. 1 Dam, Copco No. 2 Dam, and J.C. Boyle Dam) in partnership with PacifiCorp, the owner of the facilities. The project will improve water quality and reestablish more than 400 miles of fisheries habitat. The Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA), as amended in 2016, called for the creation of the KRRC and provides the roadmap for the decommissioning of these four hydroelectric dams starting in 2020. The Oregon and California public utility commissions found that decommissioning the dams via the KHSA was a prudent alternative for PacifiCorp?s customers. The KRRC intends to fulfill its obligation in an open and collaborative manner and supports other complimentary settlement efforts in the region.?
More information about KRRC and its mission can be found at the KRRC?s website: www.klamathrenewal.org?
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue May 16 12:32:00 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 16 May 2017 19:32:00 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Fw=3A_THIS_JUST_IN_=E2=80=A6_New_Report_S?=
 =?utf-8?q?hows_74=25_of_CA=E2=80=99s_Native_Salmon=2C_Steelhead_and_Trout?=
 =?utf-8?q?_Likely_to_Be_Extinct_in_100_Years=2C_45=25_in_50_Years_if_Tren?=
 =?utf-8?q?ds_Continue?=
In-Reply-To: <88af2b23c65f1c863838dd9a5.ee51fcf060.20170516184449.814168422d.180ab453@mail109.sea31.mcsv.net>
References: <88af2b23c65f1c863838dd9a5.ee51fcf060.20170516184449.814168422d.180ab453@mail109.sea31.mcsv.net>
Message-ID: <1681143827.974086.1494963120114@mail.yahoo.com>

?On Tuesday, May 16, 2017 11:45 AM, Maven <maven at mavensnotebook.com> wrote:

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THIS JUST IN ? New Report Shows 74 Percent of California?s Native Salmon, Steelhead and Trout Likely to Be Extinct in 100 Years, 45 Percent in 50 Years if Trends Continue
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed May 17 07:47:40 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 14:47:40 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Funds available for private road repairs in Weaver
	Creek drainage
References: <533950864.1886402.1495032460233.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <533950864.1886402.1495032460233@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_ba0420f8-3a91-11e7-9571-cf57f7d3243d.html
Funds available for private road repairs in Weaver Creek drainage
   
   - By Sally Morris The Trinity Journal
?- 2 min ago
?- ?0
   
   - 
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   - 
   
   - Contributed
This photo shows a typical road failure on many private roads.?   
   - Contributed
This system was replaced by a single, 72-inch pipe.?   
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Heavy rains over the past winter proved a good test for multiple private road improvements completed last year in the Browns Creek drainage south of Douglas City to prevent erosion of fine sediments from washing into the fish-bearing tributary of the Trinity River and clogging up the spawning beds.Several years in the making, the Browns Creek project used grant funding made available through the Trinity River Restoration Program to assist landowners in a completely voluntary, cost-sharing effort to fix erosion problems on private roads and driveways. It has been implemented by the Five Counties Salmonid Conservation Program (5C Program) that has spent at least $137,000 on it so far.The Browns Creek project included more than 65 treatment sites ranging from culvert replacements to rolling dip installations and ditch reinforcement all designed to drain water off the roads and disperse the flow where it won?t cause damage. It involves only willing participants, and they are asked to contribute a 10 percent share of the road improvement costs.The project is moving into a new phase now to offer the same types of road upgrades to private landowners in the Weaver Creek drainage that includes the community of Weaverville, Tucker Hill, Democrat Gulch, Oregon Mountain (Weaverville side), Garden Gulch, West and East Weaver Creek, Little Browns Creek and Union Hill. The upper Bear Creek subdivision is also included as its creeks drain into the Weaver Creek watershed.The effort was born out of the Trinity River Restoration Program where participants noted that 20 years of work to correct erosion impacts from public lands ?could all be undone by failing to deal with impacts from private lands. We found a big gap there,? said 5C Director Mark Lancaster.He said the project to upgrade private roads has been slow-going, taking years to inventory and prioritize problem sites and then three more to implement the site-specific corrections. The program handles state permit issues so the landowners don?t have to and retains contractors to perform the work.?It takes time to build trust, and the outreach has been difficult. A lot of people think a bad road keeps people out, but really, a badly failing road draws all the regulators in,? Lancaster said.He added that the program offers landowners a great deal if they weigh the cost of a yearly load of gravel for ongoing road repair against their contribution toward a long-term upgrade that could be very costly to attempt on their own.?Culvert pipe is very expensive, so we often see pipes that are too small, or multiple pipes at minimum lengths that are vertically and horizontally misaligned,? Lancaster said, adding there are standards that apply, but little oversight of contractors that may be hired for individual jobs.He said properties have seen a lot of turnover in the past few years when new owners have only experienced drought conditions, not torrents of rain flooding seasonal creeks. He added that development has also increased in the upper reaches of the watershed where roads were never constructed to endure the year-round use they are now receiving.A landowner outreach effort is currently under way in the Weaver Creek watershed that contains 107 miles of private roads, including 40 percent on Sierra Pacific Industries land and 60 percent servicing homes, agriculture, timber or recreation properties.One of a small crew of 5C technicians in the process of surveying the roads to measure culverts and identify sedimentation problems, Cindy Buxton said landowners? privacy is respected ?and we are only looking at roads. We are not associated with any regulatory enforcement and we don?t report whatever else is happening on a property.?The inventory seeks to include neighbors and regular users of a given road where multiple driveways more often contribute to the erosion problems than a single source.Letters have been mailed and notices posted on gates informing landowners of the program and inviting their participation.A big fan of the project, Jeffry England benefited last summer through the replacement of several undersized culverts installed over the years with one large one under his driveway off Deer Lick Springs Road in the Douglas City area.?We?ve lost our road three times in the 12 years we?ve been there, including twice in one year. We?ve seen 70 feet of our road with water running over it. It?s just a seasonal creek that runs dry every year, but this winter it carried a massive amount of water,? England said, adding the new culvert handled the extremely wet winter with no problems at all. The actual work on his property was completed in less than one day.Total cost for that one project was $23,000 including $13,000 for just the pipe, making it prohibitive for many to accomplish on their own.Landowners who may be interested in the program may call the 5C program at 623-3967, ext. 115, or email?cbuxton at 5counties.org.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed May 17 07:54:07 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 14:54:07 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] $1.5 million for environmental cleanup of illegal
	grow sites
References: <469210588.1481312.1495032847890.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <469210588.1481312.1495032847890@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_0b04c922-3a91-11e7-96e9-4bede24f4b5b.html



$1.5 million for environmental cleanup of illegal grow sites
   
   - 1 hr ago
?- ?0
   
   - DFW
Discarded butane canisters.?   
   - DFW
A chemical pond left at an abandoned marijuana grow.?Funding of $1.5 million is being provided in the state budget to pay for environmental cleanup of illegal cannabis grow sites in Humboldt, Trinity and Mendocino counties.?These illegal grow sites do untold damage to forests and wildlife along the North Coast and with Assemblymember (Jim) Wood?s leadership, we?re doing something about it,? said Gov. Jerry Brown.?Our beautiful pristine forests have become havens for these illegal grow sites,? said Assemblymember Wood, who represents these North Coast counties. ?These illegitimate growers have continued to ignore not only state laws for farming cannabis, but have left these sites ravaged by lethal chemicals, clear cutting and thousands of pounds of trash.?The worst chemicals used at these illegal sites are often-banned rodenticides which are used to keep animals away, but in fact often kill pacific fishers, deer and bear as well as the animals that prey upon them such as mountain lions, bobcats, hawks and spotted owls. One-eighth teaspoon of the pesticide carbofuran, a banned pesticide which is used by rogue growers, can kill a bear. These toxins remain in the ground and eventually run off into rivers and streams, destroying everything in their path, including endangered fish species such as coho salmon.?These funds will go to our well-established Fisheries Restoration Grant Program which was created to address declining populations of wild salmon and steelhead trout, and deteriorating fish habitat in California,? said California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham. ?The $1.5 million will help us continue to clean up the egregious environmental damage, specifically to California?s waterways, caused by illegal marijuana cultivation sites.?The illegal clear cutting creates dangerous kindling for forest fires when the fallen timber is not removed from the area. Chemical ponds are dug and filled with hazardous liquids. The trash left behind includes generators, piping, storage tanks, thousands of butane canisters, other fuel and abandoned weapons.Excavated pits are used to store weapons and then covered with debris. All of this creates a dangerous environment for firefighters, law enforcement and recreational hikers.?The importance of this funding cannot be underestimated,? said Trinity County Sup. Judy Morris. ?The future health of our watersheds, fisheries, forest and communities depends on the health of both private and public lands, in which public lands make up a significantly large portion of Trinity County. The cleanup of these areas will also serve to deter any future rogue growing activity, since the associated infrastructure is a significant cost. We are extremely grateful that the governor?s office and Assemblymember Wood are continuing to address this extremely important issue.?   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed May 17 08:02:36 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 15:02:36 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trump's pick for a top Interior post has sued the
 agency on behalf of powerful California water interests
References: <537763769.1880102.1495033356310.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <537763769.1880102.1495033356310@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-trump-bernhardt-20170517-story.html


Trump's pick for a top Interior post has sued the agency on behalf of powerful California water interests
Bettina BoxallContact ReporterWhen?President Trump?nominated David Bernhardt for the No. 2 spot at the Interior Department, the administration cited his extensive expertise.What the announcement failed to mention was that much of that experience was lobbying and doing legal work to elude or undermine Interior Department policies and protections.As a partner in one of the nation?s top-grossing lobbying-law firms, Bernhardt as represented major players in oil, mining and western water ? all areas that fall under the purview of Interior agencies that Bernhardt would oversee if confirmed as the department?s deputy secretary.Bernhardt?s firm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, has sued Interior four times on behalf of Westlands Water District, the nation?s largest irrigation district. Bernhardt personally argued one appeals case challenging endangered species protections for imperiled California salmonHere are a few of the potential conflicts a key Interior Department nominee may face ?Since 2010, Brownstein Hyatt has collected $2.75 million in lobbying fees from Cadiz Inc., a private company that wants to build a water pipeline on a railroad right-of-way that crosses federal land managed by an Interior agency. Bernhardt has done legal work for Cadiz and one of his colleagues is the chief executive of Cadiz, which has partly paid the law firm with stock shares.The web of?potential conflicts of interest?is likely to be a major focus of Bernhardt?s confirmation hearing Thursday before the?Senate?Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.The committee?s top Democrat, Sen.?Maria Cantwell?of Washington, last week sent Bernhardt a letter asking for more details on his work for clients who probably will have continued dealings with Interior agencies.Trump?s ethics order bars executive branch appointees for two years from getting involved in matters on which they lobbied.In a May 1 letter to Interior?s ethics officer,?Bernhardt wrote?that if confirmed, he will ?withdraw? from his law partnership. He said he would recuse himself from client-related matters for one year ? ?unless I am first authorized to participate? in them.Environmentalists argue that Bernhardt would have to remove himself from so many important issues facing Interior that he would be unable to do his job ? or, in the alternative, will receive administration waivers to deal with them despite his history of representing department adversaries.?The idea that Mr. Bernhardt would recuse himself from a long list of all the major issues that Interior faces in California is just not credible,? said Barry Nelson, policy representative of the Golden Gate Salmon Assn., which has fought Westlands over fish protections.Bernhardt?s nomination in some ways echoes other Trump picks.Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, sued the EPA multiple times while he was Oklahoma?s attorney general. Energy Secretary Rick Perry once vowed to abolish the department he now heads.If the full Senate approves Bernhardt?s nomination, it will mark the second time he has moved through Washington?s revolving doors.Bernhardt went to work as a Brownstein Hyatt associate in 1998 and left the firm in 2001 for a series of posts at Interior under President George W. Bush. He rose to the position of Interior solicitor, the department?s top lawyer, and rejoined Brownstein Hyatt after Obama was elected.The firm?s?website, along with?ethics filings?required of nominees, shows that Bernhardt and Brownstein Hyatt have performed legal services or lobbied for clients that have dealings with virtually every branch of Interior.Among those clients are:   
   - Cobalt International Energy, which holds major oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico
   - Rosemont Copper Co., which wants to develop a large open-pit copper mine in Arizona
   - The Navajo Nation, which has been involved in water rights settlements?
   - The Independent Petroleum Assn. of America, which represents oil and gas producers.
Until his recent resignation, Bernhardt also served on the board of the Center for Environmental Science Accuracy and Reliability, a California organization that has challenged listings under the Endangered Species Act.In a May 8?letter?to the Senate energy committee, Interior ethics official Melinda Loftin said that after reviewing Bernhardt?s financial disclosure report and his ethics agreement, she was satisfied that he would comply with the department?s conflict-of-interest rules.Democrats disagree.?Bernhardt?s [client] representation covers a range of special interests that are constantly doing business with the Department of Interior seeking approvals and engaged in regulatory relationships with the department,? said Rep.?Jared Huffman?(D-San Rafael). ?It would be hard to find anyone in the United States that is more conflicted and disqualified for this job than Mr. Bernhardt.?In her letter, Cantwell asked Bernhardt if he played any role in a recent decision that eased the way for Cadiz?s potentially lucrative groundwater project.In late March, an acting assistant director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management?revoked two legal guidances?that underpinned the agency's 2015 decision that?Cadiz?could not use an existing federal railroad right-of-way for a new water pipeline.That decision threw a huge roadblock in the company?s plans to pump groundwater from beneath its desert holdings and sell the supplies to Southern California communities.Cantwell asked Bernhardt if he served on Trump?s Interior transition team and whether he discussed the Cadiz project with the team, the Trump administration or Interior staff. She also wondered whether Bernhardt?s payout when he leaves the law firm would reflect any compensation from Cadiz.According to Cadiz filings with the?Securities and Exchange Commission, the company has issued 200,000 shares of common stock to the Brownstein firm and could award another 200,000 shares if the project is built.Bernhardt was registered as a Westlands lobbyist from 2011 through late 2016, during which time Westlands paid his firm nearly $1.4 million in fees.Bernhardt lobbied Congress and Interior on the terms of a settlement of a long-standing legal fight over toxic irrigation drainage in the Westlands district. The agreement ? approved by the Obama administration and now pending before Congress ? turned out to be far more?favorable?to Westlands than originally proposed by Interior."Bernhardt's extensive experience serving under Secretary [Gale] Norton and his legal career is exactly what is needed to help streamline government and make the Interior and our public lands work for the American economy," Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed May 17 08:15:56 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 17 May 2017 15:15:56 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Federal Advisory Committee meetings on hold- TMC to
 meet June 14-15 McKinleyville
References: <1504932265.1913186.1495034156860.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1504932265.1913186.1495034156860@mail.yahoo.com>

All,
Below is an article about the suspension of some federal advisory committee meetings for the Bureau of Land Management and a request from western Senators to reinstate them. ?We could use the same attention for the Trinity River Restoration Program's federal advisory committee.
The article is related to other Interior Department federal advisory committees such as the?Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG), which advises the Trinity Management Council (TMC), the agency/tribal board of directors for the $15 million/year Trinity River Restoration Program.
The TAMWG was going to meet in early June before the next TMC meeting in McKinleyville June 14-15 (Azalea Hall on?1620 Pickett Rd. in McKinleyville). ?However, that TAMWG meeting was cancelled. ?A TAMWG meeting was being scheduled for mid July, but that too was cancelled. ? It is unclear when the TAMWG will meet, if at all. ?
At this point, the stakeholders represented by the TAMWG have no means of providing recommendations to the TMC on the Fiscal Year 2018 budget as well as the watershed restoration grant proposal prioritization and other items of public interest. ?This is very unfortunate.?
Below are the main talking points provided from Interior. ??   
   - The Secretary is committed to restoring trust in the Department?s decision-making and that begins with institutionalizing state and local input and ongoing collaboration, particularly in communities surrounding public lands.?   
?
   - The Department currently has more than 200 boards, committees, and other internal and external advisory functions that are authorized to solicit input and meet periodically.   
?   

   - To maximize feedback from these boards and ensure their compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the President?s recent executive orders, the Department is currently reviewing the charter and charge of each Board/Advisory Committee.? This review process necessitates the temporary postponement of advisory committee meetings.   
??
   - As the Department concludes its review in the weeks ahead, agencies will notice future meetings to ensure that the Department continues to get the benefit of the views of local communities in all decision-making on public land management.?

Tom Stokely?
Salmon and Water Policy Analyst
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?
Institute for Fisheries Resources
530-524-0315?
tstokely at att.net?

| 
Western Senators Ask Secretary Zinke To Keep Resource Advisory Council Meetings.
The?Denver Post?(5/11, Blevins) reports that a group of Western senators?on Thursday?asked the Interior Department ?to lift its sudden suspension of advisory committees and local boards that deliver public input on the Bureau of Land Management?s policy decisions.? Sen. Michael Bennet said, ?These meetings are an invaluable way to ensure rural and local voices in Colorado are heard and considered in conversations about the use of our public lands. The administration should not block community input on BLM actions. These meetings should be reinstated immediately.? According to the article, ?the letter ? signed by Democrat Sens. Bennet, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell of Washington, and Dianne Feinstein of California ? noted that none of the senators were notified of the suspended meetings and none were given a reason for the suspension.? The letter stated, ?Postponing their progress is a detriment to public land and forest management goals, to jobs and local economies, and to public confidence in federal government.???????? Additional coverage of the suspension of advisory committees and local boards was provided by the?Boston Globe?(5/12, Abel) and?KTVZ-TV?Bend, OR (5/12). |


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From tstokely at att.net  Wed May 24 18:23:43 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 25 May 2017 01:23:43 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] PRESS RELEASE: Tribal and Commercial Fishing
 Communities Host Eureka Event in Eureka in Response to Salmon Crisis
In-Reply-To: <CAPn6joZHWKewsxhJW8VPZ6VS47o91rPCZVtp-JMyBTMcDjDaRg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAPn6joZHWKewsxhJW8VPZ6VS47o91rPCZVtp-JMyBTMcDjDaRg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1121615010.2212413.1495675423488@mail.yahoo.com>

On Wednesday, May 24, 2017 9:28 AM, Regina Chichizola <klamathtrinityriver at gmail.com> wrote:



 Press Release: 5/24/2017 ?Tribal and Commercial Fishing Communities Host Event in Eureka in Response to Salmon CrisisMay 27th Save Our Salmon Benefit Concert, Seafood Dinner, and Auction will be at Eagle House Inn ?For more information contact: Regina Chichizola, Save the Klamath Trinity Salmon 541 951-0126Sammy Gensaw III, Ancestral Guard: 707 954-8667 Dave Bitts, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations 707 498-3512??Commercial and Tribal Fishermen are coming together to host a seafood dinner and concert with Irie Rockers and Digging Dirt this Saturday, May 27. They hope to draw attention to this year?s salmon fisheries disaster and local action to save salmon. Speakers and artists from the Yurok, Karuk and Winnemem Wintu Tribes, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations and Ancestral Guard will talk about community action to protect salmon, and a seafood dinner will be served. Many of these speakers will have just gotten back from testifying at a disaster relief hearing in Sacramento. Raft and fishing trips, events tickets, resorts stays and more will auctioned. ??We want to engage the North Coast in efforts to protect salmon and the salmon ways of life. Action from tribes, fishermen, and other citizens is the only reason corporate agriculture and dams have not already killed off the salmon,? said Regina Chichizola, from Save the Klamath Trinity Salmon. ?Now we are facing a renewed push to build new dams, diversions, and pipelines at the exact moment that salmon need clean water to recover from the last five years of ?poor water management.? ?Salmon populations, and the fishermen and tribal members who depend on them, are facing the worst salmon returns on the Klamath River in recorded history, which has led to the closure of the commercial season locally and a tribal allotment of about one fish per 10 Tribal members for the Yurok Tribe. This situation was caused by a combination of water diversions, drought, and dams. The looming disaster has salmon fishermen, like the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations? president Dave Bitts worried. ??Commercial salmon trollers in California and Oregon will have a tough time making ends meet through the summer, given the very limited fishing opportunity available and the poor catch rates reported so far,? Bitts said. ?It looks like salmon fishermen are feeling the effects of the just-ended drought far more acutely than did many Central Valley farmers.??Salmon populations in the Sacramento River are also plummeting, and a recent U.C. Davis report states that 45 percent of California salmon and Steelhead populations will be extinct in 50 years if water management in California does not change. While there are causes for hope, such as the proposed Klamath Dam removal project, political threats are mounting. California?s Twin Tunnels plan, new dam proposals, petroleum pipelines, and federal anti-environmental policies continue to threaten North Coast salmon and communities. ??With the threat of California salmon going extinct in the next 50 years, this event is timely and important.? state Amy Cordalis, the attorney for the Yurok Tribe. ? It is time for us to speak for the fish, to protect them, and restore them. They will not go extinct on my generation?s watch.??Despite the threats, salmon demand has never been higher as people realize the value of a healthy food supply and the clean water required to sustain it. This support for wild salmon, along with the decision by PacifiCorp to take down four of its dams on the Klamath, gives hope for the restoration of the salmon to many young native people on the Klamath River. The director of youth organization, Ancestral Guard, Sammy Gensaw III is one of them.??The restorative revolution has slowly developed within communities, villages and cities from all around the world,? Gensaw said. Gensaw?s organization works to provide opportunities for Native American youth. ?Now is the time to stand together on common ground and create an opportunity for future generations to continue the work of our ancestors.? ?All proceeds from the Save Our Salmon event will go directly to organizing efforts, tribal people and fishermen.?More information can be found at ifrfish.org/Eureka, at the Save Our Salmon event page, or Save the Klamath Trinity Salmon on Facebook, or through calling Save the Klamath Trinity Salmon at (541) 951-0126, or emailing klamathtrinityriver at gmail.com 


   
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From oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us  Fri May 26 07:06:00 2017
From: oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us (Oshun O'Rourke)
Date: Fri, 26 May 2017 14:06:00 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] catch update for lower Trinity outmigrant screw traps
Message-ID: <bb7e9b5823894c64b3c0ae6bbbb3f9d2@mail.yuroktribe.nsn.us>

Attached is the Yurok Tribal Fisheries' in-season catch update for the Lower Trinity River outmigrant screw traps located in Willow Creek, CA.. So far this year we have learned that California's wettest water year in 122 years makes in-river biological monitoring very difficult, as the 2017 season  is the most challenging season that YTFP has encountered in 15 years of project involvement. .  Two of our 3 traps were installed in conditions that would have been considered "un-fishable" during previous seasons (+13,000 c.f.s.), and have been equally difficult to maintain after installation.    These factors, as well as this past fall/winter's low adult returns, should be considered when reviewing the attached catch data
Despite everything we continue fishing our traps, and hope the catch will pick up in the near future as the water level goes down.


Oshun O'Rourke
Yurok Fisheries
530-629-3333 ext 1703


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From tstokely at att.net  Fri May 26 14:03:37 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 26 May 2017 21:03:37 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Two Rivers Tribune VOICES: California Needs to Change
 Ways to Save Salmon
References: <1410673375.50195.1495832617442.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1410673375.50195.1495832617442@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.tworiverstribune.com/2017/05/voices-california-needs-to-change-ways-to-save-salmon/

VOICES: California Needs to Change Ways to Save Salmon
By REGINA CHICHIZOLA, Save the Klamath-Trinity SalmonA new report from UC Davis released this week states 75 percent of California salmon, steelhead and trout species are likely to become extinct within the next century if current trends continue. In related news, there will be no salmon fishing season in far Northern California and a limited season in Central California.California is facing an unprecedented fisheries crisis.The reasons for this crisis are no mystery. Both California and federal governments are stuck in the age of dam building and the race to divert all of our fresh water. The impacts have left California?s spring and winter salmon, and smelt species on the edge of extinction.During the drought California let up to 91 percent of the juvenile salmon die in the Klamath River for three years in a row, and let up to 98 percent of the winter run salmon die in the Sacramento River during the same time period. This will be the worst Klamath River salmon run in history and it was preventable.All science points to the fact that these fish died due to low flows, or fish diseases that are exacerbated by low flows. California is responsible for water decisions and worked hard to curb citizens? use of water during the drought, however during this time period they let almond, and pistachio orchards, which are known for high water use, expand by hundreds of thousands of acres.California?s urban population conserved water, but agriculture which uses 80 percent of our available water actually expanded its demand for water by planting more permanent crops.During this time California also turned a blind eye to the many contaminants that come off its large corporate farms directly into the drinking water and creeks, leaving some communities with water that is more polluted than water in Flint, Michigan.Now, California is experiencing an extremely wet year, which came with major flooding, suggesting that climate scientists? predictions for California may be coming to pass sooner than imagined. This means we have to look at our crumbling infrastructure under the light of what can survive climate change.For the salmon and our water infrastructure this can be both a threat and an opportunity. Actions like pulling back levies and re-creating floodplains can protect people, water quality and help salmon, as can dam retrofitting. We support these win-wins. However, the fact remains that until California takes on its over allocated system of water rights, and prioritizes the public trust in water decisions, our salmon populations, towns, and drinking water remain in jeopardy.California is taking some positive action. We applaud California?s tough stance on climate change, a new process to provide public trust flows in rivers, and that the state may finally declare that the salmon situation is a disaster. However, proposals like the ?California Water Fix? or Twin Tunnels and new reservoir proposals belie California?s environmental commitments.The fact is the Trump administration is promising to do more to favor subsidized corporate agriculture over the salmon economy, as its subsidies to farmers not only continue but are expanding into massive transfers of public water infrastructure into private hands, and more taxpayer subsidized dams and tunnels.It is time for California to turn its words into actions.The truth is the demand for salmon has never been higher, and the numbers of salmon have rarely been lower. California has an opportunity and responsibility to change the way it deals with water and salmon right now. We need leadership on these issues.Will California let the opportunity pass? Will it turn its back on its fishing fleet, tribes and cities or will it take on its water and climate issues head on?Regina Chichizola, is the 2017 Anthony Prize winner and the director of Save the Klamath Trinity Salmon. She is joining with commercial and tribal fishermen to host the Save the Salmon Dinner and Concert at the Historic Eagle House on May 27.
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri May 26 14:52:09 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 26 May 2017 21:52:09 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Where have all the salmon gone? State committee
 discusses impacts of low runs
References: <379579388.119051.1495835529173.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <379579388.119051.1495835529173@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170524/where-have-all-the-salmon-gone-state-committee-discusses-impacts-of-low-runs

Where have all the salmon gone? State committee discusses impacts of low runs

Local, state experts discuss impacts, causes of unprecedented low runs
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardWednesday, May 24, 2017Already faced with unprecedented low numbers of returning salmon and drastically reduced fishing allowances, California?s fishing fleets and communities are not expected to find any relief in the next few years, according to testimony by a host of experts and regulators at the State Capitol on Wednesday.?Things are going to get worse before they get better,? Pacific Fishery Management Councilwoman Marci Yaremko said at the California Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture hearing at the State Capitol on Wednesday.
The impacts
Wednesday?s committee hearing ? titled ?Where Have All the Salmon Gone?? ? brought together a host of fishery experts, tribal representatives, fishermen and state regulators to discuss what led to the low numbers of returning salmon, the impact on fishing fleets and communities and what to expect in the years to come.The hearing was held nearly a week after the environmental organization CalTrout and UC Davis released a report stating that?nearly 75 percent of the state?s 31 salmon, steelhead and trout species face extinction in the next century?if current trends continue.?We can?t afford to make more mistakes,? North Coast Assemblyman and committee Chairman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) said.?Commercial and recreational salmon fishing has been drastically reduced across the coastline this year or completely closed as is the case in waters between Humboldt County and southern Oregon.?The Pacific Fishery Management Council ? which provides recommendations on commercial and recreational fishing allowances to federal regulators ? expects to designate the Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon fishery as being overfished in 2018, according to Yaremko.?The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines an ?overfished? fishery as being when the population size of a fish stock is too low, ?whether because of fishing or other causes such as environmental changes.?Golden Gate Fishermen?s Association President Roger Thomas said he has spoken with several fishermen in Eureka and Crescent City who expect to lose up to 70 percent of their annual income due to the salmon fishing closures.Those fishermen who have ventured down to more southerly waters in the hopes of making some money this year are not having much luck, with some packing up their gear after a couple of days of little to no catch, according to Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations Executive Director Noah Oppenheim.?The associations? president and Eureka resident David Bitts was on an advisory team that helped craft this year?s salmon fishing restrictions.?From what I?ve heard, from the rates of catch so far, I?m not so confident we did the right thing by allowing any fishing at all because the rates of catching are very poor and efforts are dropping off,? Bitts said, before sighing heavily. ?People are going to have to find other things to do.?While other fisheries are available, such as halibut, Bitts said they will not be enough to make up for the loss of the state?s salmon fisheries.Representatives from the Karuk, Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes traveled to Sacramento to testify on the impacts to their communities, which have relied on salmon throughout their history. The Yurok Tribe ? California?s largest federally recognized tribe of over 6,000 members ? was allocated 650 fish this year compared to the thousands they have received in previous years.Tribal Chairman Thomas O?Rourke Sr. said that this allocation will only be enough to provide some food to tribal elders and for ceremonies. Meanwhile, he said that the tribe?s and the town of Klamath?s economy will be significantly impacted as fishermen remain off the water, hotels and campgrounds go empty and tourists stop showing up.?It?s not just the fish that are in danger of becoming extinct. It?s my people,? O?Rourke said. ?It?s a people. It?s a way of life. That?s how it impacts our people. It hurts when I talk about it.?
The causes
Federal, state and tribal researchers said Wednesday that unprecedented warm ocean temperatures between 2014 through 2016, the five-year drought and federal river management practices played a significant role in the survival of salmon.Federal oceanographic researchers stated that climate change could cause ocean temperatures to rise significantly within the next 20 years.For the Klamath River Basin, Karuk Tribe Natural Resources Policy Advocate Craig Tucker attributed the decline in salmon to ?150 years of bad decision-making?, poor land management and unregulated groundwater pumping and irrigation.??I think it?s becoming increasingly clear to me that we?re basically allowing salmon to be reprocessed into timber and electricity and gold and alfalfa and, increasingly, marijuana,? Tucker said.Yurok Tribe Fisheries Director Dave Hillemeier stated that low flows in 2014 and 2015 allowed a intestinal parasite to thrive and infect between 80 to 90 juvenile Coho and Chinook salmon on the Klamath River. Hillemeier said there is a ?glimmer of hope? that this year?s heavy rains will allow more juveniles to survive.This year?s low salmon runs are attributed to the low juvenile survival rates from years past, which are also expected to result in low runs in 2018 and 2019, federal fisheries biologist Michael O?Farrell said.Hoopa Valley Tribe Councilwoman Vivienna Orcutt questioned some of the actions taken to rectify water rights disputes between tribes and irrigators in the Klamath River Basin, such as the now-expired Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, stating that they did not do enough to protect tribal trust resources and prevent the decline of fish populations.?We have to reverse actions taken under the KBRA that reduce flows, make the Klamath River a breeding ground for disease that left unchecked could be a lethal blow to our fisheries stocks,? she said.A proposal to remove four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River starting in 2020 to improve water quality and renew fish habitat is currently being considered by the federal government. But Tucker said that the hundreds of irrigation projects in the Klamath Basin are what control the flows of the river, and ultimately the fate of the fish.
The next steps
Committee Chairman and North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) opened Wednesday?s hearing by saying California is facing a new reality.?We are in a constant fishery disaster here in the Golden State,? McGuire said.McGuire, Wood and California 2nd District Congressman Jared Huffman have called on Gov. Jerry Brown to ask the U.S. Department of Commerce to declare a fisheries disaster for the 2017 salmon season to allow federal relief funds to make up for some of the fleet?s losses.McGuire and other speakers also expressed concerns about potential rollbacks of environmental protections on salmon by President Donald Trump?s administration.Senate Bill 49 is currently being considered by the Legislature would make all current federal clean air, climate, clean water, worker safety and endangered species standards enforceable under state law.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri May 26 14:55:31 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 26 May 2017 21:55:31 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal- SOS II: Fish report documents decline
References: <1641091700.87533.1495835731690.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1641091700.87533.1495835731690@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_b2b69f38-4027-11e7-bcd4-f3aec2936951.html

SOS II: Fish report documents decline
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
?- May 24, 2017
?- ?0
   
   - 
   - 
   - 
   
   - Mike Wier | Special to The Trinity Journal
Chinook salmon?   
   - 
   - 
   - 
   - 
   - 
A new report out on California?s native salmon, steelhead and trout populations predicts widespread extinction of the fish within the next century if present trends continue.Specifically, the report, ?State of the Salmonids II: Fish in Hot Water,? says that 74 percent are likely to be extinct in the next 100 years and 45 percent are likely to be extinct in the next 50 years.This is the second such report released by the advocacy group California Trout (CalTrout) and the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. The first edition was published in 2008.The researchers reviewed literature and agency reports and consulted with more than 60 individuals and experts to compile the report, which should be considered ?an alarm bell,? said lead author Dr. Peter Moyle, associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences.?It should also be seen as a roadmap for how we can correct course to better support native aquatic species,? he said.The five fish populations identified as experiencing the most immediate threat ? Central California coast coho salmon, Sacramento River winter-run chinook salmon, southern steelhead, Kern River rainbow trout and McCloud River redband trout ? are not in the Trinity County area.However, the Klamath and Trinity River basins are home to several fish populations listed in the report as being of ?critical? concern.Those include Klamath-Trinity spring-run chinook salmon, Southern Oregon/Northern California coast coho salmon and Klamath Mountains Province summer steelhead.The spring-run chinook, which remain primarily in the Salmon and South Fork Trinity rivers, are likely to disappear in the next 50 years, the report states. It identifies climate change as likely the greatest threat due to anticipated increases in summer water temperatures.The coho salmon are listed as ?threatened? under the Endangered Species Act and are critically vulnerable to extinction as wild fish within the next 50 to 100 years, the authors found.Dam construction and habitat degradation from various land use practices are cited as factors.In the Trinity River, it appears the wild coho salmon have been completely replaced by coho from the Trinity River Hatchery, according to the report.Regarding steelhead, not all management agencies distinguish the summer from the winter steelhead, but this report does due to different genetics and timing and finds the summer steelhead to be of ?critical? concern. The report authors found that these stream-maturing fish face a high likelihood of extinction in California in the next 50 years due to their reliance on cold water sources during the warmest summer months.This area?s fall-run chinook and winter steelhead are in somewhat better shape than the coho, spring chinook and summer steelhead.The report authors listed the Upper Klamath/Trinity Rivers fall chinook at a ?moderate? level of concern.The run is not in immediate danger of extinction, although their numbers have declined in recent decades. Returns of hatchery-origin fish may be masking a decline in wild production in the Klamath-Trinity Basin, according to the report.The ocean-maturing winter steelhead in this area are faring better than their summer counterparts and are listed in the report as ?moderate concern.? They are not as vulnerable to climate change due to their migration timing.?Generally, they?re on a downward trajectory but they?re not of high concern yet,? said Pat Samuel, one of the report?s authors and conservation program coordinator with CalTrout.The report includes lists of conservation actions that hopefully could change the trajectory for each of the struggling fish populations.These include several actions that are already in the works, such as removal of the four lowermost hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, which are privately owned, to open up historical habitat. Groundbreaking on that project is slated to begin in 2020.Other recommendations include adaptive management of stream flows and habitat restoration which is ongoing with the Trinity River Restoration Program, and updating of hatchery practices, which is under way with a state Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery review.The report also recommends limiting harvest of chinook to fin-clipped hatchery fish to determine hatchery impacts on wild fish. Currently, agencies attempt to preserve enough fish to spawn with fishing quotas.The report authors recommend halting all production hatchery programs for coho to allow wild stocks to recover. Hatchery fish can compete with wild stocks for food and habitat, and reduce their fitness for reproducing in the wild through interbreeding. Hatchery production is not believed to be the main reason for the coho?s decline, but is a factor, Samuel said.However, emergency rearing facilities are recommended to increase juvenile coho survival during drought or a significant watershed restoration project.The report recommends amending fishing regulations to protect vulnerable spring-run chinook salmon and summer steelhead while in fresh water.Management of land-use activities is also on the list.While climate change is the overarching threat to the salmonids, Samuel noted that in the North State, agriculture in general and marijuana growing in particular are ?a major driver in the decline of fish in the area.?The plants need water in the summer, ?but that?s when coho and steelhead need it the most,? he said. ?They?ll be in those small tributary streams over the summer and if sucked dry it reduces their survival.?
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From bgutermuth at usbr.gov  Tue May 30 11:03:45 2017
From: bgutermuth at usbr.gov (Gutermuth, F.)
Date: Tue, 30 May 2017 11:03:45 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] TRRP Channel Rehabilitation Site: Deep Gulch and
 Sheridan Creek (River Mile 81.6 - 82.9) - Environmental document available
Message-ID: <CAMnws3J8ZtGxeewhwv_USoqA_SmAi8DzNkFH0FbwAznE0p7s3A@mail.gmail.com>

Dear Trinity River Restoration Program followers-

The Public Draft Environmental Assessment/ Initial Study (EA/IS) for the
Trinity River Channel Rehabilitation Site: Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek
(River Mile 81.6 - 82.9) "Project" has been updated based on public
comment.

The EA/IS and signed Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is posted on
the TRRP website at:
http://www.trrp.net/2017-deep-gulch-and-sheridan-creek/ and on
Reclamation's Mid-Pacific Region National Environmental Policy Act website
at: https://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=27594

Reclamation's website has the document chapters and appendices (e.g., Chap
2 = Project Description, Chap 3 = the Affected Environment) split into
smaller files (< 8 MB) while the TRRP website has the entire document as
one large file for download. Detailed response to public comments and
changes to the EA/IS which have resulted from the response to comment are
located in Appendix B.

The Project lead agencies (federal co-leads: the Bureau of Land Management
and Bureau of Reclamation) and state lead (the North Coast Regional Water
Quality Control Board) plan to start project construction in summer 2017.
An on-site meeting prior to construction will be planned in June.


Best Regards -

Brandt



PS - Sorry for dual notifications



Brandt Gutermuth
Environmental Scientist
Trinity River Restoration Program
530.623.1806 work
530.739.2802 cell
http://www.trrp.net/
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed May 31 07:10:40 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 31 May 2017 14:10:40 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal: River group caught up in federal
	suspension
References: <1089424150.3766940.1496239840362.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1089424150.3766940.1496239840362@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_9d8c77a0-4599-11e7-8a1e-03d624d5bc67.html

River group caught up in federal suspension
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
?- 15 min ago
?- ?0
   
   - 
   - 
   - 
   
   - 
   - 
   - 
   - 
   - 
The stakeholder group that provides input on Trinity River Restoration Program decisions has been suspended by the Trump administration along with more than 200 other federal advisory commissions while a review is conducted.The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) advises the Trinity Management Council, the agency/tribal board of directors for the river restoration program.The TAMWG was going to meet in early June but that meeting was canceled. Another meeting was being scheduled for mid-July, but that too was canceled because of the suspension, TAMWG Chair Tom Stokely said.?We don?t know when it?s going to meet,? Stokely said, adding that meanwhile, things are happening.It?s possible that the program could pass its fiscal year 2018 budget in June, Stokely said, and there are watershed project proposals being ranked.The program?s annual budget is approximately $15 million.The stakeholder group feels a lot of its recommendations are rejected by the management council, he said, ?but at least we have an opportunity to give them input.?There are many other advisory committees affected as well, including the Resource Advisory Committees that deliver public input to the federal Bureau of Land Management. A coalition of Western Democratic lawmakers wrote to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke asking that he allow the RACS to do their work.From the Interior Department, spokeswoman Heather Swift said in an email that the department is reviewing the charters and charges of advisory commissions under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to maximize feedback from these boards and to?ensure their compliance with both?FACA?and President Trump?s recent executive?orders.?An initial roll call of the advisory committees revealed that many?of the committees advising the department were not operating at their full?potential, were not using taxpayer dollars efficiently, or were not meeting?basic benchmarks of?FACA,? she said, adding that many had several vacancies, making the board?inoperable, and others simply hadn?t met for some time during the previous?administration.?As the review proceeds in the coming days and?weeks, many committees will resume their regularly scheduled meetings, and?the Department fully expects the majority of committees to resume by?September,? Swift said. ?Additionally, several committees have already been given?exemptions or clearance to resume.??This is a standard review process which?previous administrations have also conducted during the transition?process,? Swift said.Stokely responded that at the beginning of the Obama administration there were some bureaucratic delays involving the TAMWG charter and membership appointments that in turn delayed meetings. But the meetings have never been suspended with charter and membership approved, he said, and there has never been a systemwide suspension of all federal advisory committee meetings.The TAMWG has 15 members with a variety of interests, ?but a lot of the time we come together with recommendations to better the program,? he said, adding that there are a couple of vacancies but with the suspension the filling of those positions is on hold.
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From kierassociates at att.net  Wed May 31 09:23:21 2017
From: kierassociates at att.net (Kier Associates)
Date: Wed, 31 May 2017 09:23:21 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal: River group caught up in federal
	suspension
Message-ID: <002201d2da2a$387355d0$a95a0170$@att.net>

?Anybody else sense a contradiction between returning control of government to the states and suspending advisory committees made up of state, Tribal, local government and community representatives?   

 

Bill Kier

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Wednesday, May 31, 2017 7:11 AM
To: Env-trinity
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal: River group caught up in federal suspension

 

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_9d8c77a0-4599-11e7-8a1e-03d624d5bc67.html

 

River group caught up in federal suspension

?        By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal

 The stakeholder group that provides input on Trinity River Restoration Program decisions has been suspended by the Trump administration along with more than 200 other federal advisory commissions while a review is conducted.

The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) advises the Trinity Management Council, the agency/tribal board of directors for the river restoration program.

The TAMWG was going to meet in early June but that meeting was canceled. Another meeting was being scheduled for mid-July, but that too was canceled because of the suspension, TAMWG Chair Tom Stokely said.

?We don?t know when it?s going to meet,? Stokely said, adding that meanwhile, things are happening.

It?s possible that the program could pass its fiscal year 2018 budget in June, Stokely said, and there are watershed project proposals being ranked.

The program?s annual budget is approximately $15 million.

The stakeholder group feels a lot of its recommendations are rejected by the management council, he said, ?but at least we have an opportunity to give them input.?

There are many other advisory committees affected as well, including the Resource Advisory Committees that deliver public input to the federal Bureau of Land Management. A coalition of Western Democratic lawmakers wrote to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke asking that he allow the RACS to do their work.

>From the Interior Department, spokeswoman Heather Swift said in an email that the department is reviewing the charters and charges of advisory commissions under the Federal Advisory Committee Act to maximize feedback from these boards and to ensure their compliance with both FACA and President Trump?s recent executive orders.

?An initial roll call of the advisory committees revealed that many of the committees advising the department were not operating at their full potential, were not using taxpayer dollars efficiently, or were not meeting basic benchmarks of FACA,? she said, adding that many had several vacancies, making the board inoperable, and others simply hadn?t met for some time during the previous administration.

?As the review proceeds in the coming days and weeks, many committees will resume their regularly scheduled meetings, and the Department fully expects the majority of committees to resume by September,? Swift said. ?Additionally, several committees have already been given exemptions or clearance to resume.?

?This is a standard review process which previous administrations have also conducted during the transition process,? Swift said.

Stokely responded that at the beginning of the Obama administration there were some bureaucratic delays involving the TAMWG charter and membership appointments that in turn delayed meetings. But the meetings have never been suspended with charter and membership approved, he said, and there has never been a systemwide suspension of all federal advisory committee meetings.

The TAMWG has 15 members with a variety of interests, ?but a lot of the time we come together with recommendations to better the program,? he said, adding that there are a couple of vacancies but with the suspension the filling of those positions is on hold.

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From tstokely at att.net  Wed May 31 15:24:30 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 31 May 2017 22:24:30 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Klamath River Emergency Dilution Flows Not
	Required in 2017
In-Reply-To: <865b3d108d1b4f25a962d6de236222dc@usbr.gov>
References: <865b3d108d1b4f25a962d6de236222dc@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <200565479.101748.1496269470194@mail.yahoo.com>

On Wednesday, May 31, 2017 1:13 PM, Sarah McBride <smcbride at usbr.gov> wrote:

 Klamath River Emergency Dilution Flows Not Required in 2017Mid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-086Media Contact: Russell Grimes, 916-978-5100, rwgrimes at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: May 31, 2017Klamath River Emergency Dilution Flows Not Required in 2017KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. ? The Bureau of Reclamation announces that Klamath River emergency dilution flows will not be required in 2017 to mitigate the effects of a parasite called Ceratanova shasta (or C. shasta) on outmigrating juvenile salmon. The announcement is made following weeks of monitoring parasite spore concentrations and prevalence of C. shasta infection among outmigrating salmon, and monitoring conducted by Oregon State University, the Karuk Tribe and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.In February 2017, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Reclamation to implement two types of flows to mitigate the effects of C. shasta on juvenile salmon; winter-spring flushing flows designed to dislodge and flush out an intermediate host for the parasite, and emergency dilution flows designed to reduce the concentrations of parasite spores in the water column. The winter-spring flows were conducted on multiple occasions during February and March 2017, after which Reclamation shifted its focus to planning for implementation of emergency dilution flows, which the court ordered to be implemented between April 1 and June 15 if certain disease thresholds were exceeded.Specifically, the court ordered Reclamation to utilize up to 50 thousand acre feet to implement emergency dilution flows if:????????C. Shasta spore concentrations exceed 5 spores/liter (non-specific genotype) based on quantitative polymerase chain reaction at any sampling station, or????????Prevalence of infection of all captured juvenile Chinook salmon exceeds 20 percent for the preceding week at the Kinsman Rotary Screw Trap site.These flows would be required until June 15 or until 80 percent of juvenile salmon had outmigrated if either of the preceding two thresholds were exceeded.The court order also specified that the USFWS Arcata Office would develop the outmigration estimation model used to estimate the 80 percent cessation clause. The Arcata Office released the results of the predictive model May 15 which estimated that 80 percent of the wild Chinook had outmigrated by the week of May 7-13. To ensure a reasonable level of confidence that the wild salmon outmigration was complete, the court required an additional seven days be added to the estimate, making May 20 the last day emergency dilution flows could be required in 2017.Reclamation appreciates the close coordination between a number of partners and stakeholders that allowed for expedited processing of fish and water samples, and the development of an emergency dilution flow implementation plan. Reclamation is encouraged by the near ideal outmigration conditions experienced by juvenile salmon during spring 2017 and it will operate the Klamath Project for the remainder of the water year consistent with the 2013 Biological Opinion. The court order and its flow requirements will remain in place until reconsultation of the 2013 Joint Biological Opinion is completed in early 2019.For additional information, contact Laura Williams at (541) 880-2581 or ljwilliams at usbr.gov.# # #Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Jun  1 11:46:06 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2017 18:46:06 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Management Council Agenda, June 14-15,
	McKinleyville
References: <1485837792.632969.1496342766726.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1485837792.632969.1496342766726@mail.yahoo.com>

TRINITY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL

Location: ?Azaela Hall, 1620 Pickett Rd

Mckinleyville, CA 


?
Agenda for June 14-15, 2017


?
Wednesday June 14, 2017 


?

Time ?????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????? ??????????????????????? DiscussionLeader



?
RegularBusiness:


?
9:00???????????????? Introductions:??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? DonBader, Chair

??Welcome 

??Approval of Agenda

??Approval of MarchTMC Meeting Minutes


?
9:15???????????????? Public Forum:? Comments from the public????????????????????????????? Don Bader, Chair


?
9:45???????????????? Report fromTAMWG ?????????? ??????????? ??????????????????????????????????? TomStokely


?
10:00?????????????? Report from ExecutiveDirector??????? ??????????????????????????????????? Caryn HunttDeCarlo


?
Information/ Decision Items:


?
10:30?????????????? Federal/ReclamationRegional updates ???????????????????????????????? DonBader, Chair

?? CVP Ops 

?? Long Term Plan EIS ROD

?? Proposal to Address Refinement

?? Reclamation Trinity SOD Policy


?
11:00?????????????? TMC Bylaws Review/Approval????????????????????????????????????????????? SethNaman???? 

??????????????????????? (DecisionItem)


?
12:00?? ??????????? Lunch 


?
1:00???? ??????????? Unmanned Aerial Systems for TRRP Activities (drones)?????? Eric Peterson??? 

??????????????????????? 

1:45???????????????? TRRPRehabilitation Projects 5-year Plan??????????????????????????? MikeDixon

??????????????????????????????????????????????? 

2:30???????????????? Break


?
2:45? ?????????????? FY18 Science Work Plan Process?????? ??????????????????????????????????? JennyNorris ?? 


?
3:45???????????????? 2017 PFMC Fishery Management Process??????????????????????????? George Kautsky 

??????????? 

4:15???????????????? Public Forum:? Comments from the public????????????????????????????? Don Bader, Chair


?
4:45???? ??????????? Adjourn


?

?
6:30? ?????????????? TMC Dinner at Plaza Grill in Arcata (http://www.plazagrillarcata.com/)

780 7th Street, Arcata, Ca 95521? (707) 826-0860


?

?

?

?
Thursday June 15, 2017 


?
Time ?????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? DiscussionLeader


?
RegularBusiness:


?
9:00???????????????? Public Forum:? Comments from the public???????????????????????????? DonBader, Chair???????????????????????????????????????????? 

Information/ Decision Items:


?
9:30???? ??????????? FY18 Science Work Plan Recommendations???????????????????????? Jenny Norris


?
10:00?? ??????????? FY18 TRRP TMC Budget ???????????????????????????? ??????????????????????? Linsey, Caryn, and Jenny

??????????????????????????????????? (DecisionItem)


?
12:00?? ??????????? Lunch


?
1:00???? ??????????? FY17 Watershed Proposals Recommendations????????? ??????????? NancySnodgrass/Mike Dixon 

??????????????????????? (DecisionItem)


?
2:30???????????????? Suggestionsfor September TMC agenda items????????? ??????????? Don Bader, Chair


?
2:45???? ??????????? Public Forum:? Comments from the public???????????????????????????? DonBader, Chair

??????????? 

3:15???????????????? Adjourn


?

?
Webex and Call inInformation: ??


|  
?
 TMC - Day 1 

  |
|  Wednesday, June 14, 2017

  |
|  |


?

|  Meeting number (access code): 805 470 767

  |


?

|  Host key: 393322

  |


?

|  Meeting password: xJQSpGj7

  |
|  TMC?- Day 1 Link:? https://trrp.webex.com/trrp/j.php?MTID=m0508db2eedaeb728d3453a1b96cde504
 

 
?
 
|  TMC - Day 2

  |
|  Thursday, June 15, 2017

  |
|  |

 
?
 
|  Meeting number (access code): 806 128 675

  |

 
?
 
|  Host key: 868959

  |

 
?
 
|  Meeting password: 8mYdj4M5

  |

 

  |


?
TMC?- Day 2 Link:? https://trrp.webex.com/trrp/j.php?MTID=m438ba186cd4c3e10839518a6ad855827


?
JOIN BY PHONE 

1-408-792-6300 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)? 

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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Jun  4 11:22:35 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2017 18:22:35 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trump administration suspends citizen advisory group
	meetings
References: <348422092.2042423.1496600555213.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <348422092.2042423.1496600555213@mail.yahoo.com>


Trump administration suspends citizen advisory group meetings
Damon Arthur?, Record Searchlighthttp://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2017/06/01/trump-administration-suspends-citizen-advisory-group-meetings/342513001/

Federal officials won?t be hearing from a group of North State residents, businesses and environmentalists about work going on in the Trinity River for the next several months.Meetings of the group, called the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group, have been canceled, along with meetings of dozens of other citizen advisory panels across the country.The U.S. Department of the Interior, overseeing salmon and trout habitat restoration work in the Trinity River, has suspended activities of its advisory groups while the agency evaluates their effectiveness.Tom Stokely, chairman of the Trinity River advisory group, said because meetings have been suspended, the group will not be providing comment on such things as the Trinity River Restoration Program budget and providing recommendations on watershed projects.?The TAMWG members already feel our recommendations are largely rejected, so this will further some of the TAMWG members? frustration with the TRRP,? Stokely said. ?Overall, I think the delay will make the stakeholders feel more disenfranchised than they are already.?Paul R. Ross, a spokesman for the Department of the Interior, issued a statement that said a review of its advisory groups is common when a new presidential administration takes office. Suspending the meetings is only temporary, he said.?An initial roll call of the advisory committees revealed that many of the committees advising the department were not operating at their full potential, were not using taxpayer dollars efficiently, or were not meeting basic benchmarks of FACA (Federal Advisory Committee Act),? the statement said.?Many (panels) had several vacancies, making the board inoperable, and others simply hadn't met for some time during the previous administration,? the statement said.The Interior Department is the umbrella agency for nine other bureaus, including the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation.Jeff Fontana, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management in Northern California, said meetings of the agency?s resource advisory committees also have been suspended during the review, expected to last through September.The 15-member councils are made up of people representing various interest groups, such as recreation, timber, livestock grazing, archaeology and the environment, he said.The group meets three or four times a year to advise the BLM on land-use planning issues in Northern California, Fontana said.A group of eight western Democratic legislators recently wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke expressing concern over suspending meetings.Canceling meetings could result in loss of funding for local forest management projects paid for through the Secure Rural Schools Act, according to the letter.The letter, also signed by California Sen. Dianne Feinsten, says the committees are a useful tool for resolving thorny land-use issues in the West."By working through difficult land management issues and getting local input from the beginning, projects are more likely to succeed," the letter says. "Without this tool, many good land management projects would never be completed."The U.S. Department of Agriculture also has local resource advisory councils affiliated with the U.S. Forest Service?s national forests, including the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.However, the Department of Agriculture has not suspended meetings of its councils, a Shasta-Trinity National Forest?official said.
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From lrlake at aol.com  Sun Jun  4 12:29:24 2017
From: lrlake at aol.com (lrlake at aol.com)
Date: Sun, 4 Jun 2017 15:29:24 -0400
Subject: [env-trinity] Trump administration suspends citizen advisory
 group meetings
In-Reply-To: <348422092.2042423.1496600555213@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <348422092.2042423.1496600555213.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<348422092.2042423.1496600555213@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <15c74955b59-305d-2f51d@webprd-m44.mail.aol.com>

I think it is interesting that Interior has suspended advisory meetings, yet Agriculture continues...  Most of the legislation applies to both agencies?  Analysis paralyses ?  I guess politics...  I have always been amazed by how legislation can state: " ...the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture SHALL..." do whatever...  and each agency heads down their merry way, ignoring the public to the degree which suits the agencies' perceived mandate.  Make no mistake, these agencies do not work for us.  They work to protect their wages, if they can find an account to charge to.

Larry


Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net>
To: Env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Sent: Sun, Jun 4, 2017 11:22 am
Subject: [env-trinity] Trump administration suspends citizen advisory group meetings



Trump administration suspends citizen advisory group meetings
Damon Arthur , Record Searchlight
http://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2017/06/01/trump-administration-suspends-citizen-advisory-group-meetings/342513001/



Federal officials won?t be hearing from a group of North State residents, businesses and environmentalists about work going on in the Trinity River for the next several months.
Meetings of the group, called the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group, have been canceled, along with meetings of dozens of other citizen advisory panels across the country.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, overseeing salmon and trout habitat restoration work in the Trinity River, has suspended activities of its advisory groups while the agency evaluates their effectiveness.
Tom Stokely, chairman of the Trinity River advisory group, said because meetings have been suspended, the group will not be providing comment on such things as the Trinity River Restoration Program budget and providing recommendations on watershed projects.
?The TAMWG members already feel our recommendations are largely rejected, so this will further some of the TAMWG members? frustration with the TRRP,? Stokely said. ?Overall, I think the delay will make the stakeholders feel more disenfranchised than they are already.?
Paul R. Ross, a spokesman for the Department of the Interior, issued a statement that said a review of its advisory groups is common when a new presidential administration takes office. Suspending the meetings is only temporary, he said.
?An initial roll call of the advisory committees revealed that many of the committees advising the department were not operating at their full potential, were not using taxpayer dollars efficiently, or were not meeting basic benchmarks of FACA (Federal Advisory Committee Act),? the statement said.
?Many (panels) had several vacancies, making the board inoperable, and others simply hadn't met for some time during the previous administration,? the statement said.
The Interior Department is the umbrella agency for nine other bureaus, including the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation.
Jeff Fontana, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management in Northern California, said meetings of the agency?s resource advisory committees also have been suspended during the review, expected to last through September.

The 15-member councils are made up of people representing various interest groups, such as recreation, timber, livestock grazing, archaeology and the environment, he said.
The group meets three or four times a year to advise the BLM on land-use planning issues in Northern California, Fontana said.
A group of eight western Democratic legislators recently wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke expressing concern over suspending meetings.
Canceling meetings could result in loss of funding for local forest management projects paid for through the Secure Rural Schools Act, according to the letter.
The letter, also signed by California Sen. Dianne Feinsten, says the committees are a useful tool for resolving thorny land-use issues in the West.
"By working through difficult land management issues and getting local input from the beginning, projects are more likely to succeed," the letter says. "Without this tool, many good land management projects would never be completed."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture also has local resource advisory councils affiliated with the U.S. Forest Service?s national forests, including the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
However, the Department of Agriculture has not suspended meetings of its councils, a Shasta-Trinity National Forest official said.





_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity

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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Jun  4 22:16:11 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2017 05:16:11 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] 6/6/17 Trinity Board of Supervisors Agenda Item: Don
 Bader, USBR- Trinity Dam Safety
References: <674959707.2375653.1496639771105.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <674959707.2375653.1496639771105@mail.yahoo.com>

Trinity County, CA : BOS Agenda & Minutes

  
|  
|   |  
Trinity County, CA : BOS Agenda & Minutes
   |  |

  |

 

| TRINITY COUNTYBOARD OF SUPERVISORSTrinity County LibraryConference Room351 Main StreetWeaverville, CA |  |


|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | MEETING AGENDAJune 6, 2017?ChairmanSupervisor John Fenley - District 5?Vice-ChairmanSupervisor Keith Groves - District 1?Supervisor Judy Morris - District 2Supervisor Bobbi Chadwick - District 3Supervisor Bill Burton - District 4?VACANT - County Administrative OfficerMargaret E. Long - County Counsel / Clerk of the BoardNaomi Goulette - Deputy Clerk of the Board
 | 
 |


|  | 8:30 AMCALL MEETING TO ORDER IN OPEN SESSIONPLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE |  |


|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 1. | 8:30 AM Closed Session |  |


|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | 1.1 | Government Code Section 54954.5(c) - Conference with Legal Counsel - Anticipated LitigationNo. of Cases: 1 |  |
|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | 1.2 | Government Code Section 54954.5(c) - Conference with Legal Counsel - Existing LitigationNo. of Cases:?1?Pini vs. Fenley?(Trinity County Superior Court Case No. 16CV068) |  |
|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | 1.3 | Government Code Section 54954.5(f) - Labor Negotiations
County's Designated Representatives: Sophia R. Meyer
Employee Organizations: Department Heads |  |
|  |  |  |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |


|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | PUBLIC COMMENTThis time is for information from the public on matters not appearing on this agenda. All comments are limited to three minutes and must pertain to matters within the jurisdiction of this Board. ?When addressing the Board please state your name for the record and address the Board as a whole through the Chair. ?No action or discussion will be conducted on matters not listed on the agenda, however, the Chair may refer the subject matter to the appropriate department for follow-up or schedule the matter on a subsequent Board Agenda. ? |  |


|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 2. | Presentations |  |


|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | Clerk of the Board |  |



|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | 2.1 | Receive a?presentation from Don Bader, Area Manager of Northern California with the Bureau of Reclamation,?regarding the safety of Trinity Lake and Lewiston Lake Dams. |  |
|  |  | No fiscal impact |  |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |


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From sari at sisqtel.net  Tue Jun  6 11:14:59 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2017 11:14:59 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: Three-Year Survey Shows Acidified Ocean Water
	Widespread Along North America Coast
Message-ID: <021401d2def0$cfa32aa0$6ee97fe0$@sisqtel.net>

http://www.cbbulletin.com/439009.aspx#

 

Columbia Basin Bulletin

 <http://www.cbbulletin.com/439000.aspp> Print this Story Print this Story
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/Email_EmailContent.aspx?id=439000> Email this
Story Email this Story 


Three-Year Survey Shows Acidified Ocean Water Widespread Along North America
West Coast 
Posted on Friday, June 02, 2017 (PST) 


A three-year survey of the California Current System along the West Coast of
the United States found persistent, highly acidified water throughout this
ecologically critical nearshore habitat, with "hotspots" of pH measurements
as low as any oceanic surface waters in the world.

 

The researchers say that conditions will continue to worsen because the
atmospheric carbon dioxide primarily to blame for this increase in
acidification has been rising substantially in recent years.

 

One piece of good news came out of the study
<http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-02777-y>
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-02777-y, which was published this
week in Scientific Reports. There are "refuges" of more moderate pH
environments that could become havens for some marine organisms to escape
more highly acidified waters, and which could be used as a resource for
ecosystem management.

 

"The threat of ocean acidification is global and though it sometimes seems
far away, it is happening here right now on the West Coast of the United
States and those waters are already hitting our beaches," said Francis Chan,
a marine ecologist at Oregon State University and lead author on the study.

 

"The West Coast is very vulnerable. Ten years ago, we were focusing on the
tropics with their coral reefs as the place most likely affected by ocean
acidification. But the California Current System is getting hit with
acidification earlier and more drastically than other locations around the
world."

 

A team of researchers developed a network of sensors to measure ocean
acidification over a three-year period along more than 600 miles of the West
Coast. The team observed near-shore pH levels that fell well below the
global mean pH of 8.1 for the surface ocean, and reached as low as 7.4 at
the most acidified sites, which is among the lowest recorded values ever
observed in surface waters.

 

The lower the pH level, the higher the acidity. Previous studies have
documented a global decrease of 0.11 pH units in surface ocean waters since
the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Like the Richter scale, the pH
scale in logarithmic, so that a 0.11 pH unit decrease represents an increase
in acidity of approximately 30 percent.

 

Highly acidified ocean water is potentially dangerous because many organisms
are very sensitive to changes in pH. Chan said negative impacts already are
occurring in the California Current System, where planktonic pteropods - or
small swimming snails - were documented with severe shell dissolution.

 

"This is about more than the loss of small snails," said Richard Feely,
senior scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. "These pteropods are an important
food source for herring, salmon and black cod, among other fish. They also
may be the proverbial 'canary in the coal mine' signifying potential risk
for other species, including Dungeness crabs, oysters, mussels, and many
organisms that live in tidepools or other near-shore habitats."

 

Previous studies at OSU have chronicled the impact of acidified water on the
Northwest oyster industry.

 

Chan said the team's observations, which included a broad-scale ocean
acidification survey via ship by NOAA, did not vary significantly over the
three years - even with different conditions, including a moderate El Ni?o
event.

 

"The highly acidified water was remarkably persistent over the three years,"
Chan said. "Hotspots stayed as hotspots, and refuges stayed as refuges. This
highly acidified water is not in the middle of the Pacific Ocean; it is
right off our shore. Fortunately, there are swaths of water that are more
moderate in acidity and those should be our focus for developing adaptation
strategies."

 

The researchers say there needs to be a focus on lowering stressors to the
environment, such as maintaining healthy kelp beds and sea grasses, which
many believe can partially mitigate the effects of increasing acidity.

 

Further, the moderately acidified refuge areas can be strategically used and
managed, Chan pointed out.

 

"We probably have a hundred or more areas along the West Coast that are
protected in one way or another, and we need to examine them more closely,"
he said. "If we know how many of them are in highly acidified areas and how
many are in refuge sites, we can use that information to better manage the
risks that ocean acidification poses."

 

Managing for resilience is a key, the researchers conclude.

 

"Even though we are seeing compromised chemistry in our ocean waters, we
still have a comparably vibrant ecosystem," Chan said. "Our first goal
should be to not make things worse. No new stresses. Then we need to
safeguard and promote resilience. How do we do that? One way is to manage
for diversity, from ensuring multiple-age populations to maintaining deep
gene pools.

 

"The greater the diversity, the better chance of improving the adaptability
of our marine species."

 

Chan, a faculty member in the College of Science at Oregon State University,
was a member of the West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Panel
appointed by the governments of California, Oregon, Washington and British
Columbia.

 

 <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a73074e66d2b0b0>
Bookmark and Share

 

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From kierassociates at att.net  Tue Jun  6 13:29:34 2017
From: kierassociates at att.net (Kier Associates)
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2017 13:29:34 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] =?iso-8859-1?q?=22Perfect_Storm=22_Decimates_Northe?=
	=?iso-8859-1?q?rn_California_Kelp_Forests?=
Message-ID: <001401d2df03$9cf6c680$d6e45380$@att.net>

Following up on Sari?s posting re California Current System acidification,
our American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists? Northern California
district quarterly dinner meeting last Thursday evening, held at the Greater
Farallones Marine Sanctuary headquarters in the SF Presidio, featured a
presentation by Dr Cynthia Catton, CA Fish & Wildlife?s northern CA marine
invertebrate mgt program lead re the virtual disappearance of bull kelp from
the Sonoma and Mendocino counties coastal waters - see
https://cdfwmarine.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/perfect-storm-decimates-kelp 

Depressing stuff - but I was struck by just how hard and effectively Dr
Catton is working to build coalitions of the interested parties -
scientific, sports-fishing, commercial (urchin) fishermen and others to
address the problem and to seek management solutions. ?Best to all,  Bill
Kier  

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On
Behalf Of Sari Sommarstrom
Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2017 11:15 AM
To: 'Env-trinity'
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: Three-Year Survey Shows Acidified Ocean Water
Widespread Along North America Coast

 

http://www.cbbulletin.com/439009.aspx#
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/439009.aspx> 

 

Columbia Basin Bulletin

 <http://www.cbbulletin.com/439000.aspp> Print this Story Print this Story
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/Email_EmailContent.aspx?id=439000> Email this
Story Email this Story 


Three-Year Survey Shows Acidified Ocean Water Widespread Along North America
West Coast 
Posted on Friday, June 02, 2017 (PST) 


A three-year survey of the California Current System along the West Coast of
the United States found persistent, highly acidified water throughout this
ecologically critical nearshore habitat, with "hotspots" of pH measurements
as low as any oceanic surface waters in the world.

 

The researchers say that conditions will continue to worsen because the
atmospheric carbon dioxide primarily to blame for this increase in
acidification has been rising substantially in recent years.

 

One piece of good news came out of the study
<http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-02777-y>
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-02777-y, which was published this
week in Scientific Reports. There are "refuges" of more moderate pH
environments that could become havens for some marine organisms to escape
more highly acidified waters, and which could be used as a resource for
ecosystem management.

 

"The threat of ocean acidification is global and though it sometimes seems
far away, it is happening here right now on the West Coast of the United
States and those waters are already hitting our beaches," said Francis Chan,
a marine ecologist at Oregon State University and lead author on the study.

 

"The West Coast is very vulnerable. Ten years ago, we were focusing on the
tropics with their coral reefs as the place most likely affected by ocean
acidification. But the California Current System is getting hit with
acidification earlier and more drastically than other locations around the
world."

 

A team of researchers developed a network of sensors to measure ocean
acidification over a three-year period along more than 600 miles of the West
Coast. The team observed near-shore pH levels that fell well below the
global mean pH of 8.1 for the surface ocean, and reached as low as 7.4 at
the most acidified sites, which is among the lowest recorded values ever
observed in surface waters.

 

The lower the pH level, the higher the acidity. Previous studies have
documented a global decrease of 0.11 pH units in surface ocean waters since
the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Like the Richter scale, the pH
scale in logarithmic, so that a 0.11 pH unit decrease represents an increase
in acidity of approximately 30 percent.

 

Highly acidified ocean water is potentially dangerous because many organisms
are very sensitive to changes in pH. Chan said negative impacts already are
occurring in the California Current System, where planktonic pteropods - or
small swimming snails - were documented with severe shell dissolution.

 

"This is about more than the loss of small snails," said Richard Feely,
senior scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. "These pteropods are an important
food source for herring, salmon and black cod, among other fish. They also
may be the proverbial 'canary in the coal mine' signifying potential risk
for other species, including Dungeness crabs, oysters, mussels, and many
organisms that live in tidepools or other near-shore habitats."

 

Previous studies at OSU have chronicled the impact of acidified water on the
Northwest oyster industry.

 

Chan said the team's observations, which included a broad-scale ocean
acidification survey via ship by NOAA, did not vary significantly over the
three years - even with different conditions, including a moderate El Ni?o
event.

 

"The highly acidified water was remarkably persistent over the three years,"
Chan said. "Hotspots stayed as hotspots, and refuges stayed as refuges. This
highly acidified water is not in the middle of the Pacific Ocean; it is
right off our shore. Fortunately, there are swaths of water that are more
moderate in acidity and those should be our focus for developing adaptation
strategies."

 

The researchers say there needs to be a focus on lowering stressors to the
environment, such as maintaining healthy kelp beds and sea grasses, which
many believe can partially mitigate the effects of increasing acidity.

 

Further, the moderately acidified refuge areas can be strategically used and
managed, Chan pointed out.

 

"We probably have a hundred or more areas along the West Coast that are
protected in one way or another, and we need to examine them more closely,"
he said. "If we know how many of them are in highly acidified areas and how
many are in refuge sites, we can use that information to better manage the
risks that ocean acidification poses."

 

Managing for resilience is a key, the researchers conclude.

 

"Even though we are seeing compromised chemistry in our ocean waters, we
still have a comparably vibrant ecosystem," Chan said. "Our first goal
should be to not make things worse. No new stresses. Then we need to
safeguard and promote resilience. How do we do that? One way is to manage
for diversity, from ensuring multiple-age populations to maintaining deep
gene pools.

 

"The greater the diversity, the better chance of improving the adaptability
of our marine species."

 

Chan, a faculty member in the College of Science at Oregon State University,
was a member of the West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Panel
appointed by the governments of California, Oregon, Washington and British
Columbia.

 

 <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a73074e66d2b0b0>
Bookmark and Share

 

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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Jun  7 09:47:00 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2017 16:47:00 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Officials worried about Trinity Dam safety
References: <8022711.5293466.1496854020655.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <8022711.5293466.1496854020655@mail.yahoo.com>

One correction to my video statement- the 400,000 cfs probable maximum flood came from a 1997 presentation by the Bureau of Reclamation's Safety of Dams Division, not the 2000 "Trinity Dam Enhancement Technical Appraisal" report.
http://www.redding.com/story/news/local/2017/06/07/officials-worried-trinity-dam-safety/373015001/



Officials worried about Trinity Dam safety
Damon Arthur?, Record Searchlight?Published 5:33 p.m. PT June 6, 2017 |?Updated 16 hours ago0:020:15?Sponsor Message   
   - 
   - 
   - 
   - 
Jordi Rouiller describes how she fought off a man who attacked her in her homeAmber SandhuBuy Photo(Photo: Damon Arthur/Record Searchlight)?5CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMOREConcerned Trinity Dam could suffer the same fate as Oroville Dam ??which had a near catastrophic failure this past winter ??the Trinity County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to continue to pursue getting an emergency spillway built on the dam.Supervisor Bill Burton said residents in his district watched the Oroville Dam incident unfold in February and became concerned something similar could happen in Trinity County.?I?m the downriver supervisor, so my constituents would be very concerned if we ever had these troubles,? Burton said during a presentation Tuesday on Trinity Dam safety.Nearly 200,000 residents downstream of Oroville Dam were evacuated for several days in February when part of the main spillway eroded and broke apart. When dam operators tried to use an emergency spillway on the dam, that too began to fail.Residents downstream of Trinity Dam, an earthen dam similar to Oroville, became concerned this winter as Trinity Lake filled for the first time in several years.On Tuesday the lake was 93 percent full.The county sent a letter to the bureau in March asking for someone with the agency to address the safety of the dam.The board?s letter refers to a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation report written in 2000 that seems to support their worries.?Trinity Dam cannot safely pass the probable maximum flood (PMF), which is a SOD (safety of dam) concern,? according to the report, titled ?Trinity Dam Enhancement Technical Appraisal.??If the dam were to fail during an overtopping event, the resulting breach would discharge in excess of 1,000,000 (cubic feet per second). Therefore, there is a risk of dam failure due to a large flood event,? the report says.Don Bader, the bureau's area manager, gave a presentation to the board about the dam, said there is very little risk of filling the lake to the point where water would flow?over the crest of the dam.He said there is a 1 in 60,000 chance of having a series of storms strong enough to produce enough rain to fill the lake and send water over the top.Buy PhotoWater comes out of the spillway at Trinity Dam. Trinity County officials are worried about the safety of the dam and want the federal government to consider building an emergency spillway on the dam.?(Photo: Damon Arthur/Record Searchlight)?Right now it doesn?t warrant it, based on the risk assessment,? Bader said of the need for an emergency spillway.He said dam operators can release enough water to prevent the lake from spilling over the crest during a heavy storm.The dam has three outlets to prevent water from going over the crest, Bader said. There is a ?glory hole? at the surface of the lake and two other controlled outlets below the water surface.The 28-foot diameter main outlet is 250 feet below the dam crest, and a 7-foot diameter auxiliary outlet 400 feet below the crest. Bureau officials can control how much water flows through both outlets.Water flows into the glory hole when the lake level gets within 25 feet of the crest. Dam operators can?t control the water after it flows into the glory hole, a 54-foot diameter concrete pipe that diverts water under the dam.Bader said water has gone over the glory hole only nine times since 1976.Tom Stokely, a salmon and water policy analyst for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and Institute for Fisheries Resources, told the board the dam posed a danger in the event water flowing into the lake?reached?400,000 cubic-feet per second flowing into the lake.?I believe Trinity Dam needs an emergency spillway because A, it can?t handle the probable maximum flood, which is over 10 times more than what the reservoir can spill? through the glory hole and its two other outlets, Stokely said.The lake also is doomed to fill with sediment, which may be hundreds of years in the future. But when that happens, the reservoir won?t have the capacity to handle high flows into the lake, he said.After Bader?s presentation, the board agreed to bring the issue up again at a future meeting.The Trinity supervisors aren?t the only public officials concerned about the safety of Trinity Dam. U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, who represents Trinity County, asked the bureau to do a new safety study of the dam and consider building an emergency spillway for the structure.Bader said the bureau wrote back to Huffman explaining that the dam is safe and an emergency spillway is not warranted.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Jun  7 10:05:17 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2017 17:05:17 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: [Trinity Releases] Change Order - Lewiston Dam
In-Reply-To: <CAF2zoAqX3=Fh7tu4eJMU3S=kGT474pUJkfmwDgVCEZMT0-vEYA@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAF2zoAqX3=Fh7tu4eJMU3S=kGT474pUJkfmwDgVCEZMT0-vEYA@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <339437207.5246063.1496855117871@mail.yahoo.com>

On Wednesday, June 7, 2017 9:53 AM, "Field, Randi" <rfield at usbr.gov> wrote:



 Project:?Lewiston?Dam
Please make the following release?changes?to the Trinity River:?Date?????????? ?????Time???????? From (cfs)?? ??To (cfs)
06/16/2017 ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ?2,800 ? ? ? ? ? ?2,70006/18/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?2,700 ? ? ? ? ? ?2,60006/19/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ?2,600 ? ? ? ? ? ?2,50006/20/2017 ? ? ?2200 ? ? ? ? ?2,500 ? ? ? ? ? ?2,40006/22/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?2,400 ? ? ? ? ? ?2,300
06/23/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ?2,300 ? ? ? ? ? ?2,20006/25/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?2,200 ? ? ? ? ? ?2,100
06/26/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ?2,100 ? ? ? ? ? ?2,000
07/02/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?2,000 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,900
07/04/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ?1,900 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,800
07/04/2017 ? ? ?2200 ? ? ? ? ?1,800 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,700
07/05/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?1,700 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,800
07/05/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ?1,800 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,700
07/06/2017 ? ? ?1400 ? ? ? ? ?1,700 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,600
07/08/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?1,600 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,500
07/10/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ?1,500 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,400
07/11/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ?1,400 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,300
07/13/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ?1,300 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,200
07/13/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ?1,200 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,300
07/14/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ?1,300 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,200
07/14/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ?1,200 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,30007/14/2017 ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ?1,300 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,200
07/15/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ?1,200 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,100
07/15/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ?1,100 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,20007/15/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ?1,200 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,100


Comment: ?Trinity ROD releases
Issued by: ?R Field
-- 
View online at http://www.trrp.net/restore/flows/release-email/
--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "trinity-releases" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to trinity-releases+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


   
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Jun  8 12:50:33 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2017 19:50:33 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Federal Advisory Committee Meeting Update
References: <291396355.6542702.1496951433878.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <291396355.6542702.1496951433878@mail.yahoo.com>

The latest from the US Fish and Wildlife Service's TAMWG Home Page:
https://www.fws.gov/arcata/fisheries/tamwg.html
Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG)
In response to a May 5, 2017 memo from the Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior, all TAMWG meetings have been postponed until further notice.The memo states:"The Secretary is committed to restoring trust in the Department's decision making, and that begins with institutionalizing state and local input and ongoing collaboration. The Department currently includes more than 200 boards, committees, subcommittees, commissions, and other internal and external advisory bodies (committees) that are authorized to meet periodically and solicit input. To maximize feedback from these committees and ensure their compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the President's recent executive orders, and the Secretary's recent secretary's orders, the Department is currently reviewing the charter and charge of each committee. This review necessitates the postponement of all meetings, which will be rescheduled for September 2017 or later."
?

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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Jun 12 14:42:50 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2017 21:42:50 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] TMC Meeting Reminder June 14-15, McKinleyville
References: <2019480337.10084648.1497303770214.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2019480337.10084648.1497303770214@mail.yahoo.com>

http://odp.trrp.net/Data/Meetings/MeetingDetails.aspx?meeting=1604?TRINITY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL?Location: Azaela Hall, 1620 Pickett Rd?Mckinleyville, CA?Agenda for June 14-15, 2017?Wednesday June 14, 2017?
See attached agenda with call in and webex information.

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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Jun 15 08:42:48 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2017 15:42:48 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal- Trinity Dam safety concerns discussed
References: <2135768931.13213960.1497541368384.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2135768931.13213960.1497541368384@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_e86e135e-50a3-11e7-a0d4-2b4aa8fb8200.html



Trinity Dam safety concerns discussed
   
   - By Sally Morris The Trinity Journal
?   
   - Jun 14, 2017
   
   - Seeing almost 200,000 Yuba, Sutter and Butte County residents ordered to evacuate after Oroville Dam sustained a nearly catastrophic spillway failure in February prompted many in Trinity County to question their own fate living below Trinity Dam.A response came last week from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation?s Northern California Area Manager Don Bader who offered reassurance that Trinity Dam is well-maintained, monitored 24/7 and is in excellent condition during a dam safety presentation requested by the Trinity County Board of Supervisors.The board also heard from retired Trinity County Natural Resources Planner Tom Stokely who is not so sure of the dam?s long-term safety and believes adding a spillway to Trinity Dam warrants serious consideration. Board members agreed to pursue that possibility in a letter to be drafted for future action.Completed in the mid-1960s, Trinity is an earthen dam, 538 feet high and 2,450 feet across. It is operated by the Bureau of Reclamation under safety criteria established in 1976. Unlike Oroville Dam, Trinity does not have a spillway. Releases of water are made either through the power plant, two jet gates at the base, or a glory hole at 2,370 feet of lake elevation.The glory hole is 25 feet below the crest of the dam, and the reservoir has spilled water into the glory hole nine times in its history. The greatest spill was in 1974 when the lake level rose eight feet above the glory hole inlet, resulting in an uncontrolled discharge of up to 14,000 cubic feet per second of water for almost a month.After that, the dam safety plan was established to keep the lake level at prescribed elevations through the winter. Exceeding those levels triggers releases.?We won?t wait. We need to ensure adequate storage during the winter months when we get those major storm events,? said Bader. He added that if the same safety measures had been in place at the time, the 1974 spillage would not have occurred.He said flood releases are managed not to exceed the channel capacity of the Trinity River, considered to be 11,000 cubic feet per second ?which is as high as we dare to go. If we do get into flood control, it could necessitate releasing more than 11,000 cfs, up to 25,000 or 30,000 cfs out of the dam and we don?t want to ever see that. We?d preempt that with earlier releases if need be.?Bader said Trinity Dam is visited daily and operations are monitored 24/7, both at the area office in Redding and in Sacramento. Dam instrumentation is analyzed monthly and annual reviews are also conducted. A more comprehensive facility review is performed every three or four years, and the upcoming review is expected to evaluate whether there is a need to add a spillway.He also spoke of the landslide below Trinity Dam?s east abutment that was identified in 1959 and stabilized over the years by the installation of 182 horizontal drains. A 2006 Trinity Dam landslide risk analysis concluded that the slide has remained stable, even during extremely wet years, and that if it were to fail, it would not likely reach the glory hole chute to damage or block it.A comprehensive formal review of the dam in 2011 confirmed that the dam has a very low risk of failure or overtopping: a one in 60,000-year chance. Bader said a 60,000-year event has a low probability of occurrence. The emergency activation plan for the dam is up-to-date and exercised annually. Operating guidelines were last evaluated in 2016 and confirmed.Representing the Downriver area of Trinity County, District 4 Sup. Bill Burton said the problems at Oroville Dam in February resulted from infrastructure ?that wasn?t working right. Then there was Plan B and Plan C, so all the safety is predicated on everything working right. If it doesn?t, it gets real scary. We should be funded for a Plan C here in case the glory hole doesn?t work right.?Retired Natural Resources Planner Tom Stokely spent 20 years working on Trinity River environmental issues for the county and is currently employed as a policy analyst for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations and Institute for Fisheries Resources.?He said that when he first heard of the Oroville Dam spillway failure, he immediately thought of Trinity Dam ?because at least Oroville has a spillway. Trinity does not have one. I?m not here to contradict Don Bader. I think the Bureau is doing a good job, but there are some long-term considerations.?He said that although the likelihood of dam failure is slight, the consequences would be catastrophic, taking out the Lewiston Dam and sending a 250-foot wall of water down the Trinity River valley. Citing a previous technical study produced by the Bureau in 2000, he said about 3,500 people would be placed at risk and lost project benefits would amount to approximately $3.5 billion in damaged infrastructure.Stokely said the maximum probable flood, though unlikely, could reach 400,000 cfs with 86 percent of that going over the dam.?The dam cannot safely pass the maximum probable flood. Then there?s the landslide. It is quite stable. There?s been a lot of work done on that by the Bureau, but if the glory hole tunnel got blocked, it would cause major damage to the dam. It?s probably not likely, but there would be problems,? he said, sharing a photo of the dam construction and glory hole before the lake filled.?Look how small the glory hole is in scale with the rest of the construction,? he said.Furthermore, he said eventually the lake will fill in with sediment ?and what happens then? None of us will be here in 500 years, but when it fills in, there will be no storage space for the floods. Will the Bureau dredge the sediment, or breach the dam??Stokely urged the board to seek a full investigation into the need for an emergency spillway on Trinity Dam, saying ?it sounds like they?ll be looking at it, but Congress would have to approve a feasibility study, then an environmental document and, if feasible, figure out a way to pay for it. Reality is CVP customers will be pulling out of contracts in 2024 and I don?t know if there?s anybody to pay for it.?From the audience, a resident downstream from Trinity Dam said he has friends?? ?below Oroville Dam who received only one hour?s notice to evacuate.?It was terrifying and chaotic. There is no warning system or plan in place here for a catastrophic event. You assume people would know what to do if the dam breaks, but no one has been through that. What would the evacuation route be? It seems like there needs to be some sort of a plan,? he said, adding that Oroville also had monitoring and inspections, ?and people were told everything was fine until it wasn?t.? ?Board members said the Trinity County Sheriff?s Office of Emergency Services does have emergency action plans in place, but they are not very familiar with them and would follow-up with a review. Sup. Burton offered to draft a letter for future consideration seeking funding for a spillway evaluation.?If we have a dam failure, that?s a once in a lifetime event for any of us. If we have a fear of that, we need a siren or other warning device, too ? something more than a plan,? he said.


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From oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us  Mon Jun 26 11:03:52 2017
From: oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us (Oshun O'Rourke)
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2017 18:03:52 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Willow Creek in-season trap update
Message-ID: <03498a1116984e5d87396167b849ea8b@mail.yuroktribe.nsn.us>

Attached is the Yurok Tribal Fisheries' in-season catch update for the Lower Trinity River outmigrant screw traps located in Willow Creek, CA.  The water level here in Willow Creek has been dropping and our catch has been picking up.  Please see the attached spreadsheet for a full update.

Thanks,

Oshun O'Rourke
Fisheries Biologist
Yurok Tribe
530-629-3333 ext 1703

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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Jun 30 10:12:43 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2017 17:12:43 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Environmentalists,
 fishing groups file lawsuits to block Delta tunnels plan
References: <1129958469.2368950.1498842763808.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1129958469.2368950.1498842763808@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/29/environmentalists-fishing-groups-file-lawsuit-to-block-delta-tunnels-plan/

Environmentalists, fishing groups file lawsuits to block Delta tunnels plan
RS?|?progers at bayareanewsgroup.com?| Bay Area News GroupPUBLISHED:?June 29, 2017 at 2:46 pm?| UPDATED:?June 30, 2017 at 4:50 am
Kicking off what are expected to be years of legal battles, a coalition of environmental and fishing groups on Thursday filed the first major lawsuits over California Gov. Jerry Brown?s $17 billion plan to build two massive, 35-mile-long tunnels under the Delta to make it easier to move water from Northern California to the south.The Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, Bay Institute and Golden Gate Salmon Association filed?two lawsuits?in U.S District Court in San Francisco.They challenged?approvals given earlier this week?by the Trump administration, which said the project won?t cause significant harm to salmon, smelt and other fish and wildlife.?This version of the tunnels will wipe out California?s salmon fishery and the families and communities that rely on salmon,? said John McManus, executive director of the Golden Gate Salmon Association, based in Petaluma. ?The problem is the state basically allowed the water users to design the tunnels and they?re so huge that the federal fish and wildlife agencies are basically throwing up their hands. It?s like they let the fox design the hen house.?Officials with the state Department of Water Resources, which is overseeing the project, did not comment on the suit. Nor did the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.?We don?t comment on active litigation,? said Shane Hunt, a spokesman for the service.In this Feb. 23, 2016, file photo, a sign opposing a proposed tunnel plan to ship water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Southern California is displayed near Freeport, Calif.?(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)Brown is proposing to build two tunnels, each 40 feet in diameter, under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The idea is to divert water from the Sacramento River north of Sacramento near the town of Freeport, reducing reliance on the massive state and federal pumps at Tracy ? which draw water south to cities and farms and are sometimes shut down to protect endangered salmon, smelt and other fish.The environmentally sensitive Delta, an area of marshes, sloughs and islands between the Bay Area and Sacramento that is roughly the size of Yosemite National Park, is a linchpin of California?s water system. The Delta provides drinking water to 25 million people from Contra Costa County to Los Angeles and San Diego, and irrigation water to 3 million acres of farmland in the San Joaquin Valley and other areas.Environmentalists, Delta farmers and some Northern California lawmakers call the tunnels project a water grab by Los Angeles and corporate farmers in the Central Valley that would harm the water quality of the San Francisco Bay and the Delta, and drive salmon, smelt and other fish to extinction.Brown is counting on major water agencies in the state, including the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Westlands Water District in Fresno and the Kern County Water Agency, to pay for the tunnels? $15 billion construction costs through raising water rates and property taxes.None of the agencies has yet committed to the project, but most are expected to vote over the next few months.Along the calm waters of the Delta, two men try their luck fishing from a boat at Holland Tract, Calif., on Sept. 25, 2016.?Thursday?s lawsuits follows a decision on Monday from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to issue documents called biological opinions for the project. The documents say that the project would not jeopardize the existence of several key endangered species in the Delta, including steelhead trout, the Delta smelt and winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon. Had the agencies found the project would have caused significant harm, it would have had to be redesigned to secure federal permits.The lawsuits argue, however, that those approvals were flawed and called the decisions ?arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion.? They argue that the agencies only evaluated the impacts of the project ? which the Brown administration calls ?WaterFix,? on fish and wildlife populations through 2030 ? even though it would operate for much longer, and that the agencies? ignored their own scientists studies and data.


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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Thu Jul  6 09:23:07 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2017 16:23:07 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] FYI - 2017 TRP Trapping Season to commence
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB1378FA9B4E3965190AE9F75DBAD50@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

On Monday July 24th 2017 we intend to install the Junction City weir for the 2017 trapping season.
Same location as last year (near Evan's Bar).
We'll start sending out trapping summaries as soon as we have something to report.

We don't yet know when we will be putting in the Willow Creek weir (whether before or after this year's Boat Dance), but we will let you know once we've got it figured.
Let John Hileman or me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
MC


*************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876   I   maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov<mailto:maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov>
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
**************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity

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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Jul 10 11:01:12 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2017 18:01:12 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: [Trinity Releases] Change Order - Lewiston Dam
In-Reply-To: <CAF2zoApcGvZMKO+uVZfyFLGcqbEh8hknFssYpwG6mARdGpAAUA@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAF2zoApcGvZMKO+uVZfyFLGcqbEh8hknFssYpwG6mARdGpAAUA@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <916797081.2681387.1499709672837@mail.yahoo.com>

On Monday, July 10, 2017 10:47 AM, "Field, Randi" <rfield at usbr.gov> wrote:
  Show original message 

 Project:?Lewiston?Dam
Please make the following release?changes?to the Trinity River:?Date?????????? ?????Time???????? From (cfs)?? ??To (cfs)
07/16/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ?1,100 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,200
07/16/2017 ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ?1,200 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,100

07/17/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ?1,100 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,200

07/22/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ?1,200 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,100
07/22/2017 ? ? ?2200 ? ? ? ? ?1,100 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,000

07/24/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ?1,000 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 90007/24/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 900 ? ? ? ? ? ?1,000

07/25/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ?1,000 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 900

07/26/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 900 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 800

07/27/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 800 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 900
07/27/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 900 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 800

07/29/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ? ? 800 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 700
07/29/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 700 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 800

07/30/2017 ? ? ?0400 ? ? ? ? ? ? 800 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 700

07/31/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ? ? 700 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 600
07/31/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 600 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 700

08/05/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ? ? 700 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 600

08/07/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 600 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 500
08/08/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 500 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 600
08/08/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 600 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 500

08/10/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ? ? 500 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 450

Comment: ?Trinity ROD releases
Issued by: ?R Field
-- 
View online at http://www.trrp.net/restore/flows/release-email/
--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "trinity-releases" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to trinity-releases+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


   
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Jul 10 13:52:10 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2017 20:52:10 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] E&E News: Jerry Brown's tunnels would cement his
	family legacy
References: <1674430835.2892900.1499719930869.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1674430835.2892900.1499719930869@mail.yahoo.com>

https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060057083



WESTERN WATER

Jerry Brown's tunnels would cement his family legacy
Jeremy P. Jacobs, E&E News reporter?Greenwire: Monday, July 10, 2017California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and his father, Pat (left), at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, when Brown first ran for president. Forty years later, Brown is seeking to complete a family's legacy on water infrastructure that his father began when he was California?s governor in the 1960s.??Associated PressSixty years ago, California Gov. Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown built the biggest waterworks the world had ever seen.The State Water Project transformed California, moving billions of gallons of water from the wet north to the dry south using dozens of dams, pumping stations and a 400-mile-long man-made river. It serves 25 million people and irrigates hundreds of thousands of acres of cropland.
SPECIAL REPORT
American dams ? symbols of the nation's 20th century might ? are crumbling. E&E News examines efforts to avert disaster as pressure grows for a new era of dam building in the arid West.?Click here?to view the series.But spectacular as it was, the project was flawed. It failed to deliver as much water as promised, mainly because a key piece was missing: a way to move water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a 738,000-acre ecosystem where California's two main rivers meet before they flow to San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.Now Gov. Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown Jr. is seeking to complete his family's water legacy.His "California WaterFix" would build two tunnels 40 feet in diameter, buried 15 stories underground to take water from the Sacramento River and move it 35 miles around the eastern edge of the delta. The price tag for the largest U.S. water project in decades: more than $17 billion.It's Brown's second try at finishing what his dad started. In a hard-fought ballot battle in 1982, voters rejected his plan to build an above-ground "peripheral canal" around the delta.The tunnels appeared headed for a similar fate until the Trump administration decided last month that the project wouldn't jeopardize critical habitat of imperiled fish, including the delta smelt and salmon (Greenwire, June 27). This fall, the boards of water districts will vote on whether to pay for the project, which would pass the cost on to their customers.Brown's tunnels have become California's most divisive environmental issue, pitting agribusiness against environmentalists, and Northern California against the south.Proponents say tunnels are needed to secure 30 percent of Southern California's water supply, including up to 90 percent of the water used in the state's agricultural hub.They argue the tunnels will safeguard an aged 1,100-mile levee system that protects the delta, including more than 50 tracts and islands and 700 miles of winding channels, many of which sit below sea level, earning it the nickname California's Holland.
The California WaterFix
[+]?Brown?s proposal would construct three new intakes on the Sacramento River near Clarksburg. Two tunnels would shuttle water 35 miles to pumps that ship it south.??Claudine Hellmuth/E&E NewsThey say the tunnels will help fish by easing reliance on giant export pumps in the south delta that draw water so powerfully, they reverse the natural flow of water.And they claim they are necessary in the face of climate change and uncertain sea-level rise."The delta is likely to change and be inundated by sea-level rise," said Jerry Meral of the Natural Heritage Institute, a controversial former adviser to Brown on water issues. "If that happens, we'd lose 20 percent of the state's water supply."Project foes counter that the tunnels would destroy up to 15,000 acres of the largest western estuary in the Americas, home to 700 native species and fisheries. The environmental benefits that Brown touts are misleading, they say, because the tunnels would deplete freshwater flows through the delta, allowing salinity levels from intruding ocean water to rise ? and further endangering fish."To date, it has been the consensus of all the scientists ? except those paid for by the tunnels' proponents ? that those tunnels would actually worsen conditions for fish such as smelt, and the iconic salmon," said Jonas Minton, a former deputy director of the state's Department of Water Resources who now works for the nonprofit Planning and Conservation League.The tunnels also don't solve the main problems facing the delta or the state's water woes, opponents say, because they won't create more water and the levee system will have to be updated anyway because it protects major highways, railways and farms.Critics say Brown is more motivated by his family's water legacy and political ambition than reality."There are two things that Jerry Brown didn't get in his political career. One was the presidency. The other was the peripheral canal," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla of the nonprofit Restore the Delta, pointing to Brown's unsuccessful runs for president in 1976, 1980 and 1992.But the project's beneficiaries call Brown's effort heroic."If you like history, you can't help but notice that his father was the architect and drove the project in the first place," said Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. "And now the second run at it ? a smarter and cleaner solution ? and it is still divisive, and he's still trying to pull together two parts of the state."The controversy underscores Brown's complicated record on environmental issues over more than 40 years in politics and raises questions about his legacy.Brown has been the darling of the environmental left since his first term in the 1970s. There is no doubt the governor deeply cares about the planet and humans' impact upon it, often expressing his concerns in theological terms. He has been lauded for his leadership on climate change, recently traveling to China and emphatically criticizing President Trump's decision to abandon the Paris Agreement (Climatewire, June 26).While he insists the tunnels are not about his family's legacy, Brown's approach to infrastructure has aligned with his father's and that of politicians of an earlier era. Now 79, he represents the last of a generation that believes in major public works. Perhaps because of that, when pressed on water and the delta, he has repeatedly turned to a solution that would have made his father proud: Let's build our way out."We have highly engineered California. We know that. Get in a plane, fly over, you see causeways and storage facilities and the great California Aqueduct, all sorts of things, and all over," Brown said at a January 2016 water conference. "We can protect the natural systems, and we can do so, but we have to engineer our way forward because that's the way it is."Observers on all sides agree the delta is at a breaking point. The status quo isn't working. Fish populations continue to decline, and water interests persist in lobbying for more exports. It's the type of big problem that Brown has sought to tackle his entire career."How can you protect the delta? How can you restore the delta without taking water away from someone?" said Bill Kier, a veteran California fisheries biologist who has followed delta issues for decades."The question now is, will the clock run out on Jerry Brown?"
'A monument to?me'
Pat Brown with President John F. Kennedy.??JKF Library/WikipediaMassive storms hit Northern California in 1955, causing flooding on the Feather River, tributary of the state's largest river, the Sacramento.Dozens died as Yuba City and Marysville were washed away.A teenage Brown was there.At a recent news conference, Brown recalled how he hopped in a plane to see the damage with his father, who was then the state's attorney general.Pat Brown became obsessed with the California water system immediately after being elected in 1958. A headstrong Irish Catholic politician, he set out to build a water plan drafted a year earlier with a vigor reminiscent of Texas Sen. Lyndon Johnson, who at the time was Senate majority leader.Brown's scheme would become the State Water Project. Its linchpin would be Oroville Dam on the Feather River.The Democrat was driven by the floods, concern about water supply for a population that was booming post-World War II, and his own vanity."I loved building things," he would later say, according to Marc Reisner's history of water in the West, "Cadillac Desert." "I wanted to build that goddamned water project. I was?absolutely determined?I was going to pass this California Water Project. I wanted this to be a monument to?me."The scope of Brown's proposal was unparalleled for the time. It was also very expensive.To finance it, Brown placed a $1.75 billion water bond on the ballot in 1960. (That's $14.3 billion in 2017 dollars.) The project would cost far more than that, and Brown knew it. But in order to sell it to voters, Brown insisted on keeping the number below $2 billion.Californians had been sold a pig in a poke: a project whose cost was deliberately and extravagantly understated, and whose delivery capability was much less than they had been led to believe.Marc Reisner in ?Cadillac Desert"One analysis from Brown's administration, for example, pegged the cost at $1.8 billion. It did mention Oroville Dam, but neglected to include the cost of actually constructing the tallest dam in the nation.In November 1960, the bond passed by the narrowest of margins: 174,000 votes, about 3 percent.Brown forged ahead, but not without missteps.His administration would sign contracts guaranteeing the delivery of about 4.23 million acre-feet of water before construction began. (An acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons, or as much as a California household uses in a year. California currently uses about 42 million acre-feet annually.)But the project could not provide that much water without two features: taking water from rivers like the Trinity, Eel and Klamath in the northern reaches of the state and constructing a way to move water around the delta.Brown's scheme, along with the federal Central Valley Project, would forever change the delta's ecosystem, making it a highly engineered landscape. It called vaguely for a "trans-delta system," but no one knew what that meant.According to biologist Kier, backers of the tunnels still point to that language to justify it."That's what the proponents regard as the foundational voters' approval," he said, "the voter approval that overrides any questions about whether they are doing the right thing."The delta conveyance wasn't built, and northern rivers remained largely untapped. As a result, the State Water Project initially delivered only about 2.5 million acre-feet.Some would call that a structural deficit. Others would call it crazy."Californians had been sold a pig in a poke: a project whose cost was deliberately and extravagantly understated, and whose delivery capability was much less than they had been led to believe," Reisner wrote in "Cadillac Desert."Nevertheless, Brown would get his wish and reshape California's water system, laying the groundwork for what would become the world's sixth-largest economy. Dozens of dams and facilities were built. Power and pumping plants shuttled water over mountain ranges, to thirsty cities and the nation's most prodigious agricultural area (Greenwire, March 27).And the state constructed its longest river: the 444-mile Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct.
Bitter ballot battle
Gov. Jerry Brown signing ?peripheral canal? legislation in 1980.??Associated PressAfter the elder Brown left office in 1967, water interests wanted to complete the project. They eyed building a large dam and reservoir on the Eel River, a nearly 200-mile-long waterway in Northern California.Brown's successor, Gov. Ronald Reagan (R), however, had little interest in major public works, reportedly falling asleep in a key meeting about it. Then, a somewhat halfhearted attempt at a delta conveyance facility was scuttled by a lawsuit in 1974.That left the problem to Brown's son, Jerry, who took office after Reagan in 1975.The contradictions between Jerry Brown's position on water infrastructure and his views toward other issues became clear immediately.Brown in many ways was the stylistic opposite of his father, a product of the new environmental movement and deep skepticism of big government projects in the wake of Vietnam and Watergate. He campaigned as a fiscal conservative, promoting an "era of limits," "small is beautiful" and "less is more." Once intent on becoming a Catholic priest, he eschewed the state's governor's mansion, living instead in an ordinary apartment. There was no limo for Brown; he rode in an inexpensive 1974 Plymouth Satellite.Nevertheless, Brown set out to fix the more than 1-million-acre-foot shortfall in his father's water project with an $11.6 billion canal.The Democrat tried to appease the state's water interests and his environmental base simultaneously. He hired Meral, the former Environmental Defense Fund leader whom Brown had met when Meral was running an anti-dam campaign. Meral, a co-founder of Friends of the River, was an accomplished whitewater kayaker. Runs on the Tuolumne River were named for him.Jerry Meral, now of the Natural Heritage Institute, has been a longtime adviser to Brown on water issues.?Natural Heritage InstituteBrown took new reservoirs off the table ? no new dams. He and Meral came up with a plan to take "surplus" flows from the Sacramento River during the winter and spring and send them around the east side of the delta in a 43-mile-long "peripheral canal," where the water could then be pumped to existing storage facilities.The plan was put on the ballot in a June 1982 special election, and it became one of the most bitterly fought and divisive political campaigns in the state's history.Some environmentalists initially backed the plan, out of loyalty to Brown and Meral. Quickly, though, it created unusual alliances.Greens ultimately opposed the project because it would deprive the delta of freshwater inflows critical to its ecosystem. To them, it went too far to develop water supplies.Two major agricultural players ? the J.G. Boswell Co. and Salyer Land Co. ? joined them because of Brown's refusal to build on the northern rivers. To them, it didn't go far enough.Southern California voters supported the canal as vital to their economic future. Voters in the north equated it to the south stealing their water ? again."It became Voldemort ? that which would not be named," said Jeffrey Mount of the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, referring to the main villain in the "Harry Potter" novels. "Friendships were ruined. Divorces occurred."The campaign supporting the canal totaled $2.5 million. The effort to defeat it spent $3.3 million.Weather, it seemed, was also working against Brown. The state had some of the driest years on record in 1976 and 1977. But 1980 unleashed torrential storms on the state, culminating in 1982 when an El Ni?o weather pattern caused storms resulting in $1 billion in property damage."It would be excessive to say that a string of five rain-laden years determined the outcome of the vote on the Peripheral Canal, but it would probably be true," Reisner wrote in "Cadillac Desert."On election day, Southern California ? home to most of the state's voters ? backed Brown's canals by a 2-to-1 margin. But Northern California voted against it 9-to-1. Brown lost resoundingly by a vote of 62.7 percent to 37.3 percent.Governors after Brown ? George Deukmejian (R), Pete Wilson (R), Gray Davis (D) ? did all they could to avoid the issue. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) revived the concept in 2007, but he lacked the political capital to move it forward.
Brown returns, floats revised plan
Brown at a 2010 campaign rally in Oakland.??Steve Rhodes/FlickrWhen Jerry Brown was elected governor again in 2010, he again set out to tackle the delta problem.He trimmed Schwarzenegger's plan, making his California WaterFix tunnels smaller and more scientifically advanced than the peripheral canal of 1982.Though the map is similar, the tunnels would run 35 miles, as opposed to the canal's 43. The tunnels would have a maximum capacity of 9,000 cubic feet of water per second taken from three intakes, far lower than the 21,800 cfs of the canal.And the tunnels would allow water to be sent from the tunnels to the delta, allowing more flexibility in maintaining water quality and combating saltwater intruding from the ocean via the San Francisco Bay.The big differences are the WaterFix's "smaller size and much-diminished expectations for greater water exports," said Jay Lund, director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis. The tunnels are "more to improve reliability of historical pumping, or reduce its degradation, with little capacity to increase export pumping."[+]?Brown's administration has emphasized the need to update the state?s water infrastructure in pushing for the WaterFix.?@CAWaterFix/TwitterBut, he added, it is "still a very sizable project with lots of implications."Mount, of PPIC, has argued for a decade that the state must do something to address water issues in the delta.The delta's islands are sinking, levees that protect them face earthquake risk, there are changing runoff patterns from more intense storms and droughts as the climate changes, and it will undoubtedly be affected by sea-level rise."Either the state builds an isolated facility that takes more reliable, high-quality water from the Sacramento River and bypasses the delta, or, otherwise, the alternative is to begin planning for declining water supply from the delta," Mount said.The latter could have major consequences for 19 million people in Southern California who get about 30 percent of their water from the delta and State Water Project.It would also affect Central Valley agriculture, which gets up to 90 percent of its drinking and irrigation water from the delta.And the tunnels are more important to agribusiness now than the canal was in 1982. The 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act will in the coming years likely limit groundwater pumping, agriculture's primary way of coping with delivery shortages from the delta."If you are a region that is depending on the delta and the water supply is declining ? and, at the same time, you have to cut 2 million acre-feet of groundwater pumping to bring your aquifer into balance ? it's going to be pretty damn painful," Mount said."That water is absolutely vital for the San Joaquin Valley to bring their groundwater into balance."Therein lies one of primary complaints about the project. Critics contend the project would benefit only a few select interests ? mainly the Metropolitan Water District, which provides water to most of Southern California, and agriculture."We're not being simplistic when we say the project won't make more water. It won't," said Barrigan-Parrilla of Restore the Delta. "It's just a switch to take it away from someone else or the environment."
'One million hours': Jerry Brown on his water project
"If you all recall where you were in 1960, in November. Some of you weren't here, right? Well, the water bond, I believe, passed by less than 1 percentage point. ... So, it's not easy." ??California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) discussing the ballot measure that authorized his father's State Water Project at a press conference last February following the near-catastrophe at Oroville Dam."These are big projects, and anything big today challenges the Lilliputian mind that is still operative in too many political circles. Big is often feared. And sometimes big can cause big problems. ... But I don't think you can have a great country or a great state unless you invest tens of billions, even hundreds of billions in the core, material, substratum of our whole economy."?? Brown at the Oroville Dam press conference."We're all part of nature, but we're manipulating, we're managing nature, but we have to do it within the rules as they are immutable. So that's our project here, and we say to those who say, 'Don't build, don't do anything.' No, we have built, it's outdated, and now we got to fix things and make it all work. To those who say, 'Forget the fish': No, the fish are part of God's creation as are we, and we all have to make it work and we can make it work. It can work if we do all of the above, if we realize our interdependence, our interdependence north and south, east and west, but also past and future."?? At a January 2016 water event."Some people say it's one of my pet projects. That's not true. It's a challenge that's needed to deal with California. ... I didn't invent these problems. In fact, I'd be happy if there were no problems."?? In May 2015, discussing the tunnels and his failed attempt at building a peripheral canal in 1982."Until you've put a million hours into it, shut up. ... Or maybe they just wasted their time. It's government; they sit there and play tiddlywinks. ... Let's assume they wasted a quarter of the time. They were on their cellphones. That's still 750,000 hours."?? At the May 2015 event, on the project's critics and the amount of time that planners have invested.? Jeremy P. JacobsBrown's administration has emphasized that the tunnels will help the delta's ecosystems. The WaterFix's website claims a primary objective is helping the "suffering" environment by protecting fish from the pumps in the south delta, which draw from existing canals and are harmful to fish migration. The tunnels will bypass those canals, moving the water directly to Clifton Court Forebay for export south."The current pumps are extremely powerful, causing harmful reverse flows, trapping endangered fish and pulling them toward predators," the WaterFix fact sheet states. "We can't let endangered species go extinct."The Trump administration's biological opinions last month concluded that the first phase of the project, construction of the tunnels, would not jeopardize any of the 16 threatened species or adversely affect their habitat in the delta. The final report seemed to back away from findings on the delta smelt in the draft versions, which officials attributed to an additional 1,800 acres of habitat restoration to which the state has committed.The conclusions by the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service also rely on California EcoRestore, a program intended to go hand in hand with the tunnels to restore 30,000 acres of the delta.Environmentalists are quick to poke holes in all of it. For one, EcoRestore was born after another comprehensive plan for the tunnels and habitat, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, was scrapped.And the primary scientific analysis by the agencies is flawed, said Jonathan Rosenfield, lead scientist for the Bay Institute. The conclusion that habitat restoration works for species like the delta smelt is speculative, he said. Conversely, allowing freshwater to flow into, through and out of the delta is scientifically proven to help the smelt, and many other threatened species."It's still very unclear whether the habitat restoration they are talking about will positively affect any of the endangered species, and it is almost certain to have no effect on some threatened species," Rosenfield said. "You can't substitute something that is entirely speculative for something that is known to work."Environmental and fishing groups including the Bay Institute and Natural Resources Defense Council have already challenged the opinions in court, in the first of what is expected to be many lawsuits if the tunnels move ahead. The coalition contended the agencies ignored the best available science (Greenwire, June 30).U.S. EPA has highlighted the same issue. In an August 2014 letter, then-EPA Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld said the tunnels could run afoul of the Clean Water Act while questioning habitat restoration as an effective mitigation measure."We are concerned over the sole reliance on habitat restoration for ecosystem recovery, recognizing that existing freshwater diversions and significantly diminished seaward flows have played a significant role in precluding the recovery of Bay Delta ecosystem processes and declining fish populations," he wrote (Greenwire, Aug. 29, 2014).Further, the agencies were clear that their findings applied to the construction of the tunnels, but not their?operation, leading some critics to say they punted.Still, the project can move forward for now. Its main beneficiaries ? and those who would be responsible for paying for most of it ? will vote this fall.Four entities would be the main beneficiaries of the project: Metropolitan, the Santa Clara Valley Water District in the Bay Area, and two primarily agricultural providers in the San Joaquin Valley: Kern County Water Agency and Westlands Water District.The politically powerful Westlands has been reluctant to commit to the WaterFix, saying its board will likely vote on it in September."If the analysis performed after release of biological opinions for the project does not demonstrate a significant water supply benefit, I am confident the Westlands board of directors will decide to not participate in the project," Westlands General Manager Tom Birmingham said in an email."Westlands has consistently stated that it will not obligate itself to billions of dollars of debt unless it is reasonably certain that the district's water supply will be restored."
Competing monuments?
Brown at a press conference on water infrastructure following the near catastrophe at Oroville Dam in February.?California State Transportation Authority?It's been more than 40 years since Brown first became governor, and the delta problem isn't going anywhere. The tunnels ? along with his effort to build a high-speed rail system ? represent the type of concrete monument that has always eluded him.To proponents of a delta solution, it's now or never. And they see courage in Brown's willingness to keep pushing."He's the only one, because of his earlier attempt at this, who really has had the chops to do it," Mount said. "If you don't make a decision in this governor's term and move forward, it is highly unlikely that the next governor will take this on. Every governor who has tried before has been chewed to bits."But in order to build them, he'll likely need Westlands ? public enemy No. 1 for environmentalists. And despite Brown's climate change work, greens are quick to criticize the tunnels as catering to powerful interests over both the health of the delta and the state as a whole.Because those dams and reservoirs were not built, the State Water Project has never been able to fulfill the promises of Jerry's father.Jonas Minton, Senior Water Policy Advisor, Planning and Conservation League"This tarnishes Brown's legacy," said Patricia Schifferle, a longtime environmental activist. "He is doing what he perceives as a way to get accolades from his father's vision, but it misses the mark. He tarnishes not only his legacy, but also, I believe, his father's."The deeper irony is that Brown already has a monument on the scale of his father's State Water Project.Brown's decision in the early 1980s to designate the state's northern rivers under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act protected hundreds of miles of rivers from dams and development in perpetuity ? dams that Westlands and others were counting on."Those dams and reservoirs were to provide the remaining large amounts of water to supply the State Water Project," Minton of the Planning and Conservation League said. "Because those dams and reservoirs were not built, the State Water Project has never been able to fulfill the promises of Jerry's father."To Minton and others, that should be Brown's legacy on water. And it didn't take a single bucket of concrete.Twitter:?@GreenwireJeremy?Email:?jjacobs at eenews.net
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Jul 11 11:15:17 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2017 18:15:17 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] House expected to approve water bill this week
References: <1254717364.3657867.1499796918892.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1254717364.3657867.1499796918892@mail.yahoo.com>

Also, see attached opposition letters from Gov Brown and 23 environmental groups.TShttp://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=32920

House expected to approve water bill this week?

WASHINGTON, D.C.?
July 10, 2017 9:01pm????
?? Both California U.S. Senators oppose it?? ?Valadao?s bill would set back the progress made to find a balanced solution to California?s drought??
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives this week is expected to approve H.R. 23, the so-called ?Gaining Responsibility on Water Act? that is written by Hanford Republican Davis Valadao.Unless blocked in the Senate, the bill is expected to sail to final approval within weeks.But before then, it might run into some stormy opposition from California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris.?California?s Central Valley helps feed the world. It deserves sensible and responsible water solutions?this measure doesn't even come close to meeting that test,? they say in a joint statement.The two Democrats say the Republican legislation would preempt existing California environmental laws and regulations, ?giving the Trump administration greater control over water management in our state.?They says Mr. Valadao?s bill ignores science and would eliminate existing biological opinions required under the Endangered Species Act.??Congressman Valadao?s bill would set back the progress made to find a balanced solution to California?s drought. If this bill passes the House of Representatives, we will fight to defeat it in the Senate,? the lawmakers say.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Jul 11 11:53:58 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2017 18:53:58 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] House expected to approve water bill this week
In-Reply-To: <1254717364.3657867.1499796918892@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1254717364.3657867.1499796918892.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1254717364.3657867.1499796918892@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1361631913.3727532.1499799240019@mail.yahoo.com>

Also attached is an HR 23 opposition letter from PCFFA, CalTrout, Golden Gate Salmon Association and the American Sportfishing Association.?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?
 

    On Tuesday, July 11, 2017 11:16 AM, Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net> wrote:
 

 Also, see attached opposition letters from Gov Brown and 23 environmental groups.TShttp://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=32920

House expected to approve water bill this week?

WASHINGTON, D.C.?
July 10, 2017 9:01pm ? ???
?? Both California U.S. Senators oppose it?? ?Valadao?s bill would set back the progress made to find a balanced solution to California?s drought??
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives this week is expected to approve H.R. 23, the so-called ?Gaining Responsibility on Water Act? that is written by Hanford Republican Davis Valadao.Unless blocked in the Senate, the bill is expected to sail to final approval within weeks.But before then, it might run into some stormy opposition from California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris.?California?s Central Valley helps feed the world. It deserves sensible and responsible water solutions?this measure doesn't even come close to meeting that test,? they say in a joint statement.The two Democrats say the Republican legislation would preempt existing California environmental laws and regulations, ?giving the Trump administration greater control over water management in our state.?They says Mr. Valadao?s bill ignores science and would eliminate existing biological opinions required under the Endangered Species Act.??Congressman Valadao?s bill would set back the progress made to find a balanced solution to California?s drought. If this bill passes the House of Representatives, we will fight to defeat it in the Senate,? the lawmakers say.
_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity


   
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From kierassociates at att.net  Tue Jul 11 16:04:27 2017
From: kierassociates at att.net (Kier Associates)
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2017 16:04:27 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] The Gaming Responsibility on Water Act of 2017
Message-ID: <000c01d2fa9a$0cac4610$2604d230$@att.net>

At least Mr Valadao had the courage to give his bill a forthright title, the Gaming Responsibility on Water Act of 2017  ..

 

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2017 11:54 AM
To: Env-trinity
Subject: Re: [env-trinity] House expected to approve water bill this week

 

Also attached is an HR 23 opposition letter from PCFFA, CalTrout, Golden Gate Salmon Association and the American Sportfishing Association.

 

Tom Stokely 

Salmon and Water Policy Analyst

Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and 

Institute for Fisheries Resources

530-524-0315 

tstokely at att.net 

 

 

On Tuesday, July 11, 2017 11:16 AM, Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net> wrote:

 

Also, see attached opposition letters from Gov Brown and 23 environmental groups.

TS

http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=32920

 

House expected to approve water bill this week 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 
July 10, 2017 9:01pm

    <http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/templates/comments.cfm?ID=32920> Image removed by sender. Comment   <http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/templates/emailstory.cfm?path=/stories/001/&ID=32920> Image removed by sender. Email

 

?  Both California U.S. Senators oppose it

?  ?Valadao?s bill would set back the progress made to find a balanced solution to California?s drought? 


The Republican-controlled House of Representatives this week is expected to approve H.R. 23, the so-called ?Gaining Responsibility on Water Act? that is written by Hanford Republican Davis Valadao.

Unless blocked in the Senate, the bill is expected to sail to final approval within weeks.

But before then, it might run into some stormy opposition from California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris.

?California?s Central Valley helps feed the world. It deserves sensible and responsible water solutions?this measure doesn't even come close to meeting that test,? they say in a joint statement.

The two Democrats say the Republican legislation would preempt existing California environmental laws and regulations, ?giving the Trump administration greater control over water management in our state.?

They says Mr. Valadao?s bill ignores science and would eliminate existing biological opinions required under the Endangered Species Act. 

?Congressman Valadao?s bill would set back the progress made to find a balanced solution to California?s drought. If this bill passes the House of Representatives, we will fight to defeat it in the Senate,? the lawmakers say.

 

_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity



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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Jul 11 16:37:38 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2017 23:37:38 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] TRRP Open House
References: <1536706792.3910052.1499816258938.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1536706792.3910052.1499816258938@mail.yahoo.com>

Trinity River Restoration Program Public Open House 


?
(WEAVERVILLE, CA) ? The Trinity River Restoration Program(TRRP) will be hosting a public Open House on Monday, July 17, 2017 to shareinformation and answer questions about the Program and its efforts to restorethe Trinity River. The Open House will take place at the TRRP Office, 1313South Main Street, Weaverville, CA. Members of the public are welcome andencouraged to drop in any time between 5:00 to 7:30 p.m.? 


?
A video of the Program background and objectives will bepresented.? Staff from the variousPartners of the TRRP will including biologists, hydrologists, and physicalscientists will be available to answer questions and discuss the riverrestoration strategies. 


?
Topics of special interest will includechannel rehabilitation projects, restoration flow releases, and Trinity Riverfish escapement trends/and the evolution of channel rehabilitation sitedesigns. There will be displays presenting photographs from previous projectsites, maps for the summer 2017 channel rehabilitation at Deep Gulch-SheridanCreek site, and information on future channel rehabilitation projects.? 


?
Art submitted by local students in the Trinity Riverwatershed area for the 2017 Trinity River art contest will be on display.Attendees at the Open House can enter to win t-shirts with the winning artentry and other items. 


?
All local residents are encouraged to attend the Open House includingthose who live near the Trinity River, use the Trinity River and Trinity Lakefor recreation and any who are interested in more information on the Program.Light refreshments will be served. 


?
If you have questions or desire moreinformation, contact Kevin Held at (530) 623-1809, email at kheld at usbr.gov, or visit the Trinity River Restoration Program office at1313 South Main Street, Weaverville.


?
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Jul 11 14:24:16 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2017 21:24:16 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] EE News: House proposes to slash EPA,
	Interior spending
References: <2075797926.3852468.1499808256255.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2075797926.3852468.1499808256255@mail.yahoo.com>

APPROPRIATIONS

House proposes to slash EPA, Interior spending
Kevin Bogardus?and?Kellie Lunney, E&E News reportersPublished: Tuesday, July 11, 2017The House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, led by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), tomorrow will take up a controversial spending bill for the Interior Department and U.S. EPA.?Calvert/YouTubeHouse Republicans are pushing deep spending cuts for U.S. EPA and the Interior Department, although the planned cuts are not nearly as drastic as President Trump had proposed.Released this afternoon, the House fiscal 2018 Interior and environment bill, up for subcommittee markup tomorrow, would fund EPA at $7.5 billion, cutting the agency by about $2 billion. Still, the funding amount is far more than the White House's proposed $5.6 billion.Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), chairman of the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, said the bill "prioritized proven programs that have a meaningful impact to achieve these goals while also ensuring our economy can continue to grow."The bill supports EPA's coming buyout program for employees by offering resources for the voluntary separation agreements.The bill would provide $58 million on workforce restructuring at the agency, according to a House Appropriations aide. Trump's budget had proposed $68 million in fiscal 2018 to reshape EPA's workforce.EPA has planned to offer buyouts to more than 1,200 employees this summer while Trump has proposed to cut 3,800 jobs at EPA in fiscal 2018 (E&E News PM, June 20).
Water
The legislation includes a provision authorizing EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw the Obama-era Clean Water Rule "without regard to any provision of statute or regulation that establishes a requirement for such withdrawal."That language is identical to a provision included in the energy and water spending bill, and comes as the Trump administration is moving to repeal the rule, which aims to clarify the Clean Water Act's reach (Greenwire, June 27).Exempting the rule, also known as the Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, rule, from the Administrative Procedure Act could not only remove the requirement that it undergo certain public scrutiny but also make it easier for the new administration to ignore the Obama team's justifications for WOTUS.That could include the cost-benefit analysis of the 2015 regulation and an accompanying 408-page technical report, as well as a review from EPA's Science Advisory Board.The appropriations bill also reiterates that the Clean Water Act does not apply to farm ponds and irrigation ditches in agricultural areas.The bill would maintain spending levels for the Chesapeake Bay and Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $72 million and $300 million, respectively.The move is a repudiation of the Trump administration's budget request, which had asked Congress to eliminate funding for regional cleanup efforts like those in the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay.The bill would also provide $1.14 billion in capitalization grants for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, $863 million of which would go toward the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program would receive an additional $25 million.
Air and climate
Appropriators flatly rejected the White House's bid to slash or eliminate funding for two popular air quality grant programs.The administration proposed cutting Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grants from $60 million this year to $10 million; the draft would instead increase next year's total to $75 million.And while the White House is seeking to zero out Targeted Air Shed grants, which are getting $30 million this year, the bill would boost the amount of money in next year's pot to $40 million.DERA grants are used to replace or retool older, higher-polluting school buses and other diesel-powered equipment; airshed grants are supposed to help areas suffering from unhealthy levels of ozone and particulate pollution.The bill would further delay EPA attainment designations for its 2015 ozone standard until 2025; the agency had been scheduled to make those designations by this October, but Administrator Scott Pruitt recently pushed back that deadline until 2018.Another rider would require EPA and other agencies to continue to treat forest biomass as carbon-neutral. In a victory for the forest products industry, almost identical language was included for the first time in the fiscal 2017 omnibus spending measure signed in May.In an effort to relax industrial farming regulations, the legislation would prohibit agencies from requiring permits under the Clean Air Act to emit carbon dioxide, methane and other gases from livestock production.The measure would also prohibit agencies from issuing rules that require mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from manure management systems.The appropriations bill would provide more than $1.1 billion for the Superfund program, around $600.6 million more than the $515.8 million requested by the president's budget. It also represents an increase of around $27.6 million from the omnibus spending deal.In addition, the bill seeks to send $11 million to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, the same amount as last fiscal year. The Trump budget had called for CSB to be eliminated.
Interior
For Interior, the bill would provide $11.9 billion in fiscal 2018. That's slightly more than the $11.7 billion the White House requested but less than the current $12.3 billion.The legislation would also fund some popular programs at a higher level than the president's budget.House appropriators, for example, want to fully fund the payment in lieu of taxes system at $465 million and provide $275 million for Land and Water Conservation Fund programs.The bill hewed to the administration's recommendation on wildfire firefighting and prevention, fully funding the 10-year average for suppression costs for Interior and the Forest Service with $3.4 billion. That's $334 million below the fiscal 2017 level.Several Interior agencies would see cuts from fiscal 2017:   
   - The Bureau of Land Management would receive $1.2 billion, a decrease of $46 million from fiscal 2017. The spending legislation would provide $68.9 million for sage grouse conservation.
   
   - The National Park Service would receive $2.9 billion, a decrease of $64 million from fiscal 2017, mostly a reduction in land acquisition activities.
   
   - The Fish and Wildlife Service would receive $1.5 billion under the bill, $38 million less than the fiscal 2017 level. The fiscal 2018 bill also continues a one-year delay on Endangered Species Act reviews and rulemakings for sage grouse.
   
   - The U.S. Geological Survey would receive $1 billion in fiscal 2018 under the bill, $46 million below the fiscal 2017 enacted level.
   
   - The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement would receive $213 million for fiscal 2018, $40 million less than in fiscal 2017. That includes $75 million to continue a pilot program to reclaim abandoned land mines and $68.6 million for state regulatory grants.
Reporters Corbin Hiar, Sean Reilly, Arianna Skibell and Ariel Wittenberg contributed.
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From oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us  Wed Jul 12 12:50:33 2017
From: oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us (Oshun O'Rourke)
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2017 19:50:33 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Willow Creek in-season trap update
Message-ID: <c5e6173fa17d4555a0d3632df74a4bb7@mail.yuroktribe.nsn.us>

Attached is the Yurok Tribal Fisheries' in-season catch update for the Lower Trinity River outmigrant screw traps located in Willow Creek, CA.  Please see the attached spreadsheet for a full update.


Thanks,

Oshun O'Rourke
Fisheries Biologist
Yurok Tribe
530-629-3333 ext 1703


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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Jul 13 18:35:47 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2017 01:35:47 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Free Trinity River public float
References: <1892311851.68545.1499996147821.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1892311851.68545.1499996147821@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_f44806e8-6698-11e7-ae53-77c9108c4270.html


Free Trinity River public float

The Trinity River Restoration Program invites the public to attend an informative and free float on Thursday, July 20, on the Trinity River. Lunch will be provided.TRRP staff will ride along in the rafts to answer questions and discuss river functions and TRRP restoration efforts. Several stops along the river are scheduled, including areas not easily accessible except by boat and a brief tour of a recent restoration site.The public will get a chance to hear about river restoration strategies, goals and objectives, and how the TRRP works to create conditions that contribute to a healthy river.The float will encompass the same reach of river that was highlighted during our 2016 float.The trip will start at Steel Bridge and end below Douglas City. The river is relatively calm in this reach at the scheduled flow levels, on the scheduled float date.Families are welcome. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. The trip is not recommended for young children. Participants must be able to walk over uneven ground at some sites and enter and exit a raft in shallow water. The trip will begin at 9 a.m. and finish by 2 p.m.Be sure to bring water, sunscreen and a hat, and remember to wear shoes that can get wet.While this is a free event, space is limited and RSVPs are required. Contact the Trinity County Resource Conservation District, 623-6004, for details and to reserve a spot.
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Jul 14 12:16:49 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2017 19:16:49 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Public health warning issued after blue-green algae
 bloom found on Klamath River
References: <96225124.679325.1500059809591.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <96225124.679325.1500059809591@mail.yahoo.com>


Public health warning issued after blue-green algae bloom found on Klamath River

By The Times-StandardThursday, July 13, 2017The following is a press release issued by the California Water Resources Control Board:Swimmers, boaters and recreational users are urged to avoid direct contact with waters containing blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), now blooming in the Copco Reservoir on the Klamath River in Northern California.Sample results collected June 27, 2017 from Copco Reservoir at Copco Cove do not meet the State of California?s recommended threshold for blue ?green algae toxins in recreational waters, resulting in the posting of the reservoir.Copco Reservoir exceeds the ?warning? threshold, and has been posted with public health alerts warning against human and animal contact with the water. Cyanobacteria conditions in the Klamath River below the reservoir remain below public health alert thresholds and have not been posted.Residents and recreational water users can still enjoy camping, hiking, biking, canoeing, boating, fishing, picnicking or other recreational activities at the reservoirs while taking precautions to avoid contact with waters near these bloom areas and any scums along the water?s edge.?Water quality monitoring is done biweekly in the summer from Link River Dam in Oregon to the Klamath River estuary in California. Sampling continues late into the fall to determine when toxin levels are below the public health thresholds and water contact is safe. This sampling is conducted collaboratively by the United States Bureau of Reclamation, PacifiCorp, the Karuk Tribe, the Yurok Tribe, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.The posting within California is supported by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), the California Department of Public Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Yurok and Karuk tribes.The blooms appear as bright green in the water, and blue-green, white or brown foam, scum or mats can float on the water and accumulate along the shore. Recreational exposure to blue-green algae toxins can cause eye irritation, allergic skin rash, mouth ulcers, vomiting, diarrhea, and cold and flu-like symptoms. Liver failure, nerve damage and death have occurred in rare situations where large amounts of contaminated water were directly ingested.State officials urge those recreating in blue-green algae impacted waters to follow the recommendations below:Take care that pets and livestock do not drink the water, swim through algae, scums or mats, or lick their fur after going in the water. Rinse pets in clean water to remove algae from fur.Avoid wading or swimming in water containing algae blooms or scums or mats.Do not drink, cook or wash dishes with untreated surface water from these areas under any circumstances; common water purification techniques (e.g., camping filters, tablets and boiling) do not remove toxins.People should not eat mussels or other bivalves collected from these areas. Limit or avoid eating fish; if fish are consumed, remove guts and liver, and rinse filets in clean drinking water.Get medical treatment immediately if you think that you, your pet, or livestock might have been poisoned by blue-green algae toxins. Be sure to alert the medical professional to the possible contact with blue-green algae.Water users are encouraged to check most recent sampling results on the Klamath Blue-Green Algae Tracker (see link below). Even when blue-green algae blooms are not present, still carefully watch young children and warn them not to swallow the water.For more information, please visit:Klamath Blue-Green Algae Tracker:http://www.kbmp.net/maps-data/blue-green-algae-tracker?My Water Quality ? Are harmful algal blooms affecting our waters?http://www.mywaterquality.ca.gov/habs/index.htmlCalifornia Department of Public Health:https://archive.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/environhealth/water/Pages/Bluegreenalgae.aspxCA Cyanobacteria and Harmful Algal Bloom (CCHAB) Network:http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/bluegreen_algae/CA Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment:http://oehha.ca.gov/ecotox/microcystins.htmlUS Environmental Protection Agency:https://www.epa.gov/nutrient-policy-data/cyanohabs??URL: http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170713/public-health-warning-issued-after-blue-green-algae-bloom-found-on-klamath-river

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From lrlake at aol.com  Fri Jul 14 11:31:39 2017
From: lrlake at aol.com (lrlake at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2017 14:31:39 -0400
Subject: [env-trinity] Free Trinity River public float
In-Reply-To: <1892311851.68545.1499996147821@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1892311851.68545.1499996147821.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1892311851.68545.1499996147821@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <15d425eda2e-77ef-5fdb@webprd-m84.mail.aol.com>

More TRRP funded crap that wastes $ and forgets the job needing done!  The TRRP Is not a national park and should not operate as such.  I don't remember 'feel good' public out-reach being part of the 1994 legislation nor the ROD.  


IMHO, this float trip is fun-for-staff, pretending to be meaningful public out-reach.  THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE SHOULD BE ASHAMED TO WASTE THIS MONEY!  There is actually REAL work to do...  


Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net>
To: Env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Sent: Thu, Jul 13, 2017 6:36 pm
Subject: [env-trinity] Free Trinity River public float



http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_f44806e8-6698-11e7-ae53-77c9108c4270.html



Free Trinity River public float



The Trinity River Restoration Program invites the public to attend an informative and free float on Thursday, July 20, on the Trinity River. Lunch will be provided.

TRRP staff will ride along in the rafts to answer questions and discuss river functions and TRRP restoration efforts. Several stops along the river are scheduled, including areas not easily accessible except by boat and a brief tour of a recent restoration site.

The public will get a chance to hear about river restoration strategies, goals and objectives, and how the TRRP works to create conditions that contribute to a healthy river.


The float will encompass the same reach of river that was highlighted during our 2016 float.

The trip will start at Steel Bridge and end below Douglas City. The river is relatively calm in this reach at the scheduled flow levels, on the scheduled float date.

Families are welcome. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. The trip is not recommended for young children. Participants must be able to walk over uneven ground at some sites and enter and exit a raft in shallow water. The trip will begin at 9 a.m. and finish by 2 p.m.


Be sure to bring water, sunscreen and a hat, and remember to wear shoes that can get wet.

While this is a free event, space is limited and RSVPs are required. Contact the Trinity County Resource Conservation District, 623-6004, for details and to reserve a spot.





_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity

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From sari at sisqtel.net  Mon Jul 17 11:40:52 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2017 11:40:52 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: Declining Steelhead: Study Says Conditions Early
	In Marine Life Phase Strong Contributors To Survival
Message-ID: <019201d2ff2c$38ac8540$aa058fc0$@sisqtel.net>

Any similar studies off the California coast?

 

The Columbia Basin Bulletin: Weekly Fish and Wildlife News

www.cbbulletin.com

July 14, 2017       Issue No. 837

 

Declining Steelhead: Study Says Conditions Early In Marine Life Phase Strong
Contributors To Survival

 

West Coast steelhead runs are declining and a new study pegs much of the
problem to poor survival of smolts early after entry into the ocean.

 

After entering the ocean, steelhead smolts head out over the continental
shelf from wherever they enter the ocean - British Columbia, Puget Sound,
the coastal areas of Oregon and Washington and from the Columbia River - and
then turn north to the Gulf of Alaska where the fish all mix before
returning to their natal spawning grounds. While in the Gulf of Alaska
steelhead remain more dispersed and school less than salmon while in the
ocean.

 

Although steelhead are known for this long-distance migration in the ocean,
it appears that conditions close to where young steelhead enter the ocean
from freshwater contributes more to their survival than conditions in the
open ocean.

 

Steelhead abundance in the Pacific Northwest has declined since the 1980s
and marine survival rates have likely contributed to that decline,
especially for lower Columbia River and Puget Sound steelhead.

 

"Our paper suggests that conditions early in the marine life phase of
steelhead trout, shortly after they enter salt water, are strong
contributors to their total marine survival patterns," said Dr. Neala
Kendall, research scientist with the Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife, and lead researcher of the study.

 

"This suggests that the steelhead are either compromised when they enter
marine waters, such as from contaminants or parasites, and/or that they are
more likely to be eaten by a predator in recent years than in the 1980s,"
she continued.

 

As for predators - harbor seals, harbor porpoises, birds and fish-eating
fish - it could also be that there is less other food, such as the forage
fish herring and anchovies, in Puget Sound for these predators to eat, so
they target steelhead smolts more, Kendall said.

 

"Therefore, management actions that reduce contaminants and parasites and
promote and protect forage fishes, such as reducing shoreline armoring,
could be helpful," she said. "We are currently in the process of conducting
additional work that will shed more light on what factors are related to
this increased mortality."

 

Other species of salmonid, including juveniles, are also being targeted by
predators in Puget Sound, British Columbia and in the Columbia River.

 

The study's researchers analyzed steelhead adult abundance from 35 coastal
British Columbia and Washington populations, along with smolt to adult
return information from 48 populations from Washington, Oregon and the Keogh
River in B.C. It found that more than 80 percent of the populations studied
had declined since the 1980s.

 

They also found that smolt survival declines were seen in three of four
populations since the 1990s, including the Columbia River, Puget Sound and
the Keogh River.

 

"We were able to compile data from multiple reports and databases to
document survival in the ocean of Oregon, Washington, and B.C. steelhead
trout and show that these trends paralleled declines in adult abundance and
also differ among populations originating from different areas," Kendall
said. "We believe this is the first time these data have been brought
together in a single study."

 

The information shows differences in populations originating from different
areas, she added. 

 

"In particular, Lower Columbia River and Puget Sound steelhead marine
survival rates have declined since the early 1980s. These declines likely
contributed to these fishes' low abundance and listing on the Endangered
Species Act. Coastal Oregon and Washington steelhead marine survival rates
have varied over time but have not declined in the same way that Lower
Columbia River and Puget Sound steelhead have. Coastal steelhead are not
listed on the Endangered Species Act."

 

The study, "Declining patterns of Pacific Northwest steelhead trout
(Oncorhynchus mykiss) adult abundance and smolt survival in the ocean," was
published online June 26, 2017, in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and
Aquatic Sciences "
(http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0486#.WWTmQIjyvI
U). Kendall's co-authors are Gary Marston, natural resource scientist, and
Matt Klungle, research scientist, both with WDFW.

 

Populations with particularly concerning declines were those in the Lower
Columbia River and in Puget Sound. Ocean survival of juvenile steelhead
populations in Puget Sound in the 2000s declined by 77 percent on average
compared to the 1980s, the study says. Survival averaged 3.1 percent in the
1980s but dropped to 0.7 percent in the 2000s.

 

Similar trends were found for adult abundance. Adults in Puget Sound in the
2000s declined by 53 percent on average compared to the 1980s.

 

The declines in juvenile survival "likely contributed to these fishes' low
abundance," Kendall said. Abundances are so low that Puget Sound steelhead
were listed for protection under the ESA in 2007. Steelhead populations in
B.C. included in the study also have declined in abundance and ocean
survival since the 1980s. Declines in survival of juvenile steelhead in
ocean environments were not as drastic for populations along the coasts of
Washington and Oregon which are not listed under the ESA.

 

Survival and abundance trends, like those generated in this study, can
enhance current tools being used to predict changes in steelhead
populations, according to a news release published in Phys.Org
(https://phys.org/news/2017-06-steelhead-trout-population-declines-linked.ht
ml)

 

To best conserve steelhead in the Northwest, Kendall said "stakeholders and
concerned citizens want to better understand why these populations have been
struggling and how marine survival has contributed. With this information,
policymakers and managers can have different expectations about Puget Sound
and Lower Columbia steelhead [compared to] fish on the coast due to their
different marine survival patterns."

 

She sees this study as providing further support for ongoing efforts by
natural resource agencies and NGOs to improve steelhead survival and protect
the habitats these juvenile trout use upon arriving in the ocean. 

 

The research is part of the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project, a US-Canada
collaboration of more than 60 organizations conducting research to
understand why salmon and steelhead are dying in the Salish Sea.

 

Also See: 

 

-- CBB, July 7, 2017, "Study: Harbor Seals Target Salmon Juveniles Of
Conservation Concern In Salish Sea," http://www.cbbulletin.com/439218.aspx

 

-- CBB, June 23, 2017, "Puget Sound Study: Pinniped Predation On Juvenile
Salmon Making Salmon Recovery More Difficult,"
http://www.cbbulletin.com/439144.aspx

 

-- CBB, June 23, 2017, "Pinniped Report: Sea Lions Leave Bonneville Dam With
Likely High Salmon Predation Rate In Their Wake,"
http://www.cbbulletin.com/439149.aspx

 

 

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From andy2004 at fusso.com  Mon Jul 17 17:41:29 2017
From: andy2004 at fusso.com (Andy Fusso)
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2017 17:41:29 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Now Hiring Senior Program Director in Mt. Shasta
Message-ID: <330D9B90-E3AA-4D27-937C-7FE830CB1E28@fusso.com>



Senior Program Director

Position Announcement

Since 1988, the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center has played a pivotal role in preserving our bioregion, including not only natural interconnected systems, but also the cultural layers which constitute a human relationship to the land. We work through public education, science-based public policy and advocacy, legal challenges, restoration, watershed monitoring, forest stewardship, collaborative partnerships and alliances, and engaging the local community to protect our bioregion. 

We are seeking a Senior Program Director with a strong environmental science background to lead program development and accomplishments, working as an employee for an estimated 40 hours per month to start, plus additional hours as necessary and during peak periods. We can offer $20/hour DOE, with potential future pay and hours adjustment depending on growth within the organization, performance reviews and the availability of funding. 

Duties

The Senior Program Director leads and coordinates the organization?s program activities, under supervision of the operating committee of our board of directors. Duties will include:

General nonprofit organization and program management, including development of strategic plans and budgets to further our mission, and the subsequent measurement and evaluation of results.
Research and dissemination of valid and well-recognized scientific and technical information regarding best practices to preserve and protect the cultural and environmental quality of life in our area. This includes particular emphasis in the areas of forestry, watershed and wildlife management, air quality and mitigating possible adverse impacts from economic development.
Program development and grant writing for innovative and ongoing activities to achieve the organization?s goals and objectives.
Policy advocacy, providing leadership while interacting with other groups, governmental and administrative agencies in our area.
Assisting with community education to disseminate information and awareness of good science and policy options in alignment with our mission.
Assisting with efforts to protect the Medicine Lake aquifer from geothermal fracking, and championing other programs of the organization as needed.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate begins with a passion to preserve and protect the Mount Shasta Bioregion. This person will possess high levels of integrity and responsibility, with a commitment to ascertaining true facts and creating well-reasoned analyses. They will combine solid leadership abilities with extensive scientific knowledge.

Candidates should possess a strong environmental science background, including a bachelor?s (or preferably an advanced) degree in a related field. This should demonstrate strong teamwork and communication skills, and a professional, collaborative approach to interactions with stakeholders, supporters and others within and outside our organization.

Interested persons may apply by sending a resume and cover letter/email to computer at mountshastaecology.org <mailto:computer at mountshastaecology.org>. We will begin reviewing applications starting August 1, 2017. For further information about our nonprofit organization, please see our website at www.mountshastaecology.org <http://www.mountshastaecology.org/>.

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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Jul 19 12:24:52 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2017 19:24:52 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: [New post] Long foreseeable.
References: <86769832.823012.1500492292488.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <86769832.823012.1500492292488@mail.yahoo.com>

Here is the article that OPR comments on:
July 17, 2017 5:17 PMThese farmers say they may not pay for Delta tunnels pushed by Gov. Brown
By Dale Kasler
dkasler at sacbee.comCoalinga
The governor?s proposed Delta tunnels ran into a roomful of skeptics Monday ? an influential group of San Joaquin Valley farmers who remain unconvinced the controversial project will deliver the water they need at a price they?re prepared to swallow.
Three weeks after the tunnels received a crucial green light from federal environmental regulators, the $17.1 billion project got a cool reception from nearly 100 growers who farm in the powerful Westlands Water District. Provided with detailed financial projections at a Westlands board meeting for the first time, the farmers suggested they aren?t ready to sign onto the plan.
Investment bankers from Goldman Sachs & Co. said debt repayment could balloon farmers? water costs to as much as $495 an acre-foot under the most expensive scenario, or about triple what Westlands growers currently pay. However, the Goldman bankers said the costs could be reduced to the $200 per acre-foot range depending on how the debt is structured.
Those figures were too rich for Todd Neves, a Westlands board member.
?My initial thought, right off the bat, is no way this will work,? the tomato and almond farmer said in an interview. ?Those numbers might work for a city, Metropolitan and them. For a farmer, none of the crops that I grow can support these numbers.?
After a decade of preliminary planning, Westlands and other water agencies south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are beginning to drill into the details of the tunnels plan, in the expectation of deciding in September whether to invest the billions needed to make the project a reality. While the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California ? which serves millions of urban customers ? is expected to sign onto the project, the sprawling Westlands district, which serves portions of Fresno and Kings counties, has showed more reluctance.
?It?s a lot of money for not a lot of water,? said William Bourdeau, a Westlands board member and an executive with Harris Farms, whose well-known hotel and restaurant near I-5 served as a venue for the board meeting.
Without Westlands? support, the tunnels? fate would become far more uncertain.
Much of the farmers? reluctance revolves around the project?s myriad complexities, and the fact that the tunnels might not generate a substantial amount of additional water for them.
The project would burrow a pair of tunnels along the Sacramento River, just south of Sacramento, and divert a portion of the river?s flow directly to the giant pumping stations at the south end of the Delta. Gov. Jerry Brown?s administration said this re-plumbing effort would reduce the harm the pumps do to Delta smelt and other endangered species, allowing the pumps to deliver water more reliably to urban Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley.
However, the exact amount of water that could be pumped won?t be known for years, largely because many of the environmental regulations governing Delta pumping operations are still evolving.
A consultant from the state Department of Water Resources said the Delta pumps would likely be able to deliver an average of 4.7 million to 5.2 million acre-feet of water south each year if the tunnels were built. The range could be considerably wider depending on environmental restrictions.
The current average is 4.7 million acre-feet.
The lack of specificity was clearly frustrating to the Westlands farmers.
?We can?t make a definitive assessment based on the information we have today,? said Don Perrachi, president of the Westlands board. He said the board wouldn?t take on ?billions of dollars of debt without reasonable assurance? that the tunnels will provide a significant amount of affordable water.Related stories from The Sacramento BeeGroups file first legal challenges in Delta tunnels fightGroups file first legal challenges in Delta tunnels fight?Huge milestone? for Delta tunnels ? feds say they won?t push fish over the brink?Huge milestone? for Delta tunnels ? feds say they won?t push fish over the brinkWhy years of waiting may be over on Delta tunnelsWhy years of waiting may be over on Delta tunnels
Dale Kasler: 916-321-1066, @dakaslerNever miss a local story.


 WordPress.com
|   onthepublicrecord posted: "Three weeks after the tunnels received a crucial green light from federal environmental regulators, the $17.1 billion project got a cool reception from nearly 100 growers who farm in the powerful Westlands Water District. Provided with detailed financial "  
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| Respond to this post by replying above this line |

  
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Long foreseeable.
 by onthepublicrecord   |

  
Three weeks after the tunnels received a crucial green light from federal environmental regulators, the $17.1 billion project got a cool reception from nearly 100 growers who farm in the powerful Westlands Water District. Provided with detailed financial projections at a Westlands board meeting for the first time, the farmers suggested they aren?t ready to sign onto the plan.Investment bankers from Goldman Sachs & Co. said debt repayment could balloon farmers? water costs to as much as $495 an acre-foot under the most expensive scenario, or about triple what Westlands growers currently pay. ...?My initial thought, right off the bat, is no way this will work,? the tomato and almond farmer said in an interview. ?Those numbers might work for a city, Metropolitan and them. For a farmer, none of the crops that I grow can support these numbers.?
I am sorry these farmers are only hearing about these estimates now.??The cost range for this water?has been available knowledge for half a decade now.? We've known for years that tunnel water wouldn't be agricultural water.This is another?illustration?of?how dedication to ideology over reality is penalizing the conservative farmers of the San Joaquin Valley.? The rough price range for water out of the Delta tunnels has been known for almost a decade.? Wise district managers should have relayed this reality to their farmers.? Messrs. Neve and Bourdeau should not be learning about this now.Instead, the leadership at Westlands continued to pander to?the fantasy of additional new?low cost water.? Over the years they've paid?millions into?the BDCP planning effort.? (In the end, that may end up being a subsidy for the cities that can take water from a small tunnel alternative.)?? I don't know why Westlands?management didn't explain to their farmers years ago that it was time to cut their losses.? One unflattering possibility is that they were more willing to throw their growers' money at a project that wasn't going to deliver ag water than they were to challenge the conservative water management?philosophy of the region.? Another unflattering possibility is that the district managers and lobbyists enjoy the lifestyle that their growers support, and aren't going to tell them unpleasant truths until they absolutely must.??Either would explain bringing in outsiders from Goldman Sachs to explain the real costs of the Delta tunnels.? In either explanation, the management and leadership at Westlands aren't working in their growers' best interests.? Even if their growers demand it, perpetuating the fantasy of?additional low cost water will not give them the knowledge they need to plan for their farms in the long term.?   onthepublicrecord | July 18, 2017 at : | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pocVP-1sY   
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From GHughes at foe.org  Tue Jul 18 07:49:16 2017
From: GHughes at foe.org (Hughes, Gary)
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2017 14:49:16 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Press Release: California cap-and-trade bill is a
 giveaway to polluters
Message-ID: <77A81C2AB01EE748A51B40A059517A11D470427C@maildag2c.NETWORKALLIANCE.NET>

This went out last night. Please excuse cross posting.

http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2017-07-california-cap-and-trade-bill-is-a-giveaway-to-polluters

California cap-and-trade bill is a giveaway to polluters

SACRAMENTO, CA  July 17, 2017 - Today, the California legislature voted to pass AB 398, a controversial cap-and-trade bill that would extend California's carbon trading program through 2030.

The bill was roundly rejected by the environmental justice community, and includes several giveaways to polluters, including: tens of billions of dollars' worth of free emission allowances, a particular boon to the oil and gas industry; and allowing polluters to use more carbon offsets to meet their compliance obligations, rather than actually reducing carbon emissions. Notably, it keeps the door open to international forest carbon credits, which are scientifically dubious and associated with a host of indigenous rights impacts.

Moreover, the bill curbs the ability of regional pollution authorities from regulating carbon dioxide, a blow to the hard-won efforts of fenceline communities to establish pollution caps for refineries, which emit both carbon dioxide and co-pollutants harmful to human health.

Michelle Chan, Friends of the Earth's Vice President of Programs, issued the following statement in response:

The California legislature has passed a climate deal for billionaires that targets the most vulnerable while giving handouts to Big Oil.

They have ensured that Big Oil can continue to poison our communities and use the global atmosphere as a dumping ground. Their plan would leave the most vulnerable people, both in California and overseas, at risk to the impacts of climate change and the policy itself.

The bill's many giveaways to Big Oil exposes the false climate leadership of a California political elite that is beholden to the rich and powerful. With this vote, Californian elected officials have covered themselves in an oily sheen while doing little to address California's emissions.

Expert contact: Gary Hughes, (707) 233-5434, ghughes at foe.org
Communications contact: Erin Jensen, (202) 222-0722, ejensen at foe.org





---
Gary Graham Hughes, M.Sc.
Senior California Advocacy Campaigner
Friends of the Earth - US
2150 Allston Way, Suite 360
Berkeley, CA  94704  USA
Email: ghughes at foe.org
Skype: garygrahamhughes
Office Tel: +1-510-900-8807
Twitter: @VozSilvestre
---

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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Wed Jul 19 12:34:13 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2017 12:34:13 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Breaking: Governor Brown Appoints Grant Davis as
	Department of Water Resources Director
In-Reply-To: <77F82014-9CAA-460A-A103-EE8848A25FB4@fishsniffer.com>
References: <77A81C2AB01EE748A51B40A059517A11D4702503@maildag2c.NETWORKALLIANCE.NET>
	<3E53AD98-F3A5-4111-9AEB-BE6C2C3E9F2A@fishsniffer.com>
	<FF9218DB-027E-4A56-9094-780766F12DAF@fishsniffer.com>
	<77F82014-9CAA-460A-A103-EE8848A25FB4@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <42635354-C9AE-4F7D-96AC-C93711B67AB6@fishsniffer.com>

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/19/1682084/-Breaking-Governor-Brown-Appoints-Grant-Davis-As-Department-of-Water-Resources-Director



Breaking: Governor Brown Appoints Grant Davis as Department of Water  
Resources Director

by Dan Bacher

Governor Jerry Brown today appointed Grant Davis, 54, of Petaluma, as  
director of the embattled California Department of Water Resources  
(DWR).
The appointment comes at a critical time for the Department, as the  
agency reels from intense international and national media scrutiny of  
its mishandling of the Oroville Dam spillway crisis. DWR is also the  
lead state agency in the collaborative effort with the Donald Trump  
administration to build Jerry Brown?s controversial ?legacy project,"  
the Delta Tunnels.

Davis has been general manager of the Sonoma County Water Agency since  
February 2011. Before that he was the interim general manager from  
2009 to 2011 and the assistant general manager from 2007 to 2009.

?The agency provides wholesale water, wastewater treatment and flood  
control. It is the largest energy user in the county and became carbon- 
free in 2015 by providing its water through 100 percent renewable  
energy,? according to the Governor?s Office.

Davis was executive director of the Bay Institute from 1997 to 2007,  
senior district representative in the Office of Congresswoman Lynn  
Woolsey from 1993 to 1997 and principal of Impact Consulting from 1990  
to 1993.

Davis currently serves on the University of California President?s  
Advisory Commission, for the Division of Agriculture and Natural  
Resources. In addition, Davis is the president of WateReuse  
California, a member of the Bay Planning Coalition, and a member of  
the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Advisory Committee. Mr.  
Davis received his BA in political science from the University of  
California at Berkeley.

This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is  
$194,600. Davis is a Democrat.

Public trust advocates are expecting little to change at DWR as Davis  
assumes the helm. The appointment comes at a time when increasing  
numbers of Californians are challenging Governor Jerry Brown?s  
?environmental? and ?climate? credentials as he teams up with the  
Trump administration to build the environmentally devastating Delta  
Tunnels and to exempt three major California oilfields from protection  
under the federal Safe Water Drinking Act.

On June 26, the Trump administration released a no-jeopardy finding on  
the biological assessment to build the tunnels, claiming that the  
California WaterFix will not jeopardize threatened or endangered  
species or adversely modify their critical habitat. The biological  
opinion is available here: https://www.fws.gov/sfbaydelta/HabitatConservation/CalWaterFix/Index.htm

The Brown administration praised the deeply flawed biological opinion,  
a document that may have been politically manipulated, in spite of the  
vow Jerry Brown made in January to ?resist? Trump administration  
attacks on science.

Over 50 environmental justice and consumer organizations are also  
outraged by the California Legislature?s passage Monday night of the  
Big Oil-written cap-and-trade bill, Assembly Bill 398. The bill was  
rammed through the legislature under intense pressure from Governor  
Jerry Brown, who has received over $9.8 million in contributions for  
oil and energy companies.

Liza Tucker, Consumer Advocate for Consumer Watchdog, described AB 398  
as a ?pollute and profit? bill. She said Brown?s plan ?ensures that  
Californians keep paying the state?s biggest polluters to pollute by  
banning regulators from ordering refineries and power plants to  
upgrade pollution controls, and by  pillaging cap-and-trade revenue to  
pay for tax breaks.?

More information: www.dailykos.com/...
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From oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us  Wed Jul 26 09:09:35 2017
From: oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us (Oshun O'Rourke)
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2017 16:09:35 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Willow Creek in-season trap update
Message-ID: <66f05dfffaf6431bb0825b422d81681f@mail.yuroktribe.nsn.us>

Attached is the Yurok Tribal Fisheries' in-season catch update for the Lower Trinity River outmigrant screw traps located in Willow Creek, CA.  Please see the attached spreadsheet for a full update.



Thanks,

Oshun O'Rourke
Fisheries Biologist
Yurok Tribe
530-629-3333 ext 1703



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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Jul 26 12:40:37 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2017 19:40:37 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Management Council Meeting July 27,
	Weaverville
References: <1802268604.10730.1501098037112.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1802268604.10730.1501098037112@mail.yahoo.com>

TRINITY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL

Special Meeting

Location:? Weaverville, 1313 S. Main Street

Weaverville, CA 


?
Agenda for Thursday July 27, 2017


?
Thursday July 17, 2017 


?

Time ?????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????? ??????????????????????? DiscussionLeader



?
RegularBusiness:


?
9:00???????????????? Introductions:??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? DonBader, Chair

??Welcome 

??Approval ofAgenda 

??Approval of JuneTMC Meeting Minutes


?
9:15???????????????? Public Forum:? Comments from the public????????????????????????????? Don Bader, Chair


?
Information/ Decision Items:


?
9:30???????????????? TRRP ScienceBudget and Other Budget Revisions? ???????????? Caryn and Jenny 


?
10:30?? ??????????? Break 


?
10:45?????????????? TRRP Budgetcontinued


?
12:00?????????????? Lunch 


?
1:00???????????????? TRRP Budgetcontinued???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 


?
3:30???????????????? Suggestionsfor September TMC Agenda Items???????? ??????????? Don Bader, Chair


?
3:45???????????????? Public Forum:? Comments from the public????????????????? ??????????? Don Bader, Chair


?
4:00???? ??????????? Adjourn


?

|  ?Webex and Call In Information

  |
|  
 Thursday, July 27, 2017

  |
|  |


?

|  Meeting number (access code): 806 768 587

  |


?

|  Meeting password: WnKP3iMT

  |

TMC Meeting Link: ?


|  https://trrp.webex.com/trrp/j.php?MTID=ma30921445e70397955c6e48c8ca988b4
 
 

 Join by phone

  |
|  1-408-792-6300?Call-in toll number (US/Canada)

  |


?
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Jul 27 09:49:41 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2017 16:49:41 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trump,
 House split on proposal to eliminate salmon restoration funding
References: <2083025814.821392.1501174181136.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2083025814.821392.1501174181136@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170726/trump-house-split-on-proposal-to-eliminate-salmon-restoration-funding&template=printart



Trump, House split on proposal to eliminate salmon restoration funding

State, tribes say funding is ?essential? for local restoration efforts
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardWednesday, July 26, 2017In the midst of one of the lowest West Coast salmon runs on record, the White House is proposing to eliminate tens of millions of dollars in federal funding used since 2000 to prevent the extinction of 28 salmon and steelhead species in the western U.S.?President Donald Trump?s 2018 budget outline proposes to cut this ?lower priority? program and would instead shift funding responsibilities for these programs back to states and tribes.This year, the Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes in the lower Klamath River basin received their lowest federal allocation of fall-run Chinook salmon in their history, affecting not only their economies, but also their cultural practices and food supply.??It?s not like the problem has been solved,? Yurok Tribe Fisheries Director Dave Hillemeier said. ?There is still a lot of work out there that needs to be done to recover these stocks. We feel [the federal funding] is a great investment for the future and for the local economies that depend on the fisheries and the Yurok way of life to keep these money flowing to the West Coast so we can continue to address the problems that are facing our salmon populations, conduct meaningful in-stream restoration.?Created by Congress in 2000, the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund has provided about $1.6 billion in funding to five Western states ? California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho ? and Native American tribes, including the Hoopa Valley, Karuk and Yurok tribes, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.The funds are used for a variety of projects such as restoring fish spawning and rearing habitat, disease monitoring and to leverage billions more dollars from other grant programs, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.The salmon recovery funds are one of several programs the White House?s 2018 budget proposes to eliminate. Trump?s budget proposal states that these funds are not ?optimally targeted? and that they favor certain species and geographic areas. But the House Appropriations Committee is choosing not to follow Trump?s proposal and plans to?provide $65 million to the salmon recovery program?in the 2018 budget? the same amount the program received for 2017.The National Marine Fisheries Service administers the salmon recovery funding, which has been used to preserve and restored over 1 million acres of salmon habitat and opened another 9,100 miles of streams for spawning fish, according to the service. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has received close to $200 million from the fund since 2000, which it uses to fund it own competitive grant program created in 1981 to address declining salmon and steelhead populations.The department?s Fisheries Branch Chief Kevin Shaffer said the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund is both an ?essential and wonderful? funding source for their grant-funded restoration projects, which stretch from the Mexican border to the Oregon border. A particular focus has been on threatened coho salmon populations in the Klamath River basin and central areas of the state, Shaffer said.Because salmon populations travel across various types of habitat between different states, Shaffer said they and the other Western states that receive the federal funding would have to regroup should Trump?s plan prevail.?We?ll deal with that road if we cross it,? Shaffer said.Local tribes receive funding through the Klamath River Inter-Tribal Fish and Water Commission, which is composed of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon as well as the Yurok, Hoopa Valley, Karuk tribes.Hillemeier said the program is a primary funding source for the tribal commission and provides about $600,000 to $700,000 each year that can be supplemented by other state grants. The funds have been used by the Yurok Tribe to study fish diseases and parasites such as an intestinal parasite that is estimated to have killed up to 90 percent of juvenile salmon on the lower Klamath River in 2014 and 2015.These die-offs have been cited by state and tribal researchers as a cause of this year?s historically low salmon run on the Klamath River.?I think the status of the stocks indicates that more, not less of this type of funding is needed,? Hillemeier said.Hoopa Valley Tribe Fisheries Director Mike Orcutt said the federal program is not a major source of the intertribal commission?s funding, but said it is used to fund the commission?s operations, leverage more funds from the state and fund restoration projects. One such project by the Hoopa Valley Tribe was to create a management plan for the brown trout, which Orcutt said was introduced to the Trinity River and is feeding on federally-protected salmon species in the river.With states having been given hundreds of millions from the fund since 2000, Orcutt said he hopes those states? Congressional representatives will oppose Trump?s proposal.?The broad base of support from the four or five different states will hopefully be able to maintain some level of funding for that fund,? Orcutt said.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From tgstoked at gmail.com  Thu Jul 27 12:29:38 2017
From: tgstoked at gmail.com (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2017 12:29:38 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Senate confirms David Bernhardt,
 controversial Trump pick, for No. 2 post at Interior
Message-ID: <CABnDsn9Zy0xVZ2cTc07qod_UaOm-JmFGP=a5AoopusJKGF3AJA@mail.gmail.com>

Senate confirms David Bernhardt, controversial Trump pick, for No. 2 post
at Interior
<http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-bernhardt-vote-20170724-story.html>



Senate confirms David Bernhardt, controversial Trump pick, for No. 2 post
a...
By Bettina Boxall
The Senate Monday confirmed David Bernhardt as deputy secretary of the
Interior Department despite concerns that...
<http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-bernhardt-vote-20170724-story.html>

Senate confirms David Bernhardt, controversial Trump pick, for No. 2 post
at Interior
Bettina Boxall
<http://www.latimes.com/la-bio-bettina-boxall-staff.html#nt=byline>Contact
Reporter
<bettina.boxall at latimes.com?subject=Regarding:%20%22Senate%20confirms%20David%20Bernhardt,%20controversial%20Trump%20pick,%20for%20No.%202%20post%20at%20Interior%22>
The Senate
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/government/u.s.-senate-ORGOV0000134-topic.html>
 on Monday confirmed David Bernhardt, who has a history of lobbying for
oil, mining and western water interests, as deputy secretary of the
Interior Department.
Both of California?s Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/government/kamala-harris-PEPLT00008198-topic.html>,
voted against his appointment ? which was approved, 53 to 43, with little
discussion.
As the No. 2 official, Bernhardt will oversee an Interior Department that
has dealings with clients who have paid his law firm millions of dollars in
legal and lobbying fees, including two major players in California water:
Westlands Water District, the nation?s largest irrigation district, and
Cadiz Inc., a company that wants to pump Mojave Desert groundwater and sell
it to Southern California cities.
Bernhardt terminated his federal registration as a Westlands lobbyist late
last year, after then President-elect Trump nominated him for the deputy
secretary position. But Bernhardt has continued to work for the water
district, according to documents obtained through California Public Records
Act
<http://www.latimes.com/topic/crime-law-justice/laws-legislation/california-public-records-act-EVGAP00047-topic.html>
 requests.
Westslands emails released by Patricia Schifferle of the environmental
group Pacific Advocates show that since November, he has drafted letters
for the water district, as well as reviewed a draft executive order and the
text of federal water legislation that Westlands supports.
Bernhardt?s firm, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, also billed Westlands
for a trip he took from Washington to Sacramento last winter.
In a May 1 letter to Interior?s ethics officer, Bernhardt wrote that if
confirmed he would ?withdraw? from his law firm partnership. He said he
would recuse himself from client-related matters before the department for
one year ? ?unless I am first authorized to? participate in them.
And at a Senate committee hearing in May, Bernhardt testified: ?If I get a
whiff of something coming my way that involves a client or a former client
for my firm, I?m going to make that item run straight to the ethics office.
And when it gets there, they?ll make whatever decision they?re going to
make.?
But given Brownstein Hyatt?s extensive list of clients involved in natural
resource matters overseen by Interior, environmentalists argue it is likely
Bernhardt will get administration waivers to participate in decisions
affecting former clients.
Westlands repeatedly has attacked endangered species protections,
administered by the Interior department, that restrict water deliveries.
Bernhardt?s firm has represented Westlands in four lawsuits against the
agency, and he personally argued one appeals case challenging salmon
protections.
Bernhardt personally lobbied Congress and the department on behalf of
Westlands from 2011 through late 2016, during which time the district paid
his firm $1.385 million in fees.
Cadiz has paid Brownstein Hyatt $2.75 million in lobbying fees and granted
the firm 200,000 shares of stock ? with a promise of more as plans progress
for the company?s potentially lucrative groundwater project.
Those plans got a boost in March, when an acting assistant director of the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management revoked two legal guidances that underpinned
the bureau?s 2015 decision that Cadiz
<http://news.latimes.com/bin/latimes.pl?state=ijbg96.1.1&f=doc&p_u_all=#h5>
could
not use an existing federal railroad right-of-way for a new water pipeline.
The 2015 decision, which is now under review by the department Bernhardt
will help manage, has been a huge obstacle to the Cadiz project.
Monday?s confirmation marks the second time Bernhardt will have moved from
Brownstein Hyatt to Interior. He left the firm in 2001 for a series of
posts under President George W. Bush, rising to the position of solicitor,
the department?s top lawyer. He rejoined the law firm after President Obama
was elected.
The Brownstein Hyatt website, along with Bernhardt?s ethics filings, show
that he and the firm have performed legal services or lobbied for clients
that have dealings with virtually every branch of Interior.
They include Cobalt International Energy, which holds major oil and gas
leases in the Gulf of Mexico; Rosemont Copper Co., which wants to develop a
large open-pit mine in Arizona; the Navajo Nation, which has been involved
in water rights settlements; and the Independent Petroleum Assn. of
America, which represents oil and gas producers.
In a statement Monday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said: ?Finally, after
months of waiting for confirmation in the Senate, I?m excited to welcome
David Bernhardt back to the department.
?David?s extensive experience serving under previous Interior secretaries,
his esteemed legal career, and down-right love of our land and resources is
exactly what is needed to help streamline government and make the Interior
and our public lands work for the American economy.?
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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Jul 29 09:50:52 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2017 16:50:52 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Officials: Bill would end Trinity River fish disease
 preventive flows, county water right
References: <1549228287.2420212.1501347052456.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1549228287.2420212.1501347052456@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170728/officials-bill-would-end-trinity-river-fish-disease-preventive-flows-county-water-right

Officials: Bill would end Trinity River fish disease preventive flows, county water right

Local officials say county?s water rights also are at risk
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardFriday, July 28, 2017Local tribal and government officials say a bill currently under U.S. Senate review would virtually end Trinity River dam water releases used to prevent fish kills and do away with Humboldt County?s 60-year right to river water in favor of providing more water to Central Valley irrigators.?California Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) said the bill ??HR 23?introduced by California Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) ? is but one of several attempts over the years by Central Valley water contractors and suppliers, namely the Fresno-based Westlands Water District, to redirect more Trinity River water for their own interests.?During the worst of the drought, they packaged it as an emergency drought relief effort,? Huffman said Thursday. ?It?s all the same. It hasn?t always been this explicit about the Trinity River. That?s a newer development. That?s because the Department of Interior has finally recognized Humboldt County?s 50,000 acre-feet right [to Trinity River water]. Westlands and others have been working to override that.?Attempts to contact Westlands Water District?s media representative on Friday were not returned.?Local officials said this week that the bill would undo longstanding provisions adopted by Congress that protect Trinity River fish and Humboldt County?s water rights. These provisions adopted in 1955 and 1959 gave Humboldt County an annual right to 50,000 acre-feet of water from Trinity Lake and stated that Trinity River water can only be diverted to the Central Valley after enough has been provided to protect fish.Humboldt County?s water right was?not formally recognized by the Interior Department until January 2015, and the water has since been used in recent years to prevent fish diseases that have devastated federally protected salmon species on the lower Klamath and Trinity rivers.The Hupa people, whose reservation resides along the Trinity River in the lower Klamath River basin, say the bill will greatly endanger fish especially during the?lowest return of Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon on record. State and tribal researchers attribute the low run to fish diseases caused by low-flow river conditions in 2014 and 2015 that killed off juvenile salmon.?The Hoopa Valley Tribe?s Fisheries Director Mike Orcutt said the Department of the Interior?s Bureau of Reclamation ? which controls the dams on the Trinity River ? has used flow releases from the Trinity River?s Lewiston Dam to prevent further spread of parasites and fish diseases on the lower Klamath and Trinity Rivers in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Should H.R. 23 pass, the bureau would be prohibited from releasing these flows, Orcutt said.?If we get in a situation where there is a disease that is affecting fish, there is water that needs to be made available for release if there is disease,? Orcutt said.Orcutt said the bill would also prohibit the ceremonial dam water flow releases for the tribe?s boat dance, which is set to begin Aug. 22.Local officials state Westlands Water District?s fingerprints are on the bill.?After obtaining hundreds of emails and other public documents, the?Center for Investigative Reporting found?the Department of Interior?s?recently confirmed deputy director?and former Westlands lobbyist David Bernhardt frequently consulted with the bill?s author and proponents while the bill was being drafted. The center also found Bernhardt was doing this months after he told the U.S. Senate he had cut ties with Westlands Water District.Westlands Water District and other Central Valley districts have repeatedly challenged in federal court the fish-kill preventative Trinity River dam releases in recent years, but both a?U.S. District Court?and?U.S. Court of Appeal?rejected the challenges as recently as February.Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Association salmon and water policy analyst Tom Stokely said HR 23 would not only negate these recent court decisions, but also supercede state water rights by undermining state water quality and flow requirements.The bill passed in the House of Representatives in a 230-190 vote July 12.Both Huffman and Stokely said HR 23 will likely die in the Senate committee review process because of opposition from California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris.?I don?t think there is single U.S senator that would champion a bill like this,? Huffman said.But Stokely said that the House?s approval of the bill will have consequences, and could allow the bill to be resurrected as a rider in an appropriations bill.?We should remain vigilant,? Stokely said.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From lrlake at aol.com  Sat Jul 29 11:33:20 2017
From: lrlake at aol.com (lrlake at aol.com)
Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2017 14:33:20 -0400
Subject: [env-trinity] Officials: Bill would end Trinity River fish
 disease preventive flows, county water right
In-Reply-To: <1549228287.2420212.1501347052456@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1549228287.2420212.1501347052456.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1549228287.2420212.1501347052456@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <15d8f9fcb45-77ef-33ab5@webprd-m84.mail.aol.com>

This House bill is 'totally sick'.  I've lived with this crap for nearly 40 years.  Keep the powder dry!  The children in mgmt. these days, need to do real work or risk being dismissed as boondoggle report writers, again.  The SoCal interests hate ANY water that flows to the ocean, period.  Stay vigilant...


Larry


Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net>
To: Env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Sent: Sat, Jul 29, 2017 9:51 am
Subject: [env-trinity] Officials: Bill would end Trinity River fish disease preventive flows, county water right



http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170728/officials-bill-would-end-trinity-river-fish-disease-preventive-flows-county-water-right



Officials: Bill would end Trinity River fish disease preventive flows, county water right


Local officials say county?s water rights also are at risk

By Will Houston, Eureka Times-Standard

Friday, July 28, 2017




Local tribal and government officials say a bill currently under U.S. Senate review would virtually end Trinity River dam water releases used to prevent fish kills and do away with Humboldt County?s 60-year right to river water in favor of providing more water to Central Valley irrigators. 
California Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) said the bill ? HR 23 introduced by California Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) ? is but one of several attempts over the years by Central Valley water contractors and suppliers, namely the Fresno-based Westlands Water District, to redirect more Trinity River water for their own interests.

?During the worst of the drought, they packaged it as an emergency drought relief effort,? Huffman said Thursday. ?It?s all the same. It hasn?t always been this explicit about the Trinity River. That?s a newer development. That?s because the Department of Interior has finally recognized Humboldt County?s 50,000 acre-feet right [to Trinity River water]. Westlands and others have been working to override that.?
Attempts to contact Westlands Water District?s media representative on Friday were not returned. 

Local officials said this week that the bill would undo longstanding provisions adopted by Congress that protect Trinity River fish and Humboldt County?s water rights. These provisions adopted in 1955 and 1959 gave Humboldt County an annual right to 50,000 acre-feet of water from Trinity Lake and stated that Trinity River water can only be diverted to the Central Valley after enough has been provided to protect fish.
Humboldt County?s water right was not formally recognized by the Interior Department until January 2015, and the water has since been used in recent years to prevent fish diseases that have devastated federally protected salmon species on the lower Klamath and Trinity rivers.

The Hupa people, whose reservation resides along the Trinity River in the lower Klamath River basin, say the bill will greatly endanger fish especially during the lowest return of Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon on record. State and tribal researchers attribute the low run to fish diseases caused by low-flow river conditions in 2014 and 2015 that killed off juvenile salmon. 
The Hoopa Valley Tribe?s Fisheries Director Mike Orcutt said the Department of the Interior?s Bureau of Reclamation ? which controls the dams on the Trinity River ? has used flow releases from the Trinity River?s Lewiston Dam to prevent further spread of parasites and fish diseases on the lower Klamath and Trinity Rivers in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Should H.R. 23 pass, the bureau would be prohibited from releasing these flows, Orcutt said.

?If we get in a situation where there is a disease that is affecting fish, there is water that needs to be made available for release if there is disease,? Orcutt said.
Orcutt said the bill would also prohibit the ceremonial dam water flow releases for the tribe?s boat dance, which is set to begin Aug. 22.
Local officials state Westlands Water District?s fingerprints are on the bill. 
After obtaining hundreds of emails and other public documents, the Center for Investigative Reporting found the Department of Interior?s recently confirmed deputy director and former Westlands lobbyist David Bernhardt frequently consulted with the bill?s author and proponents while the bill was being drafted. The center also found Bernhardt was doing this months after he told the U.S. Senate he had cut ties with Westlands Water District.

Westlands Water District and other Central Valley districts have repeatedly challenged in federal court the fish-kill preventative Trinity River dam releases in recent years, but both a U.S. District Court and U.S. Court of Appeal rejected the challenges as recently as February.
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Association salmon and water policy analyst Tom Stokely said HR 23 would not only negate these recent court decisions, but also supercede state water rights by undermining state water quality and flow requirements.

The bill passed in the House of Representatives in a 230-190 vote July 12.
Both Huffman and Stokely said HR 23 will likely die in the Senate committee review process because of opposition from California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris.
?I don?t think there is single U.S senator that would champion a bill like this,? Huffman said.
But Stokely said that the House?s approval of the bill will have consequences, and could allow the bill to be resurrected as a rider in an appropriations bill.
?We should remain vigilant,? Stokely said.

Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.






_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity

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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Aug  1 08:07:46 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2017 15:07:46 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Klamath Salmon hit 2nd lowest recorded population
	size in 20 years
References: <1140482411.4652779.1501600066045.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1140482411.4652779.1501600066045@mail.yahoo.com>


http://www.times-standard.com/article/20170731/NEWS/170739982&template=printart
Klamath Salmon hit 2nd lowest recorded population size in 20 years
By Times-StandardMonday, July 31, 2017The following is a press release from the Salmon River Restoration Council:The population of Chinook salmon that swims up the Klamath River in the spring once numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Last week, divers at the Salmon River Cooperative Spring Chinook and Summer Steelhead Population Snorkel Survey only found 110 Spring-run Chinook, which is the second lowest return counted in over 20 years. The Salmon River dive surveys have occurred every year from 1995, and have ranged from 90 to 1,600 adult spring Chinook salmon.?We knew that fish diseases practically wiped out juvenile populations in recent years,? said Nat Pennington, Spring Chinook Specialist with the Salmon River Restoration Council and Board member of Klamath Riverkeeper, ?still it?s a shockingly low number of spring salmon.?Spring Chinook were once the most prolific fish in the Klamath Basin, with hundreds of thousands of fish returning to the river each year to spawn. They thrived in the headwater streams of the Klamath and Trinity, in tributaries such as the Sprague, Wood and Williamson rivers in Oregon, and the Shasta, Scott, South Fork Trinity and Salmon Rivers of California. Throughout the 20th century however, Spring Chinook suffered precipitous declines due to hydraulic mining, diversions, large canneries, early un-checked harvest, sediment from road building and logging and especially dams, which blocked the salmon from accessing cold, low gradient rivers in the Upper Klamath Basin that provide some of the best Spring Chinook habitat. The majority of the West Coast?s spring Chinook habitat was lost following the construction of dams such as those on the Klamath, Shasta and Trinity Rivers.Kenneth Brink, a Karuk tribal member who works with the Tribes? Department of Natural Resources said, ?I brought my son Taydin to check out the big Salmon River Survey event for the first time this year. These fish are his future but when we see incredibly low runs like this you worry if there will be any left. This is why we must get the dams out. These are the fish that our grandchildren will enjoy once they can spawn and repopulate in the Upper Klamath basin.?At this year?s fish dives, researchers from UC Davis presented evidence that Klamath Spring Chinook salmon are genetically distinct from Fall Chinook. ?The years of surveys and sample collection by the Karuk Tribe and the Salmon River Restoration Council may finally pay off,? according to Karuk council member Josh Saxon. ?If we can prove to Western scientists what the Karuk People have known since creation, we can finally get federal and state agencies to create a Spring Chinook recovery plan for the Klamath River.?Previous efforts to have Klamath River Spring Chinook added to the Endangered Species list failed because of a lack of genetic evidence that Spring Chinook were genetically distinct from Fall Chinook.?We look forward to seeing peer reviewed science once again explain how the Tribes had it right all along,? concludes Saxon.The cooperative annual survey is coordinated by the Salmon River Restoration Council with collaboration from members of local tribes, the Forest Service, NOAA Fisheries, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Watershed Councils and Community Volunteerism. The survey involves teams of counters snorkeling downstream for 3-4 mile stretches and covers over all 80 miles of river in one day. This survey is likely the longest running data set of this kind for salmon in the Pacific Northwest
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Aug  2 13:56:04 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2017 20:56:04 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Interview with Bob Be about Oroville failure(s)
References: <281892823.5904328.1501707364749.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <281892823.5904328.1501707364749@mail.yahoo.com>

There is a good article by Glen Martin where he interviews Bob?Bea, forensic engineer about Oroville Dam.
See:?Bob Bea Takes Us on a Deep Dive Through His Dire Oroville Report
  
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Bob Bea Takes Us on a Deep Dive Through His Dire Oroville Report
 Like everyone else, Robert Bea was appalled when almost 200,000 Californians living below Oroville Dam were orde...  |   |

  |

  |

 
?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?
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From oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us  Thu Aug  3 15:57:33 2017
From: oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us (Oshun O'Rourke)
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2017 22:57:33 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Willow Creek in-season trap update
Message-ID: <1373f0da8d6b4e78ad55b3f30081bb8a@mail.yuroktribe.nsn.us>

Attached is the Yurok Tribal Fisheries' in-season catch update for the Lower Trinity River outmigrant screw traps located in Willow Creek, CA.  Please see the attached spreadsheet for a full update.


Thanks,

Oshun O'Rourke
Fisheries Biologist
Yurok Tribe
530-629-3333 ext 1703




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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Sat Aug  5 15:01:07 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2017 22:01:07 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian Week 30
	(July 29th)
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB1378D9C409FA7C2C59A8E073BAB70@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW30.
Junction City weir was installed and all is good to go. JW 30 was their first week of trapping.
I decided I couldn't leave town without sending at least one week of trapping out, but unless someone else does it you won't see the next one until around the 15th.
Cheers.
MC


*************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876   I   maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov<mailto:maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov>
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
**************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity

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From sari at sisqtel.net  Fri Aug 11 11:54:39 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2017 11:54:39 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: NOAA research shows how changing ocean
	conditions influence bird predation on salmon
Message-ID: <004001d312d3$49b7ad50$dd2707f0$@sisqtel.net>

http://www.cbbulletin.com/439401.aspx#

 

Columbia Basin Bulletin

 <http://www.cbbulletin.com/439401.aspp> Print this Story Print this Story
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/Email_EmailContent.aspx?id=439401> Email this
Story Email this Story 


NOAA Research Shows How Changing Ocean Conditions Influence Bird Predation
On Salmon 
Posted on Friday, August 11, 2017 (PST) 


Interpreting relationships between species and their environments is crucial
to inform ecosystem-based management (EBM), a priority for NOAA Fisheries.
EBM recognizes the diverse interactions within an ecosystem -- including
human impacts -- so NOAA Fisheries can consider resource tradeoffs that help
protect and sustain productive ecosystems and the services they provide.

 

In the coastal ocean of California -- seabird predators, forage fish on
which they feed, and the survival of salmon out-migrating to sea are each of
particular interest, and an improved understanding of their interactions
could in turn improve the management of the ocean ecosystem, says the
agency. 

 

For example, in the California Current, understanding the interactions
between predator seabirds, forage fish in the coastal ocean and
out-migrating salmon from San Francisco Bay could improve the understanding
of salmon early survival in the ocean and a measure of the possible strength
of the year class return.

 

In the Gulf of the Farallones, new research by scientists from NOAA
Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Point Blue Conservation
Science, H.T. Harvey and Associates, University of California Santa Cruz,
U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that the
common murre, a small ocean seabird, can make a difference in the number of
salmon that survive to return as adults. This is especially true when ocean
conditions cause the murres to feed primarily on salmon and anchovy. The
research has been published online in the Journal of Marine Systems, and
will be included in the journal's October print issue. 

 

Large colonies of more than 500,000 common murres nest throughout the Gulf
of the Farallones, offshore of San Francisco. In typical years, with
nutrient-rich water welling up from the depths, the murres prey primarily on
young rockfish around their offshore breeding sites.

 

When ocean conditions change, and the upwelling falters, young rockfish that
are the typical prey for the murres become scarce. Then the murres switch,
feeding instead on adult northern anchovies found closer to shore. That's a
problem for the young salmon entering the ocean at these near-shore
locations, because the murres eat them too.

 

The finding documents one of the first examples of what biologists call
"bottom-up" influences -- changes at the base of the food web -- causing
"top-down" effects on West Coast salmon, such as an increase in predation by
a species higher in the chain, in this case the common murres.

 

"This is the first example we've found involving salmon where bottom-up
drivers are causing top-down impacts," said NOAA Fisheries research
biologist Brian Wells, lead author of the research. "The lack of upwelling
affects salmon in a top-down way."

 

The new research shows that salmon survival drops sharply in the years when
ocean conditions lead the murres to prey on anchovy and salmon. Even in
years when the murres are preying on anchovy, salmon comprise less than 10
percent of the diet of the murres; but the impact can be a significant
factor in the survival of salmon. The research concludes that predation by
the seabirds can make a difference in the number of salmon that survive to
return as adults. 

 

The salmon affected are primarily fall-run chinook, which are the primary
species supporting salmon fisheries off the California Coast. The research
helps reveal the complex relationships between species and their
environment, which in turn helps NOAA Fisheries anticipate and respond to
changes that affect fish, birds and people.

 

For example, the murres preyed heavily on anchovy and salmon in 2005, which
likely contributed to the collapse of the California salmon fishery in 2007
and 2008, the researchers found. Congress appropriated $170 million in
disaster relief for fishermen affected by the collapse.

 

NOAA Fisheries managers can use the details to make better decisions about
how best to protect and manage marine species.

 

"Understanding the dynamics behind these connections can help us anticipate
impacts to salmon, which are very important both economically and
environmentally," said John Field, a research fisheries biologist at the
SWFSC in Santa Cruz. "That can help fisheries managers make smart and
informed decisions about how to manage these species into the future."

 

 <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a73074e66d2b0b0>
Bookmark and Share

	

 

	

Bottom of Form

 

 

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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Aug 11 16:36:17 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2017 23:36:17 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Trinity River releases scheduled for Boat Dance
	Ceremony
In-Reply-To: <1a2f9831c718409fb2dde3c100cffe9e@usbr.gov>
References: <1a2f9831c718409fb2dde3c100cffe9e@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <543788813.281997.1502494577568@mail.yahoo.com>

On Friday, August 11, 2017 1:15 PM, Fernando Ponce <fponce at usbr.gov> wrote:

 Trinity River releases scheduled for Boat Dance CeremonyMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-124Media Contact: Erin Curtis, 916-978-5100, eccurtis at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: Aug. 11, 2017Trinity River releases scheduled for Boat Dance CeremonyREDDING, Calif. ? The Bureau of Reclamation will increase releases from Lewiston Dam to the Trinity River in support of the Hoopa Valley Tribe's biennial Boat Dance Ceremony Aug. 22 in Hoopa, California.To account for travel time of water released from Lewiston Dam to the ceremony located on the Trinity River, releases from Lewiston Dam will begin to increase above the base summer flow of 450 cubic feet per second at 6 p.m. Aug. 20, and will reach a peak flow of 2,650 cfs between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Aug. 21. The releases will then gradually decrease back to the base summer flow about 4 p.m. Aug. 24.The ceremonial flows are separate from the Trinity River restoration flows. The timing and flow rates from Lewiston Dam are preliminary and subject to subtle changes. People near or recreating on the river can expect river levels to increase and should take appropriate safety precautions.For more information, please contact Reclamation?s Northern California Area Office at 530-275-1554 (TTY 800-877-8339).###Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Aug 14 11:42:26 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2017 18:42:26 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: [Trinity Releases] Change Order - Lewiston Dam
In-Reply-To: <CAF2zoAo==t+6RJ5u5gfMX_3vHdW70pJC-uGD-uKbyqSOnXt2VQ@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAF2zoAo==t+6RJ5u5gfMX_3vHdW70pJC-uGD-uKbyqSOnXt2VQ@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <699708916.1774422.1502736146569@mail.yahoo.com>

On Monday, August 14, 2017 11:39 AM, "Field, Randi" <rfield at usbr.gov> wrote:


 Project:?Lewiston?Dam
Please make the following release?changes?to the Trinity River:?Date?????????? ?????Time ? ? ? ? ? ? From (cfs)?? ??To (cfs)
08/20/2017 ? ? ?1800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 450 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 500
08/20/2017 ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 500 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 800
08/20/2017 ? ? ?2200 ? ? ? ? ? ? 800 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 1050

08/21/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1050 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1300
08/21/2017 ? ? ?0200 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1300 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1550
08/21/2017 ? ? ?0400 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1550 ? ? ? ? ? ? 180008/21/2017 ? ? ?0600 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2050
08/21/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2050 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2250
08/21/2017 ? ? ?1000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2250 ? ? ? ? ? ? 265008/21/2017 ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2650 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2450

08/22/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2450 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2250
08/22/2017 ? ? ?0400 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2250 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2050
08/22/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 2050 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1850
08/22/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1850 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1750
08/22/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1750 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1650
08/22/2017 ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1650 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1550

08/23/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1550 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1450
08/23/2017 ? ? ?0400 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1450 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1350
08/23/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1350 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1250
08/23/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1250 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1150
08/23/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1150 ? ? ? ? ? ? 105008/23/2017 ? ? ?2000 ? ? ? ? ? ? 1050 ? ? ? ? ? ? 950

08/24/2017 ? ? ?0001 ? ? ? ? ? ? 950 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 850
08/24/2017 ? ? ?0400 ? ? ? ? ? ? 850 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 750
08/24/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 750 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 650
08/24/2017 ? ? ?1200 ? ? ? ? ? ? 650 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 550
08/24/2017 ? ? ?1600 ? ? ? ? ? ? 550 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 450


Comment: ?Hoopa Valley Tribe Bi-annual Boat Dance Ceremony
Issued by: ?R Field-- 
View online at http://www.trrp.net/restore/flows/release-email/
--- 



   
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Mon Aug 14 18:25:33 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2017 01:25:33 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian Week 32
	(August 12th)
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB137856A748B1562FEF478829BA8D0@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW32.
Cheers.
MC


*************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876   I   maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov<mailto:maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov>
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
**************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity

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From sari at sisqtel.net  Tue Aug 15 14:02:49 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2017 14:02:49 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] UCD - California WaterFix and Delta Smelt
Message-ID: <006a01d31609$db32e9a0$9198bce0$@sisqtel.net>

https://californiawaterblog.com/2017/08/13/california-waterfix-and-delta-smelt/

 


UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences posted: "by Peter Moyle and James Hobbs The delta smelt is on a trajectory towards extinction in the wild.  Heading into 2017, the spawning adult population was at an all-time low although this past wet winter has apparently seen a small resurgence.  Howeve" 



Respond to this post by replying above this line

 


	

 



New post on California WaterBlog 

  <http://0.gravatar.com/blavatar/cb88542dff0d60f8d58c9bcc44ed0708?s=32&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Femails%2Fblavatar.png> 

 




 <http://californiawaterblog.com/author/californiawaterblog/> 


 <http://californiawaterblog.com/2017/08/13/california-waterfix-and-delta-smelt/> California WaterFix and Delta Smelt


by  <http://californiawaterblog.com/author/californiawaterblog/> UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences 

by Peter Moyle and James Hobbs The delta smelt is on a trajectory towards extinction in the wild.  Heading into 2017, the spawning adult population was at an all-time low although this past wet winter has apparently seen a small resurgence.  However, increasingly warm summer temperatures in the Delta may dampen any upswing.  Given the [?]

 <http://californiawaterblog.com/2017/08/13/california-waterfix-and-delta-smelt/> Read more of this post

 <http://californiawaterblog.com/author/californiawaterblog/> UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences | August 13, 2017 at 8:00 pm | Tags:  <http://californiawaterblog.com/tag/james-hobbs/> James Hobbs,  <http://californiawaterblog.com/tag/peter-moyle/> Peter Moyle | Categories:  <http://californiawaterblog.com/category/california-water/> California Water,  <http://californiawaterblog.com/category/conservation/> Conservation,  <http://californiawaterblog.com/category/delta/> Delta,  <http://californiawaterblog.com/category/fish/> Fish,  <http://californiawaterblog.com/category/planning-and-management/> Planning and Management,  <http://californiawaterblog.com/category/restoration/> Restoration,  <http://californiawaterblog.com/category/sacramento-san-joaquin-delta/> Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,  <http://californiawaterblog.com/category/sustainability/> Sustainability | URL:  <http://wp.me/p17k4l-1Yv> http://wp.me/p17k4l-1Yv 


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    <http://californiawaterblog.com/2017/08/13/california-waterfix-and-delta-smelt/#comments> See all comments

 


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From tgstoked at gmail.com  Thu Aug 17 09:18:32 2017
From: tgstoked at gmail.com (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 09:18:32 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: NEWS: Gaping Holes Found in MWD White Paper #3
	on Tunnels Financing
In-Reply-To: <06887fa70084fef8e939fef63.2ca461c02c.20170814172955.281303c26d.3466f460@mail37.atl11.rsgsv.net>
References: <06887fa70084fef8e939fef63.2ca461c02c.20170814172955.281303c26d.3466f460@mail37.atl11.rsgsv.net>
Message-ID: <CABnDsn-NerHJW7vz3avpn61MiCSSS7ocK4ixGV4s9tneQrNhTw@mail.gmail.com>

Regardless of what the esteemed Dr. Peter Moyle says about the Delta
Tunnels, it looks like the ratepayers of the Metropolitan Water District of
SoCal are about to be hoodwinked into much higher rates based on bogus
economic assumptions for the project.

A similar thing happened when Santa Barbara decided to connect to the State
Water Project.  They were told that the project would cost $270 million
(without interest).  The construction ended up costing $600 million, and
with interest and other costs added in, it was actually $1.76 billion.
It's been an opportunity lost to invest in other options like recycling,
stormwater capture, conservation and desalination.

TS

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Restore the Delta <barbara at restorethedelta.org>
Date: Mon, Aug 14, 2017 at 10:30 AM
Subject: NEWS: Gaping Holes Found in MWD White Paper #3 on Tunnels Financing
To: tgstoked at gmail.com


Water experts speak out!

Is this email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser
<http://mailchi.mp/restorethedelta/feinstein-on-delta-tunnels-at-los-angeles-town-hall-426813?e=2ca461c02c>.


[image: Twitter]
<http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=NEWS%3A%20Gaping%20Holes%20Found%20in%20MWD%20Whit...%20-%20http%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Frestorethedelta%2Ffeinstein-on-delta-tunnels-at-los-angeles-town-hall-426813>
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Facebook]
<http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Frestorethedelta%2Ffeinstein-on-delta-tunnels-at-los-angeles-town-hall-426813&t=NEWS%3A%20Gaping%20Holes%20Found%20in%20MWD%20White%20Paper%20%233%20on%20Tunnels%20Financing>
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LinkedIn]
<http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Frestorethedelta%2Ffeinstein-on-delta-tunnels-at-los-angeles-town-hall-426813&title=NEWS%3A%20Gaping%20Holes%20Found%20in%20MWD%20White%20Paper%20%233%20on%20Tunnels%20Financing>
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[image:
Instapaper]
<http://www.instapaper.com/hello2?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2Frestorethedelta%2Ffeinstein-on-delta-tunnels-at-los-angeles-town-hall-426813&title=NEWS%3A%20Gaping%20Holes%20Found%20in%20MWD%20White%20Paper%20%233%20on%20Tunnels%20Financing>
*Press release: *

*Restore the Delta Finds Gaping Holes in MWD White Paper #3*
Read at our website
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=2c5e1044ef&e=2ca461c02c>
.


Restore the Delta issued a formal response
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=793a18fcb2&e=2ca461c02c>
to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California third and final
white paper on the Delta Tunnels. The response illuminates the gaping holes
in MWD?s financial analysis on various CA WaterFix costs.

*Executive Director of Restore the Delta, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said:*
?MWD's failure to analyze water costs in dry and drought years and water
use by consumers so as to determine the real cost per household for
WaterFix make this analysis invalid. MWD staff clearly wants to build this
project so that water can be sold for maximum profit.?

*Policy Analyst for Restore the Delta, Tim Stroshane said:*
?With its latest financing paper, MWD pedals a wish and a prayer to its
board that a $17 billion Tunnels project will only cost its 6.2 million
residential customers $2 to $3 per month. MWD?s rosy picture omits the cost
of their customers? Tunnels water use. This is analytical malpractice of
the highest order.?

*Policy Advocate for the Sierra Club (CA) Kyle Jones said: *
?Metropolitan Water District continues to paint the Tunnels in the best
light, using the lowest cost estimates possible. This proposed fantasy
ignores costs of mitigation for their environmental harm, and assumes that
all contractors are willing to pay for this $68 billion boondoggle.
Metropolitan also cherry picks alternative options for the Tunnels that
look at only the most expensive options. Any true alternatives analysis,
including conservation, efficiency, and groundwater cleanup, would show
that there?s a better path forward for Metropolitan customers to develop a
climate-resilient water system that isn?t conditioned on destroying the San
Francisco Bay Delta.?

University of the Pacific Economist Dr. Jeff Michael and NRDC Senior
Attorney Doug Obegi expressed similar sentiments in their respective
analyses on MWD white paper #3. We thank them for their ongoing commitment
to discovering the true costs and financial irresponsibility of the CA
WaterFix project.

To read Obegi?s blog, click here
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=42b73471f5&e=2ca461c02c>
.

To read Michael?s blog, click here
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=3215f9ebac&e=2ca461c02c>
.

To read Restore the Delta?s response, click here
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=f48e994536&e=2ca461c02c>
.

###
*Make a Mid-Year Donation * 2017 is shaping up to be a year of technical
battles regarding the Delta tunnels and the protection of the estuary for
future generations. Donate
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=eefdc3f0e0&e=2ca461c02c>
.

*Update your subscription to weekly * We've updated our form to ask how you
would like to receive your updates. Update your subscription
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage.com/profile?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=de0bcb39ba&e=2ca461c02c>
to get a digest of media alerts once a week or get both!
*Copyright ? 2017 Restore the Delta, All rights reserved.*
You are receiving this e-mail because you signed up for our mailing list to
receive updates and news about Restore the Delta.
*Our mailing address is:*
Restore the Delta
42 N. Sutter Street, Suite 506
Stockton, CA 95202

Add us to your address book
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| update subscription preferences
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*
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Aug 17 11:25:20 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 18:25:20 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned
 for California. What will it cost the Southland?
References: <1605508471.4544547.1502994320266.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1605508471.4544547.1502994320266@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-tunnels-cost-20170814-story.htmlA nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?
Bettina BoxallContact ReporterAfter years of planning for one of the biggest California water projects in decades, a key question remains unanswered: Who exactly will pay for it?Decision time is approaching for the agencies that will have to pick up the nearly $17-billion tab for building two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of the state?s water works.Whether the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California commits to paying roughly a quarter of the bill could make or break the project.Metropolitan management has been a consistent cheerleader for the tunnels, arguing they are vital to stabilizing deliveries of Northern California water that on average provide the Southland with about a third of its supplies.?The costs of California WaterFix are substantial,? the staff wrote in a report reviewed Monday by two MWD committees. ?However?the costs that would be allocated to Metropolitan are reasonable and affordable, given the water supply reliability improvements.?The staff estimated that the project would cost MWD about $4.3 billion, increasing residential water rates an average of roughly $23 to $38 a year ? depending on interest rates on the project debt.Committee members appeared generally receptive to the presentation. But several indicated they wanted more time before the final project vote, which is scheduled for Sept. 26.?The 26th?is not realistic,? said board vice chair John Murray Jr., who represents Los Angeles.Public comments at the Monday meeting were divided.Speakers representing business and labor endorsed the project, saying it was needed to maintain reliable water supplies for the state?s most populous region. Charley Wilson, executive director of the nonprofit Southern California Water Committee, called the staff?s white paper a ?prudent, conservative and responsible financial plan.?But opponents predicted that MWD would wind up paying far more than the staff estimate, and argued the money would be better spent developing local supplies. The staff analysis ?understates the costs and risks? to MWD, said Doug Obegi, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that has been involved in numerous lawsuits over endangered species protections in the delta.As outlined by the MWD staff, the largely urban customers of the State Water Project would pay 55% of its cost, or $9.2 billion. The largely agricultural customers of the federal Central Valley Project would pay for 45%, or $7.5 billion.Obegi and others said that breakdown was unrealistic for a couple of reasons.First, growers can?t afford to pay that much. And irrigation districts with senior water rights and wildlife refuges ? which both receive water from the delta ? would not have to share the tunnel costs.The State Water Project could wind up paying for 65% to 75% of the tunnels, driving up MWD?s cost, according to critics.By diverting water from the Sacramento River in the north delta and sending it through twin tunnels to the south delta pumps, proponents hope, the project will diminish environmental impacts that have restricted water exports.State water managers say the tunnels will not significantly boost average delta exports. Rather, they argue, the project will avert future restrictions that could slash delta deliveries to 1970s levels.According to the MWD paper, if the tunnels are built, future delta supplies would be 1.3 million acre-feet greater than without the tunnels. The staff used that number to estimate the per-acre-foot cost of the tunnel water, concluding it would be far cheaper than new supplies from recycling projects or seawater desalination.(An acre-foot is enough to supply two average households for a year.)But in a recent blog post, Jeff Michael, a tunnel critic and director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, called MWD?s supply projections ?wildly optimistic.? He said the board should demand more plausible cost comparisons with other water sources.At Monday?s committee meeting, MWD general manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said that regardless of how the tunnel water supply is calculated, MWD?s project costs would stay the same.Other water agencies are expected to vote soon on whether to participate in the tunnel project. If too many say no, the project could die ? or the agencies that say yes would have to up their stake to keep it alive.
?
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From kierassociates at att.net  Thu Aug 17 13:43:47 2017
From: kierassociates at att.net (Kier Associates)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 13:43:47 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being
	planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?
In-Reply-To: <1605508471.4544547.1502994320266@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1605508471.4544547.1502994320266.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1605508471.4544547.1502994320266@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <003801d31799$87ff5890$97fe09b0$@att.net>

The State Water Project (SWP) was presented to California voters on the fall 1960 ballot, for approval of the bonds with which to build it, as a $1.75 billion project. 

 

SWP proponents have maintained ever since that the 1960 voters OK-ed the Project?s Delta facilities even though such facilities, unlike the rest of the Project, hadn?t been defined/ couldn?t be spelled out in the ballot measure.

 

Somewhere over the nearly 57 years since, SWP proponents have named the Delta facilities ?Stage 2? of the SWP - not part-and-parcel, apparently, of that for which voters approved financing in 1960 ? demonstrating that you can have it both ways if your position in Sacramento is lofty enough.

 

So how much do you reckon the SWP - oops, ?Stage 1? of the SWP ? cost to build? 

 

That?s a question you can bet the State Water Contractors http://www.swc.org have the answer to ? but I?ll betcha they?re not about to share it with you (in my youth the Contractors had permanent accounting/auditing staffs housed in the Resources Building at 9th and N Sts. going over every penny spent on SWP construction ? and they may to this day). Or you could put a request to DWR ? though it might have to be in the form of a Public Records Act request, and then you?re likely going to go nuts trying to interpret what you get back from DWR.

 

If I had to bet how much SWP construction costs have overrun that mythical $1.75 billion on the 1960 ballot I?d go with the scale of that overrun Tom Stokely reported earlier today that occurred with Santa Barbara?s SWP ?coastal stub?. ?Told that their coastal stub was going to cost them $270 million before interest it ended up costing $1.76 billion with interest (?get that? that Santa Barbara?s coastal stub cost as much as the entire SWP price tag presented to the 1960 voters.)

 

Six-and-a-half times the current engineer?s estimate.. let?s see, that would put the potential price of the CA WaterFix at $110.5 billion ? not $17 billion.

 

?Sounds about right ? unless you?re the guy that has to pay for it.

 

Bill Kier

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 11:25 AM
To: Env-trinity
Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

 

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-tunnels-cost-20170814-story.html

A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?


 <http://www.latimes.com/la-bio-bettina-boxall-staff.html#nt=byline> Bettina Boxall <mailto:bettina.boxall at latimes.com?subject=Regarding:%20%22A%20nearly%20$17-billion%20water%20project%20is%20being%20planned%20for%20California.%20What%20will%20it%20cost%20the%20Southland?%22> Contact Reporter

After years of planning for one of the biggest California water projects in decades, a key question remains unanswered: Who exactly will pay for it?

Decision time is approaching for the agencies that will have to pick up the nearly $17-billion tab for building two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of the state?s water works.

Whether the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California commits to paying roughly a quarter of the bill could make or break the project.

Metropolitan management has been a consistent cheerleader for the tunnels, arguing they are vital to stabilizing deliveries of Northern California water that on average provide the Southland with about a third of its supplies.

?The costs of California WaterFix are substantial,? the staff wrote in a report reviewed Monday by two MWD committees. ?However?the costs that would be allocated to Metropolitan are reasonable and affordable, given the water supply reliability improvements.?

The staff estimated that the project would cost MWD about $4.3 billion, increasing residential water rates an average of roughly $23 to $38 a year ? depending on interest rates on the project debt.

Committee members appeared generally receptive to the presentation. But several indicated they wanted more time before the final project vote, which is scheduled for Sept. 26.

?The 26th is not realistic,? said board vice chair John Murray Jr., who represents Los Angeles.

Public comments at the Monday meeting were divided.

Speakers representing business and labor endorsed the project, saying it was needed to maintain reliable water supplies for the state?s most populous region. Charley Wilson, executive director of the nonprofit Southern California Water Committee, called the staff?s white paper a ?prudent, conservative and responsible financial plan.?

But opponents predicted that MWD would wind up paying far more than the staff estimate, and argued the money would be better spent developing local supplies. The staff analysis ?understates the costs and risks? to MWD, said Doug Obegi, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that has been involved in numerous lawsuits over endangered species protections in the delta.

As outlined by the MWD staff, the largely urban customers of the State Water Project would pay 55% of its cost, or $9.2 billion. The largely agricultural customers of the federal Central Valley Project would pay for 45%, or $7.5 billion.

Obegi and others said that breakdown was unrealistic for a couple of reasons.

First, growers can?t afford to pay that much. And irrigation districts with senior water rights and wildlife refuges ? which both receive water from the delta ? would not have to share the tunnel costs.

The State Water Project could wind up paying for 65% to 75% of the tunnels, driving up MWD?s cost, according to critics.

By diverting water from the Sacramento River in the north delta and sending it through twin tunnels to the south delta pumps, proponents hope, the project will diminish environmental impacts that have restricted water exports.

State water managers say the tunnels will not significantly boost average delta exports. Rather, they argue, the project will avert future restrictions that could slash delta deliveries to 1970s levels.

According to the MWD paper, if the tunnels are built, future delta supplies would be 1.3 million acre-feet greater than without the tunnels. The staff used that number to estimate the per-acre-foot cost of the tunnel water, concluding it would be far cheaper than new supplies from recycling projects or seawater desalination.

(An acre-foot is enough to supply two average households for a year.)

But in a recent blog post, Jeff Michael, a tunnel critic and director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, called MWD?s supply projections ?wildly optimistic.? He said the board should demand more plausible cost comparisons with other water sources.

At Monday?s committee meeting, MWD general manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said that regardless of how the tunnel water supply is calculated, MWD?s project costs would stay the same

Other water agencies are expected to vote soon on whether to participate in the tunnel project. If too many say no, the project could die ? or the agencies that say yes would have to up their stake to keep it alive.

 

 

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From pegberry1 at gmail.com  Thu Aug 17 15:35:21 2017
From: pegberry1 at gmail.com (Peggy Berry)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 15:35:21 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being
 planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?
In-Reply-To: <003801d31799$87ff5890$97fe09b0$@att.net>
References: <1605508471.4544547.1502994320266.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1605508471.4544547.1502994320266@mail.yahoo.com>
	<003801d31799$87ff5890$97fe09b0$@att.net>
Message-ID: <82D860B2-E390-42A3-94D3-A624B4DA5283@gmail.com>

Bill Kier,

Thanks for your ?thoughtful? and revealing calculations!

Peggy Berry


> On Aug 17, 2017, at 1:43 PM, Kier Associates <kierassociates at att.net> wrote:
> 
> The State Water Project (SWP) was presented to California voters on the fall 1960 ballot, for approval of the bonds with which to build it, as a $1.75 billion project. 
>  
> SWP proponents have maintained ever since that the 1960 voters OK-ed the Project?s Delta facilities even though such facilities, unlike the rest of the Project, hadn?t been defined/ couldn?t be spelled out in the ballot measure.
>  
> Somewhere over the nearly 57 years since, SWP proponents have named the Delta facilities ?Stage 2? of the SWP - not part-and-parcel, apparently, of that for which voters approved financing in 1960 ? demonstrating that you can have it both ways if your position in Sacramento is lofty enough.
>  
> So how much do you reckon the SWP - oops, ?Stage 1? of the SWP ? cost to build? 
>  
> That?s a question you can bet the State Water Contractors http://www.swc.org <http://www.swc.org/> have the answer to ? but I?ll betcha they?re not about to share it with you (in my youth the Contractors had permanent accounting/auditing staffs housed in the Resources Building at 9th and N Sts. going over every penny spent on SWP construction ? and they may to this day). Or you could put a request to DWR ? though it might have to be in the form of a Public Records Act request, and then you?re likely going to go nuts trying to interpret what you get back from DWR.
>  
> If I had to bet how much SWP construction costs have overrun that mythical $1.75 billion on the 1960 ballot I?d go with the scale of that overrun Tom Stokely reported earlier today that occurred with Santa Barbara?s SWP ?coastal stub?. ?Told that their coastal stub was going to cost them $270 million before interest it ended up costing $1.76 billion with interest (?get that? that Santa Barbara?s coastal stub cost as much as the entire SWP price tag presented to the 1960 voters.)
>  
> Six-and-a-half times the current engineer?s estimate.. let?s see, that would put the potential price of the CA WaterFix at $110.5 billion ? not $17 billion.
>  
> ?Sounds about right ? unless you?re the guy that has to pay for it.
>  
> Bill Kier
> From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
> Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 11:25 AM
> To: Env-trinity
> Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?
>  
> http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-tunnels-cost-20170814-story.html <http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-tunnels-cost-20170814-story.html>
> A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?
> 
> Bettina Boxall <http://www.latimes.com/la-bio-bettina-boxall-staff.html#nt=byline>Contact Reporter <mailto:bettina.boxall at latimes.com?subject=Regarding:%20%22A%20nearly%20$17-billion%20water%20project%20is%20being%20planned%20for%20California.%20What%20will%20it%20cost%20the%20Southland?%22>
> After years of planning for one of the biggest California water projects in decades, a key question remains unanswered: Who exactly will pay for it?
> Decision time is approaching for the agencies that will have to pick up the nearly $17-billion tab for building two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of the state?s water works.
> Whether the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California commits to paying roughly a quarter of the bill could make or break the project.
> Metropolitan management has been a consistent cheerleader for the tunnels, arguing they are vital to stabilizing deliveries of Northern California water that on average provide the Southland with about a third of its supplies.
> ?The costs of California WaterFix are substantial,? the staff wrote in a report reviewed Monday by two MWD committees. ?However?the costs that would be allocated to Metropolitan are reasonable and affordable, given the water supply reliability improvements.?
> The staff estimated that the project would cost MWD about $4.3 billion, increasing residential water rates an average of roughly $23 to $38 a year ? depending on interest rates on the project debt.
> Committee members appeared generally receptive to the presentation. But several indicated they wanted more time before the final project vote, which is scheduled for Sept. 26.
> ?The 26th is not realistic,? said board vice chair John Murray Jr., who represents Los Angeles.
> Public comments at the Monday meeting were divided.
> Speakers representing business and labor endorsed the project, saying it was needed to maintain reliable water supplies for the state?s most populous region. Charley Wilson, executive director of the nonprofit Southern California Water Committee, called the staff?s white paper a ?prudent, conservative and responsible financial plan.?
> But opponents predicted that MWD would wind up paying far more than the staff estimate, and argued the money would be better spent developing local supplies. The staff analysis ?understates the costs and risks? to MWD, said Doug Obegi, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that has been involved in numerous lawsuits over endangered species protections in the delta.
> As outlined by the MWD staff, the largely urban customers of the State Water Project would pay 55% of its cost, or $9.2 billion. The largely agricultural customers of the federal Central Valley Project would pay for 45%, or $7.5 billion.
> Obegi and others said that breakdown was unrealistic for a couple of reasons.
> First, growers can?t afford to pay that much. And irrigation districts with senior water rights and wildlife refuges ? which both receive water from the delta ? would not have to share the tunnel costs.
> The State Water Project could wind up paying for 65% to 75% of the tunnels, driving up MWD?s cost, according to critics.
> By diverting water from the Sacramento River in the north delta and sending it through twin tunnels to the south delta pumps, proponents hope, the project will diminish environmental impacts that have restricted water exports.
> State water managers say the tunnels will not significantly boost average delta exports. Rather, they argue, the project will avert future restrictions that could slash delta deliveries to 1970s levels.
> According to the MWD paper, if the tunnels are built, future delta supplies would be 1.3 million acre-feet greater than without the tunnels. The staff used that number to estimate the per-acre-foot cost of the tunnel water, concluding it would be far cheaper than new supplies from recycling projects or seawater desalination.
> (An acre-foot is enough to supply two average households for a year.)
> But in a recent blog post, Jeff Michael, a tunnel critic and director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, called MWD?s supply projections ?wildly optimistic.? He said the board should demand more plausible cost comparisons with other water sources.
> At Monday?s committee meeting, MWD general manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said that regardless of how the tunnel water supply is calculated, MWD?s project costs would stay the same
> Other water agencies are expected to vote soon on whether to participate in the tunnel project. If too many say no, the project could die ? or the agencies that say yes would have to up their stake to keep it alive.
>  
>  
> _______________________________________________
> env-trinity mailing list
> env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
> http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity

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From ddj at cah2oresearch.com  Thu Aug 17 16:17:04 2017
From: ddj at cah2oresearch.com (Deirdre Des Jardins)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 16:17:04 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being
	planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?
Message-ID: <02e101d317ae$f15675c0$d4036140$@cah2oresearch.com>

Bill ? here?s the total cost Capital Expenditures reported in Bulletin 132-15 (2015):

 

Original Facilities* (Burns-Porter Act):        $1.8 billion

California Aqueduct:                                      $3.1 billion

East Branch enlargement and extension         $790 million

Power plants:                                                  $622 million

Total (including misc)                                    $6.6 billion

 

*Oroville and Feather River facilities, Delta facilities, North Bay Aqueduct and South Bay Aqueduct, State share of San Luis

 

There are still billions in outstanding CVP revenue bonds.  DWR used a Resolution in 2006 to grab ?surplus? revenue from water sales from the original Burns-Porter Act facilities to finance revenue bonds for the California Aqueduct and Off-Aqueduct power facilities.    

 

I think the use of revenues from water sales for the California Aqueduct, East Branch Enlagement, and Power Plants is one of the reasons DWR has been short of funds to maintain Oroville and San Luis dams, even though the revenue from water sales is pledged first to operations & maintenance of the facilities.    

 

Excerpts below from 2006 resolution below.  

http://www.water.ca.gov/swpao/docs/notices/07-04.pdf

 

 

WHEREAS, the State of California Deparbnent of Water Resources (hereinafter the "Department") has issued its Central Valley Project Water System Revenue Bonds (the "Bonds") under the Central Valley Project Water System Revenue Bonds, General Bond Resolution, adopted as of July 1, 1986, as amended (the "Resolution"); 

 

WHEREAS, Section 101 of the Resolution defines the term "Revenues" to include not only all moneys received by the Department under the Water Supply Contracts resulting fiom the construction, acquisition or operation of Projects, but also all moneys received by the Deparbnent from any other legally available source which the Department in its discretion determines to be "Revenues" and so designates in a Certificate of the Department filed with the Treasurer.(as those terns are defmed in the Resolution);?

 

WHEREAS, Section 101 of the Resolution defines the term "Revenues" to include not only all moneys received by the Department under the Water Supply Contracts resulting from the construction, acquisition or operation of Projects, but also all moneys received by the Department from any other legally available source which the Department in its discretion determines to be "Revenues" and so designates in a Certificate of the Department filed with the Treasurer.(as those terns are defmed in the Resolution); 

 

WHEREAS, moneys available under California Water Code Section 12937(b)(4) are available for use by the Department for acquisition and construction of the State Water Resources Development System, including for use as Revenues under the Resolution; 

 

WHEREAS, moneys received by the Department as a result of Article 51(c)(2)(i) of the Water Supply Contracts (or the equivalent article in Water Supply Contracts other than that of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) and relating to the Bonds are from facilities financed by the Bonds and are Revenues under the Resolution whether or not such moneys are the result of charges under the amendments commonly known as the Off-Aqueduct Power Facilities Amendment, the East Branch Enlargement Amendment, the Water System Revenue Bond Amendment, the Coastal Branch Extension Amendment and the East Branch Extension Amendment

 

The Department hereby confirms, and to the extent necessary, determines. and designates that moneys available under California Water Code Section 12937(b)(4) are available for use by the Department for acquisition and construction of the State Water Resources Development System and, to the extent necessary to satisfy the requirements of the 

Resolution (taking into account other Revenues),are Revenues under the Resolution, and that all moneys received by the Department that fall under the revenue need category specified in Article , 5 l(c)(2)(i) of the Water Supply Contracts (or the equivalent article in Water Supply Contracts other than that of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) and relating to the Bonds are from facilities financed by Bonds and are Revenues under the Resolution whether or not such moneys are the result of charges under the amendments commonly known as the Off- Aqueduct Power Facilities Amendment, the East Branch Enlargement Amendment, the Water System Revenue Bond Amendment, the Coastal Branch Extension Amendment and the East Branch Extension Amendment.

 

 

Deirdre Des Jardins

 <mailto:ddj at cah2oresearch.com> ddj at cah2oresearch.com

831 423-6857 v

831 566-6320 c

 

 <http://cah2oresearch.com/> 

 

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Kier Associates
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 1:44 PM
To: 'Tom Stokely' <tstokely at att.net>; 'Env-trinity' <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Cc: bettina boxall <bettina.boxall at latimes.com>; robin abcarian at the la times <robin.abcarian at latimes.com>
Subject: Re: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

 

The State Water Project (SWP) was presented to California voters on the fall 1960 ballot, for approval of the bonds with which to build it, as a $1.75 billion project. 

 

SWP proponents have maintained ever since that the 1960 voters OK-ed the Project?s Delta facilities even though such facilities, unlike the rest of the Project, hadn?t been defined/ couldn?t be spelled out in the ballot measure.

 

Somewhere over the nearly 57 years since, SWP proponents have named the Delta facilities ?Stage 2? of the SWP - not part-and-parcel, apparently, of that for which voters approved financing in 1960 ? demonstrating that you can have it both ways if your position in Sacramento is lofty enough.

 

So how much do you reckon the SWP - oops, ?Stage 1? of the SWP ? cost to build? 

 

That?s a question you can bet the State Water Contractors http://www.swc.org have the answer to ? but I?ll betcha they?re not about to share it with you (in my youth the Contractors had permanent accounting/auditing staffs housed in the Resources Building at 9th and N Sts. going over every penny spent on SWP construction ? and they may to this day). Or you could put a request to DWR ? though it might have to be in the form of a Public Records Act request, and then you?re likely going to go nuts trying to interpret what you get back from DWR.

 

If I had to bet how much SWP construction costs have overrun that mythical $1.75 billion on the 1960 ballot I?d go with the scale of that overrun Tom Stokely reported earlier today that occurred with Santa Barbara?s SWP ?coastal stub?. ?Told that their coastal stub was going to cost them $270 million before interest it ended up costing $1.76 billion with interest (?get that? that Santa Barbara?s coastal stub cost as much as the entire SWP price tag presented to the 1960 voters.)

 

Six-and-a-half times the current engineer?s estimate.. let?s see, that would put the potential price of the CA WaterFix at $110.5 billion ? not $17 billion.

 

?Sounds about right ? unless you?re the guy that has to pay for it.

 

Bill Kier

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 11:25 AM
To: Env-trinity
Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

 

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-tunnels-cost-20170814-story.html

A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?


 <http://www.latimes.com/la-bio-bettina-boxall-staff.html#nt=byline> Bettina Boxall <mailto:bettina.boxall at latimes.com?subject=Regarding:%20%22A%20nearly%20$17-billion%20water%20project%20is%20being%20planned%20for%20California.%20What%20will%20it%20cost%20the%20Southland?%22> Contact Reporter

After years of planning for one of the biggest California water projects in decades, a key question remains unanswered: Who exactly will pay for it?

Decision time is approaching for the agencies that will have to pick up the nearly $17-billion tab for building two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of the state?s water works.

Whether the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California commits to paying roughly a quarter of the bill could make or break the project.

Metropolitan management has been a consistent cheerleader for the tunnels, arguing they are vital to stabilizing deliveries of Northern California water that on average provide the Southland with about a third of its supplies.

?The costs of California WaterFix are substantial,? the staff wrote in a report reviewed Monday by two MWD committees. ?However?the costs that would be allocated to Metropolitan are reasonable and affordable, given the water supply reliability improvements.?

The staff estimated that the project would cost MWD about $4.3 billion, increasing residential water rates an average of roughly $23 to $38 a year ? depending on interest rates on the project debt.

Committee members appeared generally receptive to the presentation. But several indicated they wanted more time before the final project vote, which is scheduled for Sept. 26.

?The 26th is not realistic,? said board vice chair John Murray Jr., who represents Los Angeles.

Public comments at the Monday meeting were divided.

Speakers representing business and labor endorsed the project, saying it was needed to maintain reliable water supplies for the state?s most populous region. Charley Wilson, executive director of the nonprofit Southern California Water Committee, called the staff?s white paper a ?prudent, conservative and responsible financial plan.?

But opponents predicted that MWD would wind up paying far more than the staff estimate, and argued the money would be better spent developing local supplies. The staff analysis ?understates the costs and risks? to MWD, said Doug Obegi, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that has been involved in numerous lawsuits over endangered species protections in the delta.

As outlined by the MWD staff, the largely urban customers of the State Water Project would pay 55% of its cost, or $9.2 billion. The largely agricultural customers of the federal Central Valley Project would pay for 45%, or $7.5 billion.

Obegi and others said that breakdown was unrealistic for a couple of reasons.

First, growers can?t afford to pay that much. And irrigation districts with senior water rights and wildlife refuges ? which both receive water from the delta ? would not have to share the tunnel costs.

The State Water Project could wind up paying for 65% to 75% of the tunnels, driving up MWD?s cost, according to critics.

By diverting water from the Sacramento River in the north delta and sending it through twin tunnels to the south delta pumps, proponents hope, the project will diminish environmental impacts that have restricted water exports.

State water managers say the tunnels will not significantly boost average delta exports. Rather, they argue, the project will avert future restrictions that could slash delta deliveries to 1970s levels.

According to the MWD paper, if the tunnels are built, future delta supplies would be 1.3 million acre-feet greater than without the tunnels. The staff used that number to estimate the per-acre-foot cost of the tunnel water, concluding it would be far cheaper than new supplies from recycling projects or seawater desalination.

(An acre-foot is enough to supply two average households for a year.)

But in a recent blog post, Jeff Michael, a tunnel critic and director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, called MWD?s supply projections ?wildly optimistic.? He said the board should demand more plausible cost comparisons with other water sources.

At Monday?s committee meeting, MWD general manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said that regardless of how the tunnel water supply is calculated, MWD?s project costs would stay the same

Other water agencies are expected to vote soon on whether to participate in the tunnel project. If too many say no, the project could die ? or the agencies that say yes would have to up their stake to keep it alive.

 

 

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From tgstoked at gmail.com  Thu Aug 17 16:24:28 2017
From: tgstoked at gmail.com (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 16:24:28 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: NEWS: High Risks for Farmers with Delta Tunnels
Message-ID: <CABnDsn-fkD3foppLFqWCE_Fheh8JS5=hvLEv=nrNuO=5hKcgbA@mail.gmail.com>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Restore the Delta <barbara at restorethedelta.org>
Date: Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 1:02 PM
Subject: NEWS: High Risks for Farmers with Delta Tunnels
To: tgstoked at gmail.com


Restore the Delta Outlines Risks of Delta Tunnels Participation for
Westlands in Comment Letter

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View it in your browser
<http://mailchi.mp/restorethedelta/feinstein-on-delta-tunnels-at-los-angeles-town-hall-426849?e=2ca461c02c>.


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*Press release: *

*Restore the Delta Outlines Risks of Delta Tunnels Participation for
Westlands in Comment Letter*
Read at our website
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=a9b8a9bb3a&e=2ca461c02c>
.


Yesterday, Restore the Delta submitted a formal letter
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=a98bec7ecb&e=2ca461c02c>
regarding the risks of the CA WaterFix proposal to the Westlands Water
District. The comment letter outlined various fiscal, environmental, and
supply reliability risks of the project for Westlands farmers and reveals
the steep cost of the project, even should Central Valley Project (CVP)
contractors agree to a 20-30 percent participation share.

In addition, Fitch Ratings Service said in a press release
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=53e3675179&e=2ca461c02c>
yesterday that, "The MWD (Metropolitan Water District) estimate is based on
a cost split for the Fix of 55 percent SWP (State Water Project) and 45
percent CVP (Central Valley Project). However, this assumes that all other
SWP and CVP contractors sign on to the Fix. The cost to MWD and its
ratepayers could be higher if some contractors decline to participate.?

Should Westlands as part of the Central Valley Project only be able to pay
20-30 percent for the tunnels, the State Water Project would end up paying
70-80 percent of total WaterFix costs, with MWD paying a 37-42 percent of
WaterFix total costs, based on their own formulas. In addition, Fitch notes
that some water districts are now hitting the threshold for water
affordability.

*Executive Director of Restore the Delta, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said:*
"There is such a high degree of financial risk for farmers in the Westlands
Water District with CA WaterFix that we cannot see any true benefits for
them from the project. In addition, if the Metropolitan Water District
becomes the lead agency for a Finance Joint Powers Authority (they're
already leading the effort on the Construction Joint Powers Authority) as
discussed at a recent MWD meeting, Westlands will be tied to and following
the lead of the largest urban water district in California, rather than
setting their own water management course. Considering that MWD senior
management continues to tell its board that Central Valley Project
contractors, which Westlands is a part of, will be contributing a 45
percent share toward construction costs for CA WaterFix, when we know CVP
contractors are also considering a smaller 20 percent or 30 percent
contribution, it seems that MWD has unreasonably high expectations that
Westlands will follow their financial and planning lead into the future.?

*Policy Analyst for Restore the Delta, Tim Stroshane said:*
?Westlands farmers and officials may already feel this way, but we wanted
to share with them how garbled WaterFix financing and planning has become
under MWD leadership. They are asked to decide on whether their next
farming generation should be loaded with huge WaterFix debt, and no clear
willingness to pay for it.?

To read Restore the Delta?s letter, click here
<http://restorethedelta.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=06887fa70084fef8e939fef63&id=343339f05d&e=2ca461c02c>.



###
*Make a Mid-Year Donation * 2017 is shaping up to be a year of technical
battles regarding the Delta tunnels and the protection of the estuary for
future generations. Donate
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From kierassociates at att.net  Thu Aug 17 17:11:20 2017
From: kierassociates at att.net (Kier Associates)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 17:11:20 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being
	planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?
In-Reply-To: <02e101d317ae$f15675c0$d4036140$@cah2oresearch.com>
References: <02e101d317ae$f15675c0$d4036140$@cah2oresearch.com>
Message-ID: <002201d317b6$aeec6110$0cc52330$@att.net>

Thanks, Deirdre - if ?Stage 1? of the SWP has cost 3.8 times as much as the 1960 voters were told that it would cost - and notwithstanding that overruns seem to be just getting more and more spectacular (how about Caltrans? 1995 $250 million estimate for repairs to both SF Bay Bridge spans ending up at $6.5 billion for the 2013-completed east span alone ! ) and DWR?s performance is consistent, that would put a $64.6 billion price tag on the CA WaterFix.  

 

?Close enough for government work? as we used to say when I was laboring on dam projects.   

 

Bill  

 

From: Deirdre Des Jardins [mailto:ddj at cah2oresearch.com] 
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 4:17 PM
To: 'Kier Associates'; 'Tom Stokely'; 'Env-trinity'
Subject: RE: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

 

Bill ? here?s the total cost Capital Expenditures reported in Bulletin 132-15 (2015):

 

Original Facilities* (Burns-Porter Act):        $1.8 billion

California Aqueduct:                                      $3.1 billion

East Branch enlargement and extension         $790 million

Power plants:                                                  $622 million

Total (including misc)                                    $6.6 billion

 

*Oroville and Feather River facilities, Delta facilities, North Bay Aqueduct and South Bay Aqueduct, State share of San Luis

 

There are still billions in outstanding CVP revenue bonds.  DWR used a Resolution in 2006 to grab ?surplus? revenue from water sales from the original Burns-Porter Act facilities to finance revenue bonds for the California Aqueduct and Off-Aqueduct power facilities.    

 

I think the use of revenues from water sales for the California Aqueduct, East Branch Enlagement, and Power Plants is one of the reasons DWR has been short of funds to maintain Oroville and San Luis dams, even though the revenue from water sales is pledged first to operations & maintenance of the facilities.    

 

Excerpts below from 2006 resolution below.  

http://www.water.ca.gov/swpao/docs/notices/07-04.pdf

 

 

WHEREAS, the State of California Deparbnent of Water Resources (hereinafter the "Department") has issued its Central Valley Project Water System Revenue Bonds (the "Bonds") under the Central Valley Project Water System Revenue Bonds, General Bond Resolution, adopted as of July 1, 1986, as amended (the "Resolution"); 

 

WHEREAS, Section 101 of the Resolution defines the term "Revenues" to include not only all moneys received by the Department under the Water Supply Contracts resulting fiom the construction, acquisition or operation of Projects, but also all moneys received by the Deparbnent from any other legally available source which the Department in its discretion determines to be "Revenues" and so designates in a Certificate of the Department filed with the Treasurer.(as those terns are defmed in the Resolution);?

 

WHEREAS, Section 101 of the Resolution defines the term "Revenues" to include not only all moneys received by the Department under the Water Supply Contracts resulting from the construction, acquisition or operation of Projects, but also all moneys received by the Department from any other legally available source which the Department in its discretion determines to be "Revenues" and so designates in a Certificate of the Department filed with the Treasurer.(as those terns are defmed in the Resolution); 

 

WHEREAS, moneys available under California Water Code Section 12937(b)(4) are available for use by the Department for acquisition and construction of the State Water Resources Development System, including for use as Revenues under the Resolution; 

 

WHEREAS, moneys received by the Department as a result of Article 51(c)(2)(i) of the Water Supply Contracts (or the equivalent article in Water Supply Contracts other than that of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) and relating to the Bonds are from facilities financed by the Bonds and are Revenues under the Resolution whether or not such moneys are the result of charges under the amendments commonly known as the Off-Aqueduct Power Facilities Amendment, the East Branch Enlargement Amendment, the Water System Revenue Bond Amendment, the Coastal Branch Extension Amendment and the East Branch Extension Amendment

 

The Department hereby confirms, and to the extent necessary, determines. and designates that moneys available under California Water Code Section 12937(b)(4) are available for use by the Department for acquisition and construction of the State Water Resources Development System and, to the extent necessary to satisfy the requirements of the 

Resolution (taking into account other Revenues),are Revenues under the Resolution, and that all moneys received by the Department that fall under the revenue need category specified in Article , 5 l(c)(2)(i) of the Water Supply Contracts (or the equivalent article in Water Supply Contracts other than that of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) and relating to the Bonds are from facilities financed by Bonds and are Revenues under the Resolution whether or not such moneys are the result of charges under the amendments commonly known as the Off- Aqueduct Power Facilities Amendment, the East Branch Enlargement Amendment, the Water System Revenue Bond Amendment, the Coastal Branch Extension Amendment and the East Branch Extension Amendment.

 

 

Deirdre Des Jardins

 <mailto:ddj at cah2oresearch.com> ddj at cah2oresearch.com

831 423-6857 v

831 566-6320 c

 

 <http://cah2oresearch.com/> CWR logo email

 

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Kier Associates
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 1:44 PM
To: 'Tom Stokely' <tstokely at att.net>; 'Env-trinity' <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Cc: bettina boxall <bettina.boxall at latimes.com>; robin abcarian at the la times <robin.abcarian at latimes.com>
Subject: Re: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

 

The State Water Project (SWP) was presented to California voters on the fall 1960 ballot, for approval of the bonds with which to build it, as a $1.75 billion project. 

 

SWP proponents have maintained ever since that the 1960 voters OK-ed the Project?s Delta facilities even though such facilities, unlike the rest of the Project, hadn?t been defined/ couldn?t be spelled out in the ballot measure.

 

Somewhere over the nearly 57 years since, SWP proponents have named the Delta facilities ?Stage 2? of the SWP - not part-and-parcel, apparently, of that for which voters approved financing in 1960 ? demonstrating that you can have it both ways if your position in Sacramento is lofty enough.

 

So how much do you reckon the SWP - oops, ?Stage 1? of the SWP ? cost to build? 

 

That?s a question you can bet the State Water Contractors http://www.swc.org have the answer to ? but I?ll betcha they?re not about to share it with you (in my youth the Contractors had permanent accounting/auditing staffs housed in the Resources Building at 9th and N Sts. going over every penny spent on SWP construction ? and they may to this day). Or you could put a request to DWR ? though it might have to be in the form of a Public Records Act request, and then you?re likely going to go nuts trying to interpret what you get back from DWR.

 

If I had to bet how much SWP construction costs have overrun that mythical $1.75 billion on the 1960 ballot I?d go with the scale of that overrun Tom Stokely reported earlier today that occurred with Santa Barbara?s SWP ?coastal stub?. ?Told that their coastal stub was going to cost them $270 million before interest it ended up costing $1.76 billion with interest (?get that? that Santa Barbara?s coastal stub cost as much as the entire SWP price tag presented to the 1960 voters.)

 

Six-and-a-half times the current engineer?s estimate.. let?s see, that would put the potential price of the CA WaterFix at $110.5 billion ? not $17 billion.

 

?Sounds about right ? unless you?re the guy that has to pay for it.

 

Bill Kier

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 11:25 AM
To: Env-trinity
Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

 

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-tunnels-cost-20170814-story.html

A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?


 <http://www.latimes.com/la-bio-bettina-boxall-staff.html#nt=byline> Bettina Boxall <mailto:bettina.boxall at latimes.com?subject=Regarding:%20%22A%20nearly%20$17-billion%20water%20project%20is%20being%20planned%20for%20California.%20What%20will%20it%20cost%20the%20Southland?%22> Contact Reporter

After years of planning for one of the biggest California water projects in decades, a key question remains unanswered: Who exactly will pay for it?

Decision time is approaching for the agencies that will have to pick up the nearly $17-billion tab for building two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of the state?s water works.

Whether the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California commits to paying roughly a quarter of the bill could make or break the project.

Metropolitan management has been a consistent cheerleader for the tunnels, arguing they are vital to stabilizing deliveries of Northern California water that on average provide the Southland with about a third of its supplies.

?The costs of California WaterFix are substantial,? the staff wrote in a report reviewed Monday by two MWD committees. ?However?the costs that would be allocated to Metropolitan are reasonable and affordable, given the water supply reliability improvements.?

The staff estimated that the project would cost MWD about $4.3 billion, increasing residential water rates an average of roughly $23 to $38 a year ? depending on interest rates on the project debt.

Committee members appeared generally receptive to the presentation. But several indicated they wanted more time before the final project vote, which is scheduled for Sept. 26.

?The 26th is not realistic,? said board vice chair John Murray Jr., who represents Los Angeles.

Public comments at the Monday meeting were divided.

Speakers representing business and labor endorsed the project, saying it was needed to maintain reliable water supplies for the state?s most populous region. Charley Wilson, executive director of the nonprofit Southern California Water Committee, called the staff?s white paper a ?prudent, conservative and responsible financial plan.?

But opponents predicted that MWD would wind up paying far more than the staff estimate, and argued the money would be better spent developing local supplies. The staff analysis ?understates the costs and risks? to MWD, said Doug Obegi, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that has been involved in numerous lawsuits over endangered species protections in the delta.

As outlined by the MWD staff, the largely urban customers of the State Water Project would pay 55% of its cost, or $9.2 billion. The largely agricultural customers of the federal Central Valley Project would pay for 45%, or $7.5 billion.

Obegi and others said that breakdown was unrealistic for a couple of reasons.

First, growers can?t afford to pay that much. And irrigation districts with senior water rights and wildlife refuges ? which both receive water from the delta ? would not have to share the tunnel costs.

The State Water Project could wind up paying for 65% to 75% of the tunnels, driving up MWD?s cost, according to critics.

By diverting water from the Sacramento River in the north delta and sending it through twin tunnels to the south delta pumps, proponents hope, the project will diminish environmental impacts that have restricted water exports.

State water managers say the tunnels will not significantly boost average delta exports. Rather, they argue, the project will avert future restrictions that could slash delta deliveries to 1970s levels.

According to the MWD paper, if the tunnels are built, future delta supplies would be 1.3 million acre-feet greater than without the tunnels. The staff used that number to estimate the per-acre-foot cost of the tunnel water, concluding it would be far cheaper than new supplies from recycling projects or seawater desalination.

(An acre-foot is enough to supply two average households for a year.)

But in a recent blog post, Jeff Michael, a tunnel critic and director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, called MWD?s supply projections ?wildly optimistic.? He said the board should demand more plausible cost comparisons with other water sources.

At Monday?s committee meeting, MWD general manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said that regardless of how the tunnel water supply is calculated, MWD?s project costs would stay the same

Other water agencies are expected to vote soon on whether to participate in the tunnel project. If too many say no, the project could die ? or the agencies that say yes would have to up their stake to keep it alive.

 

 

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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Aug 18 09:15:58 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2017 16:15:58 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Yurok Tribe Hails New Science Showing Spring-Run
 Klamath Salmon as Genetically Distinct;
 Development Could Lead to More Protection for Fish
References: <2120900013.494676.1503072958629.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2120900013.494676.1503072958629@mail.yahoo.com>

https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2017/aug/17/yurok-tribe-hails-new-science-showing-spring-run-s/



Hank Sims?/?Yesterday?@ 3:50 p.m. /?Fish

Yurok Tribe Hails New Science Showing Spring-Run Klamath Salmon as Genetically Distinct; Development Could Lead to More Protection for Fish
Long story short: A large group of researchers, mostly centered around UC Davis, have determined that spring-run Chinook and steelhead at many locations along the West Coast ? including in the Klamath and Eel ? have a genetic variation that prompts them to migrate upstream earlier in the year than their more numerous, fall-run cousins. Their paper?was just published?in the journal?Science Advances.The Yurok Tribe, below, argues ? along with the paper?s researchers ? that this newly discovered genetic variation should qualify springers for additional legal protection, possibly through the Endangered Species Act.From the Yurok Tribe:

On August 16, 2017, University of California Davis researchers published?in the scientific journal?Science Advances, an article featuring recent research that indicates Klamath River spring Chinook salmon are genetically distinct from fall-run Chinook salmon. This distinction may lead to the petitioning of the spring-run Chinook salmon to be listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.Chinook. Illustration: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.The Yurok Tribe has always supported the appropriate conservation of our fisheries resources, including spring-run Chinook salmon. For example, the Tribe has for decades substantially, and voluntarily, limited our spring Chinook fishery due to concerns over the status of stocks in the South Fork Trinity and Salmon Rivers.? Additionally, the Tribe is actively involved in large-scale habitat restoration efforts in the South Fork Trinity River in an attempt to address the habitat degradation that has resulted in the decline of this stock.? ?We?re not going to stand idly to the side as South Fork spring Chinook salmon continue to decline, we?re doing something about it, now.? said Chairman Thomas O?Rourke of the Yurok Tribe.?
The single most effective restoration action that can be taken to restore spring Chinook is the removal of the four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River.? The Yurok Tribe has been an instrumental leader in this effort for many years and sees this action as critical to ensure the security of spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon in the Klamath River.? Reintroduction of spring salmon to their former range will improve the genetic and geographic diversity of spring run Chinook salmon, as well as result in significant improvements to water quality, disease issues, and access to critical habitats.?The fact that scientists may have now found a gene that gives rise to the early run timing of spring Chinook comes as no surprise to the Yurok Tribe. In 1999, the Tribe stated in comments to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding a previous petition to list spring Chinook that there was more than likely a genetic link to the characteristic that distinguished the spring run. ?Tribal members have always known the difference between fall and spring run fish, and we?ve always treated them differently? said Chairman O?Rourke.?
While the Yurok Tribe supports the conservation of fish stocks throughout the Klamath Basin, there is a concern about the impact an ESA listing could have upon its federally recognized fishing right. Chairman O?Rourke said, ?The fish, the fishing, and the river are intertwined with the Yurok way of life, and a part of who we are as a people. While we fully support the usefulness of the ESA, a concern we have is that ESA listings have often led to immediate restrictions to fisheries,?while taking substantially longer, and sometimes never addressing at all, the true factors that led to the decline of the listed species in the first place. The Yurok Tribe will continue to responsibly manage our fishery and restore spring Chinook habitat, regardless of the outcome of a potential listing.?

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From ddj at cah2oresearch.com  Thu Aug 17 17:23:33 2017
From: ddj at cah2oresearch.com (Deirdre Des Jardins)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2017 17:23:33 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being
	planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?
In-Reply-To: <002201d317b6$aeec6110$0cc52330$@att.net>
References: <02e101d317ae$f15675c0$d4036140$@cah2oresearch.com>
	<002201d317b6$aeec6110$0cc52330$@att.net>
Message-ID: <036e01d317b8$3a9e23a0$afda6ae0$@cah2oresearch.com>

Bill ? the cost projections in Bulletin 132-15 for Operations and Maintenance and capital costs for the original State Water Project facilities also appear to be ridiculously low.   I dug the numbers out of the Bulletin 132-15 and made some graphs after the Oroville spillway disaster.

 

The capital costs appear to assume no major repairs or seismic remediation of either Oroville or San Luis will be needed, although they?ve borrowed $800 million for the Oroville spillway repair, and major seismic remediation is known to be needed for San Luis. 

 

Operating costs also grow more slowly than the 2.75% annual rate of inflation assumed in the State Water Resources Development system accounting.

 



 



 



 

 



 

 

Deirdre Des Jardins

 <mailto:ddj at cah2oresearch.com> ddj at cah2oresearch.com

831 423-6857 v

831 566-6320 c

 

 <http://cah2oresearch.com/> 

 

 

 

From: Kier Associates [mailto:kierassociates at att.net] 
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 5:11 PM
To: ddj at cah2oresearch.com; 'Tom Stokely' <tstokely at att.net>; 'Env-trinity' <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Cc: bettina boxall <bettina.boxall at latimes.com>; robin abcarian at the la times <robin.abcarian at latimes.com>
Subject: RE: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

 

Thanks, Deirdre - if ?Stage 1? of the SWP has cost 3.8 times as much as the 1960 voters were told that it would cost - and notwithstanding that overruns seem to be just getting more and more spectacular (how about Caltrans? 1995 $250 million estimate for repairs to both SF Bay Bridge spans ending up at $6.5 billion for the 2013-completed east span alone ! ) and DWR?s performance is consistent, that would put a $64.6 billion price tag on the CA WaterFix.  

 

?Close enough for government work? as we used to say when I was laboring on dam projects.   

 

Bill  

 

From: Deirdre Des Jardins [mailto:ddj at cah2oresearch.com] 
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 4:17 PM
To: 'Kier Associates'; 'Tom Stokely'; 'Env-trinity'
Subject: RE: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

 

Bill ? here?s the total cost Capital Expenditures reported in Bulletin 132-15 (2015):

 

Original Facilities* (Burns-Porter Act):        $1.8 billion

California Aqueduct:                                      $3.1 billion

East Branch enlargement and extension         $790 million

Power plants:                                                  $622 million

Total (including misc)                                    $6.6 billion

 

*Oroville and Feather River facilities, Delta facilities, North Bay Aqueduct and South Bay Aqueduct, State share of San Luis

 

There are still billions in outstanding CVP revenue bonds.  DWR used a Resolution in 2006 to grab ?surplus? revenue from water sales from the original Burns-Porter Act facilities to finance revenue bonds for the California Aqueduct and Off-Aqueduct power facilities.    

 

I think the use of revenues from water sales for the California Aqueduct, East Branch Enlagement, and Power Plants is one of the reasons DWR has been short of funds to maintain Oroville and San Luis dams, even though the revenue from water sales is pledged first to operations & maintenance of the facilities.    

 

Excerpts below from 2006 resolution below.  

http://www.water.ca.gov/swpao/docs/notices/07-04.pdf

 

 

WHEREAS, the State of California Deparbnent of Water Resources (hereinafter the "Department") has issued its Central Valley Project Water System Revenue Bonds (the "Bonds") under the Central Valley Project Water System Revenue Bonds, General Bond Resolution, adopted as of July 1, 1986, as amended (the "Resolution"); 

 

WHEREAS, Section 101 of the Resolution defines the term "Revenues" to include not only all moneys received by the Department under the Water Supply Contracts resulting fiom the construction, acquisition or operation of Projects, but also all moneys received by the Deparbnent from any other legally available source which the Department in its discretion determines to be "Revenues" and so designates in a Certificate of the Department filed with the Treasurer.(as those terns are defmed in the Resolution);?

 

WHEREAS, Section 101 of the Resolution defines the term "Revenues" to include not only all moneys received by the Department under the Water Supply Contracts resulting from the construction, acquisition or operation of Projects, but also all moneys received by the Department from any other legally available source which the Department in its discretion determines to be "Revenues" and so designates in a Certificate of the Department filed with the Treasurer.(as those terns are defmed in the Resolution); 

 

WHEREAS, moneys available under California Water Code Section 12937(b)(4) are available for use by the Department for acquisition and construction of the State Water Resources Development System, including for use as Revenues under the Resolution; 

 

WHEREAS, moneys received by the Department as a result of Article 51(c)(2)(i) of the Water Supply Contracts (or the equivalent article in Water Supply Contracts other than that of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) and relating to the Bonds are from facilities financed by the Bonds and are Revenues under the Resolution whether or not such moneys are the result of charges under the amendments commonly known as the Off-Aqueduct Power Facilities Amendment, the East Branch Enlargement Amendment, the Water System Revenue Bond Amendment, the Coastal Branch Extension Amendment and the East Branch Extension Amendment

 

The Department hereby confirms, and to the extent necessary, determines. and designates that moneys available under California Water Code Section 12937(b)(4) are available for use by the Department for acquisition and construction of the State Water Resources Development System and, to the extent necessary to satisfy the requirements of the 

Resolution (taking into account other Revenues),are Revenues under the Resolution, and that all moneys received by the Department that fall under the revenue need category specified in Article , 5 l(c)(2)(i) of the Water Supply Contracts (or the equivalent article in Water Supply Contracts other than that of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) and relating to the Bonds are from facilities financed by Bonds and are Revenues under the Resolution whether or not such moneys are the result of charges under the amendments commonly known as the Off- Aqueduct Power Facilities Amendment, the East Branch Enlargement Amendment, the Water System Revenue Bond Amendment, the Coastal Branch Extension Amendment and the East Branch Extension Amendment.

 

 

Deirdre Des Jardins

 <mailto:ddj at cah2oresearch.com> ddj at cah2oresearch.com

831 423-6857 v

831 566-6320 c

 

 <http://cah2oresearch.com/> 

 

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Kier Associates
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 1:44 PM
To: 'Tom Stokely' <tstokely at att.net <mailto:tstokely at att.net> >; 'Env-trinity' <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us <mailto:env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us> >
Cc: bettina boxall <bettina.boxall at latimes.com <mailto:bettina.boxall at latimes.com> >; robin abcarian at the la times <robin.abcarian at latimes.com <mailto:robin.abcarian at latimes.com> >
Subject: Re: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

 

The State Water Project (SWP) was presented to California voters on the fall 1960 ballot, for approval of the bonds with which to build it, as a $1.75 billion project. 

 

SWP proponents have maintained ever since that the 1960 voters OK-ed the Project?s Delta facilities even though such facilities, unlike the rest of the Project, hadn?t been defined/ couldn?t be spelled out in the ballot measure.

 

Somewhere over the nearly 57 years since, SWP proponents have named the Delta facilities ?Stage 2? of the SWP - not part-and-parcel, apparently, of that for which voters approved financing in 1960 ? demonstrating that you can have it both ways if your position in Sacramento is lofty enough.

 

So how much do you reckon the SWP - oops, ?Stage 1? of the SWP ? cost to build? 

 

That?s a question you can bet the State Water Contractors http://www.swc.org have the answer to ? but I?ll betcha they?re not about to share it with you (in my youth the Contractors had permanent accounting/auditing staffs housed in the Resources Building at 9th and N Sts. going over every penny spent on SWP construction ? and they may to this day). Or you could put a request to DWR ? though it might have to be in the form of a Public Records Act request, and then you?re likely going to go nuts trying to interpret what you get back from DWR.

 

If I had to bet how much SWP construction costs have overrun that mythical $1.75 billion on the 1960 ballot I?d go with the scale of that overrun Tom Stokely reported earlier today that occurred with Santa Barbara?s SWP ?coastal stub?. ?Told that their coastal stub was going to cost them $270 million before interest it ended up costing $1.76 billion with interest (?get that? that Santa Barbara?s coastal stub cost as much as the entire SWP price tag presented to the 1960 voters.)

 

Six-and-a-half times the current engineer?s estimate.. let?s see, that would put the potential price of the CA WaterFix at $110.5 billion ? not $17 billion.

 

?Sounds about right ? unless you?re the guy that has to pay for it.

 

Bill Kier

From: env-trinity [mailto:env-trinity-bounces at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] On Behalf Of Tom Stokely
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2017 11:25 AM
To: Env-trinity
Subject: [env-trinity] A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?

 

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-tunnels-cost-20170814-story.html

A nearly $17-billion water project is being planned for California. What will it cost the Southland?


 <http://www.latimes.com/la-bio-bettina-boxall-staff.html#nt=byline> Bettina Boxall <mailto:bettina.boxall at latimes.com?subject=Regarding:%20%22A%20nearly%20$17-billion%20water%20project%20is%20being%20planned%20for%20California.%20What%20will%20it%20cost%20the%20Southland?%22> Contact Reporter

After years of planning for one of the biggest California water projects in decades, a key question remains unanswered: Who exactly will pay for it?

Decision time is approaching for the agencies that will have to pick up the nearly $17-billion tab for building two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of the state?s water works.

Whether the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California commits to paying roughly a quarter of the bill could make or break the project.

Metropolitan management has been a consistent cheerleader for the tunnels, arguing they are vital to stabilizing deliveries of Northern California water that on average provide the Southland with about a third of its supplies.

?The costs of California WaterFix are substantial,? the staff wrote in a report reviewed Monday by two MWD committees. ?However?the costs that would be allocated to Metropolitan are reasonable and affordable, given the water supply reliability improvements.?

The staff estimated that the project would cost MWD about $4.3 billion, increasing residential water rates an average of roughly $23 to $38 a year ? depending on interest rates on the project debt.

Committee members appeared generally receptive to the presentation. But several indicated they wanted more time before the final project vote, which is scheduled for Sept. 26.

?The 26th is not realistic,? said board vice chair John Murray Jr., who represents Los Angeles.

Public comments at the Monday meeting were divided.

Speakers representing business and labor endorsed the project, saying it was needed to maintain reliable water supplies for the state?s most populous region. Charley Wilson, executive director of the nonprofit Southern California Water Committee, called the staff?s white paper a ?prudent, conservative and responsible financial plan.?

But opponents predicted that MWD would wind up paying far more than the staff estimate, and argued the money would be better spent developing local supplies. The staff analysis ?understates the costs and risks? to MWD, said Doug Obegi, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that has been involved in numerous lawsuits over endangered species protections in the delta.

As outlined by the MWD staff, the largely urban customers of the State Water Project would pay 55% of its cost, or $9.2 billion. The largely agricultural customers of the federal Central Valley Project would pay for 45%, or $7.5 billion.

Obegi and others said that breakdown was unrealistic for a couple of reasons.

First, growers can?t afford to pay that much. And irrigation districts with senior water rights and wildlife refuges ? which both receive water from the delta ? would not have to share the tunnel costs.

The State Water Project could wind up paying for 65% to 75% of the tunnels, driving up MWD?s cost, according to critics.

By diverting water from the Sacramento River in the north delta and sending it through twin tunnels to the south delta pumps, proponents hope, the project will diminish environmental impacts that have restricted water exports.

State water managers say the tunnels will not significantly boost average delta exports. Rather, they argue, the project will avert future restrictions that could slash delta deliveries to 1970s levels.

According to the MWD paper, if the tunnels are built, future delta supplies would be 1.3 million acre-feet greater than without the tunnels. The staff used that number to estimate the per-acre-foot cost of the tunnel water, concluding it would be far cheaper than new supplies from recycling projects or seawater desalination.

(An acre-foot is enough to supply two average households for a year.)

But in a recent blog post, Jeff Michael, a tunnel critic and director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, called MWD?s supply projections ?wildly optimistic.? He said the board should demand more plausible cost comparisons with other water sources.

At Monday?s committee meeting, MWD general manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said that regardless of how the tunnel water supply is calculated, MWD?s project costs would stay the same

Other water agencies are expected to vote soon on whether to participate in the tunnel project. If too many say no, the project could die ? or the agencies that say yes would have to up their stake to keep it alive.

 

 

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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Fri Aug 18 10:13:03 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2017 10:13:03 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Fitch Ratings Concludes Delta Tunnels Project Would
	Further Increase Water Rates
In-Reply-To: <2120900013.494676.1503072958629@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <2120900013.494676.1503072958629.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<2120900013.494676.1503072958629@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <02DE1A18-CFC1-40FC-91AD-C39609D43F76@fishsniffer.com>

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/17/1691036/-Fitch-Ratings-Concludes-Delta-Tunnels-Project-Would-Further-Increase-Water-Rates



The San Joaquin River at Lauritzen Yacht Harbor. Photo by Dan Bacher.


Fitch Ratings Concludes Delta Tunnels Project Would Further Increase  
Water Rates

by Dan Bacher

On August 16, Fitch Ratings confirmed what Delta Tunnels opponents  
have been saying for years ? the proposed California WaterFix project  
being currently fast-tracked by the Trump and Brown administrations  
would likely drive a significant increase in monthly water rates.
This increase in water rates would have a particularly egregious  
impact upon people in low income and environmental justice communities  
in Southern California that are right now struggling to pay their  
water bills. The increase in water rates driven by the construction of  
Jerry Brown?s ?legacy project," the Delta Tunnels, would only make  
things worse for families having a hard time getting by in these  
difficult times.

The ultimate fate of the California Water Fix, the controversial plan  
to divert water through two 35 mile long tunnels under the Sacramento  
San-Joaquin River Delta, is ?nearing resolution as agencies that would  
benefit from, and pay for such water, take a position on the outcome,?  
according to an analysis from Fitch Ratings.

The Trump and Brown administrations and project proponents claim the  
tunnels would fulfill the ?coequal goals? of water supply reliability  
and ecosystem restoration, but opponents point out that project would  
create no new water while hastening the extinction of winter-run  
Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt,  
green sturgeon and other imperiled fish species.

The project would also imperil the salmon and steelhead populations on  
the Trinity and Klamath rivers that have played a central role in the  
culture, religion and livelihood of the Yurok, Karuk and Hoopa Valley  
Tribes for thousands of years.

?The estimated $16.3 billion in project costs would be borne by the  
utilities' rate payers, including State Water Project (SWP) and  
Central Valley Project (CVP) members,? Fitch Ratings noted. However,  
economists have estimated the real cost of the project could go as  
high as $68 billion, including payment of debt on the bonds issued.

Fitch Ratings said the Metropolitan Water District of Southern  
California (MWD), a SWP wholesaler to 26 member agencies serving about  
19 million residents, expects to bear about one-quarter of the total  
cost.

MWD estimates the monthly household bill within its service territory  
would increase by only about $2-$3, but both Fitch Ratings and Delta  
Tunnels opponents say this low ball estimate could go much higher.

?The MWD estimate is based on a cost split for the Fix of 55% SWP and  
45% CVP,? Fitch Ratings explained. ?However, this assumes that all  
other SWP and CVP contractors sign on to the Fix. The cost to MWD and  
its ratepayers could be higher if some contractors decline to  
participate.?

Fitch Ratings noted that the timing and ultimate cost of the project  
?are important to California's water and sewer utilities, as this cost  
ultimately will be passed on to end users.?

?Many California utilities implemented substantial rate increases or  
alternative rate structures in recent years to mitigate significant  
declines in financial margins in fiscal years 2015 and 2016 due to  
conservation-related demand declines resulting from the state's five- 
year drought. The cost related to the Fix would be an added charge,?  
the analysis stated

?Ratepayers have thus far shown a willingness and ability to absorb  
higher rates and most California utilities have ratepayer bases able  
to bear the estimated increase to fund the Fix. However, some agencies  
have water bills that already exceed Fitch's affordability threshold  
(combined water and sewer utility bill equal to, or higher than, 2% of  
median household income) and could become more pressured,? Fitch  
Ratings concluded.

The Fitch Ratings analysis follows the release of a white paper by MWD  
staff concluding that the WaterFix is the "most cost effective?  
alternative to ensuring affordable and reliable water supplies: www.mwdh2o.com/ 
...

?If we keep our existing imported water supply, made more reliable  
with California WaterFix, it would cost approximately $2-3/mo. per  
average household in the Metropolitan service area,? the report  
stated. ?If we tried to develop new local supplies to replace the  
imported water supply we would lose without California WaterFix, it  
would cost two or more times as much per average household in the  
Metropolitan service area.?

Restore the Delta (RTD) submitted a response to MWD?s third and final  
Delta Tunnels white paper exposing what the group described as ?the  
gaping holes? in MWD?s financial analysis on various California  
WaterFix costs.

?With its latest financing paper, MWD pedals a wish and a prayer to  
its board that a $17 billion Tunnels project will only cost its 6.2  
million residential customers $2 to $3 per month,? said Tim Stroshane,  
RTD policy analyst. ?MWD?s rosy picture omits the cost of their  
customers? Tunnels water use. This is analytical malpractice of the  
highest order.?

Likewise, Kyle Jones, policy advocate for Sierra Club California,  
said, ?Metropolitan Water District continues to paint the Tunnels in  
the best light, using the lowest cost estimates possible. This  
proposed fantasy ignores costs of mitigation for their environmental  
harm, and assumes that all contractors are willing to pay for this $68  
billion boondoggle.?

Jones said Metropolitan also ?cherry picks? alternative options for  
the Tunnels that look at only the most expensive options.

?Any true alternatives analysis, including conservation, efficiency,  
and groundwater cleanup, would show that there?s a better path forward  
for Metropolitan customers to develop a climate-resilient water system  
that isn?t conditioned on destroying the San Francisco Bay Delta,"  
said Jones.

?MWD's failure to analyze water costs in dry and drought years and  
water use by consumers so as to determine the real cost per household  
for WaterFix make this analysis invalid,? concurred Barbara Barrigan- 
Parrilla, RTD Executive Director. ?MWD staff clearly wants to build  
this project so that water can be sold for maximum profit.?

Dr. Jeff Michael, University of the Pacific economist, and Doug Obegi,  
NRDC senior attorney, wrote similar analyses of the MWD white paper.

On August 14, MWD held a public workshop on plans to fund the Delta  
Tunnels.  Ratepayer group representatives at the meeting charged that  
the tunnels will burden them with higher bills for water to be used  
primarily by corporate agribusiness interests, now irrigating drainage  
impaired land on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. To read the  
LA Times story on the workshop, go here: www.latimes.com/?

?Metropolitan Water District?s finance plan for the Delta Tunnels,  
estimated to cost at least $17 billion, confirms that the project  
would burden Southern Californians with higher water bills to pay for  
tunnels that won?t deliver them any new water,? said Brenna Norton,  
senior organizer for Food & Water Watch. ?Metropolitan?s cost  
assumptions are misleadingly low as they do not include interest  
repayment, and are based on the dubious assumption that agricultural  
districts will pay for 45 percent of the project.?

Norton said a  ?more realistic estimate? of the project?s costs to Los  
Angeles households would be from $7 to $16 per month for more than 40  
years, amounting to over $3300 per household, according to one  
independent study.

She also said the tunnels would impose an ?unfair, useless tax? when  
money is desperately needed to fix Southern California?s aging pipes  
and to build storm water infrastructure to increase the local supply.  
Norton urged cities and water agencies that make up Metropolitan?s  
board, including Los Angeles and the Central Basin Water Agency, to  
?protect their taxpayers and reject this wasteful project.?

Over the past few weeks, the Brown administration has incurred the  
wrath of environmental justice advocates, conservationists and  
increasing numbers of Californians by ramrodding Big Oil?s  
environmentally unjust cap-and-trade bill, AB 398, through the  
legislature; approving the reopening of the dangerous SoCalGas natural  
gas storage facility at Porter Ranch; green lighting the flawed EIS/ 
EIR documents permitting the construction of the California WaterFix;  
and issuing a ?take? permit to kill endangered salmon and Delta smelt  
in the Delta Tunnels.

Governor Brown also showed his authoritarian bent by accusing AB 398  
critics of practicing ?forms of political terrorism that are  
conspiring to undermine the American system of governance? in an  
interview with David Greene of NPR (National Public Radio) on July 25: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/7/27/1684343/-California-Governor-accuses-opponents-of-Big-Oil-s-cap-and-trade-bill-of-political-terrorism

When Fitch Ratings, environmental leaders, and a greatly respected  
economist all agree that the Delta Tunnels will further increase water  
rates substantially more than the Metropolitan Water District  
estimates, then you know it?s time for MWD and other agencies to  
reject Governor Brown?s environmentally destructive and enormously  
expensive project once and for all!

To read the Fitch Ratings Analysis, go here: www.fitchratings.com/?

To read Restore the Delta?s response, click here.

To read Obegi?s blog, click here.

To read Michael?s blog, click here. 
  
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From bgutermuth at usbr.gov  Fri Aug 18 17:20:17 2017
From: bgutermuth at usbr.gov (Gutermuth, F.)
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2017 17:20:17 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] TRRP's Deep Gulch and Sheridan Ck Project update -
 Washing of dirt from the site to occur during August Boat Dance flows
Message-ID: <CAMnws3+aWq2FDMUF0bWTGzB2P4CjgrrkLfhVgaMDn70OD-pVcQ@mail.gmail.com>

Dear Trinity River followers- Below is an update on our construction
project and the expected release of fine sediment from the site during high
flows during next week's flows.



*Deep Gulch ?and Sheridan Creek Project update: *


The Trinity River Restoration Program has been working to construct the
Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek Channel Rehabilitation Project this summer.
The Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribal Team is working to complete in-channel
work by September 15. Details concerning the Project may be found in the
project description (Chapter 2) of the Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek
Project environmental assessment / initial study (EA/IS) located at:
http://www.trrp.net/library/document/?id=2318


This is a large river restoration project, with an objective of creating
diverse and functioning river conditions/habitat ? for salmon and
steelhead. Construction includes substantial in-river work and has been
progressing well. More than 50% of the in-river work and wood structures
are completed.


Due to the amount of in-river work required and the short in-river work
window (July 15 to September 15), it has been challenging to control
turbidity within permit levels. To date, the Tribal Team has generally done
this. They have constructed the project with one substantial release of
turbidity (dirty water) during work on August 7th.  Otherwise, work has
proceeded within permit limits.


Today (August 18), the tribal construction team is clearing the turbidity
controls (e.g., barriers that isolate equipment from the river during
excavation) to allow high flows to wash over the site in a safe and
unrestricted fashion. Trinity River flows will increase from Lewiston dam
(starting this Sunday) from 450 cubic feet per second (cfs) to a peak of
2650 cfs on Monday August 21 at about 10 am (See Boat Dance Ceremony Flow
Schedule ? below). These flows will reach the Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek
Project site 6 to 8 hours after they leave the dam and will wash over newly
exposed soils. There will be a substantial amount of dirt washed from the
site as much of the area will be underwater for several days. Water clarity
in the Trinity River downstream of Junction City will be decreased until
base flows are reached following the ceremonial releases.


After the flows have diminished, in-river construction of the Project will
continue with the objective to finish in-river work by September 15, 2017.


For more information on the project please contact Kevin Held at the
Trinity River Restoration Program office at 530.623.1800.





*Boat Dance Ceremony Flows Schedule: flows start this Sunday*

For flow information, please contact Reclamation?s Northern California Area
Office at 530-275-1554

FLOW RELEASES ARE LISTED BELOW:

Project: Lewiston Dam



Please make the following release changes to the Trinity River:



Date                Time             From (cfs)     To (cfs)



08/20/2017      1800             450               500

08/20/2017      2000             500               800

08/20/2017      2200             800               1050



08/21/2017      0001             1050             1300

08/21/2017      0200             1300             1550

08/21/2017      0400             1550             1800

08/21/2017      0600             1800             2050

08/21/2017      0800             2050             2250

08/21/2017      1000             2250             2650

08/21/2017      2000             2650             2450



08/22/2017      0001             2450             2250

08/22/2017      0400             2250             2050

08/22/2017      0800             2050             1850

08/22/2017      1200             1850             1750

08/22/2017      1600             1750             1650

08/22/2017      2000             1650             1550



08/23/2017      0001             1550             1450

08/23/2017      0400             1450             1350

08/23/2017      0800             1350             1250

08/23/2017      1200             1250             1150

08/23/2017      1600             1150             1050

08/23/2017      2000             1050             950



08/24/2017      0001             950               850

08/24/2017      0400             850               750

08/24/2017      0800             750               650

08/24/2017      1200             650               550

08/24/2017      1600             550               450





Comment:  Hoopa Valley Tribe Bi-annual Boat Dance Ceremony

Issued by:  R Field




Best Regards-
Brandt





Brandt Gutermuth
Environmental Scientist
Trinity River Restoration Program
530.623.1806 work
530.739.2802 cell
http://www.trrp.net/
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Aug 18 18:10:59 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2017 01:10:59 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATIVE
 AMERICAN GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT TO OVERTURN APPROVAL OF TWIN
 TUNNELS/CALIFORNIA WATERFIX
References: <1613823910.852346.1503105059494.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1613823910.852346.1503105059494@mail.yahoo.com>

_FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEENVIRONMENTAL AND NATIVE AMERICAN GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT?TO OVERTURN APPROVAL OF TWIN TUNNELS/CALIFORNIA WATERFIXContacts:North Coast Rivers Alliance (NCRA):??Frank Egger?(415) 456-6356Winnemem Wintu Tribe:??Gary Mulkahy?(916) 214-8493Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations/Institute for Fisheries Resources:??Noah Oppenheim?(415) 561-5080San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association:??Larry Collins?(415) 279-1894On August 17, 2017, the North Coast Rivers Alliance (NCRA), Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR), Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations (PCFFA) and the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association filed suit against the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in Sacramento Superior Court to overturn DWR?s approval on July 21, 2017 of the massive, $25 billion Twin Tunnels (or ?California WaterFix?) Project.??The Twin Tunnels would divert 9,000 cubic feet per second of water from the Sacramento River near Clarksburg and transport it 35 miles via two tunnels 40-feet in diameter for export to Central and Southern California.??The Twin Tunnels would divert approximately 6.5 million acre-feet of water per year, a quantity sufficient to flood the entire state of Rhode Island under nearly 7 feet of water.??Diverting this staggering quantity of water ? equal to most of the Sacramento River?s flow during the summer and fall ? would exacerbate the Delta?s severe ecological decline, pushing several imperiled species of salmon and steelhead closer to extinction.??According to Noah Oppenheim, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations, ?the Twin Tunnels is a hugely expensive boondoggle that could pound the final nail in the coffin of Northern California?s salmon and steelhead fishery.??There is still time to protect these declining stocks from extinction, but taking more water from their habitat will make matters far worse.??Frank Egger, President of the North Coast Rivers Alliance, stated that ?the imperiled salmon and steelhead of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers are one of Northern California?s most precious natural resources.??They must not be squandered so that Southern California can avoid taking the water conservation measures that many of us adopted decades ago.?
Caleen Sisk, Chief of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe near Mt. Shasta, stated, ?The Winnemem Wintu Tribe has lived on the banks of the McCloud River for thousands of years and our culture is centered on protection and careful, sustainable use of its salmon.??Our salmon were stolen from us when Shasta Dam was built in 1944.??Since that dark time, we have worked tirelessly to restore this vital salmon run through construction of a fishway around Shasta Dam connecting the Sacramento River to its upper tributaries including the McCloud River.??The Twin Tunnels and its companion proposal to raise Shasta Dam by 18 feet would push the remaining salmon runs toward extinction and inundate our ancestral and sacred homeland along the McCloud River.?
Larry Collins, President of the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association, stated that ?Our organization of small, family-owned fishing boats has been engaged in the sustainable harvest of salmon and other commercial fisheries for over 100 years.??By diverting most of the Sacramento River?s flow away from the Delta and San Francisco Bay, the Twin Tunnels would deliver a mortal blow to our industry and way of life.??
Stephan Volker, attorney for these organizations, filed the suit.??The suit alleges that DWR?s approval of the California WaterFix Project and certification of its Environmental Impact Report violates the California Environmental Quality Act (?CEQA?), the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009, and the Public Trust Doctrine.??The Verified Petition for Writ of Mandate and Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief is attached.??Additional documents pertaining to the litigation can be obtained from the Volker Law Offices.? ?

?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and?Institute for Fisheries Resources530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?
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From bgutermuth at usbr.gov  Fri Aug 18 17:26:54 2017
From: bgutermuth at usbr.gov (Gutermuth, F.)
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2017 17:26:54 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Dirt in the Trinity River on 10 August 2017 was from
 slide in Big French Creek Drainage
Message-ID: <CAMnws3J1vSKy+-uO=MgdcRG0WXTQnEetM8dZR1aFL+pbtLGyQg@mail.gmail.com>

Trinity River watchers -

There have been reports that Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP)
construction at the Deep Gulch-Sheridan Creek
Project impacted water quality dramatically on August 10, 2017. TRRP
sediment impacts on that date were minimal.

Dirt in the river resulted from a slide/erosion in the Big French Creek
drainage, probably a local thunder storm in the mountains eroded ground
where a fire had recently burned.

Below is a photo taken at the Big French Creek ? Trinity River confluence
on 10 August 2017 at 15:00 hours

[image: Inline image 1]


Best Regards -
Brandt



Brandt Gutermuth
Environmental Scientist
Trinity River Restoration Program
530.623.1806 work
530.739.2802 cell
http://www.trrp.net/
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Aug 21 15:11:23 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2017 22:11:23 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] One Fish,
 Two Fish- Ancient DNA and new technology help rewrite the life
 story of spring Chinook
References: <1026131772.56473.1503353483934.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1026131772.56473.1503353483934@mail.yahoo.com>

https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/one-fish-two-fish/Content?mode=print&oid=5809400

One Fish, Two Fish?

Ancient DNA and new technology help rewrite the life story of spring Chinook
BY?KIMBERLY WEAR?KIM at NORTHCOASTJOURNAL.COM?@KIMBERLY_WEARclick to flip through (2)?   
   - PHOTO BY NATHANIEL PENNINGTON
   - A spring run Chinook in the Salmon River.
?Tribal fishermen used the cave nestled in the Upper Klamath Basin for untold generations.?Now the spring run Chinook bones they left behind ? some dating back 5,000 years ? are providing a vital link between past and present in a race against time to save the fish that has disappeared from those rivers.?Only two wild spring runs remain lower down in the basin and those contain just a fraction of the hundreds of thousands that once swam in the sprawling network of Klamath waterways that cover an expanse the size of New England.?Standing in the way are a series of dams put up a century ago that block the so-called "springers" from their historic range in the far-flung reaches, where pools of cool, deep water provided the refuge they needed to reach maturity.?These long-discarded caches of bones are not only giving modern scientists a glimpse into the salmon's past but, coupled with breakthrough advances in technology, they could help rewrite the evolutionary life story of a fish teetering on the brink of extinction.?In a paper published Aug. 16 in the journal?Science Advances, a team of University of California Davis scientists say they have found a genetic marker that shows the springers are what's known as an "evolutionary distinct unit" from their fall counterparts ? akin to a separate species for conservation efforts ? and warrant individual protections.?The discovery of a genetic mutation in spring Chinook as well as summer steelhead that coincides with the fishes' earlier return to the rivers could have far-reaching implications for fisheries management up and down the West Coast.?"It's only been in the last few years where we've had the technological power to study the genetic and evolutionary basis of important traits like migration type and explore how significant the loss of important genetic variants can be," says Tasha Thompson, a PhD candidate and one of the paper's co-authors.?"Current conservation policies have not incorporated this newly-available information, and they're also insufficient to protect the kind of important genetic variation we identify in our study," she adds. "We hope our findings spur policymakers to come together and improve existing policy in a way that can account for this new information as it becomes available in salmon and other species."?Based on the findings, the Karuk Tribe and the Salmon River Restoration Council have begun the process for adding the Klamath River's spring chinook to the Endangered Species List.?"It's the only hammer the tribe has available to it," says Karuk Tribal Councilmember Josh Saxon. "We have an inherent right to these places and these fish, and with that inherent right means a responsibility to them."?Just 110 spring run Chinook were found on the Salmon River, a tributary of the Klamath River, during a recent annual count, the second lowest number in more than 20 years of surveys.?"They're hanging on by a thread," says Nathaniel Pennington, a spring Chinook specialist for the council and a Klamath Riverkeeper boardmember.?Fall runs, while also compromised, are healthier in comparison.?The issue is not that people are eating Chinook but that the dams impede the springers from reaching the upper basin. Gold mining, agricultural diversion and poor forestry management practices have also degraded the watersheds.?"You could have no fishing allowed and that wouldn't solve the problem," says Craig Tucker, a natural resources policy advocate for the Karuk Tribe.?Still, an Endangered Species Act listing for the spring run would likely send reverberations up and down an already ailing salmon industry.?"The data is, in some ways, an inconvenient truth," Tucker says. "This is just the reality. ... The alternative is just to watch them disappear."?A previous bid by environmental groups for the separate listings was denied in 2011.?Tucker says the new data provides what federal reviewers described at the time as the missing link ? evidence of an "evolutionary event that is unlikely to re-evolve" in a realistic timeframe that produced reproductive isolation between the two runs.?"I don't see how they can reject this petition," Tucker says.?To the novice, the two runs may seem indiscernible. But the spring Chinook returns earlier and sexually matures in the river ? traditionally journeying farther into the upper basin on the swollen waters of snow-fed rivers ? while the fall run comes in months later ready to reproduce.?Springers also have about 30 percent more body fat ? likely to support that longer swim ? which ties back to the UC Davis team's findings on the mutation in a gene called Greb1L, shown to play a role in regulating metabolism.?The research indicates the variant occurred in a single evolutionary event ? some 15 million years ago ? that appears to be connected to the spring run's "premature migration."?Long story short, a biological phenomenon not only seems to have brought the springers in earlier and provided the fat needed to travel farther up in the watershed but the move also gave both runs an evolutionary advantage with more room to roam.?Meanwhile, conventional wisdom of federal fisheries management has been that some fall run Chinook would simply adjust to the springers' schedule if that run were to vanish.?Now, the UC Davis scientists are saying it's simply not in their DNA.?"Contrary to what was previously thought, if we lose spring Chinook and summer steelhead in the present, we can't expect them to reappear from fall Chinook and winter steelhead in the foreseeable future (it may take millions of years)," Thompson writes in an email to the?Journal.?For members of the Karuk Tribe, the findings come as no surprise.?"The previous thought of, 'No problem, the fish fall run will repopulate,' is nonsense and we've known it was nonsense," Saxon says.?Native American tribes that have lived in the Klamath basin for millennia have long known that spring run Chinook stood apart from their fall brethren and called the fish by separate names.?"Western scientists are having an epiphany," Tucker says. "The Native Americans are saying, 'We've been telling you this all along.'"?So do the bones found in the cave above the Klamath dams.?While the results are preliminary and the project is still underway, initial findings indicate the same gene mutation in age-old spring runs ? some from historic times of 1860 to the early 1900s. Others date back 5,000 years.?"We found both springers and falls up there, but the majority of samples we tested were springers, including the 5,000-year-old sample," Thompsons writes.?She says the results validate "the excellent research that's been done on historical accounts of spring Chinook above the dam sites and agrees with the traditional knowledge of the local indigenous peoples."?There's a good possibility, she says, the fish were up there even longer.?"On the Klamath, spring Chinook were blocked from the upper basin by the first dam a little before 1920 ? to a lot of people, that might seem like Chinook have been gone from the upper basin for a long time," Thompson writes.?"But it's really only a blink of an eye in terms of how long Chinook were up there before. I hope this research will provide a useful measuring stick to help people understand the real depth of time those fish were up there before the dams were built."?The hope now is to preserve the fish until the Klamath dams can be removed, allowing the spring run to return to those upper basin pools for the first time in a century.?The monumental undertaking, believed to be the largest project of its kind in the world, is currently slated to begin in 2020.?Saxon says the ESA listing will play a critical role in bringing back the once dominant run to the Klamath basin. Imagine, he asks, what would happen to the local economy if those fish numbered well into the thousands in the future.?"We're going to need the community support just as much as we need the science," he says. "We're going to need people to be supportive of a change in mentality in how we conserve our fish resources."?The fish are not just a source of sustenance but an important facet of native cultures whose traditions are integrally linked with the ebbs and flow of nature.?The ultimate goal, Saxon says, is restoring the spring run population so everyone can enjoy the fish.?"That was the deal that was struck: Humans were going to take care of this place and this place was going to take of humans," Saxon says.

Kimberly Wear is the assistant editor and a staff writer at the Journal. Reach her at 441-1400, extension 323, or?kim at northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimberly_wear.
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From jay_glase at nps.gov  Tue Aug 22 06:27:30 2017
From: jay_glase at nps.gov (Glase, Jay)
Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2017 08:27:30 -0500
Subject: [env-trinity] One Fish,
 Two Fish- Ancient DNA and new technology help rewrite the life
 story of spring Chinook
In-Reply-To: <1026131772.56473.1503353483934@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1026131772.56473.1503353483934.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1026131772.56473.1503353483934@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <CANZikcEw7qFu3GhPENURYTFoFFmFbyayeD2mUzDzxbq_XUPV+A@mail.gmail.com>

Ok, it's been a while, but I still try to keep up on things now and then.
This one was pretty interesting, but I'm curious about this line from the
article,

*Meanwhile, conventional wisdom of federal fisheries management has been
that some fall run Chinook would simply adjust to the springers' schedule
if that run were to vanish. *

Has this *really* been the conventional wisdom?  And if so, when did that
all get started? Doesn't this conventional wisdom run contrary to this
statement I found on a state of California website,

*Due to the small number of non-hybridized populations remaining and low
population sizes, Central Valley spring-run were listed as threatened under
both the state and federal endangered species acts in 1999.*

Under this conventional wisdom, wouldn't the Central Valley Fall or Late
Fall runs just be expected to fill the void?

Ok, I know, I shouldn't bring these things up.  I'll go away again for a
while.
Thanks in advance for all of your comments.

cheers,
jay

On Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 5:11 PM, Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net> wrote:

> https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/one-fish-two-
> fish/Content?mode=print&oid=5809400
> One Fish, Two Fish Ancient DNA and new technology help rewrite the life
> story of spring ChinookBY KIMBERLY WEAR
> <https://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/ArticleArchives?author=3886599>
>  KIM at NORTHCOASTJOURNAL.COM <kim at northcoastjournal.com> @KIMBERLY_WEAR
> <https://twitter.com/kimberly_wear>
>
> <https://media2.fdncms.com/northcoast/imager/u/original/5809133/news2-magnum.jpg>
> click to flip through (2) [image: PHOTO BY NATHANIEL PENNINGTON - A
> spring run Chinook in the Salmon River.]
> <https://media1.fdncms.com/northcoast/imager/u/zoom/5809134/news2-1.jpg>
>
>    - PHOTO BY NATHANIEL PENNINGTON
>    - A spring run Chinook in the Salmon River.
>
>   <https://media2.fdncms.com/northcoast/imager/u/zoom/5809135/news2-2.jpg>
> Tribal fishermen used the cave nestled in the Upper Klamath Basin for
> untold generations.
> Now the spring run Chinook bones they left behind ? some dating back 5,000
> years ? are providing a vital link between past and present in a race
> against time to save the fish that has disappeared from those rivers.
> Only two wild spring runs remain lower down in the basin and those contain
> just a fraction of the hundreds of thousands that once swam in the
> sprawling network of Klamath waterways that cover an expanse the size of
> New England.
> Standing in the way are a series of dams put up a century ago that block
> the so-called "springers" from their historic range in the far-flung
> reaches, where pools of cool, deep water provided the refuge they needed to
> reach maturity.
> These long-discarded caches of bones are not only giving modern scientists
> a glimpse into the salmon's past but, coupled with breakthrough advances in
> technology, they could help rewrite the evolutionary life story of a fish
> teetering on the brink of extinction.
> In a paper published Aug. 16 in the journal *Science Advances*, a team of
> University of California Davis scientists say they have found a genetic
> marker that shows the springers are what's known as an "evolutionary
> distinct unit" from their fall counterparts ? akin to a separate species
> for conservation efforts ? and warrant individual protections.
> The discovery of a genetic mutation in spring Chinook as well as summer
> steelhead that coincides with the fishes' earlier return to the rivers
> could have far-reaching implications for fisheries management up and down
> the West Coast.
> "It's only been in the last few years where we've had the technological
> power to study the genetic and evolutionary basis of important traits like
> migration type and explore how significant the loss of important genetic
> variants can be," says Tasha Thompson, a PhD candidate and one of the
> paper's co-authors.
> "Current conservation policies have not incorporated this newly-available
> information, and they're also insufficient to protect the kind of important
> genetic variation we identify in our study," she adds. "We hope our
> findings spur policymakers to come together and improve existing policy in
> a way that can account for this new information as it becomes available in
> salmon and other species."
> Based on the findings, the Karuk Tribe and the Salmon River Restoration
> Council have begun the process for adding the Klamath River's spring
> chinook to the Endangered Species List.
> "It's the only hammer the tribe has available to it," says Karuk Tribal
> Councilmember Josh Saxon. "We have an inherent right to these places and
> these fish, and with that inherent right means a responsibility to them."
> Just 110 spring run Chinook were found on the Salmon River, a tributary of
> the Klamath River, during a recent annual count, the second lowest number
> in more than 20 years of surveys.
> "They're hanging on by a thread," says Nathaniel Pennington, a spring
> Chinook specialist for the council and a Klamath Riverkeeper boardmember.
> Fall runs, while also compromised, are healthier in comparison.
> The issue is not that people are eating Chinook but that the dams impede
> the springers from reaching the upper basin. Gold mining, agricultural
> diversion and poor forestry management practices have also degraded the
> watersheds.
> "You could have no fishing allowed and that wouldn't solve the problem,"
> says Craig Tucker, a natural resources policy advocate for the Karuk Tribe.
> Still, an Endangered Species Act listing for the spring run would likely
> send reverberations up and down an already ailing salmon industry.
> "The data is, in some ways, an inconvenient truth," Tucker says. "This is
> just the reality. ... The alternative is just to watch them disappear."
> A previous bid by environmental groups for the separate listings was
> denied in 2011.
> Tucker says the new data provides what federal reviewers described at the
> time as the missing link ? evidence of an "evolutionary event that is
> unlikely to re-evolve" in a realistic timeframe that produced reproductive
> isolation between the two runs.
> "I don't see how they can reject this petition," Tucker says.
> To the novice, the two runs may seem indiscernible. But the spring Chinook
> returns earlier and sexually matures in the river ? traditionally
> journeying farther into the upper basin on the swollen waters of snow-fed
> rivers ? while the fall run comes in months later ready to reproduce.
> Springers also have about 30 percent more body fat ? likely to support
> that longer swim ? which ties back to the UC Davis team's findings on the
> mutation in a gene called Greb1L, shown to play a role in regulating
> metabolism.
> The research indicates the variant occurred in a single evolutionary event
> ? some 15 million years ago ? that appears to be connected to the spring
> run's "premature migration."
> Long story short, a biological phenomenon not only seems to have brought
> the springers in earlier and provided the fat needed to travel farther up
> in the watershed but the move also gave both runs an evolutionary advantage
> with more room to roam.
> Meanwhile, conventional wisdom of federal fisheries management has been
> that some fall run Chinook would simply adjust to the springers' schedule
> if that run were to vanish.
> Now, the UC Davis scientists are saying it's simply not in their DNA.
> "Contrary to what was previously thought, if we lose spring Chinook and
> summer steelhead in the present, we can't expect them to reappear from fall
> Chinook and winter steelhead in the foreseeable future (it may take
> millions of years)," Thompson writes in an email to the *Journal*.
> For members of the Karuk Tribe, the findings come as no surprise.
> "The previous thought of, 'No problem, the fish fall run will repopulate,'
> is nonsense and we've known it was nonsense," Saxon says.
> Native American tribes that have lived in the Klamath basin for millennia
> have long known that spring run Chinook stood apart from their fall
> brethren and called the fish by separate names.
> "Western scientists are having an epiphany," Tucker says. "The Native
> Americans are saying, 'We've been telling you this all along.'"
> So do the bones found in the cave above the Klamath dams.
> While the results are preliminary and the project is still underway,
> initial findings indicate the same gene mutation in age-old spring runs ?
> some from historic times of 1860 to the early 1900s. Others date back 5,000
> years.
> "We found both springers and falls up there, but the majority of samples
> we tested were springers, including the 5,000-year-old sample," Thompsons
> writes.
> She says the results validate "the excellent research that's been done on
> historical accounts of spring Chinook above the dam sites and agrees with
> the traditional knowledge of the local indigenous peoples."
> There's a good possibility, she says, the fish were up there even longer.
> "On the Klamath, spring Chinook were blocked from the upper basin by the
> first dam a little before 1920 ? to a lot of people, that might seem like
> Chinook have been gone from the upper basin for a long time," Thompson
> writes.
> "But it's really only a blink of an eye in terms of how long Chinook were
> up there before. I hope this research will provide a useful measuring stick
> to help people understand the real depth of time those fish were up there
> before the dams were built."
> The hope now is to preserve the fish until the Klamath dams can be
> removed, allowing the spring run to return to those upper basin pools for
> the first time in a century.
> The monumental undertaking, believed to be the largest project of its kind
> in the world, is currently slated to begin in 2020.
> Saxon says the ESA listing will play a critical role in bringing back the
> once dominant run to the Klamath basin. Imagine, he asks, what would happen
> to the local economy if those fish numbered well into the thousands in the
> future.
> "We're going to need the community support just as much as we need the
> science," he says. "We're going to need people to be supportive of a change
> in mentality in how we conserve our fish resources."
> The fish are not just a source of sustenance but an important facet of
> native cultures whose traditions are integrally linked with the ebbs and
> flow of nature.
> The ultimate goal, Saxon says, is restoring the spring run population so
> everyone can enjoy the fish.
> "That was the deal that was struck: Humans were going to take care of this
> place and this place was going to take of humans," Saxon says.
>
> Kimberly Wear is the assistant editor and a staff writer at the Journal.
> Reach her at 441-1400, extension 323, or kim at northcoastjournal.com.
> Follow her on Twitter @kimberly_wear.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> env-trinity mailing list
> env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
> http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity
>
>


-- 

Jay Glase
Midwest Regional Fishery Biologist
National Park Service
2800 Lake Shore Drive East
Ashland, WI  54806

jay_glase at nps.gov
Phone 402-661-1512


?The world?s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are most
vulnerable and already suffering its impact? - Pope Francis
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From kierassociates at att.net  Tue Aug 22 22:02:17 2017
From: kierassociates at att.net (Kier Associates)
Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2017 22:02:17 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Eclipsed: Please go fishing,
	Washington state says after farmed Atlantic salmon escape broken net
Message-ID: <000901d31bcc$ff6d5530$fe47ff90$@att.net>

Ugh - this is the first such in US Pacific coastal waters, right? http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/oops-after-accidental-release-of-atlantic-salmon-fisherman-being-told-catch-as-many-as-you-want  (it?s happened a lot along the B.C. shore)   Bill

--

Please go fishing, Washington state says after farmed Atlantic salmon escape broken net 

Originally published August 22, 2017 at 7:00 am Updated August 22, 2017 at 9:44 pm 

Allen Cooke, left, and Nathan Cultee emerge from the hold of the F/V Marathon after having separated out the 16 farm-raised Atlantic salmon they caught fishing off Point Williams. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times)

Atlantic salmon escaped from this Cooke Aquaculture net pen over the weekend off Cypress Island. (Beau Garreau/DAKO. 5TUDIOS)

Allen Cooke, left, and Nathan Cultee emerge from the hold of the F/V Marathon after having separated out the 16 farm-raised Atlantic salmon they caught fishing off Point Williams. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times) 

Thousands of farmed Atlantic salmon were accidentally released into the waters between Anacortes and the San Juan Islands, and officials are asking people to catch as many as possible. Tribal fishers, concerned about native salmon populations, call the accident ?a devastation.?

By Lynda V. Mapes <http://www.seattletimes.com/author/lynda-v-mapes/>  and Hal Bernton <http://www.seattletimes.com/author/hal-bernton/>  Seattle Times staff reporters

It?s open season on Atlantic salmon as the public is urged to help mop up a salmon spill from a damaged net pen holding 305,000 fish at a Cooke Aquaculture fish farm near Cypress Island.

Lummi fishers out for chinook on Sunday near Samish, south of Bellingham Bay, were shocked to pull up the spotted, silvery-sided Atlantic salmon ? escapees that turned up in their nets again Monday.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is urging the public to catch as many of the fish as possible, with no limit on size or number. The fish are about 10 pounds each. No one knows how many escaped from the floating pen, but the net had some 3 million pounds of fish in it when it imploded about 4 p.m. Saturday, said Ron Warren, fish program assistant director for the WDFW.

Cooke, in an estimate to WDFW Monday, put the number of escaped fish at 4,000 to 5,000, according to Ron Warren, fish program assistant director for the WDFW. The 

Anchor lines to the pens broke Saturday afternoon, and walkways for servicing the pens tipped, making it unsafe for employees even to get in the water and assess the scope of the spill, Warren said.

In a statement Tuesday morning, Cooke said, ?exceptionally high tides and currents coinciding with this week?s solar eclipse? caused the damage. Cooke said the salmon escaped after a ?structural failure? of a net pen.

?It appears that many fish are still contained within the nets,? Cooke said in the statement. ?It will not be possible to confirm exact numbers of fish losses until harvesting is completed and an inventory of fish in the pens has been conducted.?

An aerial view of the net-pen structure  <http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/eclipses-high-tides-break-net-dump-salmon-near-san-juan-islands/596543936> taken by KIRO-TV shows widespread damage, which Warren, after viewing the video, called ?severely compromised.?

The salmon escapes come as the company is considering a controversial net-pen operation in the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Port Angeles, east of the Ediz Hook, Clallam County.

The company?s explanation met with disbelief from fishermen and environmental groups. ?Part of the feed going to these salmon is chicken feed, but this is B.S.,? said Chris Wilke, executive director of Puget Soundkeeper, a nonprofit environmental group that opposes the company?s planned replacement and expansion of its existing operation.

?If they can?t be trusted in an accident like this how can they be trusted to tell the truth in the permitting process??

The Wild Fish Conservancy, in a statement released Tuesday, noted that on July 27, one of three net pens in the Cypress Island location broke free from an anchor and needed emergency repairs. The statement said the pens should be built to withstand high tidal movements.

Nell Halse, vice president of communications for Cooke, stuck with the company?s statement in an interview later Tuesday. ?We did have very high tides and it was coinciding with the eclipse. Tides and currents and tidal surges in the last weeks have been very strong.

?Our people are out there every day and that is what they have been seeing. The tides were extremely high, the current 3.5 knots. People can believe it or not.?

The fish were soon due to be harvested and Cooke had intended to replace equipment at the site to strengthen it, but was awaiting permits, she added.

She dismissed any environmental concern, saying the fish would not survive and that native fish were not at risk. ?It?s primarily a business loss. The salmon will be food for the seals and the fishermen can enjoy them.?

Atlantic salmon are a nonnative species to the Pacific Northwest. Between 1951 and 1991, state fishery officials tried to introduce the fish in the region by releasing ? on 27 occasions ? young smolts into Puget Sound. Those efforts were unsuccessful.

Atlantic salmon also are a mainstay of the global salmon-farming industry, which has expanded in British Columbia and, to a much lesser extent, in Washington state. And in the 1990s, the Pacific Northwest industry repeatedly had large-scale escapes, with some 600,000 Atlantic salmon finding their way out of Washington state net pens between 1996 and 1999, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric technical memorandum.  <http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/aquaculture/noaa_memo_net_pen_salmon_farming_sept2001.pdf> 

Salmon farming amid the region?s thriving wild salmon fisheries has been fraught with controversy, with concerns that Atlantic salmon could escape and cause harm to native runs. Alaska went so far as to ban salmon farming in coastal waters.

But Michael Rust, a NOAA researcher who co-authored the technical memorandum, said the risk of farmed Atlantic salmon passing diseases on to wild fish is low. And, over the years, he says, they have not been able to interbreed with Northwest native species or successfully establish themselves in the wild over multiple generations.

They are more likely to be prey than predators, Rust said. ?These things are kind of couch potatoes. They are domesticated. Imagine a dairy cow getting lost out in the Serengeti. It doesn?t last very long.?

But plenty of fishers and environmentalists continue to have big concerns about salmon farming.

Lummi fishers were incensed at the Atlantic salmon intruding in home waters of native Washington Pacific salmon. ?It?s a devastation,? said Ellie Kinley, whose family has fished Puget Sound for generations. ?We don?t want those fish preying on our baby salmon. And we don?t want them getting up in the rivers.?

?I wouldn?t call them healthy. They have weird little deformations on their faces,? said Lucas Kinley, who for the past two days has caught a few of these fish as he set out a seine net for wild Northwest salmon.

G.I. James, a member of the Lummi Natural Resources staff and fish commission, said Pacific salmon face enough trouble as it is without dueling with invaders in their home waters. ?It is potentially a disease issue, and impact on our fish, as dire a shape as they are in, right now any impact to them is difficult to absorb.?

Warren, of the WDFW, also is concerned about potential impacts on wild stocks.

The department is urging recreational fishers to get as many of the Atlantic salmon as possible. A valid fishing license is needed, but the fish don?t need to be recorded on fish tickets and there are no bag limits. Buyers may also legally buy the Atlantics from commercial and tribal fishers, Warren said.

?Catch as many as you want,? he said. ?We don?t want anything competing with our natural populations. We have never seen a successful crossbreeding with Atlantic salmon, but we don?t want to test the theory.?

He said the fish were placed in the pens in May 2016 and treated for yellow mouth, a bacterial infection, in July 2016. He said the fish that escaped are believed to be healthy and disease-free. ?We have no concerns about disease at this point.?

Penalties for the escape are being evaluated, Warren said.

Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2515 or lmapes at seattletimes.com

 

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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Wed Aug 23 11:40:24 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2017 18:40:24 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Project trapping summary through Julian
	Week 33
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB1378B3E0256BF5E48F9A3258BA850@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Here's the summary through last Friday, August 19th.
I had a request or three to go back to the excel format, so here it is. I've got most of the updates done. Will have it just so by the time TRH is active.

Junction City weir was prepped for Boat Dance flows, and unfortunately got taken out by a fairly large tree Monday night (who would've thought there would be weir-toppling woody debris in the river after all the flows we've had this spring?!) so John and his crew will do what they can to get back in and trapping, but for now...no trapping in JW 34.

We may be putting Willow Creek weir in this next week. The water temp has dropped with the ceremonial flows, so if we can see through the smoke and heat you may see some trapping from WCW in JW 35.
We'll keep you apprised.
Trinity River Hatchery is ready to begin spawning operations after Labor Day weekend.

Stay safe!
MC

*************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876   I   maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov<mailto:maryclaire.kier at wildlife.ca.gov>
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
**************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity

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From lrlake at aol.com  Wed Aug 23 13:03:48 2017
From: lrlake at aol.com (lrlake at aol.com)
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2017 16:03:48 -0400
Subject: [env-trinity] Dirt in the Trinity River on 10 August 2017 was
 from slide in Big French Creek Drainage
Message-ID: <15e10b1904d-c05-7d55@webjas-vad104.srv.aolmail.net>

A little dirt never hurt anyone.  One can't control everything... Really, why are u messing in the river anyway?  It rarely works; a good winter blows it away.  Me thinks you'all are pissing away $ for a living.  So sad...


Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Gutermuth, F. <bgutermuth at usbr.gov>
To: Trinity List serve <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Cc: Bruce McGregor <NorthCoastOutfitters at yahoo.com>; Jason Thatcher <jason at allriverfishing.com>; Jake Shannon <jacob.shannon at waterboards.ca.gov>; Gil Falcone <gil.falcone at waterboards.ca.gov>; Brad McFall <brad at mammothflyfishing.com>; Steve Huber <steve at stevehuberguideservice.com>; Paul <Paul at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>; Michael Charlton <Michael at redwoods-rivers.com>; E.B. Duggan <yen2fish at yahoo.com>; Bob Norman <bnorman at sonic.net>; Todd LeBoeuf <linnea1 at charter.net>; Mike Corley <mjcorley63 at hotmail.com>; Mike Hibbard <mikehibbard at sbcglobal.net>; Straatmann, John (Brad)@Wildlife (Brad)@Wildlife <John.Straatmann at wildlife.ca.gov>; Dennis (Popeye) Franco <popeye5 at charter.net>; Sullivan, Robert <RSULLIVAN at dfg.ca.gov>; Bill Velasquez <Pokerbarbill at aol.com>; Gogan, Liam <krista at trinityriveroutfitters.com>; Jason Smith <jason.smith at wildlife.ca.gov>; Eric Wiseman <ewiseman at yuroktribe.nsn.us>; Jeff Parker <jfpfish at yahoo.com>; Bill Dickens <webefshn at com-pair.net>; John Letton <jletton at wildblue.net>; Shannon Engh <steelheadtrinity at earthlink.net>; Bryon Balog <flyguybb at yahoo.com>; Joe Heartsner <heartsnerscso at earthlink.net>
Sent: Fri, Aug 18, 2017 6:11 pm
Subject: [env-trinity] Dirt in the Trinity River on 10 August 2017 was from slide in Big French Creek Drainage



Trinity River watchers -


There have been reports that Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) construction at the Deep Gulch-Sheridan Creek
Project impacted water quality dramatically on August 10, 2017. TRRP sediment impacts on that date were minimal. 


Dirt in the river resulted from a slide/erosion in the Big French Creek drainage, probably a local thunder storm in the mountains eroded ground
where a fire had recently burned. 


Below is a photo taken at the Big French Creek ? Trinity River confluence on 10 August 2017 at 15:00 hours











Best Regards -
Brandt






Brandt Gutermuth

Environmental Scientist
Trinity River Restoration Program
530.623.1806 work
530.739.2802 cell
http://www.trrp.net/



 





_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity

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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Aug 23 13:46:52 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2017 20:46:52 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Free landowner road maintenance workshop Thursday
References: <1217785540.1242819.1503521212455.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1217785540.1242819.1503521212455@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_8563ff22-87a2-11e7-9800-7b0554e6cedb.htmlFree landowner road maintenance workshop
   
   - 
   
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   - 
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The Five Counties Salmonid Conservation Program will host a free workshop for landowners at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, at the Weaverville Fire Hall on how to efficiently maintain roads and driveways. Don Lindsay, a senior engineering geologist/geotechnical engineer from the California Geological Survey, will present information on understanding basic road drainage, and treatment and maintenance techniques.Fixes to common problems such as rills, ruts and potholes will be featured, as will tips on how to assess roads and determine maintenance needs each spring. This practical information can help landowners save time and money on road repairs. All too often, landowners spend a lot of money putting rock down on roads every couple of years (or more) when the underlying drainage has not been corrected. Addressing drainage issues results in a better-performing and durable road, which means spending less money on rock and shaping and less time performing maintenance. Past successful road-maintenance projects will be featured.This information is also valuable to those looking to buy property, whether or not they intend to construct new roads or driveways, because it highlights potential issues to look for in order to avoid inheriting a high-maintenance road or driveway. There will be time for participants to ask questions.5C staff will also discuss grant opportunities that may help landowners treat road sediment sources and help them preserve their roads. Refreshments will be served. The fire hall is located at 125 Bremer St., Weaverville. This workshop is supported by funding provided by the Central Valley Improvement Act via the Trinity County Resource Conservation District.?
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From oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us  Thu Aug 24 10:43:36 2017
From: oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us (Oshun O'Rourke)
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2017 17:43:36 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Willow Creek in-season trap update
Message-ID: <316e3235905f47ce9ab1a230f68b8bb7@mail.yuroktribe.nsn.us>

Attached is the Yurok Tribal Fisheries' in-season catch update for the Lower Trinity River outmigrant screw traps located in Willow Creek, CA.  Please see the attached spreadsheet for a full update.


Thanks,

Oshun O'Rourke
Fisheries Biologist
Yurok Tribe
530-629-3333 ext 1703




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From sari at sisqtel.net  Fri Aug 25 14:13:00 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2017 14:13:00 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] HCN: States restrict chinook fisheries
Message-ID: <017601d31de6$ef2884d0$cd798e70$@sisqtel.net>

 
<http://www.hcn.org/articles/fish-states-restrict-chinook-fisheries?utm_sour
ce=wcn1&utm_medium=email>
http://www.hcn.org/articles/fish-states-restrict-chinook-fisheries?utm_sourc
e=wcn1&utm_medium=email

http://www.hcn.org/++theme++hcn/images/home_logotype.png

for people who care about the West

States restrict chinook fisheries

Extreme climate conditions over recent years pummeled the king of Western
salmon.

 
<http://www.hcn.org/author_search?getAuthor=Elizabeth%20Shogren&sort_on=Publ
icationDate&sort_order=descending> Elizabeth Shogren News Aug. 23, 2017 

 

 
<http://www.hcn.org/articles/fish-states-restrict-chinook-fisheries/chinooku
nderwater-usfws-jpg/image_view_fullscreen>
http://www.hcn.org/articles/fish-states-restrict-chinook-fisheries/chinookun
derwater-usfws-jpg/@@images/7aab5cd6-68f9-4251-a182-c0e2b48d9bdf.jpeg

Chinook salmon.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

This is the time of year when commercial and sports fishermen generally head
into the coastal waters off Southeast Alaska in search of the largest and
most prized catch of all - the chinook, also known as king salmon. Most
years, they expect to haul in at least 30,000 fish over just a few days in a
flurry of fishing. Large chinook can weigh more than 40 pounds, and
fishermen get $5 to $8 a pound, far more than they get for other types of
salmon. But in early August, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game made the
difficult and unusual decision to cancel commercial and sport chinook
fishing for the rest of the summer. 

Chinook are born in rivers and spend between several months and two years in
freshwater before heading out to the ocean. There, they bulk up on smaller
fish for two to five years before returning to their home rivers to spawn.

Some of the chinook swimming off Alaska's southeast coast this time of year
started their lives nearby, but others are from British Columbia or as far
south as Oregon and California. Surveys off the coasts of Oregon, Washington
and the Gulf of Alaska indicate that chinook stocks across the region are
extremely low this year. Many of the fish have been hit by extreme climate
conditions during their lifetime.

 
<http://www.hcn.org/articles/fish-states-restrict-chinook-fisheries/alaskasa
lmonanchor-jpg/image_view_fullscreen>
http://www.hcn.org/articles/fish-states-restrict-chinook-fisheries/alaskasal
monanchor-jpg/@@images/fc3fb340-f05c-43ab-807c-d94daf473f15.jpeg

A skiff floats beyond the fishing boats docked at the marina in Sitka, in
Southeast Alaska, in 2016. This year, the king salmon season has been
cancelled there.

Education Images/UIG via Getty Images

In fact, it's been a double whammy: When the chinook returning this year
were juveniles, many of their home rivers were suffering from California's
multi-year drought and the
<https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/drought/201513#west-secthttps://www.ncdc.noa
a.gov/sotc/drought/201513> snow droughts that hit most of the West in 2014
and 2015. Both made rivers hotter and drier. Then, when the fish swam out to
sea, they encountered an enormous mass of warm water in the northeastern
Pacific Ocean. This unprecedented phenomenon, which scientists dubbed "the
Blob," developed in late 2013 in the Gulf of Alaska. The next spring, it
spread across the entire North Pacific. "It was warm and basically sterile
water," says
<https://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/contact/display_staffprofile.cfm?staffid=189>
Laurie Weitkamp, a fisheries biologist who studies salmon for the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Normally, winter storms mix up the
water in the North Pacific, bringing cold, nutrient-rich water towards the
surface. But in 2014, that didn't happen. The lowest levels of nutrients
ever seen in the surface waters of the North Pacific starved the
phytoplankton, microscopic algae at the base of the food web, which in turn
starved zooplankton, tiny aquatic animals that prey on phytoplankton. And
that starved the small fish like herring that eat zooplankton.

Chinook eat those small fish. Surveys off the Washington and Oregon coast in
2015 showed extremely low numbers of forage fish for chinook and coho,
another salmon species that has suffered in recent years. "The whole prey
base got screwed up," says Weitkamp. These warm, depleted conditions
persisted through most of 2016.

Both the drought and the "Blob" are over now, but the extent of the damage
they caused will be revealed as the chinook that survived return to spawn.
"Those climate conditions kind of ended this year, in 2017, but they're
still going to impact our fisheries for several years," predicts Nate
Mantua, who leads the salmon ecology team at the National Marine Fisheries
Service's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in Santa Cruz, California. 

Officials in Alaska believe unusually warm ocean temperatures also played a
role in how poorly chinook fared. The decision to close the chinook fishery
came after state officials determined that only about half as many fish as
are needed to ensure sustainable fisheries were returning to Southeast
Alaska's rivers this year. "If you don't adhere to your conservation
principles, you're destined to exacerbate the problem in following years,"
Charles Swanton, deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and
Game, says.

California, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia also have severely
restricted fisheries for chinook and other salmon species in response to
critically low levels of returning salmon. On the Klamath River, poor ocean
conditions, drought and disease all contributed to what are likely to prove
the lowest numbers in more than 30 years. "We've been in a downward spiral
in recent years, because the effects of the drought were building on the
fishery," says Eric Schindler, who manages salmon for the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife. "This year is bad. I don't see next year being any
better."

Tracking the cause of downturns in salmon populations is complex, and some
researchers are not ready to blame the Blob for the dire straits of
Southeast Alaska's chinook. "We don't know yet what the real effect of the
Blob was on chinook salmon,"
<https://fish.uw.edu/faculty/daniel-schindler/> Daniel Schindler, a
fisheries professor at University of Washington, says. "The warm conditions
in the last few years are unprecedented. But it's too early to tell if the
poor returns this year are due to climate or not." The notion that Alaska
chinook would suffer from warmer oceans defies a historic rule of thumb that
salmon from Alaska do better when oceans warm up, which usually increases
prey. And other stocks of Alaska salmon are thriving. "Sockeye salmon in
Bristol Bay were having one of the strongest returns in history," Schindler
says. Silver salmon in Southeast Alaska are abundant, too.

So while the multiyear Blob was harmful, scientists believe that at least
some of Alaska's salmon fisheries won't be injured by the long trend of
gradually warming oceans. But human-caused climate change clearly is bad
news for salmon from California, Oregon and Washington, which contribute to
Alaska's fisheries. "The growing influence of human-caused climate change is
likely to make things tougher and tougher for salmon in southern end of its
range," Mantua says.

It may already be doing so: Scientists believe human-caused climate change
exacerbated California's drought and low snowpacks. The drier hotter rivers
of recent years are consistent with what scientists expect in the future.
Climate change is gradually increasing average water temperatures in the
North Pacific, raising the baseline for extreme heating events like the
blob. But there's no compelling evidence that the three years of persistent
ocean temperature extremes linked to the Blob were consistent with
human-caused climate change, Mantua says.

Although the Blob has dissipated, temperatures in the North Pacific this
summer are still several degrees Fahrenheit above normal. And recent
research by NOAA shows that salmon still are hurting. "We just did our ocean
surveys; it doesn't look good," says Weitkamp. "There weren't many young
salmon out there and there wasn't much for them to eat." The survey results
are expected to be released in September.

Climate models don't project average water temperatures this warm in the
northern Pacific for decades. So cooler, more productive waters likely will
return. The fishing community is hoping that's the case and that the
restrictions on fishing this season will help ensure more robust numbers of
chinook - and less encumbered fishing - in the future. "We strongly support
sustainable management and can only hope that conservation will truly be
served by this action," says Dale Kelley, the executive Director of the
Alaska Trollers Association, which represents the 1,000 or so businesses
that fish for chinook with hooks and lines. In the meantime, though, they're
hurting: She estimates the troll fleet and its processors will lose $6
million this year because of the cancellation of the chinook fishery. 

Correspondent Elizabeth Shogren writes HCN's DC Dispatches from Washington. 

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly characterized
chinook's size.

 
<http://www.hcn.org/media/republish-request/?headline=States%20restrict%20ch
inook%20fisheries> Republish
<http://www.hcn.org/articles/fish-states-restrict-chinook-fisheries/print_vi
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estrict-chinook-fisheries&caption=States%20restrict%20chinook%20fisheries>
Like 

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<http://twitter.com/home?source=highcountrynews&status=States%20restrict%20c
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Copyright C High Country News 

 

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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Sat Aug 26 14:28:00 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2017 21:28:00 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] WIllow Creek weir installation Monday
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB13787BE9E4C5F87BB4883F04BA980@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

FYI, river users.
Willow Creek weir installation is planned for this  Monday, 28 August. We will be in the same location as the past 10+ years, behind Trinity River Farms.
We are anticipating the boat gate will once again be on river left (facing downstream), so if you're floating weekday mornings and it looks closed give us a holler and we'll get that gate open ASAP.
Thanks!
Mary Claire
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From sari at sisqtel.net  Tue Aug 29 10:52:15 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2017 10:52:15 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] NPR: Why are Atlantic Salmon Being Farmed in the
	Northwest?
Message-ID: <00d401d320ef$8d66bf30$a8343d90$@sisqtel.net>

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/08/29/546803147/why-are-atlantic-sa
lmon-being-farmed-in-the-northwest

 <http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/161357412/food-for-thought> Food For
Thought

Why Are Atlantic Salmon Being Farmed In The Northwest?

August 29, 20177:00 AM ET 

Courtney Flatt 

>From <http://nwpr.org/> Northwest Public Radio

Earlier this month,
<http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/08/24/545619525/environmental-nigh
tmare-after-thousands-of-atlantic-salmon-escape-fish-farm> a net pen broke
apart near Washington state's Cypress Island. The pen held 305,000 Atlantic
salmon, a non-native fish.

The company that owns the pen,  <http://www.cookeseafood.com/> Cooke
Aquaculture, says it is unsure exactly how many Atlantic salmon escaped, but
the  <http://www.dnr.wa.gov/atlanticsalmon> state estimates between 4,000
and 185,700. Cooke and the  <http://wdfw.wa.gov/> Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife are trying to collect and count the fish that did not
escape to get a better handle on how many broke out of the pen.

The company initially cited the solar eclipse and high tides for the pen's
failure, but tidal currents were not abnormally high when the pen broke
apart. In fact, Cypress Island has seen higher tides
<http://earthfix.info/news/article/eclipse-blamed-farmed-salmon-escape/>
every month this year.

 
<http://kuow.org/post/pollution-farmed-salmon-puget-sound-could-lead-penalti
es> Penalties for the company are still being figured out.

The escape raises concerns from environmentalists worried about pollution
and diseases from the farmed fish. The Lummi Nation Indian tribe
<https://www.dropbox.com/s/q4gz31sw4ozn6rl/Memorandum%20for%20Atlantic%20Sal
mon%20Spill.pdf?dl=0> declared a state of emergency out of concern for
endangered salmon spawning grounds.

State officials have asked fishers to catch as many Atlantic salmon as they
can, with no catch or size limits.

The situation has raised a few basic questions about Atlantic salmon and
fish farming in the Northwest.

Why are Atlantic salmon raised in the Pacific Northwest?

Atlantic salmon are not native to the Pacific Northwest. For years, they
have been bred to become easier to farm - they're more "highly
domesticated,"  <http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00922/wdfw00922.pdf>
according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Most commercial
fish farms raise Atlantic salmon.

The WDFW says Atlantic salmon is a "favored species" to farm in cold marine
waters because the species grows quickly and consistently, is resistant to
disease, and is something people like to eat. Farmed Atlantic salmon are
more docile than wild fish.

Atlantic salmon also have been bred to more "efficiently turn feed into
flesh," says Michael Rust, the science adviser for NOAA's
<http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/aquaculture/faqs/faq_aq_environment.html> office
of aquaculture.

What used to cost several dollars per pound to grow, worldwide, now costs
about $1.25, Rust says. That makes for higher profits.

In the U.S., Washington and Maine are the two largest Atlantic salmon
producing states, but they're small beans compared to salmon farms in
Canada, Norway and Chile.

Atlantic salmon today, Rust says, probably grow twice as fast as when
aquaculture first started.

Now, most Atlantic salmon is farmed - less than 1 percent comes from the
wild.

How long have Atlantic salmon been in Northwest waters?

In 1951, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
<http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/00922/wdfw00922.pdf> tried to establish
wild Atlantic salmon runs in the state. The department hoped to create more
salmon fishing opportunities and released Atlantic salmon smolts. The
department tried again to establish wild runs in 1980 and 1981. Atlantic
salmon were also released into lakes to establish fisheries there.

No wild Atlantic salmon returned from any of the releases. Attempts to
establish wild runs - outside of the Atlantic Ocean - have failed across the
U.S.

Research into the use of net pens in Puget Sound and elsewhere started in
the 1960s and '70s. At first, much of the research was focused on helping
out wild salmon runs on the East Coast. When those efforts worked, a
commercial industry started popping up.

The first commercial net pens in the Northwest raised Pacific salmon. But
because Atlantic salmon have been bred with traits that make them suitable
for aquaculture, most commercial net-pen operators now choose to farm that
species.

What are net pens?

 <http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/aquaculture/netpen.html> Net pens are
used in fresh and saltwater fish farming. They're basically large underwater
nets used for holding salmon. Washington is the only West Coast state where
Atlantic salmon are farmed.

Washington has eight Atlantic salmon net pens. There are two types:
commercial net pens for raising Atlantic salmon, and enhancement net pens
for wild salmon that will eventually be released.

The net pen that broke is a commercial type.

What's the market for Atlantic salmon farmed in Washington waters?

Historically, salmon farming has been a small part of the entire aquaculture
industry. A
<http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/aquaculture/noaa_memo_
net_pen_salmon_farming_sept2001.pdf> 2001 report by NOAA Fisheries says
farmed salmon help meet people's growing appetite for seafood - farmed and
wild salmon are both, well, salmon.

Salmon is also well-known as a
<http://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Food/Fish/FarmedSalmon>
healthy choice on menus - fish has been documented to provide nutrients like
Omega-3 fatty acids.

Atlantic salmon are available year-round, unlike wild-caught fish. And
they're cheap to produce.

But there's an interesting kink in the salmon farming market: the
farm-to-table movement. It's a growing trend, especially in larger markets,
to promote wild-caught fish. Advocates say it's better for the environment
and better for fish health.

Rust says that while the farm-to-table movement is gaining steam, it could
have the effect of driving out cheaper options - pricing out lower-income
consumers. He says aquaculture should be considered as a farming option as
the world's population grows.

"It's going to be important to take a look at food production systems,
including aquaculture side-by-side with agriculture, and look at where the
resiliencies to climate or exploitations to water and land occur," Rust
says.

Others worry about the health impacts of eating farmed salmon, which are
treated with vaccines.

What are some of the biggest concerns about the Atlantic salmon escape?

The state has said it is worried about farmed salmon outcompeting native
salmon for food and spawning grounds.

"[Atlantic salmon] are not normally found in freshwater environments, and
that's not a good situation," Ron Warren, WDFW's assistant director,
<http://kuow.org/post/grab-your-nets-atlantic-salmon-are-loose-near-anacorte
s> tells KUOW's The Record.

Warren says there isn't any evidence so far that Atlantic salmon have
spawned or crossbred with other salmon species.

Atlantic salmon are actually more closely related to brown trout than
Pacific salmon. That's why they don't breed with Pacific salmon - even when
researchers have tried to force it in the lab, Rust says.

So far, no Atlantic salmon have established themselves in Pacific Northwest
waters, says Ray Hilborn, a professor with the University of Washington's
<https://fish.uw.edu/> School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.

"This event is not that unique and so far no Atlantic salmon escapes have
established self-sustaining populations or caused known damage to wild
stocks," Hilborn wrote in an email. "This isn't to say it is not a concern,
nor that we shouldn't carefully consider whether we want salmon aquaculture
in this region, but to call this a disaster is a stretch."

Researchers say, typically, farmed Atlantic salmon don't survive well in the
wild because they're used to being fed.

Kurt Beardslee, the director of the  <http://wildfishconservancy.org/> Wild
Fish Conservancy Northwest, says he is concerned about the environmental
effects of this release - and of net pens in general.

"The Atlantic salmon bring with them pollution, virus and parasite
amplification, and all that harms Pacific salmon and our waters," Beardslee
says.

According to a
<http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03632415.2014.966818> NOAA
Fisheries report, escaped farmed salmon that carry diseases have a
relatively low risk of spreading them to wild fish. This is because
pathogens are already present in the water, and escapees likely won't be
infectious enough to contaminate healthy wild populations. Escaped fish also
aren't very fit, so they are often quickly eaten by predators.

This event is an example of issues with net pens - and should be a wake-up
call, Beardslee says.

The same company, Cooke Aquaculture, is proposing a larger Atlantic salmon
net pen in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Wild Fish Conservancy Northwest
is  <https://www.oursound-oursalmon.org/sign-the-petition> circulating a
petition opposing the proposed net pen.

Beardslee says that net pens are polluting every day, which to him is a
major worry.

"It's basically a feedlot of salmon that are in a very contained area.
They're all feeding at extremely high rates so they can raise them to
adulthood quickly," Beardslee says. "They're producing lots of waste
materials, and that waste is pollution."

This story comes to us from  <http://nwpr.org/> Northwest Public Radio and
<http://earthfix.info/> EarthFix, an environmental journalism collaboration
led by Oregon Public Broadcasting in partnership with five other public
media stations in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

 

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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Sep  6 13:38:47 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 6 Sep 2017 20:38:47 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Agency misspent $32 million,
 but Interior has held no one to account
References: <893688571.4507969.1504730327370.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <893688571.4507969.1504730327370@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article170093182.html



Agency misspent $32 million, but Interior has held no one to account
Snow geese and Canada geese prepare to land on marsh at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge near Merrill, Ore. on May 9, 2005. Tensions over irrigation water, wildlife refuges and salmon in the downstream Klamath River have gripped this region of southern Oregon and northern California for two decades.?JEFF BARNARD?APBY STUART LEAVENWORTHsleavenworth at mcclatchydc.com   
   - 
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WASHINGTON?Investigators have confirmed that a federal water agency misspent $32 million in funds meant to protect fish and wildlife in the Klamath basin of California and Oregon, a finding that Obama-era officials attempted to sideline after whistleblowers first alerted them to it.According to a report from the?U.S. Office of Special Counsel, sent to President Donald Trump and obtained this week by McClatchy, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for eight years effectively handed the money to a Klamath water project?controlled by private irrigators, with few or no controls on how the funds were spent.?The bureau, part of the Interior Department, shut down the water bank in 2016 after two whistleblowers alleged it was transferring money to irrigators that was intended for environmental purposes. But agency leaders have continued to dispute any wrongdoing and have apparently taken no administrative action against those responsible.??At the Bureau of Reclamation, misappropriating millions of taxpayer dollars is a no-harm-no-foul offense,? said Paula Dinerstein, senior counsel for?Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a D.C.-based group that represented the two federal whistleblowers.?PEER and the two employees, retired fisheries biologist Keith Schultz and natural resource specialist Todd Pederson, said they know of no Bureau of Reclamation official who has been reprimanded by the agency. They are urging that Trump?s nominee for Reclamation commissioner, Brenda Burman, revisit the issue once she is confirmed.Schultz, in a telephone interview from his home outside of Seattle, said he was pleased to see the findings of the Office of Special Counsel, an agency Congress created in 1979 in part to protect federal whistleblowers. But Schultz said he was disappointed that the OSC didn?t recommend the Department of Justice launch an investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing with the Klamath money.?There was misappropriation of funds,? Schultz said. ?This was going on for a while.?For now, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Interior Department are sticking with a position they?issued in October, when the Office of Inspector General similarly faulted the bureau for misspending federal funds, a spokesman said. ?Reclamation maintains that (the reimbursement program) has been an important tool in dealing with water issues in an over-allocated basin,? the bureau?said at that time.?THERE WAS MISAPPROPRIATION OF FUNDS. THIS WAS GOING ON FOR A WHILE.??Keith Schultz, whistleblower and former fisheries biologist for the Bureau of Reclamation.The upper Klamath basin, which straddles Oregon and California, has long been a flashpoint for conflicts over irrigation water, wildlife refuges and the Endangered Species Act. Amid a drought in 2001, the Bureau of Reclamation cut off subsidized irrigation water to more than 1,000 farms to reserve supplies for threatened fish,?triggering tense protests.Ever since, the Bureau of Reclamation has sought to ease concerns of Klamath farmers and their champions in Congress. Up until 2007, the bureau created a subsidized ?water bank? program to free up water to benefit salmon downstream. To reduce demand for federal irrigation water, the program paid farmers to idle land or make greater use of groundwater.?The bureau spent $30 million on the water bank, but results were spotty and farmers complained about red tape. So in 2008, the bureau entered into an agreement with the?Klamath Water and Power Agency, an organization created by California and Oregon irrigation districts, to manage the water bank and its successor, the Water User Mitigation Project.?Prior to the contract, the Klamath Falls-based KWAPA had no board of directors and no staff. By the time the bureau terminated the contract in 2016, it had allowed the local agency to receive $41.25 million in federal funds, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.?According to Schultz, he started questioning the legality of the arrangement when his Bureau of Reclamation superiors began pressuring him to transfer money from his budget to help finance the water bank. ?For years, they would siphon off money from other projects to pay for this,? said Schultz, who was a bureau fisheries section supervisor in Klamath Falls at the time.Pederson, a natural resources specialist based in the bureau?s mid-Pacific office in Sacramento, said he got involved in his capacity as president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union.??It was a tough nut to crack,? said Pederson, who said that he and Schultz assembled thousands of pages of records to back up their allegations.?Schultz resigned from the bureau in 2014, and the next year, he and Pederson sought the help of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which took their findings to both Office of Special Counsel and then the Interior Office of Inspector General. The OIG started its audit that year, prompting the bureau to end its payments to the Klamath Water and Power Agency. The next year, the bureau terminated the contract, prompting the water and power agency to fold.In their complaints, Schultz and Pederson made two major allegations. First they alleged that the bureau did not have statutory authority to transfer federal funds to KWAPA. They also argued that the expended funds served a private instead of a public purpose, such as protecting fish and wildlife.In a 2016 report, Interior?s Office of Inspector General?validated these findings?and others by Schultz and Pederson. Water that was supposed to flow to Klamath wildlife refuges, the OIG concluded, did not arrive or only arrived late in the season, after irrigators? needs were met.Altogether, the inspector general found that KWAPA had expended $32 million improperly, with $28 million used to compensate farmers for using groundwater instead of federal irrigation supplies. It also found that the remaining $4 million went to salaries, rent, travel and other expenses that the OIG considered ?questionable? or ?unallowable? under the law.In its report, the OIG recommended three steps for preventing a repeat, including stronger review by the Interior?s main legal expert, the solicitor. But in its response, the Bureau of Reclamation rejected nearly all these findings, arguing that the agency has long had authorization to provide cooperative assistance to third parties.?Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, an Obama appointee, sided with the agency and against her inspector general?s office and the whistleblowers, disappointing agency watchdogs.?Sally Jewell could have settled this whole thing while she was in office,? said Jeff Ruch, executive director of PEER. ?Instead she just accepted Reclamation?s explanation.?In its Aug. 8 report to President Trump, the Office of Special Counsel faulted the bureau?s response to the inspector general?s report and urged it to reconsider.Information provided by OIG and whistleblowers ?makes a compelling case that the true purpose of the agreement was to benefit private irrigators, not fish and wildlife,? said the Office of Special Counsel report, which was released with little fanfare, published?deep within the agency?s website.?Klamath irrigation officials continue to dispute that money was misused or that any area farmers did anything wrong. ?Our position has not changed,? said Scott White, executive director of the?Klamath Water Users Association. Like federal officials, he declined to comment beyond?a statement the group?issued last October about the case.?Pederson said he was disappointed the special counsel didn?t make stronger recommendations, including holding Reclamation officials accountable. ?There needs to be major reforms at the bureau level to make sure this doesn?t happen again,? he said.?Stuart Leavenworth:?202-383-6070,?@sleavenworth
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article170093182.html#storylink=cpy
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From oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us  Thu Sep  7 10:08:01 2017
From: oorourke at yuroktribe.nsn.us (Oshun O'Rourke)
Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2017 17:08:01 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Willow Creek in-season trap update
Message-ID: <c2b3c0b1521a408b94926c805b70d4d9@mail.yuroktribe.nsn.us>


Hi all,

This bi-weekly update is the last for the season!  All three of our rotary screw traps that were deployed in Willow Creek have been removed.  We caught and released a raw total of 22,100 juvenile Chinook.
Please see the attached spreadsheet for a full update and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Oshun O'Rourke
Fisheries Biologist
Yurok Tribe
530-629-3333 ext 1703




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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Fri Sep  8 16:26:46 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Fri, 8 Sep 2017 23:26:46 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Project trapping summary through Julian
 Week 35, (yes, I missed JW 34)
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB13789FC8AD9E713209F1725CBA950@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Sorry it's been so long since my last report but it has been a couple of extra busy weeks.
So, we left off with Junction City weir (JCW) getting knocked out from big woody debris on the Boat Dance flows. As the flows receded John's crew, along with the excellent help of a Hoopa fisheries crew, were able to get the weir back up and running for the last trap day of Julian week 34 (ending on Aug 26), when they got 7 Chinook and 3 steelhead (see attached).

Julian week 35 we got finally got Willow Creek weir installed (again, with the help of HVTF), only to be knocked out of immediate trapping by high water temperatures. Then the Helena Fire got going on July 30th and JC couldn't trap because of accessibility.

With the heavy wild fire smoke in the Trinity canyon the water temperatures came down enough for us to trap at WCW. John's crew is once again trapping at JCW as well (they were able to get permission to access the trap via the closed road). We're trying, folks, we are, to get the data and get it to you, sometimes it takes a little longer than we'd like.

So, attached please find JW 34 and 35. I'll have JW 36 out by mid-week next week, including the beginning of spawning operations at Trinity River Hatchery.
Let me know if you have questions.
MC
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Sep 10 15:10:46 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2017 15:10:46 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Must Read;
	Federal audit reveals $84.8 million misused for Delta Tunnels
	planning
References: <16737818-A484-4CB8-BDDB-A5F5A93A2ACC@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <639A6972-4DE0-44BB-91B7-DCD81009E93D@att.net>



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dan Bacher <danielbacher at fishsniffer.com>
> Date: September 10, 2017 at 10:14:09 AM PDT
> Subject: Must Read; Federal audit reveals $84.8 million misused for Delta Tunnels planning
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Photo of Governor Jerry Brown by Dan Bacher.
> 
> https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/8/21/1692067/-Avalanche-of-Lawsuits-Against-Delta-Tunnels-Hit-The-Court
> 
> Federal audit reveals $84.8 million misused for Delta Tunnels planning
> 
> A federal audit has determined that the U.S. Department of Interior?s Bureau of Reclamation improperly used over $84.8 million in federal taxpayer?s money in the planning process for Governor Jerry Brown?s Delta Tunnels project. 
> The Inspector General for DOI has issued a 42-page report detailing the misuse of the money and the recommendations made to Reclamation to resolve the issue. ?The Bureau of Reclamation was not transparent in its financial participation in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan,?  the title of the audit obtained by the Associated Press sums up. 
> 
> Governor Brown has continually said that taxpayers will not pay for the construction of the tunnels, but the conclusions reached in the federal audit reveal that federal taxpayers have indeed already paid over $84 million to subsidize the widely-unpopular project.
> 
> The Delta Tunnels plan, renamed the California WaterFix in 2015, would build two massive 35 mile long tunnels under the Delta to export Sacramento River water to the Westlands Water District, Stewart and Lynda Resnick's agribusiness operations in Kern County and other other growers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The tunnels would also provide water for Southern California water agencies and for fracking and other extreme oil extraction operations in Kern County.
> 
> The audit said the water contractors who will benefit from the project, not the federal taxpayers, were supposed to pay for the project, a joint state-federal proposal that could cost up to $68 billion in total.
> 
> The Inspector General determined that Bureau officials ?did not fully disclose to Congress or other stakeholders that a total of $84.8 million in federal funds were used to pay for the planning costs of the State of California?s BDCP.?
> 
> In addition, the audit revealed:
> 
> ? Reclamation did not disclose that it used these funds to subsidize 64% of the Central Valley Water Project (CVP) water contractors? share of the state?s planning costs ?and could not provide us with any explanation of why it did so.?
> 
> ? Reclamation financed its participation in the tunnels project planning ?by using a complex process that was not transparent to stakeholders.?
> 
> ? USBR made a determination at the regional level, without suffIcIent analytical documentation, that $50 million in federal funds was  not reimbursable, resulting in these funds not being repaid to the Treasury.
> 
> ? Finally, USBR did not expend funds under its third financial assistance agreement with DWR in accordance with the authority delegated to the Commissioner under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act because the funds ?were not used to plan, design or construct projects to create or improve instream habitat.? 
> 
> ?We are concerned that the absence of transparency displayed by USBR during the planning phase of the BDCP will be perpetuated in the future,? the Inspector General concluded. ?We therefore made four recommendations to address the weakenesses in USBR?s policies and procedures that allowed USBR not to disclose to Congress and other stakeholders that $50 million in federal funds was being used for the BDCP and that these funds would not be returned to the Treasury as expected.?
> 
> You can read the audit, including the conclusions and recommendations, here: drive.google.com/...
> 
> The investigation resulted from a complaint the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed on the behalf of a Reclamation employee on February 19, 2016. The complaint detailed  how a funding agreement with the California Department of Water Resources was ?illegally siphoning off funds that are supposed to benefit fish and wildlife to a project that will principally benefit irrigators? under the California WaterFix. 
> 
> PEER claimed that of the $60 million in Coordination Act grants spent, ?not a dime went to habitat improvements.? Instead, the group said the money was actually being expended on work that will harm critical habitat for at least five endangered and threatened fish species. More information: www.counterpunch.org/...
> 
> Westlands Water District general manager Thomas Birmingham defended the use of the federal money for tunnels planning, telling the Associated Press that he ?knew of nothing about the arrangement that was inconsistent with state or federal law.?
> 
> ?Birmingham says that under federal law, water districts that would benefit from the tunnels have to repay the taxpayer money only if the project is built,? according to AP: abcnews.go.com/?
> 
> The California Natural Resources Agency has not yet responded to my request for a comment on the audit.
> 
> Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, issued a statement noting that the ?same type of obfuscation? exposed in the audit is being employed in the financial planning for the project?s construction:
> 
> ?As we knew from research completed by our colleagues over the last few years, funding has been misused to finance the planning of the Delta Tunnels. We are seeing the same type of obfuscation in the financial planning for the construction of the project.
> 
> "Central Valley Project contractors cannot afford 45% of the $17 billion initial construction costs without a subsidy. State Water Project Contractors, like Metropolitan Water District are not being honest with their boards about their partners or ratepayers how much it will cost in total. It is a boondoggle that is being shoved onto 98% of Californians who will be paying for generations.
> 
> "The truth is Westlands and the other west side San Joaquin Valley growers could not afford the planning process without tax contributions from federal taxpayers. How can MWD or SCVWD partners have confidence in Westlands as a partner for a project that starts at $17 billion?"
> 
> After hearing of the audit?s release, Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, said, ?Our prayers are being answered.?
> 
> ?It's ironic that the same Bureau of Reclamation that misspent taxpayers money for Delta Tunnels planning won't let us sit on the committee for the planning for reintroducing winter run Chinook salmon to the McCloud River,? she stated at Friday?s press conference to kick off the Tribe?s Run4Salmon in Berkeley.  
> 
> ?These are the agency faulty details that keep the Winnemem Wintu worried about the Delta Tunnels and the Fish Passage Pilot Project. Salmon need passage out of and into the Delta,? Chief Sisk concluded. 
> 
> The Tribe is currently engaged in a campaign to bring back the descendants of the McCloud River winter-run Chinook salmon from the Rakaira River in New Zealand to reintroduce to the McCloud above Shasta Dam. This summer, the Tribe and their allies partnered with GoFundMe to help fund the collection of genetic samples of the winter Chinooks from New Zealand. More information: www.dailykos.com/...
> 
> Restore the Delta and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe are both plaintiffs in recent lawsuits filed to stop the Delta Tunnels. The final tally of the Delta Tunnels CEQA lawsuits is 18 cases brought by 80 plaintiffs, according to Alex Breitler of the Stockton Record. Read them here: https://t.co/NlVev0SuMw 
> 
> Meanwhile, the state?s audit of funding for the Delta Tunnels is slated for release in October. On August 10 of last year,  the Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted 9 to 2 to conduct the audit, as requested by Assemblymember Susan Eggman and Senator Lois Wolk.    
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From sari at sisqtel.net  Mon Sep 11 11:48:10 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2017 11:48:10 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: NOAA FISHERIES: OCEAN SURVEYS SHOW POOR
	CONDITIONS FOR COLUMBIA BASIN SALMON
Message-ID: <010c01d32b2e$84e3adc0$8eab0940$@sisqtel.net>

 

Columbia Basin Bulletin http://www.cbbulletin.com/439540.aspx#

 


NOAA Fisheries: Ocean Surveys Show Poor Conditions For Columbia Basin Salmon

Posted on Friday, September 08, 2017 (PST) 


Ocean conditions for salmon headed to sea this year are very poor, according
to recent NOAA Fisheries research surveys, and have a high likelihood of
depressing salmon returns to the Columbia River in the next few years.

 

The outlook is described in a recent research memorandum
<https://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/divisions/fe/estuarine/oeip/index.cfm>
https://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/divisions/fe/estuarine/oeip/index.cfm

from NOAA Fisheries' Northwest Fisheries Science Center, which has been
studying the ecology of young salmon entering the ocean for more than 20
years. The research has helped reveal how conditions in the ocean affect
salmon survival and, ultimately, how many salmon complete their life cycle
to return to their home streams and spawn a new generation of fish.

 

NOAA Fisheries researchers regularly survey ocean conditions off the Pacific
Northwest Coast, focusing especially on factors known as "ocean indicators"
that can serve as barometers of salmon survival.

 

They also assess the number and condition of juvenile salmon along the
Oregon and Washington coastlines, since the survival of the fish during
their first months at sea helps predict how many are likely to survive over
the longer term.

 

NOAA Fisheries' many years of ocean research have helped scientists develop
online charts of ocean indicators that display the forecast for salmon
returns in coming years. In the last few years the indicators have turned
largely negative for Columbia River salmon, in large part because of
unusually warm ocean temperatures, including the "warm blob," a large swath
of warm water that encompassed much of the West Coast beginning in 2013.

 

"This is not just about salmon, however, it's about an ocean ecosystem that
is changing in ways that affect salmon and everything else out there," said
David Huff, manager of the NWFSC's Estuarine and Ocean Ecology Program.
"Remote methods of detecting changes to the ecosystem did not highlight the
poor ocean conditions this year. For example, the warm blob has dissipated,
so satellite imagery shows near-normal sea surface temperatures. It was only
by getting out on the water and sampling directly that we were able to
identify and describe local biological indicators."

 

Researchers' catch of juvenile salmon this year was among the lowest in the
last 20 years, suggesting that the early survival of young fish was
unusually low. Catches of other species such as smelt, herring, and anchovy
were also low, a sign that predators such as seabirds near the mouth of the
Columbia may have had to rely more heavily on young salmon just entering the
ocean.

 

Surveys in recent years have also turned up record numbers of warmer-water
species such as Pacific pompano and jack mackerel that previously had been
scarce off the Pacific Northwest coast. Increased abundance of these
warm-water species can have direct and indirect ecological impacts on
salmon.

 

Moreover, warm ocean waters typically carry plankton with less of the fatty
nutrients that young salmon need to thrive when they first go to sea,
starving the food web from the bottom up. This year researchers noted that
chlorophyll, which is a barometer of the plankton that helps sustain higher
trophic levels, was at its lowest levels in 20 years.

 

At the same time, tiny marine crustaceans called copepods that signal
favorable conditions for salmon have remained at low levels since 2014,
researchers said.

 

The results indicate that salmon fisheries may face some lean times in the
next few years. Biologists will report on 2017 salmon returns later this
year, and will issue forecasts for 2018 in early March. Those forecasts will
help shape expectations for 2018 fishing seasons.

 

"While the news is not good, this new information helps us anticipate what's
coming," said NWFSC Director Kevin Werner. "We cannot change what the ocean
is doing in the short term but this scientific information can help us make
good decisions about how best to manage and protect salmon in light of these
adverse conditions."

 

The findings underscore the vast influence the ocean exerts over salmon
survival and the importance of providing salmon with healthy freshwater
habitat so they can weather poor ocean conditions and take advantage of
favorable conditions when they return. That is a central focus of NOAA
Fisheries' recovery plans for threatened and endangered salmon and
steelhead.

 

"As difficult as it is for salmon right now, tribes, watershed groups, and
others across the region have worked hard to improve freshwater salmon
habitat," said Michael Tehan, Assistant Regional Administrator for the
Interior Columbia Basin Office of NOAA Fisheries' West Coast Region. "That's
essential for sustaining salmon through these tough times so they can
rebound when ocean conditions support it."

 

For more information:

 

Salmon Returns and Ocean Conditions (NWFSC fact sheet)
<https://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publications/documents/salmon-returns-ocean-cond
itions-2017.pdf>
https://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/publications/documents/salmon-returns-ocean-condi
tions-2017.pdf

 <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a73074e66d2b0b0>
Bookmark and Share

	

 

	

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From derek_rupert at fws.gov  Tue Sep 12 15:42:11 2017
From: derek_rupert at fws.gov (Rupert, Derek)
Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2017 15:42:11 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Mainstem Trinity River Spawn Survey Update for
	September 8, 2017
Message-ID: <CA+c=hV=kNUv3Y96BTCa_rfJb0MxM7a0XXrRzDA=BL1icxjZ98g@mail.gmail.com>

Hello All,

The US Fish and Wildlife Service along with the Yurok Tribe, California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Forest Service, and Hoopa Valley Tribe
have another weekly update for our Trinity River mainstem spawn survey.
The full update is posted on the Arcata Fish and Wildlife Fisheries
webpage.

Trinity River Spawn Survey Update September 8, 2017.
<https://www.fws.gov/arcata/fisheries/projectUpdates/TRSpawningSurvey/2017/TrinitySpawningUpdate_2017_09_08.pdf>

This week our crews mapped 1 redds (1 total for the year) in the Reaches
from Lewiston Dam  to Cedar Flat. The graph below is clipped from our
weekly report (limited to the river upstream of Cedar Flat).


?The Helena wildfire <https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5564/> inhibited
our crews from completing all of the spawning surveys this week.  With the
firefighters continuing to battle and contain the fire, we should be able
to access key areas and complete our future surveys.  We thank the fire
crews for their hard work and hope this fire season ends soon.

Cheers,
Derek

-- 
Derek Rupert
Fish Biologist
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Weaverville, CA
Office 530.623.1805
Cell 570.419.2823
Derek_Rupert at fws.gov
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Tue Sep 12 18:17:42 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2017 01:17:42 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Project trapping summary through Julian
	Week 36
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB137865A9C6E3E625DF7F4995BA6E0@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Here it is, as promised: Trapping summary through Julian week 36.

It has been heartening to see the number of jacks moving through the Willow Creek weir...makes me have some hope for next year!
Fingers crossed it continues!

******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Enviornmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Sep 15 13:54:02 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2017 13:54:02 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek channel
	rehabilitation project in-river work extended
References: <0117212c5dec42ba942636af206a67ab@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <59BFCFBB-6A7B-4F9E-B701-F60C613DDA0D@att.net>



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Todd Plain" <tplain at usbr.gov>
> Date: September 15, 2017 at 12:51:49 PM PDT
> To: tstokely at att.net
> Subject: Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek channel rehabilitation project in-river work extended
> 
> 
> Mid-Pacific Region
> Sacramento, Calif.
> 
> Media Contact: Erin Curtis, 916-978-5100, eccurtis at usbr.gov
> 
> For Immediate Release: Sept. 15, 2017
> 
> Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek channel rehabilitation project in-river work extended
> 
> WEAVERVILLE, Calif. ? Construction on the Deep Gulch and Sheridan Creek channel rehabilitation project, 8 miles west of Weaverville, was delayed by the Helena Fire and in-channel work in the Trinity River has been extended to Sept. 30.
> 
> It is the intent of the Trinity River Restoration Program staff to complete the project as soon as feasible so that no in-river work will be required next year. During the extended in-river construction window all permit conditions will remain in effect, including monitoring increased turbidity along the Trinity River and Canyon Creek from Helena Fire impacted areas.
> 
> During this extended time period, contractors will focus on completion of the in-river work and isolating restoration features from the channel during construction to minimize disturbance to the river and any potential spawning salmon.
> 
> Due to project delays from the fire, the TRRP consulted with the National Marine Fisheries Service on extending the in-river work period from Sept. 15 to Sept. 30. The NMFS concurred that effects of the extension would not be greater than those previously analyzed in order to protect federally threatened Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast coho salmon.
> 
> For more information on the project, please visit http://www.trrp.net or contact Kevin Held at 530-623-1809 (TTY 800-877-8339) or kheld at usbr.gov.
> 
> # # #
> 
> Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.
> 
> 
> 
> If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
> Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States
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From derek_rupert at fws.gov  Mon Sep 18 10:53:06 2017
From: derek_rupert at fws.gov (Rupert, Derek)
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2017 10:53:06 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Mainstem Trinity River Spawn Survey Update for
	September 15, 2017
Message-ID: <CA+c=hV=s-WB11p+Kkhb7EkM-WK4s_4nGuQ5cW1jfuouwvtk6rQ@mail.gmail.com>

Hello All,

The US Fish and Wildlife Service along with the Yurok Tribe, California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Forest Service, and Hoopa Valley Tribe
have another weekly update for our Trinity River mainstem spawn survey.
The full update is posted on the Arcata Fish and Wildlife Fisheries
webpage.

Trinity River Spawn Survey Update September 15, 2017.
<https://www.fws.gov/arcata/fisheries/projectUpdates/TRSpawningSurvey/2017/TrinityReddUpdate_2017_09_15.pdf>

This week our crews mapped 14 redds (15 total for the year) in the Reaches
from Lewiston Dam  to Cedar Flat. The graph below is clipped from our
weekly report (limited to the river upstream of Cedar Flat).


?
If you are interested in Columbia River basin fisheries, make sure to check
out the Columbia River DART
<http://www.cbr.washington.edu/dart/quick_look/adult>.  This website
provides (among other data) daily counts of migrating adult salmon and
other fishes through fish ladders on the system's major dams.

Cheers,
Derek

-- 
Derek Rupert
Fish Biologist
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Weaverville, CA
Office 530.623.1805
Cell 570.419.2823
Derek_Rupert at fws.gov
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Sep 18 11:07:05 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2017 18:07:05 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Management Council Agenda Sept 20-21,
	Weaverville
References: <2016788096.4474268.1505758025458.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2016788096.4474268.1505758025458@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trrp.net/calendar/event/?id=11574
?TRINITY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL?Location: Trinity River Restoration Program?1313 South Main Street, Weaverville, CA?Agenda for September 20 and 21, 2017?Wednesday September 20, 2017?Time Discussion Leader?Regular Business:?9:00 Introductions: Don Bader, Chair?? Welcome?? Approval of Agenda?? Updated TMC Robert?s Rules of Order?? Approval of July TMC Meeting Minutes?
9:30 Public Forum: Comments from the public Don Bader, Chair?9:45 Report from TAMWG Tom Stokely?10:00 Report from Executive Director Caryn Huntt DeCarlo?Information / Decision Items:?10:30 TRRP Budget Caryn and Jenny Norris?(Decision Item)?11:00 Break?11:15 TRRP Budget continued Caryn and Jenny?12:15 Lunch?1:15 TRRP Budget continued Caryn and Jenny?2:15 Break?2:30 Reinitiation of Consultation on the CVP Don Bader?2:45 Safety of Dam operations Don Bader?3:15 Discussion of Watershed Priorities Mike Dixon?3:45 New TRRP Website Eric Peterson?4:15 Public Forum: Comments from the public Don Bader, Chair?4:30 Adjourn?6:00 TMC Dinner at La Grange Caf? 520 Main Street in Weaverville (https://www.facebook.com/LaGrangeCafe/menu)?Thursday September 21, 2017Time Discussion Leader?Regular Business:?9:00 Public Forum: Comments from the public Don Bader, Chair?Information / Decision Items:?9:15 Winter Flow Variability Update Jenny/Kyle De Juilio?10:15 Site Visit to Sheridan Creek/Deep Gulch Rehab Project Mike and Caryn?12:45 Return from site visit/adjourn?Note: Dates for remainder of TMC 2017 teleconference and meetings:?? Teleconference: October 19 - 10:00 to noon?? Teleconference: November 16 - 10:00 to noon?? December TMC meeting: December 6 and 7 in Weaverville?

| Webex and Call in Information: TMC - Day 1 and 2? |
| Wednesday, September 20th, and Thursday, September 21st?JOIN BY PHONE?1-408-792-6300 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)? |



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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Mon Sep 18 14:40:44 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2017 21:40:44 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Project trapping summary through Julian
	Week 37
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB1378F61B895EB12F8DE798D5BA630@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW37, 09/16/2017.
Speculation abounds as to what is up with the large numbers of Chinook jacks (at Willow Creek weir), but they're okay with me, as long as they keep coming!!

MC


******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Enviornmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Sep 19 09:36:52 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2017 16:36:52 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?No_fishery_relief_funds_again_in_Congress?=
 =?utf-8?b?4oCZICQxLjJUIHNwZW5kaW5nIGJpbGw=?=
References: <168355264.5200324.1505839012977.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <168355264.5200324.1505839012977@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170916/no-fishery-relief-funds-again-in-congress-12t-spending-bill?source=most_viewed

No fishery relief funds again in Congress? $1.2T spending bill

Second time Congress passed spending bill without disaster aid this year
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardSaturday, September 16, 2017For Yurok Tribe member Sammy Gensaw III, the divide between Capitol Hill and his hometown of Requa on the mouth of the Klamath River is measured in more than miles.The tribe and commercial fishermen across the West Coast learned this past week that the House of Representatives once again did not include fishery disaster relief funds in a $1.2 trillion spending bill it approved. The relief funds would aid fishermen who suffered major losses after the disastrous 2015-2016 crab season and 2016 salmon season. This year?s salmon season was even worse, with the forecast return of Klamath River Chinook salmon being the lowest on record.?Salmon is not just an animal and a food source,? Gensaw, 23, said Saturday afternoon. ?It?s everything. It?s related to every concept of our life, to being able to pay our bills, to being able to feed our children and to being able to keep a roof over our heads.?... This is all just money to [Congress],? Gensaw continued. ?Here, it?s life or death.?Gensaw said his family and people have fished on the Klamath River for generations. For the first time, Gensaw said he can no longer call himself a fishermen because he can no longer afford to be one.?We had our land stripped away from us, we had our rights to hunt and fish our lands taken away,? Gensaw said. ?One of our last rights we have to provide for our family and live off the river is now being taken away from us.?California?s North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman said he voted against the spending bill on Thursday. This is the second time Congress did not include the relief funds since fishery disaster declarations were issued in January by then-Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker for the Yurok Tribe salmon season and West Coast crab seasons. Congress did not include the relief funds in?a $1 trillion spending bill passed in May.?It is an outrage that House leadership blocked so many of our efforts to improve the bill, including my amendment to provide additional funding for those on the West Coast who are reeling from fishery disasters,? Huffman (D-San Rafael) said in a statement.?Huffman and Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) had introduced two bills this year to provide nearly $140 million to aid crab fishermen and the Yurok Tribe. Huffman stated in a new release that House Republicans denied a chance for his amendments to the spending bill to go to a vote or even a debate on the floor.?The spending bill for the 2018 fiscal year passed in a 211-198 vote. The current fiscal year will end on Sept. 30. Even though the Senate still must act, the government will keep operating through Dec. 8, thanks to legislation Congress passed last week and sent to President Donald Trump. Huffman said the bill will ?thankfully? be dead on arrival in the Senate.?House members spent the past two weeks debating the measure?s $500 billion for domestic agencies. GOP leaders then merged that domestic spending package with an earlier House measure that would give record budget increases to the Pentagon and provide a $1.6 billion down payment for Trump?s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.?It does everything from strengthening our national defense and veterans? programs to cracking down on illegal immigration to protecting life to cutting abusive Washington agencies like the IRS and the EPA,? the No. 2 House Republican, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California said Thursday. Speaker Paul Ryan. R-Wis., praised a pay raise for the military, border security funding, and ?defunding? Planned Parenthood as victories for Republicans and Trump.Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations Executive Director Noah Oppenheim said Saturday that there will still be chances for Congress to provide relief funding in the fall, and not just for hurricane relief.?Whether a disaster is two weeks old or two years old, it?s still a federal disaster and Congress needs to pay attention to them all regardless of what the cause was and where it was,? Oppenheim said.With this year?s commercial salmon season being cut short or cut altogether as was the case for the Klamath River, Oppenheim said many fishermen are continuing to struggle. Some fishermen have left the fleet altogether after racking up debts in preparation of a fishing season where little to no catch was made to help pay them off.?Without some sort of relief, we?re going to see some major shifts in outlook among the fleet, not for the better,? Oppenheim said.Gensaw said it is not a surprise that the federal government is not providing them relief, but said there is a still a need for the people of the river to come together to protect the salmon, the resources and each other.?It?s time for us as the people to bring balance back to this river by any means necessary,? he said. ?The industrial revolution is over. It is now the restorative revolution. We will restore our partnerships with the people on the river, we will restore our environment and we will restore our people because that?s our only option.?The Associated Press contributed to this report. Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Sep 19 15:47:28 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2017 22:47:28 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Farmers_Deal_Brown=E2=80=99s_Delta_Tunnel?=
	=?utf-8?q?s_Project_A_Major_Blow?=
References: <1310712997.4801888.1505861248070.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1310712997.4801888.1505861248070@mail.yahoo.com>

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/09/19/san-joaquin-farmers-vote-against-delta-tunnels-project/



Farmers Deal Brown?s Delta Tunnels Project A Major?Blow
September 19, 2017 3:07 PM
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) ? Farmers in the nation?s largest irrigation district on Tuesday voted against participating in Gov. Jerry Brown?s $16 billion plans to build two giant tunnels to re-engineer California?s north-south water?delivery?system.The Westlands Water District? was considered a key player in the project?s success or failure having already having invested millions toward planning. But the vote means it will not commit to shouldering a share of the hefty construction costs.Administrators at Westlands, which supplies water to hundreds of family farms and some large corporate farms, had recommended that its farmers support the tunnels only if the costs are spread out to other agencies in proportion to how much water they get from the state, making it more affordable for the agricultural district.ADVERTISINGThomas Birmingham, general manager of the Westlands district, said he believes the 7-1 vote against the project might kill it.Westlands is the first water district to vote on the project.?Water districts for the Silicon Valley and those in the farm-rich Central Valley and Southern California are due to vote in the coming weeks.John McManus, the executive director of the?Golden Gate Salmon Association, said the water district?s decision was a major blow to the project.?The takeaway from today?s vote is that the current twin tunnels plan is dying from its own weight,? said McManus, who? organization has been a vocal opponent to the project. ?It?s way too big and expensive, even for the growers in the desert-dry western San Joaquin Valley who need the water the most. ?There?s no doubt that the existing method of transferring northern California water south is deadly for salmon and other wildlife and absolutely could be improved upon, but not by this behemoth.?The tunnel?project is the biggest proposed for California in more than a half-century, but has no firm financial commitments from local water districts.The vote comes a day after The Associated Press reported newly revealed state plans to put dozens more water agencies and millions of families and farmers on the hook for funding the tunnels.Brown is pressing to secure the project before he leaves office next year. It calls for building two 35-mile-long (56-kilometer-long) tunnels east of San Francisco to deliver water from the Sacramento River mostly to farms and cities hundreds of miles away in central and Southern California.Backers say the tunnels will stabilize flows, bolstering endangered fish and ensuring a reliable water supply. Critics say the project will be used to drain Northern California dry and further harm native fish.

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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Tue Sep 19 17:23:39 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2017 17:23:39 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Westlands Water District Votes No on Delta Tunnels
	Project!
In-Reply-To: <2ABFCBDE-72B6-4DDC-908F-91E0AE947B37@fishsniffer.com>
References: <CAOPObbqNQe9hUL9TEO6HbUpeEaXMU==JcUrNJdT-Df1PwLYJiw@mail.gmail.com>
	<1247395019.19670.1504897113447@mail.yahoo.com>
	<CAOPObbqKwe38yS8ANhCRTUG9m8uLhrbMnWMUgOwv+oySFphMPg@mail.gmail.com>
	<16737818-A484-4CB8-BDDB-A5F5A93A2ACC@fishsniffer.com>
	<DEFDE995-7BDA-4464-BE33-01E06D377C39@fishsniffer.com>
	<684C7D13-2431-4D0E-A010-CB90174DD6B4@fishsniffer.com>
	<3B53AAA5-8D22-4192-A525-20B65B20E549@fishsniffer.com>
	<4BBAA1FD-831D-4EA4-9E14-A64A81C001A3@fishsniffer.com>
	<2ABFCBDE-72B6-4DDC-908F-91E0AE947B37@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <6E8AE570-6CD3-4617-ADA4-257183AE9F22@fishsniffer.com>

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/19/1699905/-Westlands-Water-District-Votes-No-on-Delta-Tunnels-Project

Map of Westlands Water District courtesy of WWD.

Westlands Water District Votes No on Delta Tunnels Project!

by Dan Bacher

In a major victory for Delta Tunnels opponents, the Board of Directors  
of the Westlands Water District today voted 7 to 1 against their  
participation in Governor Jerry Brown?s California WaterFix project.
Growers in the massive district, located on the west side of the San  
Joaquin Valley, cited the high cost of the state-federal proposal as  
their reason for rejecting the project. Politically powerful Westlands  
is the largest irrigation district in the country.

The district would be one of the key beneficiaries of the proposed 35- 
mile long twin tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta ?  
and their rejection of the project is a major loss for the Brown  
administration?s efforts to fast-track the construction of the  
project. It also sends a message to other water districts that the  
cost of the controversial plan is not worth the potential benefits.

The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California board is  
slated to  vote on the tunnels in early October, but the Westlands  
vote delivers a major blow to the project.

?Westlands? decision to not participate in the California WaterFix  
will make it very difficult for other agencies to participate,? Tom  
Birmingham, the General Manager of Westlands, told the Los Angeles  
Times.

Delta Tunnels opponents are very pleased with the Westlands decision.

"Today is a very good day for California,? said Barbara Barrigan- 
Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, in a statement. ?By  
rejecting California WaterFix, the Westlands Water District has dealt  
a blow to the project. There are many better solutions for creating a  
sustainable water supply in California.?

She noted that Metropolitan Water District's math used to justify the  
construction of the project is based on a ?sizable contribution from  
Westlands,? as is the Santa Clara Valley Water District?s math.

?They now have to come up with a lot more money for the Delta  
Tunnels," Barrigan-Parrilla stated. ?It won't pencil out for them  
either.?

The Westlands vote against the tunnels is not the only victory in the  
campaign to stop the project today.  The Los Angeles City Council  
Energy and Environmental Committee also voted no for the Delta Tunnels  
project -- ?until the project is fully financed and Metropolitan Water  
District meets all their considerations,? according to RTD.

Yesterday, over 40 ratepayers drew significant media attention by  
holding a No Tunnels, No Water Rate Hike rally in front of Los Angeles  
City Hall.

Rally and meeting participants included representatives of Food &  
Water Watch, Consumer Watchdog, Union de Vecinos, Restore the Delta,  
Los Angeles Waterkeeper, Concerned Citizens of Compton, Southern  
California Watershed Alliance, Sierra Club Angeles Water Committee,  
March and Rally-LA, People Organized for Westside Renewal (POWER), and  
Ground Game LA, neighborhood council leaders and faith leaders.

?The Delta Tunnels would raise water rates and property taxes in Los  
Angeles, costing ratepayers a total of $2.5 to $4 billion,? said  
Brenna Norton of Food and Water Watch. ?These massive tunnels would  
change the way water is diverted from the Bay Delta and would send  
additional water to corporate agribusinesses in the Central Valley,  
while Southern California ratepayers pay more for no additional water.?

Norton said the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has endorsed  
this rate hike, which would be imposed by the Metropolitan Water  
District, even though it plans to reduce water imports from the Delta.

Also today, the Santa Clara Valley Water District in San Jose voted to  
pass a "no regrets package" planning $100 million for 9 different  
projects like stormwater capture, leak repair and gray water, RTD  
stated.

Delta Tunnels opponents are urging people to show up for their public  
meeting on September 26th to tell them to vote no on the project.

On Monday, the Associated Press revealed that "dozens of water  
agencies and millions of families and farmers would be on the hook?  
for building the Delta Tunnels. AP obtained new documents from  
Westlands ? and confirmed the expanded funding demands in phone and  
email interviews with state and local water officials: https://apnews.com/712b5954fa3a4b4e9494cbbadefa6575/APNewsBreak:-Millions-of-Californians-on-hook-for-water-plan

Also on Monday, the California Indian Water Commission joined three  
environmental groups ? the California Water Impact Network,  
AquAlliance and California Sportfishing Protection Alliance ? in  
filing a legal challenge to the financing of the Delta Tunnels.

A recent landmark 9th Circuit ruling that federally reserved Indian  
water rights have precedent over all state and federal water rights  
puts a new twist on how much water there really will be available for  
the tunnels or any other project ? and could put a big wrench in state  
and federal plants to build the massive 35 mile long tunnels under the  
Delta. For more information, go to www.indybay.org/...

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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Wed Sep 20 12:41:50 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2017 12:41:50 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Updated: Westlands Water District Votes No on Delta
	Tunnels Project! Westlands, Secretary John Laird comments included
In-Reply-To: <6E8AE570-6CD3-4617-ADA4-257183AE9F22@fishsniffer.com>
References: <CAOPObbqNQe9hUL9TEO6HbUpeEaXMU==JcUrNJdT-Df1PwLYJiw@mail.gmail.com>
	<1247395019.19670.1504897113447@mail.yahoo.com>
	<CAOPObbqKwe38yS8ANhCRTUG9m8uLhrbMnWMUgOwv+oySFphMPg@mail.gmail.com>
	<16737818-A484-4CB8-BDDB-A5F5A93A2ACC@fishsniffer.com>
	<DEFDE995-7BDA-4464-BE33-01E06D377C39@fishsniffer.com>
	<684C7D13-2431-4D0E-A010-CB90174DD6B4@fishsniffer.com>
	<3B53AAA5-8D22-4192-A525-20B65B20E549@fishsniffer.com>
	<4BBAA1FD-831D-4EA4-9E14-A64A81C001A3@fishsniffer.com>
	<2ABFCBDE-72B6-4DDC-908F-91E0AE947B37@fishsniffer.com>
	<6E8AE570-6CD3-4617-ADA4-257183AE9F22@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <A8B49B68-1CD6-4CC3-A5F8-643966961AEC@fishsniffer.com>

Good Afternoon

Here's an updated article on the Westlands decision to reject the  
Delta Tunnels project, with today's statement from Westlands and  
yesterday's comment from John Laird included.

Dan


https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/19/1699905/-Westlands-Water-District-Votes-No-on-Delta-Tunnels-Project

Map of Westlands Water District courtesy of WWD.



Westlands Water District Votes No on Delta Tunnels Project!

by Dan Bacher
In a major victory for Delta Tunnels opponents, the Board of Directors  
of the Westlands Water District on September 19 voted 7 to 1 against  
their participation in Governor Jerry Brown?s California WaterFix  
project.

Growers in the massive district, located on the west side of the San  
Joaquin Valley, cited the high cost of the state-federal proposal as  
their reason for rejecting the project. Politically powerful Westlands  
is the largest irrigation district in the country.

The district would be one of the key beneficiaries of the proposed 35- 
mile long twin tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ? and  
their rejection of the project is a major loss for the Brown  
administration?s campaign to fast-track the construction of the  
tunnels. It also sends a message to other water districts that the  
cost of the controversial plan is not worth the potential benefits.

The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California board is  
slated to  vote on the tunnels in early October, but the Westlands  
vote delivers a major blow to the project.

?Westlands? decision to not participate in the California WaterFix  
will make it very difficult for other agencies to participate,? Tom  
Birmingham, the General Manager of Westlands, told the Los Angeles  
Times.

In a statement issued the day after the meeting, the district said  
they rejected the California WaterFix because the project is ?not  
financially viable? from their perspective:

?The District appreciates the efforts of Governor Jerry Brown and his  
administration to balance the interests of many. Indeed, over the last  
twelve months the State administration worked diligently to define a  
viable project, but from Westlands' perspective, the project is not  
financially viable.?

Westlands' principal source of water is the Central Valley Project, a  
project operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. The CVP  
is integrated both operationally and financially. However, under the  
?participation approach?announced by Reclamation for CWF, only CVP  
contractors that chose to participate in CWF would pay the costs of  
constructing and operating new facilities, with no assurance that  
those contractors would receive the water supply benefits resulting  
from CWF.

Westlands supported the development of CWF and has invested  
considerable financial resources, time, and expertise into its  
planning, but consistently stated that it would not obligate the  
farmers it serves to billions of dollars in debt without reasonable  
assurances that the project would produce reliable, affordable water  
supplies. The District recognizes that solving Delta conveyance issues  
is critical to ensuring reliable water supplies to support the economy  
of the State, but it cannot support a project that would make water  
supplies for its farmers unaffordable.?

Delta Tunnels opponents are very pleased with the Westlands decision.

"Today is a very good day for California,? said Barbara Barrigan- 
Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, in a statement. ?By  
rejecting California WaterFix, the Westlands Water District has dealt  
a blow to the project. There are many better solutions for creating a  
sustainable water supply in California.?

She noted that Metropolitan Water District's math used to justify the  
construction of the project is based on a ?sizable contribution from  
Westlands,? as is the Santa Clara Valley Water District?s math.

?They now have to come up with a lot more money for the Delta  
Tunnels,? Barrigan-Parrilla stated. ?It won't pencil out for them  
either.?

The Brown administration tried to downplay the significance of the  
Westlands decision.

?There is one thing on which everyone agrees: Our aging infrastructure  
needs to be modernized,? said California Natural Resources Secretary  
John Laird in a statement. ?Failing to act puts future water supply  
reliability at risk. This vote, while disappointing, in no way signals  
the end of WaterFix.?

The Westlands vote against the tunnels is not the only victory in the  
campaign to stop the project on the same day. The Los Angeles City  
Council Energy and Environmental Committee also voted no for the Delta  
Tunnels project -- ?until the project is fully financed and  
Metropolitan Water District meets all their considerations,? according  
to RTD.

On September 18, over 40 ratepayers drew significant media attention  
by holding a No Tunnels, No Water Rate Hike rally in front of Los  
Angeles City Hall.

Rally and meeting participants included representatives of Food &  
Water Watch, Consumer Watchdog, Union de Vecinos, Restore the Delta,  
Los Angeles Waterkeeper, Concerned Citizens of Compton, Southern  
California Watershed Alliance, Sierra Club Angeles Water Committee,  
March and Rally-LA, People Organized for Westside Renewal (POWER), and  
Ground Game LA, neighborhood council leaders and faith leaders.

?The Delta Tunnels would raise water rates and property taxes in Los  
Angeles, costing ratepayers a total of $2.5 to $4 billion,? said  
Brenna Norton of Food and Water Watch. ?These massive tunnels would  
change the way water is diverted from the Bay Delta and would send  
additional water to corporate agribusinesses in the Central Valley,  
while Southern California ratepayers pay more for no additional water.?

Norton said the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has endorsed  
this rate hike, which would be imposed by the Metropolitan Water  
District, even though it plans to reduce water imports from the Delta.

Also on Tuesday, the Santa Clara Valley Water District in San Jose  
voted to pass a "no regrets package" planning $100 million for 9  
different projects like stormwater capture, leak repair and gray  
water, RTD stated.

Delta Tunnels opponents are urging people to show up for their public  
meeting on September 26th to tell them to vote no on the project.

On Monday, the Associated Press revealed that "dozens of water  
agencies and millions of families and farmers would be on the hook?  
for building the Delta Tunnels. AP obtained new documents from  
Westlands ? and confirmed the expanded funding demands in phone and  
email interviews with state and local water officials: https://apnews.com/712b5954fa3a4b4e9494cbbadefa6575/APNewsBreak:-Millions-of-Californians-on-hook-for-water-plan

Also on Monday, the California Indian Water Commission joined three  
environmental groups ? the California Water Impact Network,  
AquAlliance and California Sportfishing Protection Alliance ? in  
filing a legal challenge to the financing of the Delta Tunnels.

A recent landmark 9th Circuit ruling that federally reserved Indian  
water rights have precedent over all state and federal water rights  
puts a new twist on how much water there really will be available for  
the tunnels or any other project ? and could put a big wrench in state  
and federal plants to build the massive 35 mile long tunnels under the  
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

?The California Indian Water Commission's involvement in this filing  
is about upholding traditional indigenous responsibilities to the  
lands and waters of California," said Don Hankins, President of the  
federally recognized CIWC. "With this filing, we affirm our commitment  
to future generations through protection of the lands and waters of  
this state, and the associated organisms, which we also maintain  
obligations to."

For more information, go to: www.indybay.org/...
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Sep 21 11:44:34 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2017 11:44:34 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Second Call for Abstracts for the 2018 SRF
	Conference
References: <59c4041e2dc_79c38997437423@asgworker-qmb2-17.nbuild.prd.useast1.3dna.io.mail>
Message-ID: <04E35489-3CD4-418D-9B9B-C1051BBD9118@att.net>



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dana Stolzman <srf at calsalmon.org>
> Date: September 21, 2017 at 11:25:34 AM PDT
> To: Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net>
> Subject: Second Call for Abstracts for the 2018 SRF Conference
> 
> 
> Visit our Website | Join us on Facebook               
>                     	
> Salmonid Restoration Federation
> 
> Hi Tom,
> 
> The Second Call for Abstracts is underway for the 36th Annual Salmonid Restoration Conference taking place in Fortuna, California from April 11-14, 2018.
> 
> Please see our detailed instructions on how to submit an abstract for the 2018 Salmonid Restoration Conference. Presenter Abstracts are due on November 7, 2017.
> 
> Descriptions of field tours, workshops, and concurrent sessions are now online; the titles are listed below. Please note that the Call for Abstracts may evolve slightly before the Final Call.
> 
> Field Tours
> Lower Eel River Restoration, Flood Reduction, and Habitat Connectivity Tour
> Instream, Off-Channel, and Upslope Erosion Reduction Restoration Projects in Humboldt Bay
> Instream Restoration and Groundwater Recharge Planning in the Mattole Headwaters
> Large Wood Augmentation Projects in Small, Low-Risk Streams
> Restoring Tidal Wetlands: Inclusive, Process-based Restoration in Working Landscapes
> 15 Years of Salmonid Habitat Restoration in Lower Klamath Tributaries
> Workshops
> Instream Flow Workshop
> Speaking of Science?Public Speaking Tips for Improved Science Communication
> Effectiveness Monitoring of Instream Restoration Projects in California
> Using an Optimization Model to Select Fish Passage Barriers for Remediation
> Identifying Appropriate Site-Specific Methods and Target Criteria for Instream Large Wood Restoration Efforts
> Concurrent Sessions
> 
> Cool Matters: Emerging Stream Temperature Science
> Streamlined Permitting for Restoration Projects ? Existing Programs and Potential Reforms
> Klamath River Dam Removals ?Overview of Planning and Process
> North Coast Innovative Flow Enhancement Programs
> Adapting Aging Infrastructure to Sustain Listed Salmonids
> Risky Landscapes and Nomadic Salmon; Salmon Ecology and Life-History Strategies
> Alluvial Fans and Salmonid Habitat: The Forgotten and Challenging Landscape In-Between
> Restoring to Stage Zero, Recent Innovations in Restoration Science: Reports from the Field
> Modeling Salmonid Habitat for Restoration
> Eel River Ecology, Restoration Challenges, and Opportunities
> For any additional information, please email info at calsalmon.org.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Dana Stolzman
> Executive Director & Conference Agenda Coordinator
> Salmonid Restoration Federation
> 
>  	 	 	 
> Salmonid Restoration Federation ? 425 Snug Aly, Unit D, Eureka, CA 95501, United States 
> This email was sent to tstokely at att.net. To stop receiving emails, click here.
> Created with NationBuilder, the essential toolkit for leaders.
> 
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Tue Sep 26 11:00:28 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2017 18:00:28 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Project trapping summary through Julian
	Week 38
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB13783AD9297EC087FF394A3CBA7B0@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW38, 09/23/2017.

Numbers are not looking great at the hatchery, hopefully we see some more springers show up there very soon.
We are seeing plenty of what appear to be fall Chinook (plenty silvered up) at Willow Creek; the number of unmarked jack remains proportionally high.
Steelhead numbers fluctuating quite a bit week to week.
We'll see how it all plays out.
'Til next week
MC

******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Enviornmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From sari at sisqtel.net  Tue Sep 26 14:13:07 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2017 14:13:07 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] FW: Aguanomics: How Agribusiness Camel got its nose
	into SWP tent
Message-ID: <019501d3370c$40798f80$c16cae80$@sisqtel.net>

 



 <http://www.aguanomics.com/> Aguanomics 

	
  _____  


 <http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/aguanomics/~3/W7hYMhTYcj8/how-agribusiness-camel-first-got-its.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email> How the agribusiness camel first got its nose so far into the State Water Project tent 

Posted: 26 Sep 2017 01:00 AM PDT

 <http://www.kierassociates.net/> Bill Kier has decades of experience in California water politics, and he sends out occasional comments putting context on current events. I thought this one was worth posting here due to its connection between current policy debates and the "original sin" of a poorly made policy from decades earlier.*

Here's Bill:

 <http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Gov-Brown-s-delta-water-tunnels-facing-12207654.php> This posturing over who will/won't commit to buying into the Delta Chunnels reminds me of the posturing that went on over Prop 1 on the 1960 statewide ballot, the funding for the State Water Project.**

During the run-up to that fall election DWR and the Metropolitan Water District of So Cal were negotiating Met's SWP contract. DWR desperately needed the LA Times to start editorializing on behalf the bond proposition (given that the north state was solidly opposed) but Met was holding the Times off until they'd got what they wanted from DWR. (Met?s public position was they were still weighing their options, which included building their own project on CA's North Coast -- they'd concocted an Eel River Commission with which they'd meet, wine-dine and dangle juicy offers of flood control and more).

The old-timers I debriefed 55 years ago told me that the key to DWR's success, in finally getting the Times' endorsement of Prop 1 ? practically on the eve of the election ? was Ralph Brody.

Ralph, you?ll all recall, was a Fresno attorney who had been with Bur Rec before becoming Pat Brown's deputy DWR director.

I?ve often wondered just what Brody offered the Chandlers that peeled them off Met. I suspect it had to do with the prospect of using "surplus" SWP water ? that which would be available until such time as contractors like Met needed their full contract allotments. The Chandlers had significant holdings in the southern San Joaquin Valley. (Then, after you've used the "surplus" on nut-tree orchards who's going to take it away from you, right?)

Ralph, of course, went on to become Westlands Water District?s first General Mgr.

I can remember Ralph walking into a mtg at the Pajaro Dunes with Floyd Dominy in 1974 and the water buffaloes practically swooning ? nobody exuded power like Floyd, but nobody ? anywhere ? was paid as much as Ralph.

Bill's Bottom Line: "California water politics -- the grist that keeps on giving."

  _____  

* Other original sins:  <http://www.aguanomics.com/2015/01/what-are-they-smoking-in-colorado.html> Allocating 16.5 MAF of Colorado River flows to states and Mexico when the average annual flow is 14MAF;  <http://www.aguanomics.com/2011/03/westlands-worse-than-i-thought.html> Westland Water District's foundation in violation of the spirit and letter of the Reclamation Act;  <http://www.aguanomics.com/2011/09/water-follies-review.html> the legal separation of ground and surface water;  <http://www.aguanomics.com/2008/10/federal-inflation.html> Met's decision to build Hoover Dam for "emergency water storage" (leading to excess supply and urban sprawl) when it really only wanted cheap electricity; and  <http://www.aguanomics.com/2010/06/dead-pool-review.html> the Bureau of Reclamation's use of a "portfolio" method of accounting that hides the poor returns of bad dams by combining them with good dams. I'm sure there are more, but you get the point.

** In the same email thread, someone dropped  <http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Away-go-our-dollars-down-the-delta-drains-5132228.php#photo-4197571> this link to a 2014 article saying that it would be cheaper to buy out Westlands for $1.5 billion than waste $25 billion plus on the Chunnels. I agree on that proposal ( <http://www.aguanomics.com/2011/03/westlands-worse-than-i-thought.html> I said the same in 2011!), as  <http://www.aguanomics.com/2008/12/reconsidering-peripheral-canal.html> urban SoCal could easily get along without importing more water from NorCal (and contributing to the destruction of the the Bay-Delta ecosystem).

 <http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/aguanomics?a=W7hYMhTYcj8:k3nj3VtEl5U:qj6IDK7rITs> 

  <http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/aguanomics/~4/W7hYMhTYcj8?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email> 

 


You are subscribed to email updates from Aguanomics <http://www.aguanomics.com/> .
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From derek_rupert at fws.gov  Tue Sep 26 16:36:44 2017
From: derek_rupert at fws.gov (Rupert, Derek)
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2017 16:36:44 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Mainstem Trinity River Spawn Survey Update for
	September 22, 2017
Message-ID: <CA+c=hVnddHjenArULGH8DWCGNVZZnSbdbU19Aznz8u9sAxik6A@mail.gmail.com>

Hello All,

The US Fish and Wildlife Service along with the Yurok Tribe, California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Forest Service, and Hoopa Valley Tribe
have another weekly update for our Trinity River mainstem spawn survey.
The full update is posted on the Arcata Fish and Wildlife Fisheries
webpage.

Trinity River Spawn Survey Update September 22, 2017.
<https://www.fws.gov/arcata/fisheries/projectUpdates/TRSpawningSurvey/2017/TrinityReddUpdate_2017_09_22.pdf>

This week our crews mapped 57 redds (72 total for the year) in the Reaches
from Lewiston Dam  to Cedar Flat. The graph below is clipped from our
weekly report (limited to the river upstream of Cedar Flat).


?
The fall-run Chinook Salmon are en-route and spawning will pick up
considerable over the next few weeks.

Cheers,
Derek

-- 
Derek Rupert
Fish Biologist
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Weaverville, CA
Office 530.623.1805
Cell 570.419.2823
Derek_Rupert at fws.gov
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From derek_rupert at fws.gov  Tue Sep 26 16:36:44 2017
From: derek_rupert at fws.gov (Rupert, Derek)
Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2017 16:36:44 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Mainstem Trinity River Spawn Survey Update for
	September 22, 2017
Message-ID: <CA+c=hVnddHjenArULGH8DWCGNVZZnSbdbU19Aznz8u9sAxik6A@mail.gmail.com>

Hello All,

The US Fish and Wildlife Service along with the Yurok Tribe, California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Forest Service, and Hoopa Valley Tribe
have another weekly update for our Trinity River mainstem spawn survey.
The full update is posted on the Arcata Fish and Wildlife Fisheries
webpage.

Trinity River Spawn Survey Update September 22, 2017.
<https://www.fws.gov/arcata/fisheries/projectUpdates/TRSpawningSurvey/2017/TrinityReddUpdate_2017_09_22.pdf>

This week our crews mapped 57 redds (72 total for the year) in the Reaches
from Lewiston Dam  to Cedar Flat. The graph below is clipped from our
weekly report (limited to the river upstream of Cedar Flat).


?
The fall-run Chinook Salmon are en-route and spawning will pick up
considerable over the next few weeks.

Cheers,
Derek

-- 
Derek Rupert
Fish Biologist
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Weaverville, CA
Office 530.623.1805
Cell 570.419.2823
Derek_Rupert at fws.gov
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Sep 29 10:15:02 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2017 17:15:02 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Dams seen driving 'mass extinction' of salmon
References: <254361614.612980.1506705302110.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <254361614.612980.1506705302110@mail.yahoo.com>

https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/09/26/stories/1060061615??Dams seen driving 'mass extinction' of salmonJeremy P. Jacobs, E&E News reporter Published: Tuesday, September 26, 2017?For millennia, Native Americans subsisted on a spring run of chinook salmon returning to the Klamath River in Northern California.?That changed when the last of four dams was built on the river in 1962 and the number of "springers" plunged, a catastrophic turn missed by federal regulators who lumped together the spring and fall salmon runs.?Now, new genetic research seems to confirm what the tribes have known for generations: The spring-run chinook are unique. They are fattier, look different and taste better. To survive, they must get to areas beyond the four dams on the Klamath for cold-water habitat in the spring and summer.?The study could spur new protections ? if it's not too late.?"The extinction rate," Karuk Tribe leader Leaf Hillman said, "shows we are paying for the sins of the past 100 years of development in the West."?Klamath chinook are among many imperiled salmon subspecies in California, which has nearly 1,600 named dams. Recent research suggests the state is heading toward an epidemic of extinction, with dams playing a major role.?Within 100 years, nearly three-quarters of the state's remaining 31 species of salmon, steelhead and trout are expected to go extinct, according to research by the nonprofit California Trout Inc. and Peter Moyle, associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis.?Nearly half of those species will likely be gone in the next 50 years unless greater actions are taken, decimating what were once among the most productive commercial fisheries on the West Coast.?Ecosystems are complex, but freshwater fishes are on the cusp of extinction for a simple reason.?"We want the water," Moyle said.?The problem extends beyond California, although the state's 20th-century dam-building may earn it the ignoble title of the leader of mass extinction.?As journalist Elizabeth Kolbert chronicled in "The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History," there is a constant background extinction rate.?"Mass extinctions are different," Kolbert wrote. "Instead of a background hum, there's a crash, and disappearance rates spike."?There are signs it has already begun. The difference from the previous five major extinction events ? such as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs ? is that the current one is human-caused, or anthropogenic.?Kolbert largely focuses on climate change and the 365 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide that humans have added to the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century by the burning of fossil fuels.?A growing body of research, however, suggests dams ? which block fish runs and sediment, regulate river flows, change water temperature, inundate habitat and spur invasive species ? may be as significant. Freshwater fishes and other species including amphibians will be among the first to go.?Catherine Reidy Liermann of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has published several papers examining the drivers of that extinction rate, such as pollution and overfishing.?"Dams are the big one," she said in an interview. "We're already seeing species losses associated with dams, and no doubt they play a role in the 'sixth extinction.'"?The problem may only get worse, Liermann added.?"There is a large proportion of the world's freshwater fisheries that could be gone just from dams," she said.?North American freshwater species are dying off fastest, and many of the extinctions are linked to the dam-building frenzy of the 20th century.?More than 120 North American freshwater species have gone extinct since 1900, Anthony Ricciardi of McGill University and Joseph Rasmussen of the University of Lethbridge found in a 1999 paper. They concluded that while the public often focuses on terrestrial endangered species ? polar bears and butterflies, for example, are more compelling than mollusks and crayfish ? North American freshwater species are expected to go extinct at a rate that is five times faster, making it one of the "most stressed" ecosystems on the planet.?Similar research from Noel Burkhead of the U.S. Geological Survey in 2012 concluded that since 1989, the number of extinct North American fish species has increased by 25 percent. Up to another 86 species may disappear by 2050, he found, and the new extinction rate for North American freshwater fishes is "conservatively" estimated to be 877 times greater than the natural background rate.?"Extinction in our rivers and streams in North America is the leading edge of the extinction crisis," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director of the Center for Biological Diversity.?North America has exported the problem.?Half of the nearly 300 large river systems in the world have been fractured by dams, including some that are home to the globe's most biologically diverse ecosystems. Scientists have estimated that 10,000 to 20,000 freshwater species are extinct or at risk, a number rivaling the ice age at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch that wiped out much of the world's megafauna.?Those are conservative estimates because a larger number of freshwater species have yet to be cataloged. Many will go extinct before they are discovered.?And while there has been a downturn in major dam building in the United States, the world is entering a new phase of dam construction after a 1990s slowdown.?There are about 3,700 large hydropower dams proposed or under construction around the world, according to a database compiled by Christiane Zarfl of the University of T?bingen in Germany.?Zarfl's database underestimates the total number of dams that may be built; it includes only hydropower dams, not those used for water storage or delivery.?Yet she found that most are concentrated in developing countries with emerging economies, including nations in Southeast Asia, South America and Africa. And many will affect the world's biological hot spots, such as the Mekong River Basin in Asia and the Amazon River Basin in South America.?Zarfl concluded that the dams will be erected on more than a 20 percent of the globe's remaining free-flowing rivers.?"The current boom in hydropower dam construction is unprecedented in both scale and extent," she wrote in a 2014 paper. "The economic, ecological and social ramifications are likely to be major."?'Devastating to our fish'?In a remote area of Northern California, the Klamath River provides a near-perfect case study of the impact of dams on fish.?The river flows 253 miles from southern Oregon through the steep Siskiyou Mountains before arriving at the Pacific Ocean near Eureka, Calif. It's the second-largest river in the state by volume, and the rugged terrain it runs through has kept it far less developed than California's other main waterways ? the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.?Historically, the Klamath was the home of two prolific runs of chinook salmon, one in the spring and another in the fall.?Four hydroelectric dams that were constructed from 1918 to 1962 ? ending at the lowermost Iron Gate Dam ? blocked those runs.?The spring-run salmon once totaled more than 100,000 annually. Recent returns have averaged less than 2,000, and a survey this year found 110, the lowest return in the two decades since the counts started, according to the tribes.?"It's been devastating to our fish," said Rich Nelson, the head of the watershed program for the Yurok Tribe, which lives near the mouth of the Klamath.?The tribes have always known that the spring-run fish are different from the fall-run. New research backs them up.?Last month, researchers from the University of California, Davis, found that spring-run chinook and summer steelhead ? referred as "premature migrators" because they return to freshwater streams from the ocean to spawn earlier ? are genetically different than their fall-run (for chinook) and winter-run (for steelhead) relatives.?Specifically, the research team found that a single gene differentiates the premature migrators from fall- and winter-run fish. And, importantly, that gene has only evolved once within each species.?Since 1998, however, NOAA Fisheries and state regulators have treated the two groups of fish as the same species ? or "evolutionary significant unit" and "distinct population segment" under the Endangered Species Act.?The Center for Biological Diversity in 2011 petitioned NOAA Fisheries to separate the spring- and fall-run chinook, but the agency denied the request. The Karuk Tribe plans to petition again based on the new research.?A spokesman for NOAA Fisheries declined to comment on how the research could affect any listing decisions.?The predominant reasoning for grouping the two runs together has been that even if the spring-run chinook go extinct, fall-run salmon could quickly evolve into spring-run to replace them.?The UC-Davis research counters that, suggesting such an evolution would take many thousands to millions of years.?Tasha Thompson, a co-author of the study, said it's clear that the dams have "definitely had an impact" for a few reasons.?The spring chinook and summer steelhead must reach colder sections of the river farther upstream than their fall and winter counterparts.?"Being able to utilize habitat late-migrating fish gives springs and summers a big advantage ? it's probably their main evolutionary reason for existing," Thompson said in an email.?The dams, she said, disrupt the natural flow regimes and temperature of the river. As a result, the fall and winter runs occupy the same habitat as the early migrators and often outcompete them for resources.?Michael Miller, another co-author of the study, added that this problem isn't unique to the Klamath. It applies to all spring salmon and summer steelhead runs in the Pacific Rim.?The results also underscore regulatory shortcomings.?Conservation efforts under the Endangered Species Act are limited to "distinct population segments" and, in the terms of NOAA regulations, "evolutionary significant units." But neither the law nor NOAA provides a clear definition of either term, which is partly why regulators have lumped the fall-run and spring-run Klamath chinook together.?"That has unbelievable ramifications ? it is basically life or death for these species," Miller said. "Our results show that we definitely need to do more to protect these species."?What's 'extinction'? It's complicated?Other biologists have turned their attention to another term with a fuzzy regulatory meaning: extinction.?In a controversial paper this April, Moyle and UC Davis colleague Jason Baumsteiger argued that regulators and conservationists need to devise a better framework for assessing extinction.?Around the world, they noted, "extinction of a lineage is not well defined legally."?In the United States the Endangered Species Act provides little guidance. The Fish and Wildlife Service may, for example, delist an endangered species as extinct. But that's a discretionary act, they note, not a mandatory one.?As the dispute regarding the spring-run chinook on the Klamath River demonstrates, there are countless species and subspecies that are not listed to begin with.?"Extinction is one of those things that seems to be yes or no, but actually gets complicated," Moyle said.?Many species, Moyle and Baumsteiger, who has since moved on to the University of the Pacific, conclude, may be functionally extinct, meaning they exist in such low numbers that they could disappear tomorrow and wouldn't affect the ecosystem.?More controversially, they note that a common mitigation measure for dam building in the United States in the 20th century has hastened one type of extinction.?Hatcheries, they argue, are a main driver of a phenomenon called "mitigated extinction," which they define as when a species is entirely reliant on human intervention for survival.?For example, the migratory path of winter-run chinook salmon on the Sacramento River was blocked when the 600-foot Shasta Dam, one of the country's largest impoundments, was built in the 1930s.?To mitigate that impact, a hatchery was installed, as were spawning areas below the dam.?The hatchery has significantly weakened the species by reducing its genetic diversity, according to experts. Hatchery fish tend to be less intelligent and less adaptable to their surroundings. And they compete with wild salmon for resources.?"We're essentially changing its evolutionary trajectory, so it's not the same as the fish that was there 10 to 20 years ago," Moyle said. "So what do you call it? At some point, winter-run becomes a species that survives only because it's produced in a hatchery. What do we have then?"?On the nearby Klamath, tribes like the Karuk and Yurok hope PacifiCorp's plan to remove the four farthest downstream dams will proceed in January 2020. It would be the largest dam-removal project in the country's history, although some hurdles still remain, including Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval (Greenwire,?March 13).?"Short of removing dams and allowing that natural access to spawning grounds in the upper basin," Hillman of the Karuk Tribe said, "you're doing nothing but putting Band-Aids over bullet holes. You're not going to recover the species."?Twitter: @GreenwireJeremy Email:?jjacobs at eenews.net?
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Sep 29 10:16:42 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2017 17:16:42 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?b?IE/igJlSb3Vya2U6IOKAmFRoZSBLbGFtYXRoIFJp?=
 =?utf-8?q?ver_is_extremely_sick=E2=80=99?=
References: <1164076491.621815.1506705402151.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1164076491.621815.1506705402151@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170925/orourke-the-klamath-river-is-extremely-sick?source=most_viewed

O?Rourke: ?The Klamath River is extremely sick?
Extremely elevated toxin levels were measured in the Lower Klamath River this month, according to the Yurok Tribe.?Yurok Tribe ? ContributedBy The Times-StandardPOSTED:?09/25/17, 10:58 AM PDT?|?UPDATED: 15 HRS AGO1 COMMENTPress release from the Yurok Tribe:The extremely elevated levels of a liver-damaging toxin in the Lower Klamath River is a symptom of a pervasive problem that has far-reaching implications.?The Klamath River is extremely sick,? said Thomas P. O?Rourke Sr., Chairman of the Yurok Tribe. ?Algae are a clear indicator of poor water quality, which negatively affects the salmon population and the ecosystem as a whole. It?s frustrating that even with this year?s above-average rainfall and snowpack, the river conditions are still compromised.?The Yurok Tribe Environmental Program, during its weekly water quality tests on September 12 and 13, detected record-breaking levels of microcystin, a contaminant emitted by a toxic algal species called Microcystis aeruginosa. The test results contained 10 to 30 times more of the toxin than common health standards deem safe and were the highest since testing began in 2006.This year, high rates of microcystin first showed up in late August, which prompted Tribal and public health officials to warn residents against contacting a 200-mile stretch of the river below the lower four Klamath dams. In addition to causing injury to the livers of humans and other mammals, exposure to the toxin is also harmful to the eyes, skin and throat.?Tribal fishers cannot avoid contact with the river and regularly suffer from severe skin rashes on their arms as a result of reaching into the water to bring fish on their boats. For millennia, our ceremonial practitioners have entered the river in the late summer, but have recently had to forego this sacred ritual to avoid getting sick,? Chairman O?Rourke said. ?It is unacceptable that this ultimately resolvable problem has been allowed to persist for so long.?Each summer, massive microcystis blooms form in the reservoirs behind the Copco and Iron Gate dams, which produce the ideal conditions for this particular algal species to rapidly reproduce. Located in an area with an arid climate, the shallow reservoirs are filled with warm water and abundant agricultural waste from a sprawling network of farms near the Klamath?s headwaters. The combination of heat and nutrients enable the algae to multiply. When dropping temperatures at the end of summer kill the photosynthetic microorganism it broadcasts the toxin down river.The four dams on the Klamath River are on a trajectory for removal in 2020, pursuant to the amended Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, which was signed in April 2016 by the owner of the dams, PacifiCorp, and California, Oregon, Yurok and Karuk Tribes, along with several other conservation groups and stakeholders. The petition to remove the four dams is currently going through the permitting processes of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Water Boards of the states of California and Oregon.?It is a known fact that the Klamath dams are an incubator for the toxic algae. Removing the four dams will substantially reduce the quantity of the toxin present in the river, to a point where our people can once again practice our traditional ceremonies without being subject to toxic water quality,? Chairman O?Rourke said. ?The water quality improvements that will come from the taking down the fish-blocking dams will also significantly improve struggling salmon runs on the Klamath.?The 15,000 square-mile Klamath Basin occupies a rural, sparsely populated landscape. The river, once the producer of an estimated 1 million salmon per year, predominantly flows through a forest environment that is far from any metropolitan centers, and for this reason fisheries researchers believe it is the most restorable, large watershed in the West.This year, the primary Klamath chinook run was predicted to be the worst in history. While the final numbers will not be available until later this year, very few fish have been seen making the spawning migration.?As Yurok people, we have an obligation to speak up for the salmon and the health of our river. If the river is not responsibly managed, there will be no fish for future generations. The Yurok Tribe asks all interested individuals to join our battle to begin to heal the Klamath.? concluded Chairman O?Rourke.
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From sari at sisqtel.net  Fri Sep 29 14:25:00 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2017 14:25:00 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] HCN: A look at the Elwha unleashed - lessons for
	Klamath?
Message-ID: <030a01d33969$687b59a0$39720ce0$@sisqtel.net>

http://www.hcn.org/issues/49.15/rivers-six-years-after-its-dams-came-down-a-
river-is-reborn?utm_source=wcn1
<http://www.hcn.org/issues/49.15/rivers-six-years-after-its-dams-came-down-a
-river-is-reborn?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email> &utm_medium=email

 

."It was impressive," Ritchie says. The river's vigor surprised even the
project designers and engineers, moving far more of the lakebed than
predicted, devouring swaths of land and choking its own fish with fine
sediments.

. "In May, Elwha researchers and officials met with Klamath-area
researchers, officials and tribal representatives to discuss what insights
they might draw from the Elwha."

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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Sep 30 11:07:39 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2017 18:07:39 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Feds_won=E2=80=99t_oppose_Klamath_River_d?=
 =?utf-8?q?am_removal=2C_official_says?=
References: <2079322843.1102046.1506794859579.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2079322843.1102046.1506794859579@mail.yahoo.com>


Feds won?t oppose Klamath River dam removal, official says

Hoopa Valley Tribe chairman says he is hopeful after official?s comments
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardFriday, September 29, 2017A top Interior Department official said in a recent interview with an Oregon newspaper that the department will not interfere with a plan to remove four dams from the 236-mile Klamath River.?Interior is not going to do anything to slow or stop the dam removal process,? the Interior Department Bureau of Reclamation deputy commissioner Alan Mikkelsen?said to the Herald and News?on Wednesday.The Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement proposes to remove four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River starting in 2020 in order to improve water quality for wildlife and downstream users. The most recent version of the agreement was signed last year by California, Oregon, the dams? Oregon-based owner PacifiCorp and several tribes who reside in the Klamath Basin.?Hoopa Valley Tribe Chairman Ryan Jackson said Friday that Mikkelsen has met several times with basin stakeholders including representatives of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. The tribe resides along one of the Klamath Rivers tributaries, the Trinity River.?We?ve had a number of meetings with Alan. They have all been pretty positive. Alan has brought a sort of new perspective to the Klamath-Trinity basin, which is definitely positive,? Jackson said.This reporter?s attempts to contact officials Karuk Tribe Natural Resources Policy Advisor Craig Tucker were not returned Friday. The Yurok Tribal Council was unavailable for comment Friday because it was attending meetings in Washington, D.C.?Attempts to contact the private nonprofit Klamath River Renewal Corporation, which is heading the dam removal efforts, were not returned.The dam removal agreement as well as two related agreements that sought to address years of water rights conflicts between tribes and basin ranchers failed to pass through Congress by the end of 2015 after several years of attempts.?A new version of the agreement was signed by top state, federal and tribal government officials in April 2016 along with a new agreement ? the Klamath Power Facilities Agreement ? that sets a goal for bringing back the failed water sharing pacts.?Rather than attempt another push through Congress, dam removal advocates are bringing the plan before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates energy sales and transmissions in the U.S. The dam removal agreement must still obtain water quality certifications in California and Oregon before the commission can make a final determination.?PacifiCorp spokesman Bob Gravely provided the following statement to the Times-Standard regarding Mikkelsen?s comments on the dam removal plan:?It?s appropriate to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to follow its regular procedure to review the removal of privately-owned dams. The agreement was purposefully changed to not require approvals from Congress or a direct role by federal agencies in dam removal.?Removing the four dams will cost about $450 million. PacifiCorp ratepayers in California and Oregon will contribute $200 million and California will be contributing the other $250 million through the Proposition 1 water bond passed by voters in 2014.As for the two failed water sharing agreements ? one of which expired in Congress and the other becoming essentially moot ? Mikkelsen told the Herald and News that he believes a unified water agreement between tribes, farmers and ranchers is still a possibility. This new agreement would likely require congressional approval, which previous attempts failed to gain because of opposition by House Republicans.??What we are telling people is that we would like to see a comprehensive basin-wide agreement that, while it may have a large price tag, it will be one settlement,? Mikkelsen said to the Herald and News. ?For a long time, every time you turned around, congressmen and women were seeing bills that read ?Klamath? on top of it and a price tag on the bottom and they were wondering what the devil is going on in Klamath. It is more palatable to Congress if it is one, single agreement,? he said.Unlike the Yurok, Karuk and Klamath Tribes of Oregon that had supported the former water sharing agreements, the Hoopa Valley Tribe did not because it did not believe enough water was being allocated to protect fish, Jackson said.Jackson pointed to the record low forecast for returning Chinook salmon on the lower Klamath River this year as a clear example of what happens to salmon populations after years of low-flow river conditions.?For us there needs to be a certain amount of water that is released into the river to ensure that the salmon survive; not only the juveniles on the way out to the ocean, but the returning fish,? Jackson said. ?For the tribe, what has happened over the years is the biological opinion crafted by the Arcata [National Marine Fisheries Service] office wasn?t adequate for the survival of the salmon. We have seen that now play out with the runs being historically low.?Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.??URL: http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170929/feds-wont-oppose-klamath-river-dam-removal-official-says? 2017 Eureka Times-Standard (http://www.times-standard.com)
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From klamathtrinityriver at gmail.com  Sun Oct  1 09:50:02 2017
From: klamathtrinityriver at gmail.com (Regina Chichizola)
Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2017 09:50:02 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Feds_won=E2=80=99t_oppose_Klamath_River_d?=
	=?utf-8?q?am_removal=2C_official_says?=
Message-ID: <CAPn6joZ3QnOPw+LfgJK8=w80iyEhXpu=wRv7iWGsh2OsgWDcMg@mail.gmail.com>

Feds won?t oppose Klamath River dam removal, official says

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170929/feds-wont-oppose-klamath-river-dam-removal-official-says


A top Interior Department official said in a recent interview with an
Oregon newspaper that the department will not interfere with a plan to
remove four dams from the 236-mile Klamath River.

?Interior is not going to do anything to slow or stop the dam removal
process,? the Interior Department Bureau of Reclamation deputy commissioner
Alan Mikkelsen said to the Herald and News
<https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/local_news/reclamation-official-to-make-third-trip-to-the-basin/article_c93276ec-731d-5e39-8b31-8ba1a98e3a7a.html>
on
Wednesday.

The Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement proposes to remove four
hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River starting in 2020 in order to
improve water quality for wildlife and downstream users. The most recent
version of the agreement was signed last year by California, Oregon, the
dams? Oregon-based owner PacifiCorp and several tribes who reside in the
Klamath Basin.

Hoopa Valley Tribe Chairman Ryan Jackson said Friday that Mikkelsen has met
several times with basin stakeholders including representatives of the
Hoopa Valley Tribe. The tribe resides along one of the Klamath Rivers
tributaries, the Trinity River.

?We?ve had a number of meetings with Alan. They have all been pretty
positive. Alan has brought a sort of new perspective to the Klamath-Trinity
basin, which is definitely positive,? Jackson said.

This reporter?s attempts to contact officials Karuk Tribe Natural Resources
Policy Advisor Craig Tucker were not returned Friday. The Yurok Tribal
Council was unavailable for comment Friday because it was attending
meetings in Washington, D.C.

Attempts to contact the private nonprofit Klamath River Renewal
Corporation, which is heading the dam removal efforts, were not returned.

The dam removal agreement as well as two related agreements that sought to
address years of water rights conflicts between tribes and basin ranchers
failed to pass through Congress by the end of 2015 after several years of
attempts.

A new version of the agreement was signed by top state, federal and tribal
government officials in April 2016 along with a new agreement ? the Klamath
Power Facilities Agreement ? that sets a goal for bringing back the failed
water sharing pacts.

Rather than attempt another push through Congress, dam removal advocates
are bringing the plan before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
which regulates energy sales and transmissions in the U.S. The dam removal
agreement must still obtain water quality certifications in California and
Oregon before the commission can make a final determination.

PacifiCorp spokesman Bob Gravely provided the following statement to the
Times-Standard regarding Mikkelsen?s comments on the dam removal plan:

?It?s appropriate to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to
follow its regular procedure to review the removal of privately-owned dams.
The agreement was purposefully changed to not require approvals from
Congress or a direct role by federal agencies in dam removal.?

Removing the four dams will cost about $450 million. PacifiCorp ratepayers
in California and Oregon will contribute $200 million and California will
be contributing the other $250 million through the Proposition 1 water bond
passed by voters in 2014.

As for the two failed water sharing agreements ? one of which expired in
Congress and the other becoming essentially moot ? Mikkelsen told the
Herald and News that he believes a unified water agreement between tribes,
farmers and ranchers is still a possibility. This new agreement would
likely require congressional approval, which previous attempts failed to
gain because of opposition by House Republicans.

?What we are telling people is that we would like to see a comprehensive
basin-wide agreement that, while it may have a large price tag, it will be
one settlement,? Mikkelsen said to the Herald and News. ?For a long time,
every time you turned around, congressmen and women were seeing bills that
read ?Klamath? on top of it and a price tag on the bottom and they were
wondering what the devil is going on in Klamath. It is more palatable to
Congress if it is one, single agreement,? he said.

Unlike the Yurok, Karuk and Klamath Tribes of Oregon that had supported the
former water sharing agreements, the Hoopa Valley Tribe did not because it
did not believe enough water was being allocated to protect fish, Jackson
said.

Jackson pointed to the record low forecast for returning Chinook salmon on
the lower Klamath River this year as a clear example of what happens to
salmon populations after years of low-flow river conditions.

?For us there needs to be a certain amount of water that is released into
the river to ensure that the salmon survive; not only the juveniles on the
way out to the ocean, but the returning fish,? Jackson said. ?For the
tribe, what has happened over the years is the biological opinion crafted
by the Arcata [National Marine Fisheries Service] office wasn?t adequate
for the survival of the salmon. We have seen that now play out with the
runs being historically low.?

*Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.*
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Oct  1 11:02:28 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2017 18:02:28 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fishing rule reforms debated on Capitol Hill
References: <439591764.1411722.1506880948862.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <439591764.1411722.1506880948862@mail.yahoo.com>


http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20170926/fishing-rule-reforms-debated-on-capitol-hill?source=most_viewed

Fishing rule reforms debated on Capitol Hill

Huffman seeks bipartisan bill to improve disaster relief, data collection
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardTuesday, September 26, 2017
  
|  
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Fishing rule reforms debated on Capitol Hill
 How large of a role should the federal government have in regulating fishing fleets? Republicans and Democrats o...  |   |

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How large of a role should the federal government have in regulating fishing fleets??Republicans and Democrats on the House Committee on Natural Resources?discussed this question Tuesday?in Washington, D.C., as part of renewed efforts to reauthorize and potentially amend a 40-year-old law that works to prevent overfishing and provide aid to fishing fleets.?Committee member and California 2nd District Rep. Jared Huffman said after the hearing Tuesday that Democrats and Republicans have many agreements when it comes to fishery regulations and management.However, he said previous attempts in recent years to amend and reauthorize the law have stalled because of ?poison pill? riders that would exempt fisheries from conservation policies such as the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Protection Act.?Instead of making meaningful improvements to our most important fisheries statute, this process has focused on weakening fundamental environmental protections in place of making meaningful improvements to our important fisheries management framework,? Huffman (D-San Rafael) said in his opening statement at the committee hearing. ?This partisan process does a disservice to hardworking fishermen across the country including those in my district.?Members from both sides of the aisle were in agreement that the law ? known as the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 ? has worked to prevent overfishing and replenish overfished stocks as was intended upon its passage.?The Magnuson-Stevens Act also created eight fishery management councils throughout the U.S. which are responsible for creating management plans for their region?s fisheries. The plans must be approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service.Several changes to the law have been made since 1996, such as setting annual catch limits and a 10-year timeline to rebuild overfished or depleted fish stocks. Republican committee members such as Alaska Rep. Don Young said these changes have taken a one-size-fits-all approach rather than provide more flexibility for regional fishery management councils to manage their own fisheries.Earlier this year, Young introduced a bill ??HR 200?? which would have annual catch limits take into account changes a region?s marine ecosystems as well as the ?economic needs of the fishing community.??The bill would also create a more open-ended timeline for rebuilding overfished stocks rather than setting a 10-year time frame.?I expect to pass my legislation with or without bipartisan support,? Young said.?Huffman said that Young?s bill still contains exemptions from the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Protection Act, though he said he is confident that he and Young will be able to work out their differences to bring forward a bipartisan bill. Huffman said he agrees there should be some flexibility for rebuilding fish stocks, but said the success of the law in replenishing overfished stocks has been because it has regulatory teeth.The recently appointed National Marine Fisheries Service Assistant Administrator Chris Oliver said he does not support doing away with catch limits or fish stock rebuilding requirements as they have been ?fundamental? in restoring overfished marine populations.?But I do believe additional flexibility in how we apply annual catch limits and accountability measures and rebuilding schedules could help address some of the issues we?re dealing with,? Oliver said.The Pacific Fishery Management Council, which sets fishing catch limits and management plans for California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho, stated large-scale changes to the law ?are not warranted, and any changes made should be carefully considered,? according to a statement from the council?s Outreach Officer Jennifer Gilden.Huffman?introduced a draft bill?that is the Democrat?s response to Young?s legislation, though Huffman said his bill is just a starting point for what he hopes will become a bipartisan bill.?Huffman?s bill would allow for ecological and economic factors to be included when establishing catch limits and require the Secretary of Commerce to partner with states to improve fishery data collection.?While there was agreement among Republicans and Democrats on the need for more efficient and accurate data collection, there were differences of opinion on what sources of data should be used.?Speaking animatedly, a Republican Virginia Congressman Rob Wittman called for the National Marine Fisheries Service to use more data gathered by the fishing industry when setting catch limits and management programs.?If data doesn?t come from that haloed group of regulators within a fisheries management community in the federal government, it?s chastised: ?We don?t want this. It can?t be accurate because it didn?t come from the divinity that exists within the federal fisheries managers,?? Wittman said.Huffman said there needs to be some ?quality assurance? for the data.?But we can definitely agree that if state agencies and others are developing good data, that could be included,? Huffman said.The bills being considered also seek to address what Huffman called the law?s ?broken? disaster relief mechanism for when fishing fleets fall on hard times. Under Huffman?s proposal, the Secretary of Commerce would have up to 120 days to decide whether to declare a fisheries disaster after a state governor has requested one.?After California Gov. Jerry Brown requested a disaster declaration in February 2016 for the 2015-16 crab season that was marred by toxic algae outbreaks, then-Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker did not declare a disaster until January 2017.?The bill would also require the Secretary of Commerce to come up with an estimated cost for recovery within 30 days after making the disaster declaration. Congress?has yet to appropriate the $140 million requested?to aid California?s crab fishing fleet and the Yurok Tribe?s salmon fishing fleet since the disaster declaration was made. California and Oregon?requested another disaster declaration in May?for this year?s salmon season.The full hearing can be watched online at youtu.be/1RI-CuK6PJQ.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From danielbacher at fishsniffer.com  Sun Oct  1 13:05:03 2017
From: danielbacher at fishsniffer.com (Dan Bacher)
Date: Sun, 1 Oct 2017 13:05:03 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Groups sue Brown administration over permit to kill
	endangered salmon, smelt in Delta Tunnels
In-Reply-To: <CAPn6joZ3QnOPw+LfgJK8=w80iyEhXpu=wRv7iWGsh2OsgWDcMg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAPn6joZ3QnOPw+LfgJK8=w80iyEhXpu=wRv7iWGsh2OsgWDcMg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <A67980DE-93C3-4BD2-A0C8-2E49FDFC79B0@fishsniffer.com>

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/27/1702184/-Groups-sue-Brown-administration-over-permit-to-kill-endangered-salmon-smelt-in-Delta-Tunnels


The mouth of the Feather River at Verona. Photo by Dan Bacher.

Groups sue Brown administration over permit to kill endangered salmon,  
smelt in Delta Tunnels

by Dan Bacher

Four environmental groups on Friday, September 22, filed a lawsuit  
challenging the Brown administration?s permit to kill endangered  
salmon and smelt in the proposed Delta Tunnels project.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Bay Institute, Natural Resources  
Defense Council and San Francisco Baykeeper filed the suit in  
California Superior Court in Sacramento,  represented by the nonprofit  
environmental law firm Earthjustice.

On July 28, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW),  
under the helm of Director Chuck Bonham, issued an ?incidental take  
permit? for the construction and operation of California WaterFix in  
?compliance? with Section 2081(b) of the California Endangered Species  
Act (CESA).

This suit is the first to challenge CDFW?s  issuance of a ?take?  
permit for the tunnel operations. Representatives of the groups said  
the agency ?improperly authorized? the California Department Water  
Resources to ?kill and harm? state-protected fish species, including  
Sacramento River winter-run and spring-run chinook salmon, longfin  
smelt and Delta smelt.

Ironically, the mission of the CDFW ?is to manage California's diverse  
fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they  
depend, for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment by  
the public.?

But according to tunnels opponents, the CDFW is failing in its mission  
to ?manage? California?s diverse fish populations by approving the  
take permit.

?This is an unjustifiable permit,? said Jeff Miller, conservation  
advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), in a phone  
interview. ?The main thing is that the department appears to be doing  
everything they can to drive endangered fish species to extinction.  
The tunnels will have an impact on river flows at a critical time for  
salmon and smelt. They will reduce flows needed for the survival of  
the winter run, spring run and smelt.?

To grant a ?take permit? under the CESA, the agency has to show how  
the project won?t jeopardize the continued existence of endangered  
species. Miller said the ?mitigation? in the permit wouldn?t address  
the main problem of reduction in water flows on the Sacramento River  
and Delta that would take place if the project is built.

?They can pretend they are making up for water diversions at a  
critical time for these fish by throwing money at ?habitat  
restoration,? but you just can?t mitigate for the taking of the water  
from these fish that essential for them to thrive,? Miller said.

The Department also violated CESA by failing to use the ?best  
available science? on the impacts of the tunnels and associated water  
diversion, noted Miller.

Miller emphasized, ?It?s time to kill this misguided tunnels project  
once and for all and focus on improving fresh water flows to restore  
the Delta.?

The tunnels project, renamed the California WaterFix in 2015, would  
divert massive amounts of fresh water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin  
River Delta to San Joaquin Valley agribusiness interests and Southern  
California water agencies, doing enormous harm to imperiled Central  
Valley salmon runs, declining Delta fish populations and the Bay-Delta  
ecosystem.

?State officials from the governor on down falsely claim that WaterFix  
would improve conditions for critically endangered native fish,  
including California?s once abundant chinook salmon,? said Trent Orr,  
Earthjustice staff attorney. ?But disrupting a vast area with decades  
of construction to take even more fresh water from an already degraded  
Delta would hasten these species? demise, not restore them to healthy  
populations.?

The groups said the California WaterFix is only the latest in ?a long  
line of water diversion projects intended to remove vast quantities of  
water from the Delta before it reaches San Francisco Bay.?

The project, a boondoggle that would cost anywhere from $17 billion to  
$67 billion depending on who you talk to, proposes to construct two 35- 
mile tunnels, each four stories high, to divert water from the  
Sacramento River in the north Delta to Central and Southern California.

?The water diversions would degrade habitat conditions for declining  
runs of salmon and smelt, kill young fish at diversion points, disrupt  
the estuary?s food chain and increase salinity in the Delta,?  
according to the groups.

Erica Maharg, managing attorney at San Francisco Baykeeper, pointed  
out how the tunnels project would devastate the San Francisco Bay  
ecosystem also.

?The Bay ecosystem needs freshwater inputs to survive and be healthy,?  
she said.  ?By allowing the proposed tunnels to export too much  
freshwater for central and Southern California, the Department of Fish  
and Wildlife is shirking its duty to protect the already threatened  
and endangered fish of San Francisco Bay.?

"Construction and operation of the tunnels will devastate California's  
native fisheries, threaten thousands of fishing jobs, and leave the  
Bay-Delta estuary worse off than today," summed up Doug Obegi, a  
senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The issuing of the CDFW incidental take permit is just one of many  
actions taken in Jerry Brown?s campaign to plunder California?s fish,  
wildlife, people and environment to serve the greed of Big Ag and Big  
Oil since he began  his third term as Governor in January 2011.

Over just the past couple of months, the Brown administration has  
incurred the wrath of environmental justice advocates,  
conservationists and increasing numbers of Californians by:

Ramrodding Big Oil?s environmentally unjust cap-and-trade bill, AB  
398, through the legislature
Approving the reopening of the dangerous SoCalGas natural gas storage  
facility at Porter Ranch
Green-lighting the flawed EIS/EIR documents permitting the  
construction of the California WaterFix.
On February 6 of this year, twelve public interest groups, led by  
Consumer Watchdog and Food & Water Watch, unveiled a comprehensive  
"report card" on Jerry Brown Administration?s environmental record  
showing that he falls short in six out of seven key areas, including  
oil drilling, fossil fuel generated electricity, toxic emissions, the  
California Environmental Quality Act, coastal protection and water.  
Read the report ?How Green Is Jerry Brown?? at: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/isbrowngreen

CBD: Background on the California WaterFix

The proposed WaterFix diversion of Delta water would dramatically  
degrade habitat and water quality conditions for chinook salmon,  
longfin smelt and Delta smelt by decreasing flows into and through the  
Delta, placing already fragile and declining fish populations in  
serious jeopardy of extinction. All of these fish species are  
protected under the California Endangered Species Act.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife cannot legally issue a  
permit to kill or ?take? these protected species because operation of  
the tunnels would jeopardize the continued existence of the protected  
fish species.

Although the Act requires that any take of protected species must be  
minimized and fully mitigated, the Department failed to include  
mitigation measures that could successfully prevent these fish species  
from declining. The Department also violated the Act by failing to use  
the best available science on the impacts of the tunnels and  
associated water diversion.

Last week conservation groups challenged the legality of proposed  
bonds to pay for the construction of the tunnels project. Earlier this  
week Westlands Water District, the largest supplier of irrigation  
water to California farms, voted to not participate in the Delta  
tunnels project.

A court ruling against the bonds or rejection of the project by major  
water districts could be fatal to WaterFix because the project?s  
success hinges on funding commitments by the recipients of the project  
water. Public funds cannot legally be used to pay for the project.  
Conservation groups have also challenged the adequacy of the  
environmental review for WaterFix under California?s Environmental  
Quality Act.

In addition to driving endangered species toward extinction, the  
project would devastate Delta farmers, Sacramento Valley communities  
and what is left of California?s salmon fishing economy. In response,  
a large array of organizations, public agencies and municipalities  
have now filed multiple lawsuits challenging the project on a wide  
variety of legal grounds, including 21 conservation and fishing  
groups, 30 water agencies, and 12 counties and cities, as well as the  
Winnemem Wintu Tribe and Delta farmers.?


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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Oct  2 08:32:21 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2017 15:32:21 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Future of Huge California Water Project May Hang on
 the Next Few Weeks
References: <443163541.1930132.1506958341891.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <443163541.1930132.1506958341891@mail.yahoo.com>

https://ww2.kqed.org/science/2017/10/02/future-of-huge-california-water-project-may-hang-on-the-next-few-weeks/



Future of Huge California Water Project May Hang on the Next Few Weeks
California?s biggest water project in decades appears to be in limbo after a key irrigation district voted not to help underwrite Gov. Jerry Brown?s plan to build two giant tunnels that would re-engineer water transport in the state.For the last 75 years or so, we?ve tried to figure out how to move water from north to south.The no-vote at the Fresno-based Westlands Water District?? the largest agricultural water supplier in the U.S. ? puts the $17 billion project?s funding on shaky ground. Will other water districts pick up the slack? Other large water agencies considering participating in the project are set to vote soon. Another key player, Los Angeles? Metropolitan Water District , will vote on October 10. The Santa Clara Valley Water District, based in San Jose, will weigh in a week later. But with the loss of Westland?s support, some are left wondering if the controversial project is already doomed.About That $17 Billion Water Project: Delta Tunnels 101KQED?s Brian Watt spoke with Paul Rogers, managing editor for science and an environment writer for the Mercury News, about the delta tunnels project and what may lie ahead.Brian Watt: This is a project that is touted as benefiting both the delta environment and water consumers. Remind us how these delta tunnels are supposed to work.Paul Rogers: When you talk about water in California, the big picture is that three-quarters of all the rain and the snow falls in the northern part of the state and three-quarters of the people live in the south.Twin tunnels, 40 feet in diameter, would shuttle water from the Sacramento River, through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, to farms and cities to the south.?(KQED)So, for the last 75 years or so, we?ve tried to figure out how to move water from north to south. Right now, in the delta we have these giant pumps near Tracy. What happens is when we pump water south, they grind up and kill fish like salmon and smelt and as those species have gotten endangered, less water at certain times of the year. So, Jerry Brown?s idea is let?s build these two tunnels, 40-feet high, costing three times what the Bay Bridge costs, to take the water from farther north in the delta and rely on these pumps less, so people can get the water more reliably.Watt: The project has had some pretty vocal opponents.: some environmentalists, some members of the delta?s congressional delegation. But why did a huge farm irrigation district, Westlands, pull its support when its customer were supposed to benefit from it?Rogers: It?s a great question, you know, environmentalists have been against this thing all along. They argue that if you build these giant tunnels, it?ll make it easier for big corporate interests in the Central Valley and Los Angeles to take northern California?s water.But some of those farmers in the Westlands Water District near Fresno, their board voted recently, 7-to-1, to pull out of this plan. They were supposed to pay three billion of the 17 billion-dollar cost. They decided not to because, number one, it was a huge amount of money and it was going to raise what they paid for water. Number two, they weren?t being guaranteed by the Brown administration they were going to get any more water.That no-vote sent shock waves across the California water world because it meant the other agencies that might want to participate were going to have to pay a lot more.Watt: So the Metropolitan Water District in L.A. has a big vote coming up on October 10. What do you think is going to happen?Is Silicon Valley Key to Delta Tunnels Plan?Rogers: Some of the folks down there on that board have been raising questions about the cost. I think if I had to handicap it, I?d say that there?s probably about a 75 percent chance that they?ll vote for it. So that?ll be a big win for Governor Brown, but that doesn?t mean the project is done because there are other water agencies, like the Santa Clara Valley Water District in San Jose that still have yet to vote.Brian Watt: So, where does this leave the project now? State water agencies and other big supporters say it?s far from dead.Rogers: It?s just fascinating. I think there have already been more than a dozen lawsuits filed against this project and even if water agencies approve it, it?s probably going to be held up in court for years. The Santa Clara Valley Water District is sort of wobbling. I think they may want a smaller project. So, it?s still hardly a sure thing. Jerry Brown leaves office in 15 months and his successors ? his likely successors ? are not huge supporters of this. They?re not opponents, but they?re not embracing it the way Brown does. So, I think in the next few weeks we?re really going to see whether or not this thing has a chance of being built or whether the final stake is driven through its heart.Watt: What does Governor Brown think of this?Rogers: You know, it?s worth remembering that Governor Brown has two giant legacy construction projects: high speed rail and this tunnels project. His dad built a lot of big things around California when he was governor in the 60s and this is Brown?s attempt to do that.
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Oct  2 13:21:24 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2017 20:21:24 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] In 1939,
 the feds made a Central Valley water deal. It may doom the Delta
 tunnels.
References: <1344965275.2159677.1506975684403.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1344965275.2159677.1506975684403@mail.yahoo.com>

In 1939, the feds made a Central Valley water deal. It may doom the Delta tunnels.
BY DALE KASLER AND RYAN SABALOWdkasler at sacbee.com?here: http://www.sacbee.com/article176447091.html#storylink=cpyOCTOBER 02, 2017 4:00 AMDam builders from President Franklin Roosevelt?s administration wanted to bring water to the parched eastern half of the San Joaquin Valley, but first they had to deal with a cluster of landowners whose ancestors had been there since the 1800s.?The deal they cut in 1939 paved the way for much of the Central Valley Project, an engineering marvel that helped turn the Valley into one of the world?s most productive farming regions.?It has also formed the basis, nearly 80 years later, of a major funding impasse that threatens to unravel California WaterFix ? Gov. Jerry Brown?s plan to build a pair of tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to modernize the aging water delivery system begun during Roosevelt?s New Deal.ADVERTISINGThe issue came to a head when the board of Westlands Water District, the largest of all the water agencies served by the Central Valley Project,?voted Sept. 19 against paying?for its share of the expected $17.1 billion cost of the tunnels.The vote by Westlands, which represents hundreds of farmers in Fresno and Kings counties, left a multibillion-dollar hole in the construction budget for WaterFix, which is designed to improve water deliveries to farms and cities south of the Delta. WaterFix advocates have since floated the idea of a?scaled-back, less-expensive?version of the tunnels.Westlands? decision was rooted in a cost-allocation formula imposed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation ? a formula that has its origins in the 1939 deal and serves as a reminder of the convoluted nature of water distribution in California.?This just comes with the territory to some degree,? said Jay Lund, director of UC Davis? Center for Watershed Sciences.In a nutshell, Reclamation?s formula effectively exempts a large group of water users who get their supplies from Friant Dam, the facility made possible by the Roosevelt-era agreement, from having to help pay for the Delta tunnels. This group includes the city of Fresno and a string of farm-irrigation districts stretching 150 miles south.?For Westlands and many other Central Valley Project customers, Reclamation?s system inflates their costs for participating in WaterFix by several billion dollars. Westlands said farmers? water costs could quadruple, to more than $600 an acre-foot, if the district jumped into the project.?I don?t know that we can afford those numbers,? said Westlands director Todd Neves, a tomato and almond grower, as he prepared to cast his ?no? vote. So far, not a single CVP contractor has committed to paying for WaterFix.Reclamation operates its Central Valley Project alongside the State Water Project; both pump water out of the Delta to a variety of cities and farm districts in the San Joaquin Valley, Bay Area and Southern California. Brown?s administration says the tunnels would improve the Delta?s crumbling ecosystem while enabling the pumps to operate more reliably, increasing water deliveries to the two projects? customers.?The idea has been that south-of-Delta water districts would pay for the tunnels, in amounts that correspond to the volume of water they get. Brown?s Department of Water Resources has said all State Water Project customers south of the Delta must pay, or find another state contractor to take their share.For federal contractors, the Bureau of Reclamation has taken a different approach ? to Westlands? frustration. Although Reclamation has?contributed millions to the planning?process, the bureau says that because WaterFix hasn?t been authorized by Congress, it lacks legal standing to compel all of its south-of-Delta contractors to contribute. Participation is voluntary.What?s more, Reclamation signaled to a major group of customers ? the districts getting water out of Friant Dam ? that their supplies are probably secure enough that they don?t need the tunnels.With that assurance in mind, the Friant districts have said they?re probably willing to contribute only a small sum to WaterFix?s budget but not nearly a ?full? share. Friant customers get at least 800,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Central Valley Project, enough to nearly fill Folsom Lake to capacity, making them one of the largest customers of the Central Valley Project.?The funding dilemma can be traced directly to the 1939 agreement.Two years after Congress authorized construction of the Central Valley Project, officials at Reclamation faced a problem. They wanted to build a dam on the San Joaquin River at Friant, just outside of Fresno, to deliver water to the east side of the valley. But they couldn?t build Friant without first making peace with a group of downstream landowners descended from legendary California cattleman and land baron Henry Miller. These landowners had been farming along the San Joaquin since the 1800s, had some of the most ironclad water rights in the state and weren?t eager to let Reclamation dam their river.?There?s a property right in water. Those users have to be negotiated with,? said Jennifer Harder, a water-law expert at the University of the Pacific?s McGeorge School of Law.A deal was signed July 27, 1939. Under the ?Contract for the Exchange of Waters,? the landowners allowed the government to dam the river at Friant, creating the eastern branch of the Central Valley Project.In return, the landowners, known as Exchange Contractors, were guaranteed 840,000 acre-feet of water a year, pumped out of the Delta from the Sacramento Valley. To this day, their water costs are shouldered by the Friant water districts.The Exchange Contractors make no apologies for their special stature, noting that similar arrangements were made with senior water-rights holders in the Sacramento Valley to permit the construction of Shasta and Oroville dams.?It?s just the reality of the way the system was set up,? said Cannon Michael, an Exchange Contractor in the Los Banos area and the great-great-great grandson of Henry Miller. ?It was set up a long time ago and it?s the way California water law came into play....People accept the water rights system for what it is.?The water rights system, though, has left the tunnels project with one less major group of customers to pay for it.Not the Exchange Contractors ? no one is arguing that these farmers, who?ve never had to pay for their Central Valley Project water, should now have to pitch in for the tunnels.The Friant customers are another story.For one thing, they?ve always paid their share of costs for the Central Valley Project, including the cost of water that?s shipped from the Delta to the Exchange Contractors.?For another, even though they don?t get water from the Delta ? it all comes from the San Joaquin River, by way of Friant Dam ? the Friant group depends on the Delta to operate smoothly. Why? Because if the Exchange Contractors don?t get their full allotment from the Delta, they have the right to pull water away from the Friant districts. It?s happened twice, during the drought years of 2014 and 2015.Tom Birmingham, general manager at Westlands, said Friant?s unusual status in the Central Valley Project should compel the Friant districts to pay for a full share of the Delta tunnels.?That?s consistent with Reclamation?s historic practice,? Birmingham said.Friant water users see it differently. True, their supplies get jeopardized if the Exchange Contractors get shorted. But they?ve been told by Reclamation that the tunnels probably aren?t needed to make sure the Exchange Contractors get all they?ve been promised. So they?re looking at making a modest investment in the tunnels, as a kind of insurance policy to ensure that the Delta pumps can operate more reliably.?We have an interest in making sure that things get better in the Delta,? said Jason Phillips, chief executive of the Friant Water Authority. Friant?s board of directors issued a statement Thursday saying ?we are generally supportive? of WaterFix.But Phillips said Friant?s member agencies aren?t willing to pay at anywhere near the level Westlands is suggesting.?We?re probably in the single digits of the percentage of the project,? Phillips said.For now, Friant officials aren?t in a rush to commit to WaterFix. In its statement of support for the tunnels, the Friant board said it?s premature to say how much it will invest.?Until we have certain key questions answered and are able to obtain a fuller grasp of how are member agencies could potential benefit, (Friant) is unable to make any additional determinations at this time,? the board said.Dale Kasler:?916-321-1066,?@dakasler
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/article176447091.html#storylink=cpy
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Oct  2 15:31:59 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2017 22:31:59 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] JUDGE DENIES IRRIGATORS SPECIAL TREATMENT,
 MILLIONS IN DROUGHT PAYMENTS Victory: Court denies Klamath
 agribusiness interests $30 million years after 2001 drought
References: <1232279377.30703.1506983519679.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1232279377.30703.1506983519679@mail.yahoo.com>

https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2017/judge-denies-irrigators-special-treatment-millions-in-drought-paymentsJUDGE DENIES IRRIGATORS SPECIAL TREATMENT, MILLIONS IN DROUGHT PAYMENTSVictory:?Court denies Klamath agribusiness interests $30 million years after 2001 droughtThe mainstem of the Klamath River. The Klamath flows through Oregon and northern California.U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICEThe government made a science-based decision about what was required to protect endangered salmon in the Klamath River and endangered lake fish in Upper Klamath Lake.Todd True?Senior Staff Attorney, Earthjustice?OCTOBER 2, 2017Washington, D.C. ??Judge Marian Blank Horn of the U.S. Court of Claims?has ruled against agribusiness interests?within the federal Klamath Irrigation Project that had been demanding some $30? million in compensation for reduced irrigation water deliveries during an extreme drought that struck the Klamath River Basin in 2001.?Though other groups in the Klamath Basin of Oregon and California suffered during the 2001 drought ? including Tribal Nations, the salmon fishing industry, and farmers outside of the Klamath Project ? Klamath Project irrigation interests wanted a special payout to compensate them for a federal decision to leave some water in the Klamath River and Upper Klamath Lake for imperiled salmon and other fish.?Judge Horn, in an opinion issued on September 29, ruled that the Klamath Tribes? rights to the water were superior to the agribusiness interests, and that the amount of water needed to maintain those rights was at least as much as was needed to meet the requirements of the federal Endangered Species Act to save imperiled salmon and Lost River and shortnose suckers and coho salmon.?The $30 million in compensation requested by the irrigators would have been in addition to the approximately $40 million in state and federal relief provided to Klamath agribusiness interests immediately after the 2001 drought.??The government made a science-based decision about what was required to protect endangered salmon in the Klamath River and endangered lake fish in Upper Klamath Lake ? the end result of which was to leave a minimal amount of water in the river,??said Todd True, a senior attorney in Earthjustice?s Seattle office who has been representing fishing and conservation interests in the long-running case. ?This decision was required by the law and had the effect of helping to protect the economies and traditions of tribal and coastal communities that rely on salmon and other fish.??Fishing families, coastal communities, and Tribal Nations that depend on healthy Klamath River salmon runs would have been irreparably harmed if the government had provided full water deliveries to irrigators in the middle of the 2001 drought. The Klamath Basin traditionally produces the third largest runs of salmon of any basin in the lower 48 states, bolstering seafood production and recreational opportunity in coastal communities from central California to northern Oregon. Klamath salmon also support traditional subsistence harvest by several Tribes that have made their home in the basin since time immemorial.?Since 2001, water management decisions in the Klamath Basin have continued to spark controversy and disaster. As drought continued in 2002, the federal government ? under extreme pressure from agribusiness interests ? reversed course and provided full water deliveries to the Klamath Project. This decision led to record low Klamath River flows and the largest adult salmon kill in U.S. history up to that time. The resulting devastation of the commercially valuable Klamath fall Chinook salmon run later led to the nearly complete closure of ocean recreational and commercial salmon fishing spanning more than 700 miles of coastline in 2006. Low flows in the Klamath resulting from water allocation decisions in the Klamath Project in 2014 and 2015 have led to record low salmon production and sparked yet another salmon fishing disaster on the coast this year.??The massive 2002 Klamath salmon kill was devastating to our industry,??said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations (PCFFA), which represents hundreds of commercial fishing families on the west coast. ?Ultimately, it cost fishermen and fishing communities thousands of jobs and an estimated $200 million in lost business, much of which was never recovered. This is how the Klamath?s overstretched water supply creates a ?jobs vs. jobs? and ?communities vs. communities? conflict that has no winners.? This latest ruling just underscores the need for resuming negotiations to try to rebalance the water allocation system in line with actual rainfall, rather than managing water in the basin by lawsuit.???The irrigators? claims in this case also ran counter to the water rights system of the Klamath Basin, which are ruled by the first-in-time, first-in-right priority system common in the Western U.S. Judge Horn agreed with an?amicus brief?in the case filed by the Klamath Tribes noting that their federally recognized, from time immemorial water rights are the most senior in the entire Upper Klamath Basin. Therefore, the irrigators, as more junior water rights holders, were not entitled to divert water for crops in 2001 if it was needed to fulfill the Tribes? senior water rights to protect the Tribes? fishing rights reserved under their 1864 treaty with the United States.?This court decision, while welcome, does not and cannot solve the fundamental problem of the Klamath, which is that too much water has been promised to too many interests,??said Jim McCarthy of WaterWatch of Oregon. ?This fundamental imbalance will continue to cause serious harm to Klamath fish and wildlife as well as all the communities that depend on the Klamath River until we take steps to bring the basin?s demand for water into balance with what nature can provide.?Read the decision?
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Mon Oct  2 18:07:17 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2017 01:07:17 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Project trapping summary through Julian
	Week 39
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB13785A17326AF5BC2718115BBA720@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW 39, 09/30/2017.

Big push of Chinook through the Willow Creek weir this past week, and they were not all jacks (though there were still quite a few of those). And, in fact, we saw the first Coho of the season, and a couple of pinks as well. I looked back at the data noticed most of the odd-duck fish (pinks, sockeye, or chum) that we see at Willow Creek are during odd-numbered years. We also saw some washed back shad at the beginning of the season at WCW.
Numbers picked up at the hatchery and Junction City is going to be trapping for one last week, removed this Friday for the season.

On a side note: I've apparently got some sort of dysfunction occurring between two contact and/or distribution lists which means I haven't been sending the summary to everyone expecting it. If you know someone who has given up trying to get this directly from me please have them shoot me an email and I'll try again to get their names on the list.
Thanks
MC

******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Enviornmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tgstoked at gmail.com  Thu Oct  5 13:53:09 2017
From: tgstoked at gmail.com (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2017 13:53:09 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: BREAKING: State Audit Confirms DWR Violations
	Planning CA WaterFix
References: <06887fa70084fef8e939fef63.2ca461c02c.20171005183007.7016104e38.cfc499fa@mail87.sea21.rsgsv.net>
Message-ID: <BA807820-ED00-4A96-9856-68AA3242A303@gmail.com>



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Restore the Delta <barbara at restorethedelta.org>
> Date: October 5, 2017 at 11:31:33 AM PDT
> To: <tgstoked at gmail.com>
> Subject: BREAKING: State Audit Confirms DWR Violations Planning CA WaterFix
> Reply-To: Restore the Delta <barbara at restorethedelta.org>
> 
> 
> Is this email not displaying correctly?
> View it in your browser.
> 
>       
> 
> Press Release:
> BREAKING: State Audit Confirms DWR Violated
> State Contracting Laws when Planning CA WaterFix
> Read at our website.
> 
> Sacramento, CA ? This morning State Auditor Elaine Howle determined that the Department of Water Resources broke state contracting laws when they replaced the program manager for California WaterFix?formerly titled the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), and often referred to as the Delta Tunnels project.
> 
> Howle and staff concluded that due to the size and complexity of the project, the Tunnels? planning costs alone nearly doubled to date, and resulted in several years of schedule delays.
> 
> The report revealed that DWR?s original 2009 cost estimate of $140 million to plan the tunnels project had ballooned to $260 million as of June 2017--with 31 percent of funds coming from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 22 percent from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, 12 percent from Kern County Water Authority, and 17 percent from San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority. DWR only spent 6 percent of its own funding.
> 
> Moreover, the audit confirms that California WaterFix lacks a financial or economic analysis of its feasibility and that DWR failed to install a governance structure for design and construction of the project, and properly maintain program management documents.
> 
> A summary of the state audit can be viewed here.
> 
> The full report be viewed here.
> 
> Policy Analyst for Restore the Delta, Tim Stroshane said:
> ?State Auditor Elaine Howle and her crack staff found that DWR mismanaged first the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and more recently the California WaterFix. They failed to foresee the project?s complexity, used sweetheart deals to hire contractors, and failed to apply accountable management practices. Overall, DWR breached the public?s trust in its attempts to plan and implement Governor Jerry Brown?s tunnels vision.?
> 
> Executive director of Restore the Delta, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said:
> ?Both the state audit and federal audit have confirmed a misuse of taxpayer money and irresponsible financial planning for the Delta Tunnels. With this latest finding from the State Auditor, Westlands Water District?s withdrawal from the project, and Metropolitan Water District?s public staff statements that ?they won?t have to pay for the tunnels if they don?t take water? and that ?the project could now be one or two tunnels,? California WaterFix is in complete disarray. We cannot see how any public water agency can vote to support any percentage of this project as project planning basics are not in place.
> 
> ?The pressing narrative from project proponents that ?beneficiaries pay? no longer carries any weight?both the state and the federal government have acknowledged that not only is there a massive lack of financial transparency clouding the viability of the project, but that the tunnels cannot be built without a significant taxpayer subsidy.?
> 
> Background: 
> This audit was made possible through research compiled by Restore the Delta policy analyst Tim Stroshane and by Pacific Advocates? Patricia Schifferle.
> 
> On August 10, 2016, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted to launch a state audit investigating the funding for the California WaterFix (Delta Tunnels), as requested by Assemblymember Susan Eggman and Senator Lois Wolk.
> 
> At a State Capitol hearing last year, the legislators said the $17 billion cost, lack of legislative oversight, and murky funding mechanisms all indicated the need for an audit.
> 
> Just last month, a federal audit completed by the Department of Interior?s Inspector General revealed that the U.S. Government misused $84 million on planning costs for the Delta Tunnels. 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> Support our work!
> 2017 is shaping up to be a year of technical battles regarding the Delta tunnels and the protection of the estuary for future generations. Donate.
>  
> 
> Update your subscription to weekly 
> We've updated our form to ask how you would like to receive your updates. Update your subscription to get a digest of media alerts once a week or get both!
> Copyright ? 2017 Restore the Delta, All rights reserved.
> You are receiving this e-mail because you signed up for our mailing list to receive updates and news about Restore the Delta.
> Our mailing address is:
> Restore the Delta
> 42 N. Sutter Street, Suite 506
> Stockton, CA 95202
> 
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> 
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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Oct  7 09:35:37 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2017 16:35:37 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Blocked by old contracts and modern-day infighting,
 California's big water project staggers to its deathbed
References: <1217294094.3159365.1507394137731.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1217294094.3159365.1507394137731@mail.yahoo.com>

Blocked by old contracts and modern-day infighting, California's big water project staggers to its deathbed

  
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Blocked by old contracts and modern-day infighting, California's big wa...
 By Michael Hiltzik California's $17-billion water project may be dead, thanks to the state's complex water history.  |   |

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 Column?

Blocked by old contracts and modern-day infighting, California's big water project staggers to its deathbed

Michael HiltzikContact ReporterNo one should have been surprised when the giant Westlands Water District voted Sept. 19 against joining the state?s equally imposing $17-billion water infrastructure project.After all, the Central Valley district ? at 600,000 acres the largest agricultural water district in the nation ? had been signaling its uneasiness about the?California WaterFix?for months. The district accepted that the reliability and volume of the water supply for Southern and Central California could be enhanced by the plan to build two 30-mile, four-story-high tunnels to carry water under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. But questions were mounting about how much more reliable and how much larger the supply would be, and whether the gain was worth the price.A staff report prepared in advance of the vote cast a shadow. The report warned that ?a business case ? cannot be made? for a project that could increase Westlands? cost of irrigation water by nearly $1,000 per acre-foot. The economics of the project deteriorated sharply for the district in July, when federal officials made clear that?the government wouldn?t pick up the tab?for environmental refuges or districts whose historic water rights were so senior to all others that they?d get almost all the water they needed even without the tunnels.There are?a couple of possible paths forward, and then there?s just giving up and not building the project.? Metropolitan Water District General Manager Jeffrey KightlingerThe U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said that, while districts that wished to obtain water through the WaterFix were welcome to opt in, the federal government would contribute nothing to the project?s cost. The opt-in users, therefore, would effectively be subsidizing the refuges and the so-called exchange districts by shouldering an estimated additional $4 billion.Yet Westlands had expressed support for the WaterFix in principle. Many observers expected the board to signal that it was open to negotiation over its financial share, or to a less ambitious and cheaper tunnel project. Instead, the board?s 7-1 vote not to participate delivered what could be a mortal blow to the whole project.The California WaterFix is about to enter a make-or-break phase. The board of the Metropolitan Water District, which serves 19 million residents of Southern California, is scheduled to vote Tuesday on participating in the project. But that vote is based on the expectation that the MWD would pay only 26% of the total project cost, or about $4.4 billion, a figure that has been thrown into doubt by the federal government?s position and the Westlands vote. Additional Central and Southern California users of delta water will be voting over the coming weeks.Things weren?t helped by the release Thursday of?a negative report by state auditor Elaine Howle, who found that the project?s ?unexpected complexity? already has led to ?significant cost increases and schedule delays.?
The state?s options if the tunnels can?t secure adequate funding are few.?There are a couple of possible paths forward, and then there?s just giving up and not building the project,? MWD General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger told me. One option is to ?push aggressively to see exactly what Westlands and others would be willing to fund,? he says. Another option is to try to jawbone the federal government into funding at least some of the tunnels? cost. Barring that, the state could decide to build a smaller, cheaper project now and phase in additions over the decades to come.None of these options is especially palatable for the project?s supporters. The two-tunnel option, which would carry as much as 5 million acre-feet per year (one acre-foot can supply the annual needs of up to two average California households) captures economies of scale that would be diminished in a slimmed-down version. The project?s claimed virtues, which include protecting the state?s water supply from climate change or earthquake damage while reducing environmental stress and strain on the delta, would be reduced commensurately, supporters say. The consequences, they say, would be the continuing shrinkage of the water supply from Northern California, higher local bills and more urban purchases of water from growers and a decline in agricultural output.Critics maintain that these virtues and drawbacks have consistently been overstated, or can be addressed more cheaply for less via smaller local projects. ?You can have a lot of bottom-up innovation in water supply by local water districts that you might not get from a top-down system,? says Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Adds Jeff Michael, an environmental economist at the University of the Pacific, ?If they don?t go ahead with this project, there?s $17 billion in capital expenses that could be deployed by water agencies in other ways.?
The California WaterFix is in trouble because the fragmentation of water interests in the state renders agreement on major statewide water projects difficult, perhaps impossible. Through much of the 20th century, regional and economic conflicts over statewide public works could be papered over by the impetus of rapid economic growth. The projects also required the drive of visionary leaders such as Gov. Pat Brown, who in the 1960s oversaw some of the initial construction of the State Water Project, which aimed to secure exports of water through the delta to Central and Southern California.But regional conflicts never lay far below the surface. In 1982, voters rejected the Peripheral Canal, a proposed upgrade to the State Water Project championed by Gov. Jerry Brown, Pat Brown?s son. The outcome reflected a sharp north-south divide, depicted by The Times? Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoonist, Paul Conrad,?in graphic fashion. The delta tunnels, of which Gov. Brown is a leading supporter, are the latest iteration of that project.Supporters of the delta tunnels try to be philosophical about the blow by Westlands. ?It?s understandable,? Kightlinger says. ?Just as my board?s been saying they don?t expect to be subsidizing agriculture, Westlands is saying they don?t expect to be subsidizing exchange contractors or the refuges.?
It?s hard to see how anything on the scale of the California WaterFix can be built without some cross-subsidy, however.?In a 2015 analysis?for state officials, agricultural economist David Sunding of UC Berkeley calculated that the project would pass a cost-benefit test for California in the aggregate. But when the calculations were broken down, it was an economic winner for residential, or ?urban,? users but a close call or a loser for agriculture. Sunding based his conclusions on the assumption that the federal government would chip in $3.9 billion for the refuges and exchange contractors; if it did not, ?the net benefits of the project are even more negative for agricultural contractors.?Depicting the conflict as one pitting residential users vs. farmers, or Northern California vs. Southern, is too simplistic. Some farmers, such as those growing almond and pistachio trees, need year-round reliability more than truck farmers, who can temporarily fallow acreage in times of shortage. Some urban water districts with large storage reservoirs (including the MWD) will benefit from the delta tunnels more than those without, because they can bank the ample flow in wet years for use during droughts rather than letting it go to waste.Sunding asserted that the benefits of the project weren?t all tied to direct recipients of the water. A more stable delta water supply would increase yields from California farms, for instance, leading to reduced food prices that would benefit consumers everywhere, even those outside the state. He reckoned that the project would create 118,700 construction jobs and 5,800 long-term jobs directly and indirectly, another economic plus. Those broad benefits, he suggested, warranted examining whether financing should be expanded beyond a strict user-pays model.Securing that funding would be a challenge, given today?s tight state budgets and skinflint U.S. Congress. ?The only way to make this project work would be with a massive taxpayer subsidy, on the order of $7 billion,? says Michael.Despite the mounting uncertainties, Kightlinger still sees Tuesday?s vote by the MWD board as ?still a pretty big historic vote.? The question on the table, he says, is ?Can California do big things anymore, or are we so gridlocked in competing interests that we can?t solve problems? Here?s a problem right in front of us that we?ve known about for decades. The status quo is a disaster, and yet we?re on the verge of just saying it?s too hard.?


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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Oct  7 15:42:00 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2017 22:42:00 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Job announcement: Interdisciplinary (Civil Engineer
 [Hydraulics] or Physical Scientist, GS-0810/1301-11/12
References: <1437539624.3277121.1507416120586.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1437539624.3277121.1507416120586@mail.yahoo.com>


The?Northern California Area Office (NCAO)?is?currently recruiting for a?Interdisciplinary (Civil Engineer [Hydraulics] or Physical Scientist, GS-0810/1301-11/12)??position in Weaverville, CA. ? The following?announcement?has been prepared via Reclamation's HireMe on-line application system.

BR-MP-2017-259,?Interdisciplin ary (Civil Engineer [Hydraulics] or Physical Scientist, GS-0810/1301-11/12)?(MPP)(ES)

Interested applicants?can view the?announcement?through USAJOBS at the following link:?https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob /ViewDetails/481477400

First time applicants must register with USAJOBS at?https://www.usajobs.gov/Acc ount/Account??to create an account.?

For additional information regarding this?vacancy, please call Erica Settlemyer at 916-978-5490 or email:?esettlemyer at usbr.gov.

Thank you,

Erica Settlemyer
HR Specialist
US Bureau of Reclamation
Email:?esettlemyer at usbr.gov
Phone: 916-978-5490
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Oct 10 10:12:38 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2017 17:12:38 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: [Trinity Releases] Change Order - Lewiston Dam
In-Reply-To: <CAF2zoAp-qSdqmasAqsMpnZQxAMo43Yq8=5QhM5oznsxQ-7Q3=Q@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAF2zoAp-qSdqmasAqsMpnZQxAMo43Yq8=5QhM5oznsxQ-7Q3=Q@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1895050707.4850630.1507655558123@mail.yahoo.com>

On Tuesday, October 10, 2017 9:19 AM, "FIELD, RANDI" <rfield at usbr.gov> wrote:



 Project:?Lewiston?Dam
Please make the following release?changes?to the Trinity River:?Date?????????? ?????Time ? ? ? ? ? ? From (cfs)?? ??To (cfs)
10/14/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 450 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 400
10/15/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 400 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 350
10/16/2017 ? ? ?0800 ? ? ? ? ? ? 350 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 300


Comment: ?Trinity ROD releases
Issued by: ?R Field

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Oct 10 10:32:32 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2017 17:32:32 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Informational meeting on Klamath Dam issue Tuesday in
	Yreka
References: <1849863575.4884749.1507656752374.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1849863575.4884749.1507656752374@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.mtshastanews.com/news/20171009/informational-meeting-on-klamath-dam-issue-tuesday-in-yreka


Informational meeting on Klamath Dam issue Tuesday in Yreka

An informational meeting on the Klamath dam issue is scheduled to be held Tuesday, Oct. 10, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Winema Hall at the Siskiyou Golden Fairgrounds in Yreka.Alan Mikkelsen, acting deputy commissioner of the United States Bureau of Reclamation, and representatives of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation will be present to provide information on KRRC?s request to transfer the dams and allow for their decommissioning.The County states in a press release that it ?hopes this will provide the public with an additional opportunity to stay informed and engaged. KRRC has also expressed that they will be hosting several public outreach forums, and will inform the County once dates and locations have been finalized. During future coordination and public meetings with KRRC, the County will continue to address the following concerns related to potential dam removal: 20-30 million cubic yards of sediment release, risk of catastrophic floods, inability to provide pulse flows for fisheries benefit, property value loss in the areas around Iron Gate and Copco Dams, County tax base loss, and funding loss to Siskiyou County schools.?Information related to the proposed dam removal and the County?s efforts regarding the proposals can be found at:?http://www.co.siskiyou.ca.us/page/natural-resources. Additionally, information can be obtained by contacting Elizabeth Nielsen, Siskiyou County Natural Resource Policy Specialist, at?enielsen at co.siskiyou.ca.us?or (530) 842-8012.The following background information was included in the County?s press release:In September 2016, PacifiCorp and the Klamath River Renewal Corporation submitted two applications to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeking to transfer and surrender PacifiCorp?s hydropower license.Together, these applications propose to transfer, decommission, and remove four dams on the Klamath River: JC Boyle, Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, and Iron Gate. In November of 2016, the County submitted its initial comments on these applications, requesting that the Commission reject both applications outright based on the significant deficiencies the County identified and based on the applications failing to comply with the Commission?s regulations.Since that time, FERC has made supplemental information requests to PacifiCorp and KRRC, asking that they answer inquiries and provide additional information related to their applications. It is the County?s understanding that KRRC will continue to work on its responses through the calendar year. The County intends to continue to actively monitor the FERC process and will be engaging in comment submissions to FERC as opportunities arise. The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors and County staff, with support of outside counsel, have also actively monitored and engaged in related proceedings and meetings before the California Public Utilities Commission and the California State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board).The County submitted comments to the Water Board during their most recent public commenting process on their development of an Environmental Impact Report for the water quality certification process needed for KRRC?s proposed decommissioning. In addition, Siskiyou County is actively reaching out to its state and federal representatives, as well as the Trump Administration, to seek political support for addressing the County?s concerns related to dam removal.KRRC has made outreach efforts to members of the Board and to Siskiyou County staff to provide updates on their processes. Siskiyou County continues to stress to KRRC its economic and environmental concerns, its concerns about the uncertainty of KRRC?s ability to bear responsibility for any damages that would result from dam removal, and the need for full and transparent research and updated studies. Siskiyou County is also urging the agencies responsible for approval of KRRC?s requests, including the Water Board and FERC, to fully consider alternatives to dam removal, which the County has provided detail on.
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Tue Oct 10 17:31:28 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2017 00:31:28 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian Week 40
	(October 7th)
Message-ID: <BN6PR09MB1378B474E72688C995748544BA4A0@BN6PR09MB1378.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW40.
Junction City weir was removed for the end of the season at the end of the week and Trinity River Hatchery finished up their spawning of spring Chinook.
We trapped more Chinook than steelhead at Willow Creek weir this past week but the steelhead are real beauts! We also picked up another pink (humpy) salmon at WCW. The Coho we are seeing are still both small and number and size.

Get out there and enjoy this weather, folks, because there is no way it can last...
MC

******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Enviornmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Oct 12 12:45:24 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2017 12:45:24 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Central Valley Project begins 2018 water year
	with 8.9 million acre-feet of storage
References: <312fe7bea08943b08caf2af5784e5664@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <EAA1EEB2-54A3-47CC-9BE8-FD276A8F3A6E@att.net>



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Sarah McBride" <smcbride at usbr.gov>
> Date: October 12, 2017 at 9:38:26 AM PDT
> To: tstokely at att.net
> Subject: Central Valley Project begins 2018 water year with 8.9 million acre-feet of storage
> 
> 
> Mid-Pacific Region
> Sacramento, Calif.
> 
> MP-17-176
> 
> Media Contact: Erin Curtis, 916-978-5100, eccurtis at usbr.gov
> 
> For Immediate Release: Oct. 12, 2017
> 
> Central Valley Project begins 2018 water year with 8.9 million acre-feet of storage
> 
> SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Bureau of Reclamation?s Central Valley Project began water year 2018, which runs from Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2018, with 8.9 million acre-feet of water in six key CVP reservoirs (Trinity, Shasta, Folsom, New Melones, Millerton, and the federal share of the joint federal-state San Luis Reservoir). This is 145 percent of the 15-year average annual carryover of 6.2 million acre-feet and 4 million acre-feet more than the amount with which the Mid-Pacific Region began WY 2017.
> 
> "2017 was an incredible water year, and we are pleased to have bountiful water supplies," said Regional Director David Murillo. "Now we are focusing on balance. We are heading into winter with our reservoir levels at a safe place with respect to flood control, should we experience another wet winter. At the same time, we believe we have conserved healthy storage levels in the event that we have a dry winter."
> 
> The table below shows capacities and end-of-year storages in WY 2016 and WY 2017 for key CVP reservoirs; the next table compares end-of-year storages from WY 2013 to WY 2017. The amount of stored water at the end of the water year reflects the amount carried over into the new water year. One acre-foot is the volume of water sufficient to cover an acre of land to a depth of 1 foot, enough water to sustain a typical California household of four for one year. In spring 2018, Reclamation anticipates making a preliminary assessment of WY 2018 CVP water supply conditions.
> 
> CVP Reservoir Capacities and End of WY 2016 & 2017 Storage in Million Acre-feet
> 
> Reservoirs
> 
> Annual Storage Comparisons
> 
> 15-Year
> Average Storage
> 
> CVP Reservoirs
> and Capacities
> 
> 2017
> 
>  
> 
> % of 
> Capacity
> 
> % of 15 Year Avg
> 
> 2016
> 
> % of 
> Capacity
> 
> % of 15 Year Avg
> 
> 2003-2017
> 
> Trinity  2.448
> 
> 1.8
> 
> 73
> 
> 125
> 
> 0.97
> 
> 40
> 
> 69
> 
> 1.42
> 
> Shasta  4.552
> 
> 3.4
> 
> 74
> 
> 138
> 
> 2.8
> 
> 62
> 
> 117
> 
> 2.45
> 
> Folsom  0.97
> 
> 0.66
> 
> 68
> 
> 142
> 
> 0.31
> 
> 31
> 
> 67
> 
> 0.47
> 
> New Melones  2.420
> 
> 2.0
> 
> 84
> 
> 158
> 
> 0.53
> 
> 22
> 
> 43
> 
> 1.28
> 
> Federal San Luis  0.96
> 
> 0.70
> 
> 73
> 
> 247
> 
> 0.07
> 
> 7
> 
> 28
> 
> 0.28
> 
> Millerton  0.52
> 
> 0.37
> 
> 70
> 
> 143
> 
> 0.23
> 
> 44
> 
> 94
> 
> 0.26
> 
> Total  11.8
> 
> 8.9
> 
> 75
> 
> 145
> 
> 4.9
> 
> 241
> 
> 82
> 
> 6.16
> 
>  
>  
> Comparison of Previous End-of-Year Storage in Key CVP Reservoirs
> 
> Million Acre-feet
> 
> 2017
> 
> 2016
> 
> 2015
> 
> 2014
> 
> 2013
> 
> 1977
> (Driest Year)
> 
> 1983
> (Wettest Year)
> 
> 8.9
> 
> 4.9
> 
> 2.9
> 
> 3.1
> 
> 5.1
> 
> 1.5
> 
> 9.8
> 
>  
> The CVP is the largest single source of irrigation water in the state, typically supplying water to about 3 million acres of agricultural land in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys and along California?s central coast. The CVP also provides urban water for millions of people and industrial water essential to the San Francisco Bay Area?s economy. Water from the CVP is also crucial for the environment, wildlife and fishery restoration, and hydroelectric power production.
> 
> During WY 2017, CVP power plants generated about 6.1 billion kilowatt-hours. Project use consumed about 20 percent of this energy; the remaining energy was made available for marketing. The Mid-Pacific Region?s hydroelectric generators have a combined capacity of approximately 2.1 million kilowatts.
> 
> During the course of 2018, Reclamation will continually monitor and evaluate hydrologic conditions and will adjust water supply allocations, as warranted, to reflect updated snowpack and runoff. Current allocations and background information are available at www.usbr.gov/mp/cvp-water/.
> 
> For additional storage information, please visit www.usbr.gov/mp/cvo or contact the public affairs office at 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or mppublicaffairs at usbr.gov.
> 
> # # #
> 
> Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier and the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the United States, with operations and facilities in the 17 Western states. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.
> 
> 
> 
> If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
> Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Oct 13 15:03:30 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2017 22:03:30 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Correction - Vacancy Announcement Notification -
 Interdisciplinary (Civil Engineer [Hydraulics] or Physical Scientist,
 GS-0810/1301-11/12)
In-Reply-To: <CAMQVZpz3o7xW4upRUJR5ep9ykJSeRZc4N5O+XN2qvPwiDExQTg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAN=Jmge59dLOQfTxFReZpdq35-Havgqwkj9r6+gkbfa+VB5Zmg@mail.gmail.com>
	<CAGpyTHQoeDeOXDSUcM-Yz8NeDdahXMGGG67BumwGdUKGBO=E9w@mail.gmail.com>
	<CAMQVZpz3o7xW4upRUJR5ep9ykJSeRZc4N5O+XN2qvPwiDExQTg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <678915655.1435447.1507932210024@mail.yahoo.com>

On Wednesday, October 11, 2017 7:40 AM, "Dixon, Michael" <mdixon at usbr.gov> wrote:



The link that was forwarded in the Reclamation HR email for our vacant hydrologist position was for the merit promotion (government employee) solicitation. If you wish to circulate this important vacancy to interested parties who are not already federal employees, please have them use the following link, which is open to all U.S. citizens:
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/481477600

MikeDixon, PhD?| Implementation Branch Chief?|?Trinity River Restoration Program?|?1313 S. Main St., Weaverville, CA 96093?|?530-623-1811 (desk)?|?mdixon at usbr.gov?
?The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have not viewed the world.? - Alexander von Humboldt


   
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Oct 16 10:31:44 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2017 17:31:44 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Fish_Blood_in_Their_Veins_=E2=80=94_But_F?=
 =?utf-8?q?ew_Salmon_in_Their_River?=
References: <372433490.851665.1508175104125.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <372433490.851665.1508175104125@mail.yahoo.com>

https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/10/16/fish-blood-in-their-veins-but-few-salmon-in-their-river/



THE CALIFORNIA REPORT
Fish Blood in Their Veins ? But Few Salmon in Their River
By?Lisa MorehouseOCTOBER 16, 2017SHARE
SPONSORED BY
Become a KQED sponsorThis fall, the number of chinook salmon making their way from the ocean up the Klamath River in the far northwest corner of California is the lowest on record. That?s devastating news for the Yurok tribe, which has lived along and fished the Klamath for centuries. Salmon is integral to their entire culture and way of life, essential to Yurok ceremonies, for food, and for income.Cousins Erika Chavez and Jerome Nick Jr. both work for the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Department, and they?re patrolling the Klamath where the river flows into the Pacific Ocean.Jerome Nick Jr. checks a net set a couple hours earlier. ?No fish.??(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)Nick perches in the front of the boat, with Chavez at the helm as we head to the mouth of the river.?Just checking to see if there?s any tribal members fishing,? Chavez says. ?Gonna head up to the bridge to see if anyone?s there.??Last year we thought our fishing season was really, really low. And this year is a record one ? unfortunately on the wrong end.?Joe James,
Yurok tribal councilmemberYurok use gillnets. In good years and bad, the cousins do net counts, stopping by boats, measuring and weighing any fish caught.Today, Chavez and Nick are also volunteering, catching salmon for tribal elders. It?s the only fishing allowed this year. Chavez slows the boat so Nick can pull up a net they set a couple hours ago. The verdict??No fish,? Nick tells us, shaking his head.
?A Ghost Town?The cousins are alone on the water. Nick says it?s a whole different story in a normal year, especially during commercial fishing season.?Practically this whole area is nets, all the way up to the bridge,? he says.?This year, it?s different.Cousins Erika Chavez and Jerome Nick Jr., who work for the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Department, untangle nets at the mouth of the Klamath River.?(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)?It?s like a ghost town,? Chavez says, ?because there?s nobody out. It?s pretty sad, but then again just knowing there?s not a lot of people out here catching them, those fish have a chance to travel up there. At least that?s my hope.?When we get off the water, Nick says that, unlike a lot of Yurok, he didn?t grow up fishing. He moved here six years ago to get away from family drama in Oregon. Now, when he?s not working the overnight shift at Walmart, he?s on the water.?I work here with my cousin and she keeps me sane,? he says. ?She?s my rock.?He says learning to fish as an adult was hard at first. Then he turns to Chavez.?What year did I pull in that 50-pound salmon?? he asks. ?2011,? she answers.Chavez says she grew up with her family camping right here for the summer. Her grandma would make fry bread, and she and her great-grandmother would watch everyone fish. Chavez started fishing when she was 9.?My partner was my auntie,? Chavez recalls. ?She?s the one that taught me, and our whole bottom of our boat was filled with fish. Everyone was catching plenty for their families. It was beautiful.?A rich salmon harvest means covering the basics.?It feeds our family,? Chavez says. ?When commercial?s here we use that money to buy our kids school clothes.?Chavez usually fishes for her grandma.?I get her 10 to 15 fish every year, so it?s in her freezer for the whole year,? Chavez says.?But this year, Chavez says, ?she?ll have to deal with deer meat or elk meat or something?A Tribal Celebration of SalmonAbout five minutes away in the town of Klamath, thousands of Yurok and friends gather every August for the tribe?s Salmon Festival. There?s a parade and a stick game that looks to my untrained eye like a cross between wrestling and field hockey. Yurok men sing songs for good luck around a card game.True to the festival?s name, there?s salmon cooked in the traditional Yurok way. Around the edge of a long, narrow fire pit, salmon skewered on redwood sticks form a kind of crown. Oscar Gensaw monitors the scene, wearing a T-shirt that reads: Fish Boss.At the 55th Annual Yurok Salmon Festival, Oscar Gensaw cooks salmon the traditional way, on redwood skewers around a fire pit. This year, though, the tribe had to purchase salmon from Alaska.?(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)?This is how we?ve always done it, generation to generation,? Gensaw says, trying to avoid getting smoke in his eye. ?When you first start cooking, you get those fat rings around the fish like a ring on a tree. When the fat starts dripping out of each of those rings, I know that side is done,? he explains.Gensaw grew up in Klamath and has three sons and a baby daughter.?My main goal is to pass this onto my boys so one day I can be the ultimate fish boss, and be on the side when they cook,? he says with a laugh. But he wants to teach them with salmon caught in the Klamath ? not the fish he?s cooking with today.?These come from Alaska,? he says. The tribe had to buy this salmon, the first time in festival history.Tribal Councilman Joe James is hanging out by the fire pit.?Last year we thought our fishing season was really, really low,? he says. ?And this year is a record one ? unfortunately on the wrong end.?He says, the tribe works with federal agencies every year to estimate the fall run and to decide how many salmon can be caught. So few chinook were expected to return to spawn this year that commercial fishing was shut down to protect them. The Yurok, a tribe of 6,000, were allowed to catch just over 600 salmon.Those low numbers are the end result of drought, disease, and a long history of habitat destruction. Yurok place much of the blame on upstream dams that have blocked salmon from ancient spawning grounds for over a century. After years of debate and struggle, four dams are set to be removed by 2020, says James.?We look forward for those dams to come down to start process of healing our rivers? ? and with it the return of the salmon and other native species, he says.In the parade, Annelia Hillman commands the megaphone for the Klamath Justice Coalition, which chants ?Undam the Klamath! Bring the salmon home!? She says tribes along the Klamath have had to fight logging, gold mining, the dams, and now a proposed natural gas pipeline.Klamath Justice Coalition in the parade at the Yurok Salmon Festival. Low numbers of chinook salmon this year are the end result of drought, disease, and a long history of habitat destruction. Yurok place much of the blame on upstream dams that have blocked salmon from ancient spawning grounds for over a century.?(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)?If we?re putting our water at risk like that, we?re putting life on Rarth at risk,? she says.?Our People Feel the Effects?She says the river?s poor health and the low salmon run impacts the entire Yurok way of life.?We were created in this place to help bring balance in this river,? she says. ?Our people are part of this system and when that balance is off, our people feel the effects.?She says she sees that in her work as a youth social worker.?When we can?t be in our river, can?t eat our fish, it kind of takes our purpose away,? Hillman says. ?We have one of the highest suicide rates, state of emergency for suicide, and I think that?s directly correlated to our lack of salmon and our inability to continue our way of life.?The Yurok have fought for years to maintain their ties to the Klamath and its salmon. In the 1960s, game wardens frequently arrested members of the tribe for gillnet fishing on the river, a practice banned by the state. One young man, Raymond Mattz, challenged the arrests. His fight went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reaffirmed the tribe?s fishing rights ? and reservation status.His nephew, Paul Mattz Van Mechelen, runs Paul?s Famous Smoked Salmon on U.S. 101. Customers know he?s open if there?s smoke coming from the traditional fire pit in front.?That?s my Weber, my Yurok Weber!? he jokes.Paul Van Mechelen at Paul?s Famous Smoked Salmon. The last two years, he?s had to purchase fish from native fishermen hundreds of miles away, in Oregon, instead of fishing the fall chinook run in the Klamath, 50 feet away from his shop. He says for a fishing people, the losses from not fishing are more than just financial.?(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)Fish Blood in His Veins ? But No Salmon in the RiverBut He started this shop 16 years ago after his grandmother came to him in a dream. A steady stream of customers come in to sample and buy the wild chinook salmon he prepares with flavors like garlic, lemon pepper, and teriyaki. Usually, he gets his stock from the Klamath River.?So who am I? I had my grandma at a young age tell me I had fish blood. I didn?t understand it. I didn?t know why. But we?re all fishing people. You got to look down where we?re from.?Paul Mattz Van Mechelen?Not the last two years, though,? he says. ?I had to go to the Columbia River,? hundreds of miles away in Oregon, where he makes purchases from native fishermen there. Gas, and payment for fish, those are big expenses for a business owner who usually fishes about 50 feet from here.The losses from not fishing, they go deeper than just finances.?I got a great niece ? she?s only 2 ? but she helped start up the boat and smiled and did all that last year,? he says. ?Her auntie was 5 when she pulled in a fish. So that whole part of learning and teaching them who they are and what this river gives to them is kind of life in one way.?I ask Van Mechelen to tell me more about that one point, that fishing is who Yurok are. He gets emotional, even stepping out of the store for a minute before answering:?So who am I? I had my grandma at a young age tell me I had fish blood,? Van Mechelen says. ?I didn?t understand it. I didn?t know why. But we?re all fishing people. You got to look down where we?re from,? he says.And when you have fish blood but you have to stay away from fishing in hopes of keeping salmon here in the future??It?s sad to stay next to a river and wake up and not see fish go by,? he says. ?That?s the saddest part. It?s bad enough you dream about it.?Van Mechelen says all he can do is pray the salmon come back.This piece was produced in collaboration with the Food & Environment Reporting network, a non-profit, investigative news organization.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Oct 17 08:53:29 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2017 15:53:29 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Editorial=3A_Change_course_on_governor?=
 =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=99s_=2417_billion_Delta_tunnels_plan?=
References: <1732128879.624786.1508255609926.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1732128879.624786.1508255609926@mail.yahoo.com>

http://eastbaytimes.ca.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=0339744e5EditorialChange course on governor?s $17 billion Delta tunnels plan?Today is the day the momentum behind Gov. Jerry Brown?s twin-tunnel plan that threatens the health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta could change ? for the better.The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board will decide whether to commit to raising ratepayer taxes by at least $1 billion to pay for its share of the Big Dud ? Gov. Jerry Brown?s $17 billion ?WaterFix? plan to build two massive, 35-mile, 40-foothigh tunnels under the Sacramento- San Joaquin River Delta that won?t add a drop of new water to California?s supply.The decision will have profound impact on the East Bay, where two water districts, Zone 7 and the Alameda County Water District, have already agreed to buy in at their ratepayers? expense. Perhaps Santa Clara County can put an end to this madness.Three of the seven board members of the South Bay district are proposing that instead of helping to pay for the twin tunnels, they want a single-tunnel plan. That would certainly be better than the ridiculous current plan, but it should be independently reviewed to see whether or not it stands on its own fiscal and environmental merits.It?s clear the governor?s current plan is unacceptable. Building a massive conveyance surely means that in the future, Southern California will persuade political leaders to open the spigot, even if it ruins the Delta?s ecology.Building two massive tunnels without promising more water is like building a 10-lane freeway but saying you?re only going to use two lanes. Who would believe?that??Moreover, the project doesn?t make financial sense. Last month the Westlands Water District, America?s largest irrigation district, voted 7-1 to pull out of the project, saying the benefits didn?t justify its expected $3?billion cost. That cost now will have to be paid by other agencies.After the Westlands? vote, Santa Clara Valley Water District Chairman John Varela told Bay Area News Group?s Paul Rogers, ?I can?t imagine how we can go forward when one of the most significant water users in the state is sending a message that this project doesn?t pencil out for them. If it doesn?t pencil out for them, how does it pencil out for us??The Metropolitan Water District serving Los Angeles and San Diego has voted to support the project. In the Bay Area, the Contra Costa Water District, East Bay Municipal Utility District and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission are not participating. The Alameda County Water District and Zone 7 have voted full support, but Kern County voted to go in only partially, leaving another potential $1 billion hole in the bill for other districts to fill.Here?s the other, perhaps biggest cost problem: Digging projects are notorious for huge overruns. The cost of America?s largest, Boston?s Big Dig, ballooned from $2.6 billion to nearly $15 billion before it was completed eight years behind schedule. The European channel project between England and France, a single, 31-mile effort, came in at nearly double its original budget.A guiding principle of the three Santa Clara board members? alternative proposal is that Northern California values shouldn?t be placed at a disadvantage relative to Central Valley agriculture or Southern California.The governor?s twin-tunnel project does not meet that standard and does not deserve support.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Oct 17 08:56:58 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2017 15:56:58 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Key_vote_on_Jerry_Brown=E2=80=99s_=2417B_?=
 =?utf-8?q?Delta_tunnels_project_Tuesday?=
References: <441612309.611459.1508255818865.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <441612309.611459.1508255818865@mail.yahoo.com>


http://eastbaytimes.ca.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=419fc9c97
WATER POLICYKey vote on Jerry Brown?s $17B Delta tunnels project Tuesday?Vote will determine whether Silicon Valley will help pay for Brown?s huge initiative, even as board members consider a smaller alternativeBy Paul Rogersprogers at bayareanewsgroup.CcomIn its most far-reaching decision in more than 50 years, Silicon Valley?s largest water provider will vote Tuesday on whether to embrace or reject Gov. Jerry Brown? s $17 billion plan to build?two massive tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.The Santa Clara Valley Water District, based in San Jose, is considering contributing at least $620 million to the project ? more than $1 billion when financing costs are included. The vote?could shape whether the project is ever built or if it is reduced in size.On Monday, following lobbying from Brown?s top aides and the governor himself, it appeared that a majority of board members was leaning toward supporting a smaller project, with one tunnel, at potentially half the cost. That could send the project back to the drawing board.?The project has to be sized correctly. Right now it?s too big and too expensive,? said Gary Kremen, a member of the Santa Clara ValleyWater District?s board. ?The two tunnels project is too much.?The meeting will be webcast live at 1 p.m. Tuesday. The tunnels plan is one of Brown?s two legacy projects, the other being high speed rail.A week ago, on Oct. 9, Brown quietly came to Santa Clara to meet with 20 Silicon Valley CEOs to urge passage of the project. The meeting, hosted by San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York at Levi?s Stadium, also included two members of the Santa Clara Valley Water?District board, chairman John Varela and Dick Santos. Participants said Brown applied pressure, but both Varela and Santos said they were worried about the high costs.?We?re going to bemaking sure the taxpayer is not on the hook,? Santos said Monday.Under a plan first proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a decade ago, Brown is proposing to build two concrete tunnels, each 40 feet high and 35 miles long,Tunnels?under the Delta, the vast network of sloughs and wetlands between San Francisco Bay and Sacramento, which is a linchpin of water supplies for two-thirds of California?s residents and millions of acres of farmland.Supporters say the project, which Brown has dubbed the ?WaterFix,? will improve drinking water reliability for cities from San Jose to San Diego by taking freshwater from the Sacramento River south of Sacramento near the community of Courtland, and delivering it to giant state and federal pumps near Tracy. That, they say, would better armor the state?s water system against earthquakes, but also would reduce reliance on those pumps, which judges have ordered to be slowed or stopped at times when endangered fish such as salmon and smelt are near them.?At least 40 percent of our?water comes through the Delta,? said Mike Mielke, senior vice president for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a San Jose-based coalition of businesses, nonprofits and other large employers that supports the project. ?The status quo in the Delta is unsustainable. We can?t simply rely on local sources.?Critics, however, call the project an expensive water grab by Southern California cities and San Joaquin Valley farmers that could saddle Santa Clara County residents with higher water bills and property tax hikes they wouldn?t be guaranteed to vote on under a loophole in Proposition 13.?It?s a new century. We view the tunnels as a 20th century solution to a 21st century problem,? said Tim Stroshane, a policy analyst with Restore the Delta, a Stockton group opposing the plan.The Santa Clara Valley Water District provides water and flood protection to 1.9 million people from Palo Alto to Gilroy. The last time it made a decision of?this magnitude was in 1962, when its board members voted to import water from the Delta into the county through the construction of the South Bay Aqueduct. That extra water allowed the growth of Silicon Valley ? a farming region known until that time for heavily over-drafted groundwater.Stroshane said cities should invest instead in recycled water, new reservoirs, capturing stormwater, and conservation ? such as expanded rebates for removing lawns and old toilets. He noted the project?s planners have said it will deliver the same amount of water as is now exported from the Delta ? no more ? and that much of the Delta water goes now to large farms in the San Joaquin Valley that export almonds and other water-intensive crops.Last week the project was endorsed by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides water to 19 million people. It offered $4 billion toward the costs. Another large district, WestlandsWater District in Fresno, however, pulled out last month, leaving the question of who would pay its $3 billion share.A report by California state auditor Elaine Howle on Oct. 5 said the project suffered from ?significant cost increases and delays.? It noted that the state Department of Water Resources ?has not completed either an economic or financial analysis to demonstrate the financial viability.?Santos said he is leaning toward supporting a plan put forward Friday afternoon by three of the water district?s seven members ? Kremen, Barbara Keegan and Tony Estremera ? that would support one tunnel, with fewer intakes and less overall capacity, at a cost that Kremen estimates could be half of the governor?s?proposal.?That concept received a boost in recent days when the idea was endorsed by?Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, and then reinforced by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.?Two big, 40-foot-wide tunnels? Running 150 feet underground for 35 miles?? Feinstein said in an interview in the Los Angeles Times. ?When I look at that and see what it would take to get down to them if something happens, there has to be all these shafts. It?s awfully hard for me to see this is the way to go.??Why do you need 80 feet of diameter in tunnels?? Feinstein added.Brown administration officials say the dual tunnels are needed for redundancy, in case something happens to one. The one-tunnel idea, in concept, has won support as far back as 2013 from San Diego, Contra Costa Water District, East Bay Municipal Utility District and some environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council.On Monday, California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird hinted that the administration may be willing to change the project.?Once we know which contractors are interested in joining WaterFix,? Laird said, ?the state will meet with participating contractors to discuss the specifics of the project and how best to optimize it to meet their needs.?Jonas Minton, a senior water policy adviser for the Planning and Conservation League, an environmental group in Sacramento, said he supports the district?s proposed one-tunnel compromise.?It appears to be a good faith effort to find something that might work,? Minton said, ?offered in a way that does not disrespect the governor.?Contact Paul Rogers at 408- 920- 5045.

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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Oct 17 08:57:55 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2017 15:57:55 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?State=E2=80=99s_Own_Evidence_Shows_Tunnel?=
 =?utf-8?q?s_Project_Will_Harm_Fish?=
References: <110739717.619737.1508255875487.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <110739717.619737.1508255875487@mail.yahoo.com>

State?s Own Evidence Shows Tunnels Project Will Harm Fish

  
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State?s Own Evidence Shows Tunnels Project Will Harm Fish
 By Jonathan Rosenfield The Brown administration is denying scientific evidence when it comes to the impact that the proposed delta tunn...  |   |

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State?s Own Evidence Shows Tunnels Project Will Harm Fish
The Brown administration is denying scientific evidence when it comes to the impact that the proposed delta tunnels project would have on endangered species and fisheries, says scientist Jonathan Rosenfield of The Bay?Institute.
| WRITTEN BYJonathan Rosenfield | PUBLISHED ON???Oct. 16, 2017 | READ TIMEApprox. 4 minutes |

A juvenile delta smelt inside a rearing tank at the U.C. Davis Fish Conservation and Culture Lab, located 80 miles from the Davis campus on the grounds of the California Department of Water Resources - John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility near Byron, California in Contra Costa County.Dale Kolke / California Department of Water ResourcesGOV. JERRY BROWN?deserves credit for leading the fight against climate change in the face of Washington?s fact-free narratives. That?s why it?s so frustrating that his administration ignores scientific analyses regarding the impact of his controversial proposal to build two giant tunnels that would divert Sacramento River water under the Delta.
Despite years of assuring Californians that the new $17 billion tunnels would protect the San Francisco Bay estuary and would not increase the total volume of water exported from this ecosystem, the state?s own documents ? including the?Biological Assessment?and?Draft Environmental Impact Report/Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement?(RDEIR/SDEIS) ? show the?opposite.Currently, less than half of the winter-spring runoff from the Central Valley reaches the Bay in an average year, and it receives even less during dry years. An overwhelming amount of research leaves no doubt that the San Francisco Bay estuary ??? the largest estuary on the Pacific coast of the Americas ? has been severely damaged by decades of this unsustainable water withdrawal. Unless we change?course:   
   - Extinction of several native fish species is?imminent;
   - Fisheries for salmon and other species that support recreational businesses and thousands of commercial fishing jobs from Morro Bay through Oregon will?collapse;
   - Blooms of toxic cyanobacteria will become increasingly?frequent;
   - The estuary will continue to be dominated by invasive water-weeds and other non-native?species.
The best available science consistently demonstrates that we must allow more of the water in Central Valley rivers to reach San Francisco Bay as part of any comprehensive response to this estuary?s decline. Even colleagues who offer tepid support for the tunnels concept acknowledge that ??the best option for smelt, and other native fishes, especially salmon, is ? a large increase in freshwater flows through [their] habitat,? as scientists Peter Moyle and James Hobbs wrote in a?Water Deeply op-ed?last?month.Yet, contrary to suppositions made by Moyle and Hobbs, the governor?s tunnel project (misleadingly named ?California WaterFix?) will increase water exports from the Delta (see, e.g., California WaterFix Biological Assessment?Appendix?5A. Figure?5.A.A.3-20). Indeed, the state?s own analyses reveal that operations of the new water diversions will reduce the flow of fresh water to San Francisco Bay and accelerate the ongoing decline of Chinook salmon and other native species. Reductions in fresh water flow are expected to increase residence time and to decrease turbidity (cloudiness) of water in the Delta (see, e.g.,?RDEIR/SDEIS?Chapter 4); such conditions promote the increasing frequency of toxic cyanobacteria?blooms.For years, cheerleaders for the tunnels have argued that ?the status quo is unsustainable.? Indeed it is. Ironically, the state?s sales pitch for the expensive twin tunnels is now an exercise in rationalizing maintenance of the status quo and avoiding analyses that demonstrate that this project will make conditions worse. For example, rather than argue that this project will improve conditions for imperiled species, the state now only attempts to show that the project will not increase the risk of extinction, which is already?high.Yet, despite serious flaws and major gaps in the state?s analyses, they clearly show that the tunnels will harm native species. Survival of juvenile Chinook salmon through the Delta, already unacceptably low, is projected to decline under WaterFix. For example, California Department of Fish and Wildlife evaluated the expected effects of the tunnels on the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon and found: ?Overall, the [Winter Run Life Cycle Model] results indicated lower abundances and lower cohort replacement rates under the Project compared to the [No Action Alternative]. Under all scenarios, abundance was lower under the Project relative to the?NAA?throughout the time series and all scenarios had a lower mean and median cohort replacement rate than the?NAA.?Other models of Chinook salmon survival indicated similarly poor results with operation of the proposed?tunnels.In addition, forage fish species, which are currently circling the drain, will continue to decline under the plan, increasing the likelihood that we will lose some of these populations forever. Even entrainment of fish into the existing south Delta export facilities ? the one environmental problem the twin tunnels were designed to address ? will increase dramatically for longfin smelt, a state-threatened species, as the?Incidental Take Permit Application?shows.We live in a country where ignoring strong scientific evidence has become routine and extraordinarily expensive projects are promoted with the most cynical rhetoric. It?s disappointing to see this from a state that prides itself on environmental?protection.Reducing reliance on the Delta?s fresh water supplies is state law. California is also required to protect fisheries, water quality and endangered species. The twin tunnels project fails on all of these and other counts. Meanwhile, the Brown administration?s fixation with this risky, outdated and expensive engineering project diverts resources from practical solutions like water recycling and improved efficiency that can simultaneously improve water supply reliability and protect the estuarine?ecosystem.During the recent drought, Californians demonstrated that we can conserve a tremendous amount of water. But most water districts across the state have barely tapped the potential to improve regional self-reliance through water recycling, conjunctive use and stormwater capture. These approaches can secure the state?s water supply and protect fishing communities and the environment at far less cost than boring two giant tunnels under the?Delta.Californians deserve better. It?s time we followed the best available science to protect our imperiled ecosystems by investing in durable innovations that will secure California?s water supplies into the?future.The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Water?Deeply.

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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Oct 17 09:00:49 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2017 16:00:49 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Environmental groups to Humboldt County: no more new
	cannabis grows
References: <1787012008.639255.1508256049104.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1787012008.639255.1508256049104@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/opinion/20171012/environmental-groups-to-humboldt-county-no-more-new-cannabis-grows&template=printart
Environmental groups to Humboldt County: no more new cannabis grows

Letter seeks restraint as county considers expanding industry
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardThursday, October 12, 2017The heads of five environmental organizations are calling on Humboldt County officials to focus their attention on combatting illegal cannabis grows before permitting new farms.?The?Thursday letter?signed by the Environmental Protection Information Center, the North Coast Environmental Center, Redwood Region Audubon Society, Humboldt Baykeeper and the California Native Plant Society?s North Coast chapter comes during the county?s environmental review of an ordinance seeking to expand the scope of the cannabis industry.?In short, until we deal with the existing environmental damage and the vast number of operations not in compliance, we should not increase the potential environmental risk by permitting any new grows,? the letter states.The county?s ordinance seeks to greatly expand the county?s commercial cannabis industry, which is currently limited to medical cannabis businesses. The ordinance would allow for recreational use businesses, larger farms and allows for new business applications to be submitted for the first time since December 2016.?A draft environmental review of the ordinance offers several alternatives for how the county can proceed. One alternative drafted using recommendations from the Friends of the Eel River organization would prohibit any new outdoor and mixed-light cultivation that did not exist by the start of 2016 as well as limit indoor cultivation. The five environmental groups seek to take this a step further by having the county prohibit all new indoor grows as well.Of the nearly 12,000 cannabis grows estimated by the county sheriff?s office to be in the county, only 2,300 submitted applications to the county during the first of permitting between February and December 2016. The letter states the number of applicants has since shrunk to about 1,800 because of incomplete or withdrawn applications.?The environmental groups argue the county continues to experience ?unacceptable impacts? caused by illegal cannabis grows despite the county?s attempts to regulate it.?The likely culprit is inadequate enforcement of [county cannabis laws], particularly against cannabis grow operations that did not file an application with the county,? the letter states.The Board of Supervisors have implemented changes to address unlawful grows such as by increasing the time farms have to correct violations before fines are issued, increasing maximum fines for code violations from $10,000 to up to $900,000 and allowing code enforcement officers to self-initiate investigations into illegal cannabis farms rather than having to wait for a public complaint to be filed.But even with these measures, county staff admit they can only do so much with the staff they have. Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Conner said in July his office hopes to have five enforcement officers, but those officers will be responsible for thousands of grows.?If we?re working as hard as we can for the rest of the season, we?re ? as you calculated out ? going to hit less than 1 percent of the illegal grows,? Conner?said to the board in July. ?We just don?t have the resources right now to do much more than that.?The sheriff?s office is also seeking to hire three cannabis enforcement officers to deal with illegal grows.?But the environmental groups? letter says not enough has been done.?Despite this work, we are still too far from our goal and are making too slow progress,? the letter states.The public comment period for the cannabis ordinance?s environmental review are being accepted through Oct. 16. Comments can be emailed to the county Planning and Building Department at slazar at co.humboldt.ca.us or by mail sent to the Humboldt County Planning & Building Department, Attn: Steve Lazar, 3015 H St., Eureka, CA 95501.The Board of Supervisors is set to discuss the environmental review at an Oct. 19 special meeting in Eureka.More information on the cannabis ordinance and its environmental review can be found online at?www.humboldtgov.org/2308/Cannabis-EIR.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Oct 18 08:47:03 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2017 15:47:03 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Santa_Clara_voted_on_=E2=80=94_something?=
References: <1638934911.254389.1508341623920.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1638934911.254389.1508341623920@mail.yahoo.com>

I'm pretty sure this is good news. ?
TS
http://blogs.esanjoaquin.com/san-joaquin-river-delta/2017/10/18/santa-clara-voted-on-something/

Santa Clara voted on ? something
By?ALEX BREITLER?|?Published:?OCTOBER 18, 2017?|?Leave a commentThe Santa Clara Valley Water District?says it voted to support?the California WaterFix today.But did it? The Mercury News describes the vote as a?rejection of the Fix,?because Santa Clara?s board conditioned its approval on ?considering an approach? that incorporates one tunnel instead of two tunnels.The Sacramento Bee also describes the vote?as a rejection?of Brown?s plan, though not prominently in the headline as the Merc did.This is getting parsed to death on social media, and is understandably causing tons of confusion. Bottom line: Santa Clara voted to support the WaterFix but with conditions that could dramatically change the project to the point where it is no longer the WaterFix.At least, not as it has always been described ? two tunnels capable of diverting 9,000 cubic feet per second of water from the Sacramento River. If you choose to define ?WaterFix? more loosely, merely as some kind of isolated conveyance, then that?s a different story. But that?s not the WaterFix preferred alternative.OK. Deep breath. The biggest problem seems to be with the wording of the resolution.The conditions are described by Santa Clara as ?guiding principles for participation,? and are most definitely locked in as part of the overall approval.But principle No. 3 does appear to contain some wiggle room. Rather than explicitly requiring one tunnel instead of two, it says the district supports ?considering an approach that incorporates? one tunnel instead of the two tunnels.?The?full language,?because clearly it matters in this case:?Given that Westlands Water District and certain other agriculture districts have declined to participate in the WaterFix project, we are supportive of a lower-cost, scaled-down and staged project that? is consistent with the existing environmental impact reports and other administrative proceedings. We support considering an approach that incorporates the following in the first stage of the project:a) One tunnel instead of the two tunnels;b) A reduced intake volume from the original 9,000 cubic feet per second;c) A reduced number of intakes on the Sacramento River;d) A project that incorporates and ensures less impacts on fisheries relative to current operations; ande) Allows Santa Clara Valley Water District elected officials to be actively involved as leaders in the governance of the WaterFix project to ensure the project is implemented appropriately and to prevent any Southern California water grab.Any changes to the project that diverge from this principle must be brought before the board before any final agreement is announced.?Full disclosure: I wasn?t at Tuesday?s meeting and didn?t hear much of the debate. But here?s my take from the cheap seats.This sure doesn?t sound like support for the WaterFix as it has always been defined. But there?s enough wiggle room in the language (that word ?considering? again) that I?m not sure it?s an absolute rejection, either.I would say that the board declined, for now, to endorse the project as originally proposed by the Brown administration.Enough. It?s late. Let the parsing continue.
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Fri Oct 20 17:14:22 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2017 00:14:22 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Project trapping summary through Julian
 Week 41 (October 14).
Message-ID: <DM5PR09MB18204F537EBF9FF78EC4136DBA400@DM5PR09MB1820.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the trapping summary through JW41.

Not a lot of new stuff to look at since only Willow Creek weir was operating, but here it is nonetheless.
Look for JW 42 early next week...
MC

******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Enviornmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Mon Oct 23 15:56:18 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2017 22:56:18 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River Project trapping summary through Julian
 Week 42 (October 21)
Message-ID: <MWHPR09MB1822AF5A37BDC593728D9F15BA460@MWHPR09MB1822.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
As promised, TRP trapping summary through JW 42, another 'Willow Creek weir' only trapping week...
Trinity River Hatchery started their fall Chinook recovery this morning so they will be included, once again, in next week's report.

The rain brought us quite a flush of fish last Friday. It was good to see them after some fairly slow days the rest of the week...
It will be interesting to see what, if anything, the hot weather the rest of this week will bring us.

Cheers,
MC

******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tgstoked at gmail.com  Wed Oct 25 12:02:58 2017
From: tgstoked at gmail.com (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2017 12:02:58 -0700
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Fwd=3A_BREAKING=3A=C2=A0Trump_Opposes_Del?=
 =?utf-8?q?ta_Tunnels=3B_We_Respond=C2=A0?=
References: <06887fa70084fef8e939fef63.2ca461c02c.20171025183032.4a26493810.be8f9667@mail146.atl21.rsgsv.net>
Message-ID: <4F6D01CA-C250-4150-876E-B8E8ADC9D300@gmail.com>



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Restore the Delta <barbara at restorethedelta.org>
> Date: October 25, 2017 at 11:31:33 AM PDT
> To: <tgstoked at gmail.com>
> Subject: BREAKING: Trump Opposes Delta Tunnels; We Respond 
> Reply-To: Restore the Delta <barbara at restorethedelta.org>
> 
> 
> Is this email not displaying correctly?
> View it in your browser.
> 
>      
> 
> In case you missed it:
> AP Report Reveals Trump Opposes Delta Tunnels; Restore the Delta Responds
> Read at our website.
> 
> 
> BREAKING? This morning, Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press reported that the Trump administration does not support Governor Brown?s Delta Tunnels (CA WaterFix) project.
>  
> Knickmeyer reported that the spokesman for the U.S. Interior Department, Russell Newell wrote in an email, ?The Trump administration did not fund the project and chose to not move forward with it.? When asked if this meant that the Trump Administration opposed the CA WaterFix project, Newell said yes.
>  
> Executive Director of Restore the Delta, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said:
>  
> ?The Trump administration?s opposition to CA WaterFix is another nail in the coffin for the project. Water exporters have only pulled together about $6 billion in funding, and even a single 6,000 cfs tunnel would start at $10-11 billion. Water exporters would need either federal funding or access to WIFIA loans to build the project. In addition, it is highly unlikely that federal agencies will now sign off on the Record of Decision required to begin construction for the project.
>  
> ?It is time for Governor Brown to get serious about solving California?s water problems with 21st century solutions. It is time for him to work with all people across the state to promote and create programs of regional self-sufficiency and to repair existing infrastructure.?
>  
> For more background information, read Dan Bacher?s recent report published on Daily Kos:
> Breaking: House Democrats seek GAO probe into federal scheme to fund Delta Tunnels
> 
> ###
> 
>  
> 
> 
> Support our work!
> 2017 is shaping up to be a year of technical battles regarding the Delta tunnels and the protection of the estuary for future generations. Donate.
>  
> 
> Update your subscription to weekly 
> We've updated our form to ask how you would like to receive your updates. Update your subscription to get a digest of media alerts once a week or get both!
> Copyright ? 2017 Restore the Delta, All rights reserved.
> You are receiving this e-mail because you signed up for our mailing list to receive updates and news about Restore the Delta.
> Our mailing address is:
> Restore the Delta
> 42 N. Sutter Street, Suite 506
> Stockton, CA 95202
> 
> Add us to your address book
> 
> 
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Oct 26 07:06:13 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2017 14:06:13 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Chronicle: Interior Department clarifies that it
 remains behind proposed delta tunnels
References: <1349197510.3876206.1509026773496.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1349197510.3876206.1509026773496@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Interior-Department-clarifies-that-it-remains-12306807.php?utm_campaign=twitter-premium&utm_source=CMS%20Sharing%20Button&utm_medium=social

Interior Department clarifies that it remains behind proposed delta tunnels
By?Carolyn LochheadOctober 25, 2017?Updated: October 26, 2017 6:10am
WASHINGTON ? Bewildering both opponents and supporters of Gov. Jerry Brown?s plan to build two giant water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the federal Interior Department said late Wednesday that the Trump administration had not pulled its support for the project as reported earlier.
Department spokesman Russell Newell had reportedly told a news agency earlier in the day that the administration ?chose not to move forward? with the project. The news had tunnel opponents celebrating the apparent death blow to Brown?s plan, which seeks to rectify California?s chronic water shortages through a massive plumbing project that would take water from the state?s northern rivers and funnel it to the dry farms and cities in the south.The tunnels, now going under the name California Water Fix, are intended to replace a system that pulls the water south through the delta using giant pumps that harm fish.Later in the day, Newell reversed course, telling The Chronicle in an email that the administration ?will continue to work with the state and stakeholders as the project is further developed.??While the Department of Interior shares the goals of the state of California to deliver water with more certainty, eliminating risks to the California water supply, and improving the environment, at this time, the department under the current state proposal does not expect to participate in the construction or funding of the CA Water Fix,? the statement said.?Lisa Lien-Mager, a spokewoman for the tunnel project, said the statement ?confirms what the state and its water project partners already knew; while the federal government does not intend to fund the construction costs of the project they will continue working with the state and stakeholders to facilitate and permit Water Fix.?The initial report had blindsided members of Congress, who questioned why a major policy reversal would have come from media aide instead of from the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency working closely with the state, as an official announcement.Although Congress has not appropriated money for the project, the Bureau of Reclamation has a stake in the tunnels through its Central Valley Project, and various federal agencies are involved in issuing permits. The Obama administration worked closely with the state to move the project forward, and the Trump administration had appeared to be following suit.In June, the administration helped clear the way for construction after findings by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service that while the tunnels would harm several endangered fish in the delta, the damage would be offset by an extra 1,800 acres of habitat restoration.The tunnels are to be financed by the state?s water districts that would benefit from the project. But money has been coming up far short of the $16 billion needed.Last month, the board of Westlands Water District, the nation?s largest and most powerful farm irrigation district, voted not to pay for its share of the tunnels after concluding that the project is ?not financially viable.? A former Westlands lobbyist, David Bernhardt, is now in the number two position at the Interior Department.Last week, the Santa Clara Valley Water District voted to contribute only a third of the $600 million the state was counting on, saying it would consider one tunnel but not two.Carolyn Lochhead is the San Francisco Chronicle?s Washington correspondent. Email:?clochhead at sfchronicle.com
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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Oct 30 12:14:46 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2017 19:14:46 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?b?VGFrZSDigJh0d2lu4oCZIG91dCBvZiB0dW5uZWxz?=
	=?utf-8?q?=3F?=
References: <204483994.6143841.1509390886537.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <204483994.6143841.1509390886537@mail.yahoo.com>


Take ?twin? out of tunnels?
By?Alex Breitler?Record Staff Writer?Posted Oct?29,?2017?at?1:00?PMUpdated Oct?29,?2017?at?9:28?PMIn the Delta region, the twin tunnels always have been considered double trouble.If you take the ?twin? out, you?ve still got trouble.That?s the view of many local activists as speculation grows that Gov. Jerry Brown?s two-tunnel water conveyance project will?soon be downsized,?whittled down to perhaps just one tunnel with a smaller capacity.?I just think it?s really important for people to understand that the battle really isn?t over,? said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, head of Stockton-based Restore the Delta. ?We do not believe that less evil is better than more evil.?A leading Brown administration official said last week that such a scaling back is ?quite a possibility? if the $17 billion needed to build the full project isn?t available. Right now, the effort is billions of dollars short because San Joaquin Valley farmers have declined to pay their share, which is nearly half of the total cost.A smaller tunnel or tunnels could be built to serve primarily urban areas of the state like Southern California, the Central Coast and the Silicon Valley, giving them not necessarily more water than they receive today but a more reliable supply than what they get directly from the environmentally vulnerable and flood-prone Delta.Getting smaller...


Shrinking over time? The peripheral canal of the 1970s and early 1980s would have carried?22,000 cubic feet per second?of water, enough to swallow the entire Sacramento River. The canal on its path across the Delta, however, would have released some of that water into side channels, an advantage that the Delta tunnels cannot claim.? A smaller?15,000 cfs?canal was rekindled in 2006 under the Schwarzenegger administration as water exports began to decline due to endangered species concerns.? In 2012, the Brown administration announced it would focus its efforts on a pair of tunnels totaling?9,000 cfs, just 40 percent the size of the original canal.? Now, there is talk of downsizing the project to?6,000 cfs?or lower?because some of the water districts that must pay for the $17 billion project are unwilling to participate.It wouldn?t be the first time that the decades-old project shrank in scope. The infamous?peripheral canal,?which would have served basically the same purpose as the tunnels, was sized to carry 22,000 cubic feet per second of water, almost enough to divert the average annual flow of the entire Sacramento River. The canal was defeated by voters in a 1982 referendum.When the canal was resurrected by the Schwarzenegger administration, it was sized at 15,000 cfs. Then, in 2012, the project (now in the form of tunnels) was slashed to 9,000 cfs. And now, perhaps, it will get even smaller.But opponents remain skeptical, arguing that even a tunnel as small as 3,000 cfs could be large enough to harm the Delta during the most critically dry years, depending on how it is operated. During the most recent severe drought, the state temporarily loosened water quality standards in the Delta to store more water in upstream reservoirs; what is to stop some future governor from doing the same, maximizing the use of even a small tunnel, opponents ask??It looks politically or publicly more difficult to oppose a smaller and smaller facility, but our analysis suggests we?d still be damaged,? said John Herrick, an attorney for south Delta farmers, who benefit from the current plumbing system that draws fresh Sacramento River water past their farms to enormous export pumps near Tracy.While state officials have focused their efforts for years on the 9,000 cfs project, their environmental reports include two smaller options: a 6,000 double-tunnel alternative as well as a single tunnel at 3,000 cfs.
The?reports?acknowledge that both of the smaller choices could have a detrimental effect on water quality, though likely to a lesser extent. Some of the higher quality Sacramento River water that flows through the Delta today still would be replaced by dirtier, polluted flow from the heavily diverted San Joaquin River. The amount of water allowed to flow through the Delta to San Francisco Bay would decline over time, with seawater encroaching into the western Delta as a result.Critics have other concerns, as well. The existing plan is for three large water intakes to be built on the Sacramento River to feed the tunnels. A reduction in the number of intakes, they worry, could concentrate impacts and make it harder for migrating fish to swim upstream, despite the smaller overall capacity.A tunnel that is built to, say, half the size doesn?t necessarily mean half the impacts, said Osha Meserve, a Sacramento attorney who represents north Delta landowners.?As a political matter it?s easy for people to say, ?Break it in half,? ? she said. ?But it?s not necessarily proportional.?Any room for compromise?San Joaquin County?s?longstanding position,?affirmed most recently in 2012, is to oppose any kind of so-called ?isolated conveyance,? which in wonky talk means taking water that would flow naturally through the Delta and placing it in a separate bypass instead.In an interview last week, Supervisor Chuck Winn gave no indication that the county?s position is likely to change. He believes all the talk about the tunnels diverts attention and resources away from other alternatives that could make distant regions of the state more self-sufficient.?We get off track and talk about the tunnels ? or the tunnel ? and we lose an opportunity to collaborate on the ultimate goal, to make California a world-class (water delivery) system,? he said.Not all of the skeptics have given a blanket ?no? to some form of new conveyance. Several years ago, a coalition of environmental and business groups?pitched a plan?that included a single 3,000 cfs tunnel, with the billions of dollars in savings being invested in other local and regional projects.The proposal also included requirements that the tunnel be operated in a way that reduces diversions from the Delta ? a potential sticking point even if officials now do decide to go small, said Doug Obegi, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the organizations that promoted the so-called??portfolio? plan.Size isn?t all that matters, Obegi said.?You could have a huge facility that only operates during the very wettest event, and a small facility that operates all the time, and have wildly different impacts,? he said. ?Size is important because it affects the cost and your potential to do even more damage, but it?s really how it?s operated that counts.?Bang for their buckIt?s unclear that water officials would be willing to go that small anyway. Last month, officials with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California discussed the potential to drop from 9,000 cfs to 6,000 cfs, saying that would slash the cost of the project proportionately to about $10 billion.?Two-thirds the size of the project at two-thirds of the cost, that would be fairly effective,? General Manager Jeff Kightlinger said at the time.Going smaller than that, however, is likely to be less cost-effective for the water users who must pay for the project, he said.A smaller tunnel also would make it harder for officials to divert large quantities of water during very wet years, like last winter, when it can be taken with less risk to the environment. That is part of the whole point of the project.In a sense, the entire discussion about whether a smaller tunnel or tunnels is preferable for Delta communities is premature. The state has announced no changes, though Natural Resources Secretary John Laird has called downsizing a possibility.?We?re just all taking a deep breath,? he told a group of Southern California business leaders Thursday. ?We will have intense conversations with everybody that voted to (participate in the tunnels) about what project we can agree to that we move ahead on.?Starting over?If the project is downsized, opponents are prepared to argue that careful new environmental review will be required, as well as a reboot of long and tedious hearings that have been underway before state water right regulators for more than a year. Asked if that proceeding would have to start over, a spokesman for the State Water Resources Control Board said it was premature to respond since no changes have been proposed.Brown has just 15 months left in his term as governor. In his comments Thursday, Laird downplayed any potential delay.?It?s our hope,? he said, ?that with a bare minimum of any redoing of environmental work, that whatever project is agreed to really fits the alternatives that have been done already so that we?re not going back to ?Go.??Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 or?abreitler at recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/breitlerblog and on Twitter?@alexbreitler.
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Mon Oct 30 14:23:35 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2017 21:23:35 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian Week 43
	(October 28)
Message-ID: <MWHPR09MB182201CE81BE5BD878B2C842BA590@MWHPR09MB1822.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW 43.
TRH opened back up this week and began recovery of Fall Chinook (and continued Coho and steelhead recovery as well). The numbers are not great this first week, but, well, who knows how the season will progress? Remember, production of both steelhead and Coho at TRH was decreased a few years back, so these lower numbers ( as in 2016) are returns of those smaller brood years AND the effects of the drought.

The Chinook numbers have dropped off fairly dramatically at Willow Creek, and there hasn't been much of an uptick in steelhead. With a storm looming on the horizon at the end of the week, I'm getting a little antsy about much longer WCW will stay in (as my ability to predict future precipitation has been shown to be less than perfect) but we hope to get in another couple of week's trapping.
Have a lovely week,
MC

******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Nov  2 18:07:22 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2017 01:07:22 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?THIS_JUST_IN_=E2=80=A6_California_Fisheri?=
 =?utf-8?q?es_Groups_Sue_State_for_Failure_to_Protect_Impaired_Waterways?=
References: <1804614337.1509799.1509671242387.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1804614337.1509799.1509671242387@mail.yahoo.com>

https://mavensnotebook.com/2017/11/02/this-just-in-california-fisheries-groups-sue-state-for-failure-to-protect-impaired-waterways/

THIS JUST IN ? California Fisheries Groups Sue State for Failure to Protect Impaired Waterways
November 2, 2017?Maven??Breaking NewsFrom the Institute for Fisheries Resources:
Today four commercial fisheries organizations filed a?lawsuit?accusing the California State Water Resources Control Board (the Water Board) of failing to fulfill their responsibility to protect clean water and public trust resources in the Bay Delta and Central Valley. At issue is the state?s failure to list long-suffering Delta waterways as impaired on its 303(d) list, a regulatory process that is required by the Clean Water Act.The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations, the Institute for Fisheries Resources, the North Coast Rivers Alliance, and the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association each work on behalf of commercial fishermen and women to protect their jobs and the living marine resources on which they depend. Without healthy salmon populations and functional river habitat free of toxic pesticides, the fishing way of life and thousands of coastal jobs are fundamentally threatened.Fishermen say the Water Board consistently refuses to protect water quality from dangerously warm temperatures and toxic pesticide pollution. In this case, the Water Board wilfully ignored readily available data and instructions from the Environmental Protection Agency that would have lead to targeted protections. They compare the administratively delayed and legally mandated 303(d) listing process, which has lasted seven years despite a two year deadline, with the speed at which exemptions to water protection rules have been issued. These exemptions allowed massive water diversions and violations of water quality standards during California?s five year drought, the effects of which are still reverberating in coastal towns from Morro Bay to Crescent City. Fishermen say decisions like these are pushing salmon, and thus their industry and way of life, towards extinction.?By failing to adequately protect critical salmon habitat, the State Board is failing to implement its fundamental responsibilities at a time when California's salmon fishery is withering on the vine,? stated Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations. ?Two years ago nearly all endangered winter run king salmon in the Sacramento died because the river was allowed to overheat. Meanwhile, our fishery is facing a second year of disaster in a multi-decade period of decline. Inadequate environmental protection destroys fisheries and coastal communities, yet the Water Board is again us to sit back and wait for them to take action. Salmon fishing families cannot abide by these delays and derelictions of duty any longer.?The fishing groups? lawsuit claims that the Water Board refused to use readily available data that unequivocally show waterways such as the Sacramento River above the Delta are too warm to support?anadromous?fishes, including endangered winter run and the commercially important fall run king salmon. Further, the groups claim that toxic pyrethroid pesticides, which are known to harm fish and public health, were not adequately considered during the 303(d) listing process.Regina Chichizola, watershed policy consultant for the Institute for Fisheries Resources, says that this is not a surprising outcome in a state that in some years over-allocates its water by a factor of five. She says the state often violates the public trust by letting regulated industries and polluters drive the processes that regulate them, but when fishermen or other clean water advocates engage, their concerns are largely ignored.?The state of California is forcing its salmon into extinction and polluting its drinking water by failing to protect water quality and flows. We have watched year after year as the state ignored its own science and pushed for more diversions, misguided storage and conveyance projects, and poorly crafted regulations. It is time for the Water Board to do it?s job and use the tools they are required to use to protect our water quality and public trust fisheries before it?s too late.?
Read the lawsuit here.

?
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Nov  2 21:47:34 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2017 04:47:34 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Hoopa Valley Tribe Battles Dangerous Environmental
 Assault: McCarthy's Attempts to Put WWD Rider on Defense Bill
In-Reply-To: <7644607.1569548.1509684208947@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <BLUPR11MB06102F05610705663DB6AEE0C45C0@BLUPR11MB0610.namprd11.prod.outlook.com>
	<1324127317.1575936.1509684159407@mail.yahoo.com>
	<7644607.1569548.1509684208947@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <571388955.1576237.1509684454590@mail.yahoo.com>

From: Vivienna Orcutt [mailto:viorcutt at gmail.com]?

Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2017 11:11 PM
Subject: For Immediate Release:  ? For Immediate Release: Hoopa Valley Tribe Battles Dangerous Environmental Assault 
The Hoopa Valley Tribe strongly opposes H.R. 1769, the San Luis Drainage Resolution Act, and is alarmed to learn today that a clandestine effort is underway to include it in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).? We urge you to reject its inclusion in the NDAA.? We assume that the purported nexus of H.R. 1769 to the NDAA is section 6(c) of the bill which provides for a water service contract for the Leemore Naval Air Station, so there is nothing about H.R. 1769 proceeding through the regular order that will impair national defense.? To advance H.R. 1769 outside regular order in the House (the bill has not been introduced in the Senate) is particularly egregious.? H.R. 1769 is not a germane to the Armed Services Committee; upon introduction, it was referred only to the Natural Resources Committee.? Moreover, CBO reported that H.R. 1769 has PayGo impacts of $309 million over the 2017-2027 period.? House Report No. 115-349 at 18.?

In addition to its adverse fiscal impacts, this bill represents a grave risk to the integrity of the Hoopa Valley Tribe?s rights and interests under existing federal reclamation law and the federal trust responsibility to the Hupa people.?

In its present form, H.R. 1769 puts at risk property rights to water established by federal reclamation and state water laws more than a half-century ago for the Hoopa Valley Tribe and California?s economically depressed North Coast communities.? The Hoopa Valley of the Trinity River has been the home of the Hupa people and the center of our culture and religion since time immemorial.?

The San Luis Unit would not exist without the dams, reservoirs and power plants of the Central Valley Project?s (CVP) Trinity River Division (TRD), the only source of imported water to the Central Valley and an essential source of hydroelectric power to deliver water to the San Luis Unit.? The TRD diverts water and power for use up to 400 miles from our reservation.? We are interested in the drainage settlement for a number of reasons. ????????? In its current form, H.R. 1769 leaves unresolved excessive diversion of Trinity water to the Central Valley by the Bureau of Reclamation, in violation of congressional limits established in the 1950?s.? Those limits are intended to ensure that water needed by the Trinity Basin communities and Indian reservations would not be taken from the Trinity River Basin to the Central Valley. ? ????????? The San Luis Unit contractors have waged a decades-long war against our water rights to TRD water supplies.? Today, San Luis Unit contractors have two pending cases in federal courts against the United States and the Tribe about the allocation of TRD water.? Neither of those cases would be settled by this legislation.?  ????????? The Department of Justice has consistently insisted on certainty and finality in water settlements.? Leaving the San Luis Unit contractors post settlement-free to continue their efforts to seize the TRD water supplies promised by the federal law to use would be a damaging breach of federal litigation settlement policy and the trust responsibility to the Hupa people.?  ? It is important to recognize that we have raised these issues for more than a decade, ever since the drainage settlement was proposed.? The Tribe?s May 24, 2016 testimony to the House Natural Resources Committee on the virtually identical drainage settlement legislation in the 114th Congress (H.R. 4366), which was not enacted sets out in detail: (1) the Tribe?s opposition to drainage settlement; and (2) proposed amendments to the bill that would : (a) Confirm with certainty and finality the rights of the Hoopa Valley Tribe to waters of the TRD both for economic development and for the restoration, preservation, and propagation of fishery resources that the United States hold in trust.?  (b) Provide standards and programs for fishery restoration preservation and propagation; and
(c) Assist with economic development and socio-cultural renewal of the Hoopa Valley Tribe after a half-century of federal management of Klamath water resources that subordinated prior rights of the Hoopa Valley Tribe to TRD water for the benefit of CVP water and power contractors, particularly those in the San Luis Unit.? 

Officials in the Department of Interior have knowingly and willfully disregarded the rights of the Hoopa Valley Tribe and California?s North Coast communities in negotiating the San Luis Unit settlement.? We request that Congress disapprove H.R. 1769 in its present form and instead be guided by Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black?s admonition the ?great nations, like great men, should keep their word.?

Ryan Jackson, Chairman
Hoopa Valley Tribe 
 

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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Nov  3 09:00:05 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2017 16:00:05 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Action Alert - Stop the latest Westlands Water Grab
 Tell California Senators that you oppose HR 1769!
References: <1405964114.1839652.1509724805267.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1405964114.1839652.1509724805267@mail.yahoo.com>

Action Alert - Stop the latest Westlands Water GrabTell California Senators that you oppose HR 1769!

Please Contact:


Senator Dianne Feinstein- (202) 224-3841, (310) 914-7300, (415)393-0707, (559) 485-7430 

Senator Kamala Harris- (202) 224-3553, (213) 894-5000, (415) 355-9041, (559) 497-5109


?
Tell both ofCalifornia?s senators that you oppose HR 1769, the San Luis DrainageResolution Act, which is expected to be added as a rider on the NationalDefense Authorization Act for 2018 in the next ten days, or else will move tothe Senate as a stand-alone bill in the next month. Tell Harris and Feinsteinthat they should not sign onto the Trump anti-environmental agenda bysupporting this bill. HR 1769 is a huge giveaway to the Westlands WaterDistrict (Westlands), which was fined by the Securities and Exchange Commissionfor securities fraud. 


The bill wouldfacilitate a controversial litigation settlement agreement between the U.S.Bureau of Reclamation and Westlands that would allow the federal government towalk away from its responsibility to drain agricultural lands in California?sCentral Valley of toxic salts and selenium without any safeguards to make surethe drain water is managed safely. H.R. 1769 is a massive giveaway of taxpayermoney, undermines California?s effort to responsibly manage its scarce waterresources, could imperil sensitive fish and wildlife, and threatens water qualityin a major California river. 


Under existing law,the federal government is responsible for managing salts that build up fromirrigation of some farmland in California?s Western San Joaquin Valley. Througha tragic series of events that culminated in the poisoning of migratory birdsat Kesterson Reservoir in the early 1980s, we learned that the salt-ladendrainage water also contains selenium and other toxins that can bioaccumulateand kill birds, fish and other wildlife. Instead of managing the drain waterresponsibly or buying up the land to end the problem, Reclamation is nowattempting to settle litigation with Westlands?the largest irrigation districtin the United States?in a manner that would absolve the federal government ofits duty to clean-up the drain water and bestow vast benefits on Westlands?heavily subsidized agribusinesses, without including adequate safeguards forthe environment. 


H.R. 1769 and thesettlement it would authorize are a bad deal for the American people and forthe environment. 


First, H.R. 1769transfers responsibility to manage the toxic drainage from Reclamation toWestlands, but fails to include any details about how Westlands will deal withthe drain water. The legislation 

and settlementdon?t include any cleanup plan and performance standards, any monitoring andreporting requirements, or any enforcement mechanisms. The State of Californiadoes not monitor or regulate selenium discharges to the aquifer underlyingWestlands. Handing the responsibility for this toxic drainage to Westlandswithout any safeguards is irresponsible and could endanger Pacific Flywaybirds, salmon and other wildlife. 


Second, H.R. 1769would give Westlands a permanent contract for a vast quantity of water from theSan Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and the Trinity River, at an even cheaper waterprice, that is incompatible with the needs of endangered fish and willencourage more irrigation of these toxic lands rather than less. This long-termcontract and the lack of any increased retirement of the toxic lands would makeit even more difficult for California to responsibly manage its scarce waterresources. 


Third,H.R. 1769 would forgive Westlands for the approximately $350 million it alreadyowes taxpayers for the capital costs of federal water infrastructure builtlargely on their behalf, and gives them ownership of most of the pipes, pumps,and other federal property serving the district. The legislation compounds thatwith the conversion of the current Westlands two-year water contract into a permanentwater contract for almost twice as much water as Los Angeles uses in a year. 


Fourth, the courtsettlement only required Westlands to retire 100,000 acres of drainage-impairedland, but HR 1769 doesn?t even do that, allowing for the continued irrigationof hundreds of thousands of acres of drainage-impaired soils that will continueto produce toxin-laden drain water. All of Westlands? irrigated acreage will berelieved of any acreage or farm-size limitations for the purchase of subsidizedwater, bestowing benefits on some of the largest farm operations in the state. 


Fifth, H.R. 1769 isan incomplete deal because it still leaves Reclamation with responsibility fortoxic drainage in three other water districts that border Westlands and arecovered by the same 1960 law. This refutes a central rationale for the bill:that it will get the government out of the drainage business. The bill onlymakes a toxic situation worse. 


H.R. 1769 includesa litany of gifts for Westlands, with no commensurate benefit for the public.Instead, the bill promises fiscal irresponsibility and peril for fish,waterfowl, and the California environment in general. It?s an outrageousgiveaway to corporate agribusiness that fails to solve the underlying drainageproblem. 


President Trump?sDeputy Interior Secretary David Bernstein was a lobbyist for Westlands beforehe took his current job and specifically lobbied on this drainage settlement.Please encourage Senators Feinstein and Harris to resist Trump?santi-environmental agenda and to oppose HR 1769. 


For moreinformation, please contact Noah Oppenheim (noah at ifrfish.org)at 207-233-0400 or Tom Stokely at530-524-0315 (tstokely at att.net). 


ThePacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations (PCFFA) is the largest and mostactive trade association of commercial fishermen on the West Coast. PCFFA hasled the fishing industry in protecting the rights of fishermen and fishingcommunities since 1976. We constantly fight for the long-term survival ofcommercial fishing as a productive livelihood and way of life.

?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Nov  3 09:34:30 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2017 16:34:30 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Revised: Action Alert - Stop the latest Westlands
 Water Grab Tell California Senators that you oppose HR 1769!
In-Reply-To: <1405964114.1839652.1509724805267@mail.yahoo.com>
References: <1405964114.1839652.1509724805267.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
	<1405964114.1839652.1509724805267@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <60081339.1850331.1509726870621@mail.yahoo.com>

Please use this version. ?There was a typo.

Action Alert - Stop the latest Westlands Water GrabTell California Senators that you oppose HR 1769!Please Contact:
Senator Dianne Feinstein- (202) 224-3841, (310) 914-7300, (415)393-0707, (559) 485-7430 Senator Kamala Harris- (202) 224-3553, (213) 894-5000, (415) 355-9041, (559) 497-5109 ?Tell both ofCalifornia?s senators that you oppose HR 1769, the San Luis DrainageResolution Act, which is expected to be added as a rider on the NationalDefense Authorization Act for 2018 in the next ten days, or else will move tothe Senate as a stand-alone bill in the next month. Tell Harris and Feinsteinthat they should not sign onto the Trump anti-environmental agenda bysupporting this bill. HR 1769 is a huge giveaway to the Westlands WaterDistrict (Westlands), which was fined by the Securities and Exchange Commissionfor securities fraud. 
The bill wouldfacilitate a controversial litigation settlement agreement between the U.S.Bureau of Reclamation and Westlands that would allow the federal government towalk away from its responsibility to drain agricultural lands in California?sCentral Valley of toxic salts and selenium without any safeguards to make surethe drain water is managed safely. H.R. 1769 is a massive giveaway of taxpayermoney, undermines California?s effort to responsibly manage its scarce waterresources, could imperil sensitive fish and wildlife, and threatens water qualityin a major California river. 
Under existing law,the federal government is responsible for managing salts that build up fromirrigation of some farmland in California?s Western San Joaquin Valley. Througha tragic series of events that culminated in the poisoning of migratory birdsat Kesterson Reservoir in the early 1980s, we learned that the salt-ladendrainage water also contains selenium and other toxins that can bioaccumulateand kill birds, fish and other wildlife. Instead of managing the drain waterresponsibly or buying up the land to end the problem, Reclamation is nowattempting to settle litigation with Westlands?the largest irrigation districtin the United States?in a manner that would absolve the federal government ofits duty to clean-up the drain water and bestow vast benefits on Westlands?heavily subsidized agribusinesses, without including adequate safeguards forthe environment. 
H.R. 1769 and thesettlement it would authorize are a bad deal for the American people and forthe environment. 
First, H.R. 1769transfers responsibility to manage the toxic drainage from Reclamation toWestlands, but fails to include any details about how Westlands will deal withthe drain water. The legislation and settlementdon?t include any cleanup plan and performance standards, any monitoring andreporting requirements, or any enforcement mechanisms. The State of Californiadoes not monitor or regulate selenium discharges to the aquifer underlyingWestlands. Handing the responsibility for this toxic drainage to Westlandswithout any safeguards is irresponsible and could endanger Pacific Flywaybirds, salmon and other wildlife. 
Second, H.R. 1769would give Westlands a permanent contract for a vast quantity of water from theSan Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and the Trinity River, at an even cheaper waterprice, that is incompatible with the needs of endangered fish and willencourage more irrigation of these toxic lands rather than less. This long-termcontract and the lack of any increased retirement of the toxic lands would makeit even more difficult for California to responsibly manage its scarce waterresources. 
Third,H.R. 1769 would forgive Westlands for the approximately $350 million it alreadyowes taxpayers for the capital costs of federal water infrastructure builtlargely on their behalf, and gives them ownership of most of the pipes, pumps,and other federal property serving the district. The legislation compounds thatwith the conversion of the current Westlands two-year water contract into a permanentwater contract for almost twice as much water as Los Angeles uses in a year. 
Fourth, the courtsettlement only required Westlands to retire 100,000 acres of drainage-impairedland, but HR 1769 doesn?t even do that, allowing for the continued irrigationof hundreds of thousands of acres of drainage-impaired soils that will continueto produce toxin-laden drain water. All of Westlands? irrigated acreage will berelieved of any acreage or farm-size limitations for the purchase of subsidizedwater, bestowing benefits on some of the largest farm operations in the state. 
Fifth, H.R. 1769 isan incomplete deal because it still leaves Reclamation with responsibility fortoxic drainage in three other water districts that border Westlands and arecovered by the same 1960 law. This refutes a central rationale for the bill:that it will get the government out of the drainage business. The bill onlymakes a toxic situation worse. 
H.R. 1769 includesa litany of gifts for Westlands, with no commensurate benefit for the public.Instead, the bill promises fiscal irresponsibility and peril for fish,waterfowl, and the California environment in general. It?s an outrageousgiveaway to corporate agribusiness that fails to solve the underlying drainageproblem. 
President Trump?sDeputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was a lobbyist for Westlands beforehe took his current job and specifically lobbied on this drainage settlement.Please encourage Senators Feinstein and Harris to resist Trump?santi-environmental agenda and to oppose HR 1769. 
For moreinformation, please contact Noah Oppenheim (noah at ifrfish.org)at 207-233-0400 or Tom Stokely at530-524-0315 (tstokely at att.net). 
ThePacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations (PCFFA) is the largest and mostactive trade association of commercial fishermen on the West Coast. PCFFA hasled the fishing industry in protecting the rights of fishermen and fishingcommunities since 1976. We constantly fight for the long-term survival ofcommercial fishing as a productive livelihood and way of life.?Tom Stokely?Salmon and Water Policy AnalystPacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations530-524-0315?tstokely at att.net?


   
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Nov  3 12:34:01 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2017 19:34:01 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] E&E News: Massive Calif. drainage deal sparks power
	play on Hill
References: <449485619.1985250.1509737641133.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <449485619.1985250.1509737641133@mail.yahoo.com>

WESTERN WATER
Massive Calif. drainage deal sparks power play on Hill

Michael Doyle and Jeremy Jacobs, E&E reporters

Published: Friday, November 3, 2017

Lawmakers are attempting to add a controversial irrigation drainage deal involving the country?s largest agricultural water district to must-pass legislation before the end of the year. Westlands Water District

Supporters of a California drainage deal that's sharply divided the state are now maneuvering to stick it on must-pass congressional legislation, starting with an unrelated defense bill.

Resistance from Senate Democrats in recent days appears to have stymied last-minute House efforts to add the Westlands Water District-related drainage agreement to the annual National Defense Authorization Act. This round, though, only foreshadows more to come.

"We're looking at different legislative vehicles to move the settlement agreement forward," Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), a supporter of the deal, said in an interview. "This may not happen in the next week or two, but I am hopeful we can find some vehicle."

Westlands officials acknowledged they are pressing to pass the legislation before a court-mandated deadline of Jan. 15 next year.

"We are looking for any vehicle possible to get the drainage settlement enacted this year," Deputy General Manager Johnny Amaral said in an interview.

Amaral emphasized that the settlement was a priority of the Obama administration and noted that the Trump administration also backs it.

The Capitol Hill maneuvering, in turn, puts opponents of the Westlands irrigation settlement on red alert, as they watch future omnibus spending packages and other popular bills to which the Westlands deal might be attached.

"I am sure, if allowed to go this route, that this will become the go-to strategy for Central Valley water power brokers," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), a deal opponent, said in an interview. "Their bills generally don't look good in the light of a hearing and public scrutiny, so a secretive, must-pass bill is probably a better way to get their agenda."

Whatever happens next, the Westlands settlement is huge ? a complicated brew of law, politics, lobbying and environmental cleanup.

It stems from the federal government's failure to complete a promised drainage system that would remove used, tainted irrigation water from some of California's most productive agricultural land.

Clay layers prevent excess irrigation water from draining into the soil. Federal officials proposed a 188-mile San Luis Drain to move subsurface water to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta, but only about 80 miles was finished. The drain ended at Kesterson Reservoir, where the tainted water poisoned waterfowl.

Put simply, the proposed deal would forgive a roughly $375 million debt owed by Westlands for its share of Central Valley Project construction. The CVP's network of reservoirs, canals and pumping plants enabled the Rhode Island-sized Westlands district to flourish (Greenwire<https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060045866/>, Nov. 16, 2016).

The deal also would lock in favorable terms on future water contracts and oblige Westlands to retire 100,000 of its 600,000 acres. In return, the deal would relieve the federal government of the obligation to construct irrigation drainage facilities.

Following extended litigation, Westlands and the Obama administration's Justice Department reached a settlement in September 2015. The deal requires legislation, currently drafted as H.R. 1769<https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr1769/BILLS-115hr1769rh.pdf>, which passed through the House Natural Resources Committee last April on a 23-16 vote.

"Enactment of this legislation is a positive step in resolving a long-standing drainage dispute and will ultimately save taxpayers billions of dollars that can be better utilized on meaningful water storage projects to increase water deliveries to the Central Valley," Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) said.

A Congressional Budget Office assessment released in July concluded that the bill, by forgiving Westlands' debt, would "reduce offsetting receipts ... by $309 million over the 2017-2027 period."

The CBO also estimated the bill, by relieving the government of its irrigation drainage duty, would reduce potential federal spending "by about $1.5 billion over the next ten years and by $1 billion in later years."

Westlands farmers, represented at the time by attorney David Bernhardt and others, filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in 2012. Bernhardt is now deputy Interior secretary, and related litigation is on hold until Jan. 15 to give Congress time to act (Greenwire<https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060057527/>, July 18).

Bureau of Reclamation Deputy Commissioner Alan Mikkelsen laid out concerns in letters to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) last month.

Mikkelsen said that if Congress does not enact the agreement, Interior will be forced to spend millions on drainage that would otherwise go to other programs in the West, including environmental programs.

"[I]f a legislative solution is not enacted, Reclamation will have to immediately begin expending $30-$80 million annually, if not more," Mikkelsen, who was then acting Bureau commissioner, wrote in the Oct. 20 letters.

The House has not yet approved H.R. 1769, six months after it passed through the House Natural Resources Committee. The committee's report<https://www.congress.gov/115/crpt/hrpt349/CRPT-115hrpt349.pdf>?was published Oct. 17. A companion bill has not been introduced in the Senate.

On the surface, the settlement seemed to be stalled.

But in mid-October, the House and Senate began negotiating a final version of the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. Sprawling across 1,330 pages in its House version, the defense bill includes lots of nooks and crannies.

Valadao and McCarthy advised colleagues of their interest in adding the Westlands settlement bill to the defense package, according to several House members. Huffman added that he "was pleased to hear" from third parties that both of California's Democratic senators, Feinstein and Kamala Harris, "would oppose that on procedural grounds."

Huffman's understanding is consistent with that of others who have been in touch with the senators' offices, which could not be reached for on-the-record comment.

"These are problems that have been brewing on the West Side [of the Valley] for decades," Amaral said. "These consequences are right around the corner, and they are real."

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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Tue Nov  7 13:49:59 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2017 21:49:59 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian Week 44
	(November 4)
Message-ID: <MWHPR09MB182230908C3AE717A4E3AE23BA510@MWHPR09MB1822.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW 44.

So, hey, folks, I've gotten a couple of calls/emails about confusion when reading the Historic tabs on the excel. I just want to clarify that those numbers on the historical tabs are CUMULATIVE, so for each week the number shown is for that species up through that Julian week, for any given year. For instance, on Historical Junction City tab, looking at trapping year 2004, in Julian week 29, 151 Chinook were trapped, then in Julian week 30 another 84 fish were trapped, bringing the total trapped through Julian week 30, to 235. Maybe before next year we'll put another set of tabs on this thing with week by week historic rather than cumulative historic...seems like some of you would like to see the information presented that way too.

Rain last weekend. No big rise in the river, and not even a bump in steelhead numbers (maybe they swam by us over the weekend when we weren't trapping). We are expecting more rain for the rest of the week, and we are going to pull conduit (not trap) at Willow Creek. If the weather settles out and the river comes back down where we can trap again we will, but this may be it for the season. Stay tuned? Either way we'll still be trapping at Trinity River Hatchery, so, though they are likely to get a little backed up on the data in the next couple of weeks, we'll get new summaries out to you just as quickly as we can.
Get out there and go fishing, and remember to send in those tags, rewards or not!
Thanks!
MC

******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Nov 10 10:24:37 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2017 18:24:37 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Calif. drainage deal blocked on Hill, but will return
References: <1264584674.380622.1510338277541.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1264584674.380622.1510338277541@mail.yahoo.com>

https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/11/09/stories/1060066163

WESTERN WATER

Calif. drainage deal blocked on Hill, but will return
Michael Doyle and Jeremy Jacobs, E&E reportersPublished: Thursday, November 9, 2017The Westlands Water District and its political allies must look for other ways to secure a controversial irrigation drainage deal after Congress didn?t include it in a defense bill.?Westlands Water DistrictWestlands Water District and its well-placed political allies must find another way to push a controversial irrigation drainage deal, now that congressional lawmakers have kept it off an unrelated defense bill.Ending one backstage battle, but not the war, senators have rejected a House GOP proposal to add the Westlands drainage legislation authored by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) to the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (Greenwire, Nov. 3).Westlands and its allies, recognizing their defense bill gambit might fail, vowed to keep trying."We are still going to look for every possible vehicle to get this done," Westlands Deputy General Manager Johnny Amaral said in an interview. "This is a large problem. It's coming to a head, and if it doesn't get resolved by Jan. 15, there will be consequences."Valadao echoed those remarks."Congressman Valadao has always, and will continue to, pursue every available legislative option to increase water deliveries to the Central Valley," Valadao's spokeswoman, Anna Vetter, said late last week.The Westlands drainage maneuvering now appears likely to mirror California Republicans' previous efforts to tack a drought bill onto every feasible legislative package moving through Congress. After trying for several years, the lawmakers succeeded in adding that to a popular infrastructure bill that passed last December.The fiscal 2018 defense bill, now being finalized by House and Senate negotiators, was the first vehicle tried this year by supporters of the Westlands deal.Environmental groups, including Restore the Delta, sent a letter to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) last week urging him to oppose the rider. They contended that it "is not germane to the Armed Services Committee," which McCain chairs."We would simply ask that you refuse to accept this rider," they?wrote, "and help ensure" that the legislation "is subject to public hearings and regular order if it is to be considered further."California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein "was opposed to including the bill in the defense authorization legislation," spokesman Tom Mentzer said today.Opponents of the drainage settlement expect the rider will return later this year, potentially on must-pass legislation such as raising the debt ceiling or funding the federal government."Each time you win one of these, or stop this end-run around regular process and public disclosure, they try another sneak route," Patricia Schifferle, director of Pacific Advocates and a longtime Westlands critic, said today. "They can't stand public scrutiny."Valadao's rural district includes Westlands, a 600,000-acre expanse that's only slightly smaller than the land size of Rhode Island. His legislation,?H.R. 1769, would implement a deal struck in 2015 between the water district and the Obama administration's Justice Department.The problem revolves around the federal government's failure to complete a promised drainage system that would remove used, tainted irrigation water from some of California's most productive agricultural land.Clay layers prevent excess irrigation water from draining into the soil. Federal officials proposed a 188-mile San Luis Drain to move subsurface water to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, but never completed it.The proposed deal would forgive a roughly $375 million debt owed by Westlands for its share of Central Valley Project construction. The CVP's network of reservoirs, canals and pumping plants enabled the Rhode Island-sized Westlands district to flourish (Greenwire, Nov. 16, 2016).The deal also would provide favorable terms on future water contracts and oblige Westlands to retire 100,000 acres. In return, the deal would relieve the federal government of the obligation to construct irrigation drainage facilities."The United States and Westlands continue to believe that implementation of the Westlands Settlement is in the public interest, as well as in the interests of Westlands and its landowners, and American taxpayers," attorneys for both sides advised a court last month.The deal settling litigation currently sets a Jan. 15, 2018, deadline for passing related legislation, though that can be extended, as has happened before.
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Nov 10 10:27:13 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2017 18:27:13 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Humboldt County residents pick brains of Klamath
 River dam removal project leads
References: <910769488.385949.1510338433047.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <910769488.385949.1510338433047@mail.yahoo.com>

Humboldt County residents pick brains of Klamath River dam removal project leads

Klamath River project leads speak with public on timeline, impacts
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardThursday, November 9, 2017The Klamath River is the site of what could be the largest dam removal project in the nation?s history, but there are still several hurdles to jump before the dams come down and many more if they do.Fortuna resident Neil Palmer was one of more than 40 people who attended an open house at Eureka?s Adorni Center on Thursday evening to learn more about the now 7-year-old project. Identifying as an avid kayaker and environmental buff, Palmer said he also owns a cabin on the south fork Trinity River where he is able to see spring-run salmon runs.One of the goals of the dam removal plan is to allow salmon and other migratory fish to return to their historic spawning grounds.?[The spring-run salmon] have to come all the way up through the Klamath and so I?m concerned about protecting them,? Palmer said. ?I?ve been watching those fish for over 50 years and I?ve been concerned about their well-being and the sustainabilty of those. I can only think that making the Klamath River more natural can only help out.?Among the crowd were environmental advocates, students, fishermen, Humboldt County government officials and curious residents who were able to talk with consultants on the dam removal project, with topics ranging from timeline to river restoration to how much sediment would be released after the dams are brought down.Redwood Coast Montessori eighth-grade students Evelyn Wilhelm and Kaley Johnson attended to research for their Humboldt Healer projects where they focus on an issue within the county and determine ways they can help. Johnson?s project is set to look at how dam removal will affect wildlife while Wilhelm was researching about incorporating tribal ecological knowledge into projects.?We are a sustainable development-focused school and we are very interested in that,? Wilhelm said. ?We do a lot of projects with that and we focus a lot on not just developing the world but sustainably doing it so we?ll have stuff for the future generations.?Leading the dam removal effort is the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, a private nonprofit formed last year by the dam removal proponents. The $450 million project seeks to remove four hydroelectric dams ? Iron Gate, Copco 1 and 2, and J.C. Boyle ? owned by the Oregon-based power company PacifiCorp by as soon as 2020 in order to improve fish passage and water quality for downriver communities. The dams are located in Siskiyou County and in southern Oregon.The decision to remove the dams was made as part of the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, which was originally signed in 2010 by California, Oregon, tribal governments, the U.S. Interior Department, PacifiCorp, Humboldt County and other organizations. After the agreement failed to pass through Congress by 2015, the agreement was redrafted and signed in 2016 to instead go through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which will decide whether to decommission the dams.Klamath River Renewal Corporation Executive Director Mark Bransom said the major milestone they are working to hit this year is to submit a complete plan to the commission detailing exactly how the dam removal process will take place. But Bransom said there are several more regulatory steps that must be taken including conducting both state and federal environmental reviews, ensuring the project passes California and Oregon water quality standards and obtaining approval for the nonprofit to take control of the dams from PacifiCorp.Dam removal was only one piece of a larger Klamath Basin plan that sought to address longstanding water rights disputes between tribes and irrigators in the basin and address the needs of endangered fish species. Two agreements meant to address those issues essentially expired in Congress at the end of 2015, but there are efforts underway to bring them back.Interior Department Bureau of Reclamation deputy commissioner Alan Mikkelsen recently stated that he is working to bring all the basin stakeholders back to the table?to draft a new agreement to bring before Congress.Bransom said that these efforts are encouraging.?We believe that dam removal is a necessary, but not efficient step to address the many complex challenges and issues in the Klamath Basin,? he said. ?We?re hopeful Mr. Mikkelson has some success with those efforts.?Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Nov 17 20:40:23 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 2017 04:40:23 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Reclamation schedules informational meeting on
 proposed Trinity River winter flows from Lewiston Dam
References: <1731079234.662869.1510980023600.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1731079234.662869.1510980023600@mail.yahoo.com>






Reclamation schedules informational meeting on proposed Trinity River winter flows from Lewiston DamMid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.MP-17-195Media Contact: Erin Curtis, 916-978-5100, eccurtis at usbr.govFor Immediate Release: Nov. 17, 2017Reclamation schedules public informational meeting for proposed Trinity River winter flows from Lewiston DamWEAVERVILLE, Calif. ? The Trinity River Restoration Program will host a public informational meeting on Nov. 30 on a proposal to increase winter-flow releases from Lewiston Dam, which is expected to improve juvenile rearing conditions for salmonids. Program staff will outline the proposal and be available to answer questions. The meeting details are:Weaverville
Thursday, Nov. 30, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Trinity River Restoration Program Office
1313 S. Main Street
?(Tops Shopping Center)The TRRP was created by a Record of Decision in 2000, which outlines the plan for restoration of the Trinity River and its fish and wildlife populations. The ROD includes five water year types, ranging from critically dry to extremely wet, with a minimum volume of water to be released into the Trinity River for each type.This year?s winter flow proposal would increase the typical 300 cubic feet per second winter base flow from Lewiston Dam to the Trinity River from Feb. 1 through April 22 and would be accomplished within the existing ROD water volume allocations. The recommended winter peak releases would be restricted to 1,800 cfs for the next two years and would not exceed the Trinity Dam power plant capacity.For additional information, please contact Kevin Held at 530-623-1809 (TTY 800-877-8339) or kheld at usbr.gov or visit http://www.trrp.net/.# # #Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.


  
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Mon Nov 20 08:32:46 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2017 16:32:46 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian Week 45
	(November 11)
Message-ID: <MWHPR09MB182221CC07FA0E64D018D473BA220@MWHPR09MB1822.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW 45.

Sorry about the lag, folks, it has been a very busy week plus...
At Willow Creek weir we pulled conduit on Wednesday the 8th, and thought we might be able to get back in to trap, but were unable to due to the regularity of the storms rolling in... We have now pulled the whole kit and caboodle out of the river so are done done done for the season at WCW.

At Trinity River Hatchery they continue their recovery and spawning efforts. I will be gone for the rest of the week after today so chances are you will not be getting a JW46 summary until JW48...

I wish you all a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving...(let's hope those fish are busy spawning out there)!
MC


******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Nov 20 19:47:35 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2017 03:47:35 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?The_Nation=3A__The_Plot_to_Loot_America?=
	=?utf-8?b?4oCZcyBXaWxkZXJuZXNz?=
References: <1638187677.53667.1511236055938.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1638187677.53667.1511236055938@mail.yahoo.com>

   
   -    

   -    

   - https://www.thenation.com/article/the-plot-to-sell-americas-wilderness/
   - The Plot to Loot America?s Wilderness




A little-known bureaucrat named James Cason is reshaping the Department of the Interior.

By?Adam Federman

NOVEMBER 16, 2017

Illustration by Nurul Hana Anwar.??
Want More Independent Journalism??
Sign up for The Nation Daily.One day in Mid-March, James Cason, the associate deputy secretary at the Department of the Interior, convened an impromptu meeting of the senior staff of the Bureau of Land Management. Cason, whose office is on the sixth floor, rarely wandered the halls, and some career civil servants still had never met him. A soft-spoken and unassuming man, Cason has cycled in and out of Republican administrations since the early 1980s and has largely avoided public attention. But people who have worked with him know him as a highly effective administrator and a disciple of some of the department?s most notorious anti-environment leaders in previous years?a ?hatchet man,? in the words of one former DOI employee who worked with him during the George W. Bush administration.This article was reported in partnership with the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute.About 30 employees were ushered into a conference room, where Cason announced that Kristin Bail, acting director of the BLM, would be replaced by Mike Nedd. The move itself wasn?t all that surprising: Bail, who came from a conservation background, had been appointed in the final days of the Obama administration to serve in a temporary capacity; Nedd, who had been assistant director for energy, minerals, and realty management since 2007, was viewed as better positioned to implement the new administration?s pro-industry agenda.But the way Cason handled the meeting sent a stark message. According to two people who were present, he delivered what appeared to be hastily prepared remarks thanking Bail for her service but telling her that she was no longer needed in the position. One employee, who has since left the DOI, said it was unclear whether Bail had been told beforehand of her demotion. ?It was one of the most awkward, disrespectful things I?ve ever seen,? the former employee said. The spectacle amounted to a kind of public dismissal?and a warning shot. The meeting ended as abruptly as it had begun, with employees left staring at their seats. By the end of the day, Bail was carrying her things out of her office in a box and looking for another place to sit.Bail?s transfer was the opening salvo in an unprecedented restructuring of the DOI. Three months later, in what some department staffers now call the ?Thursday-night massacre,? Cason sent memos to more than two dozen of the DOI?s highest-ranking civil servants informing them of reassignments; they had 15 days to accept the new positions or retire. The Office of the Inspector General is currently investigating how the transfers were determined; some employees believe they were designed to push out long-serving staff as part of a department-wide purge, and that climate scientists in particular were targeted.Cason, who once described himself as the?department?s ?regulatory czar,?has also overseen the dismantling of rules governing energy development on public lands. The DOI is poised to open up millions of acres to drilling and mining?from Utah?s red-rock country to the frigid, perilous waters off Alaska?s coast?while stripping away basic environmental protections and reducing transparency. Across the Trump administration, the new mantra is ?energy dominance??a vision of the world in which the United States will amplify its influence with a dramatic expansion of oil, gas, and coal production, whatever the environmental costs.The DOI is poised to open up millions of acres to drilling and mining, from Utah?s red-rock country to Alaska?s frigid coastal waters.?The axing of regulations and personnel is occurring with remarkable speed. In contrast to other federal departments mired by inept leadership in the Trump era, a small group of seasoned insiders has kept things humming along at the Department of the Interior, Cason chief among them. In the early months of the administration, according to one former DOI employee, there seemed to be few decisions, no matter how small, that didn?t cross his desk.?From what I can tell, Jim Cason is running the show,? the former employee said. ?I think he?s overseeing everything.? In addition to orchestrating the personnel reassignments and chairing the regulatory-reform task force that has rewritten or eliminated many Obama-era policies, Cason has been tasked with reviewing every grant or cooperative agreement of $100,000 or more, as well as any pending decisions with ?nationwide, regional, or statewide impact.? He wrote the?Federal Registernotice announcing the department?s controversial review of 27 national monuments, and he has been granted virtual carte blanche to set policy as it relates to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
CURRENT ISSUE
View our current issueSubscribe today and Save up to $129.Cason?s return to the DOI doesn?t surprise Jim Cubie, who was chief counsel to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in 1989, when Leahy oversaw?an Agriculture Committee hearing?on Cason?s nomination to a top environmental post in the George H.W. Bush administration. Cason?s track record so alarmed the committee that he was eventually forced to withdraw his name from consideration. Now he?s back in a position that doesn?t require Senate approval. ?He?ll do a lot of damage,? Cubie predicted.Cason is one of only a handful of political appointees with deep knowledge of the Department of the Interior. (The DOI declined to make Cason available for an interview.) He faithfully carried out the agendas of two of the most controversial interior secretaries in recent memory?James Watt and Gale Norton. From 1985 to 1989, during the Reagan administration, Cason was deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management; in that capacity, he worked closely with Steven Griles, a former coal lobbyist and the chief architect of some of the most environmentally destructive policies of the Reagan years. Griles helped to engineer the regulatory changes that facilitated mountaintop-removal mining, and he interfered with a Fish and Wildlife Service report on the potential environmental damage caused by coastal drilling. As head of the DOI?s Office of Surface Mining in the early 1980s, Griles also failed to collect tens of millions of dollars in civil penalties owed by companies that had broken environmental laws.Throughout this period, Cason served as Griles?s right-hand man, according to a former congressional staffer familiar with his record. ?He learned well at Griles?s knee about how to get stuff done,? the staffer said. The two became close friends; Griles was best man at Cason?s wedding in 1990. And in 2001, when Griles returned to the department under George W. Bush after more than a decade of lobbying for coal companies and other special interests, Cason joined him as his associate deputy. According to a former DOI employee who worked with Cason during the Bush administration, ?Griles would have whatever idea, and Jim would figure out how to get it implemented. He?s quite effective at doing that. He was known as Griles?s hatchet man.?But unlike Griles, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison after lying to Congress about his ties to the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Cason has largely avoided the public eye. His personal style is exceedingly restrained, particularly in contrast with more flamboyant and controversial colleagues like Griles, who was known for being a brash talker with a volatile temper. Cason has a monotone way of speaking; he often dresses in a subdued blue suit and tie and seems to go out of his way to be agreeable. In an?appearance on C-SPAN?in 2005, as the Abramoff investigations were gaining momentum, a caller described Cason as a ?Republican toady? and attacked the DOI for its policies toward Native Americans. Cason replied evenly, ?OK, well, that?s certainly a good point of view too.?
SUPPORT PROGRESSIVE JOURNALISM
If you like this article, please give today to help fund?The Nation?s work.?Even when not behind the scenes at the DOI, Cason maintained a low profile. He?s never worked as a registered lobbyist. During the Clinton administration, he lived in Western New York and was vice president of risk management at a company that manufactures ceramic-fiber products for industrial applications. More recently, he?s done consulting work for Booz Allen Hamilton and Kelly Anderson & Associates (now KAA Federal Solutions), a business-management firm that works with federal and industrial clients. On his financial-disclosure form, submitted in July, Cason provided so few details about the contracting work he?d done with the Quapaw tribe in Oklahoma that, after queries by ProPublica, the DOI was forced to submit a revised version. In it,?Cason revealed?that over a five-month period in 2016, he?d earned $50,000 doing ?research? for the tribe. (The department?s ethics lawyer called the omission an ?oversight.?)KAA chief executive officer Tim Vigotsky, who hired Cason in 2012, describes him as a policy wonk who knows the DOI better than anyone. ?There?s not a lot of flash,? Vigotsky said. ?He works long hours?whatever it takes.? Because Cason wasn?t registered as a lobbyist at Booz Allen or Kelly Anderson, it?s unclear who his clients in the energy sector might have been. Vigotsky called Kelly Anderson?s list a ?who?s who? of the industry but wouldn?t reveal the names of private clients. Much of the firm?s work involves providing assistance to companies seeking federal contracts. On his r?sum?, Cason stated that, in addition to providing consulting support for Native American, commercial, and federal clients, he helped to ?network access to government officials.?Awindow into what has otherwise been a veiled career opened in 1989, when Cason was nominated to serve as assistant secretary for natural resources and environment at the Department of Agriculture under George H.W. Bush. Few people had ever heard of Cason, who was only 35 when his confirmation hearings took place. The position is typically filled by noncontroversial policy experts, and the hearings are rarely the stuff of high-stakes political theater. But Cason?s nomination was unusually contentious, in large part because of his former boss?James Watt, one of the most polarizing and unpopular interior secretaries ever to hold the position.As the DOI?s head under Ronald Reagan, Watt was known for his staunch support of property rights and for his attempts to sell millions of acres of public lands to drilling and mining interests; he resigned in 1983, after stating that a coal advisory commission he?d established was balanced because it included ?a black?a woman, two Jews, and a cripple.? In his opening remarks at Cason?s hearing, Senator Leahy wasted little time in drawing a parallel between Cason and Watt. ?Frankly, we do not need a James Watt clone in this position,? Leahy said. Jim Cubie, Leahy?s counsel, said they?d heard from a number of sources that ?this guy?s going to be a disaster?. Anybody who was a Watt acolyte was trouble.?In written testimony, Cason said he?d barely gotten to know Watt and ?could not fairly or knowledgeably compare or contrast our philosophies.? Yet Cason revealed that his philosophy was in fact closely aligned with Watt?s when he faced a series of questions about his decision to approve the transfer of tens of thousands of acres of public land at below-market rates in 1986. The episode involved the sale of oil-shale claims to energy companies at $2.50 an acre; weeks later, some of the same land was sold to private developers at 800 times the original price, reaping a windfall of $37 million for the energy companies. Asked by Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) whether the sale was ?in the public interest,? Cason replied: ?I think it is in the public interest to assure that we properly address private-property rights.? In that single sentence, Cason summed up Watt?s worldview.?The whole department, and yourself as part of that department, were overly solicitous of business and industry points of view.??But the hearing wasn?t only a referendum on Watt?it demonstrated that Cason put his own stamp on a number of decisions that heavily favored industry. Cason?s involvement in the alleged suppression of a BLM report on the dangers to the spotted owl dominated press accounts of the hearings. At the time, there was great concern among conservationists that the logging of old-growth forests in Oregon would lead to the owl?s demise. Indeed, several studies carried out in the 1980s demonstrated that the forests were key to the species?s survival. The BLM report commissioned by Cason found that the spotted owl would be imperiled if logging continued. Cason later claimed that the report didn?t live up to the department?s scientific standards?but several individuals involved in the review testified that Cason simply disagreed with their conclusions and had asked the DOI to bury the report. After news of the report leaked to the press, Cason had the DOI release what many felt was a watered-down version of the original. (?Jim Cason is a seasoned Department of the Interior official who brings decades of government, private sector, and personal experience to the position,? a DOI spokesperson wrote in response to questions about his record, including the owl report. ?We are lucky to have him.?)Cason had also pushed through a series of industry-friendly measures in the final weeks of the Reagan administration. He lowered the royalties paid for coal mined on public lands; authorized a rule that made it possible for companies to mine in national parks or on Forest Service land (a rule considered so over the top that it was quickly withdrawn); traveled to Colorado to encourage?yet again?the transfer of thousands of acres of oil-shale claims at rock-bottom prices; and brokered an agreement with several major oil and gas companies that essentially undermined the federal government?s authority to audit royalty payments. Not only did Cason reach the latter deal without consulting state or tribal officials, whose constituents stood to lose out on millions in annual payments, but he also signed the agreement on letterhead from the industry?s attorneys. R. Max Peterson, then the executive vice president of the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, described Cason?s actions as ?an inexcusable betrayal of the public trust.?Even Republican members of the traditionally conservative Senate Agriculture Committee had their doubts. Summing up Cason?s years at the DOI, Indiana Senator Richard Lugar said: ?The whole department, and yourself as part of that department, were overly solicitous of business and industry points of view.? Several weeks later, realizing that he didn?t have enough votes to secure the nomination, Cason withdrew his name.All of that must have seemed like a distant memory this past summer, when Cason addressed a roomful of industry executives at the Colorado Oil and Gas Association?s annual energy summit in Denver. He spoke alongside Gale Norton, who had been the interior secretary for much of George W. Bush?s administration. Cason?s current post is the same one he held under Norton?but this time around, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen current and former DOI employees, he wields significantly more power. (Norton, who took a position with Royal Dutch Shell after leaving office in 2006, now runs her own consulting firm?Norton Regulatory Strategies?and works closely with the oil and gas industry.)
SUBSCRIBE TO?THE NATION? FOR $2 A MONTH.
Get unlimited digital access to the best independent news and analysis.?With a list of the summit?s major sponsors?BP, Anadarko, Noble Energy?projected on the wall behind him, Cason explained that Donald Trump?s win in November marked a profound shift in direction. Though few would describe the Department of the Interior, even under President Obama, as unfriendly to oil and gas producers, Cason declared that the Trump administration had inherited ?an anti-energy bias? and a ?preservationist thought process? that needed rooting out.?There?s not a lot of flash. He works long hours?whatever it takes.?While the DOI has often struggled to balance its dual mandate of conservation and resource development, the scales have now tipped decisively in favor of the oil and gas industry. As a candidate, Trump promised to ?unleash America?s $50 trillion in untapped shale, oil, and natural-gas reserves, plus hundreds of years in clean-coal reserves??a grandiose statement that has nonetheless become a kind of blueprint for his Department of the Interior. The long-held goal of ?energy independence??a stock phrase used by every administration at least since the Carter years?has been replaced by one of ?energy dominance.? Trump officials believe that achieving it requires an aggressive push for increased access to public lands, including national monuments and offshore oil and gas reserves.The DOI, as the largest landowner in the United States?managing roughly 500 million acres, one-fifth of the country?s landmass?is at the heart of this effort. The department also administers millions of acres in offshore oil and gas reserves. Trump has already reversed an Obama-era ban on drilling along part of the Atlantic coast and in the environmentally sensitive waters around Alaska. Now, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Republicans in Congress are seeking to fulfill one of the industry?s long-sought goals: opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the largest unexplored and undeveloped onshore basin in the United States. In December, the BLM will offer approximately 10.3 million acres of land in Alaska?s National Petroleum Reserve for oil and gas leasing. And next spring, the department will hold the largest oil- and gas-lease sale in the country?s history when it auctions off some 77 million acres of offshore reserves in the Gulf of Mexico.Recently, the DOI announced that it would be running its operations more like a business, with the primary objective of generating revenue through energy production. According to a July report in?Bloomberg News,?Zinke is pushing to ?retool the agency into a federal profit center.? The DOI?s climate-change webpage has undergone a makeover, too. Sometime between February and April, the department replaced a lengthy informational page with two short paragraphs describing the DOI?s preservation duties; the phrase ?climate change? appears just once. And in April, the BLM?which is tasked with overseeing oil and gas leasing on federal land?changed the image on its home page from one of a couple of backpackers looking out onto a scenic landscape to a shot of a massive coal seam in Wyoming (an image that has since been removed).In Denver, Cason reiterated that the DOI was more interested in facilitating energy development than regulating it; he told the roomful of oil and gas executives that they represented ?a very important industry for the Department of Interior and the administration.? About a month after the conference, the DOI submitted a draft of its strategic vision for the next five years to the Office of Management and Budget. According to a copy of the plan obtained by?The Nation, the department?s priorities include accelerating the exploitation of ?vast amounts? of untapped energy reserves on public lands. The outline makes no mention of climate change?a phrase that appeared dozens of times in the previous strategic plan.In October, the DOI released a report detailing the burdens on energy development and recommending sweeping changes that would undermine its own basic regulatory authority. The high-profile targets included a 2015 rule requiring rudimentary safeguards for fracking on public lands, as well as a conservation plan for the imperiled sage grouse. The report also raised the possibility of eliminating the federally required land-management plans that might limit drilling in certain areas; the conditions placed on development that affects endangered species or critical habitat; and even the collection of basic data related to energy production, which critics see as an attempt to muddy an already opaque process. Jeremy Nichols of the advocacy group Wild Earth Guardians called the proposed elimination of these common-sense measures ?shocking even for this administration.?The Department of the Interior is made up of nine bureaus, including the BLM and the Fish and Wildlife Service, with 70,000 employees and state and regional offices across the country. Secretary Zinke, a former Navy SEAL and one-term US congressman, has no experience managing such a large, decentralized bureaucracy, and he has relied heavily on his political appointees to run the department?s day-to-day operations. With Cason at the helm, a small circle of insiders orchestrated the aggressive deregulatory agenda and the unprecedented reshuffling of career staff.?Cason is really an administrator,? a DOI employee who has known him since the George W. Bush administration told me. ?He understands how to run an organization.? The position Cason now holds?associate deputy secretary?was created especially for him when he joined the Bush administration, most likely because of fears that he would not make it through another round of confirmation hearings. ?They didn?t even try for a nomination, because they knew it would be dead on arrival,? said another former DOI employee who worked closely with Cason at the time.In his remarks in Denver, Cason said it was evident from day one that career employees needed ?an attitude adjustment.? New leadership, he continued, would force them to ?adopt a different way of looking at things.? (In a recent speech before the National Petroleum Council, Interior Secretary Zinke described ?30 percent? of DOI employees as ?not loyal to the flag.?) As a member of the Executive Resources Board, which is responsible for senior-executive-level reassignments, Cason has overseen a series of personnel changes that appear designed to enhance the administration?s pro-oil-and-gas orientation. Under Zinke, the ERB is made up entirely of political appointees, despite strong recommendations from the Office of Personnel Management that the board include a mix of political and career employees ?to provide?a balanced perspective.? According to Elizabeth Klein, who occupied Cason?s role in the Obama administration and served on the ERB for part of that time, there was a rough split between civil servants and political appointees.The ?Thursday-night massacre? occurred on June 15, when more than two dozen of the department?s Senior Executive Service (SES) employees, from nearly every agency, received memos informing them of the reassignments. None of the employees that?The Nation?spoke with were consulted in advance, which is considered both a common courtesy and responsible management. In most cases, even agency directors were kept in the dark until just before the memos went out. When one high-level supervisor asked if they were on the list, Cason reportedly replied, ?Not this round.? The reassignments sent shock waves throughout the DOI. Dan Ashe, former director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the transfers were clearly designed to disrupt the normal order of things and to undermine the authority of senior civil servants. Cason, who had served as chief human-capital officer under Bush, was intimately familiar with the SES and personally knew many of the employees who were transferred.?What they are doing to hand the keys over to the energy industry is pretty astounding.?Among those reassigned was Joel Clement, a senior policy adviser and widely respected climate scientist, who was moved to an accounting office overseeing royalty collection from the fossil-fuel industry. Clement later?filed a whistle-blower complaint?alleging that his reassignment was politically motivated; he has since resigned. In his departing letter, Clement blasted senior-level appointees for being ?shackled to special interests such as oil, gas, and mining.? Virginia Burkett, who oversaw climate-science research at the US Geological Survey, was transferred to an undefined advisory role in the office of the assistant secretary for water and science; she ended up leaving the SES and returning to a lower-grade position. Cindy Dohner, the Fish and Wildlife Service?s highly respected Southeast regional director, who oversaw restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP disaster, was reassigned to serve as the agency?s director for international affairs. She resigned instead.?It made people very afraid to make decisions about things or to advocate for what we would call ?good government,?? said Debra Sonderman, who was moved after almost 20 years in her role as director of acquisition and property management. Sonderman, too, has resigned.According to numerous reports, the DOI is planning another series of reassignments. Rumors have been circulating since June that they could be announced at any time. One former DOI employee said that the list has already been compiled, but the department is waiting for the inspector general?s investigation to conclude before pulling the trigger. ?Everybody is looking over their shoulder,? said Ashe, the former Fish and Wildlife Service director.Unlike other departments that have displayed a shocking level of dysfunction?a kind of embodiment of the Trump presidency itself?the DOI is operating with ruthless efficiency. This is largely due to the presence of experienced appointees like Cason and David Bernhardt, Zinke?s deputy secretary, who was confirmed in late July. A former corporate lobbyist whose clients included major oil and gas producers, Bernhardt was once described by Center for Western Priorities spokesman Aaron Weiss as a ?walking conflict of interest.? (Cason served as acting deputy secretary until Bernhardt?s nomination.)A handful of other DOI officials from the George W. Bush era have resurfaced after spending the past eight years working for far-right think tanks or as industry lobbyists. Doug Domenech, most recently director of the Fueling Freedom Project, which promotes ?the forgotten moral case for fossil fuels,? is now assistant secretary for insular affairs, coordinating policy for American territories in the South Pacific. Daniel Jorjani, a longtime adviser for several of the Koch brothers? groups, is helping to craft the department?s legal policy. Scott Cameron, who spent the past several years advising a lobbying firm whose clients include Shell Oil and the Marcellus Shale Coalition, is now overseeing the DOI?s budget.The oil and gas industry is now taking full advantage of the access offered by its allies at the department. Cason has described the DOI as having an ?open-door policy,? and in the first month and a half of the administration?before Zinke was even confirmed?met with top industry lawyers, corporate lobbyists, and industry trade groups, including the American Petroleum Institute and Peabody Energy. Zinke himself has had dozens of meetings with energy executives and lobbyists, including those from ExxonMobil and BP. He?s used taxpayer dollars to fly?on a private jet?owned by an oil-and-gas-exploration firm in Wyoming, and as a member of Congress he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the industry. So far, eight of the 12 secretarial orders he?s issued have called for greater access to drilling on public lands and in offshore waters.
RELATED ARTICLE

EXCLUSIVE: THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT SCRUBS CLIMATE CHANGE FROM ITS STRATEGIC PLAN
Adam FedermanIn June, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) sent a midyear legislative agenda to its board of directors, announcing that the playing field for oil and gas producers has been ?dramatically altered.? A copy obtained by?The Nation?shows that in just the first few months of the Trump administration, the lobbying group achieved an astonishing number of the regulatory rollbacks on its wish list, including an elimination of the fracking rule and another that would have closed a loophole allowing coal companies to calculate their own royalties on coal sold at below-market rates.There is still a great deal that energy interests hope to accomplish during the Trump administration. Ending a rule to limit methane venting and flaring from wells is at the top of that list. Undermining protections for endangered species on federal land is another key item. A third is ensuring that future administrations are unable to finalize what the IPAA calls ?harmful? air-quality regulations that it says would limit offshore development.Kate Kelly, former senior adviser to then?Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and current director of the public-lands team at the Center for American Progress, warns that it?s difficult to appreciate just how radically the DOI?s policies have changed and what this means for the environment. ?In totality, what they are doing to open up public lands to oil and gas development?to basically hand the keys over to the energy industry?is pretty astounding,? she said.Cason shares the industry?s sense of having a rare opportunity to reshape the policy landscape. In Denver, he mused that the midterm elections weren?t too far off?and that the dynamic in the Senate, and possibly even the House, could change, making it more difficult to advance a deregulatory agenda. ?You think about having four years to do things,? he said, ?but for those of us who have been on the federal-government side of the fence, you don?t really have four years. And if you want to effect change, you have to have a sense of urgency from day one.?
The Plot to Loot America?s Wilderness

  
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 A little-known bureaucrat named James Cason is reshaping the Department of the Interior.  |   |

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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Nov 27 11:02:26 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2017 19:02:26 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?CALmatters_Commentary=3A_Brown=E2=80=99s_?=
 =?utf-8?q?twin-tunnels_project_could_go_down_drain?=
References: <954013020.2632166.1511809346899.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <954013020.2632166.1511809346899@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.dailyrepublic.com/opinion/local-opinion-columnists/calmatters-commentary-browns-twin-tunnels-project-could-go-down-drain/


CALmatters Commentary: Brown?s twin-tunnels project could go down drain
By?Dan Walters / CALmatters CommentaryFrom page A8?| November 27, 2017?The decades-long political struggle over fixing the bottleneck in California?s immense north-south water system is nearing a climax ? and it?s not looking good for Gov. Jerry Brown?s long-sought solution.The?State Water Project, initiated nearly 60 years ago by Brown?s late father, Pat, impounds Feather River water behind Oroville Dam and sends it southward down the Feather and Sacramento rivers into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Huge pumps at the south edge of the Delta suck water into the California Aqueduct, which transports it as far south as San Diego.However, the Delta has century-old levees that are deteriorating, and water draws from it have been curtailed due to degradation of habitat for fish and other wildlife, leading to a search for solutions that would improve reliability of water supplies and improve habitat.During his first gubernatorial incarnation, Jerry Brown won legislative approval of a ?peripheral canal? to carry water around the Delta, only to see it rejected by voters just weeks before his governorship ended in 1983.More than three decades later, with scarcely a year remaining in Brown?s second governorship, his successor plan ? twin tunnels beneath the Delta ? is teetering. It suffers from declining interest among the water agencies that would have to pay for it and an apparent unwillingness of the federal government to come to the rescue.The uncertain future of?WaterFix, as it?s officially dubbed, was framed in an October report by the?state auditor?s office, which pointed out several managerial shortcomings and concluded that the Department of Water Resources has ?not completed either an economic or financial analysis to demonstrate the financial viability of WaterFix.?Tunnel opponents in the Legislature, organized as the ?Delta Coalition,? smell blood and will stage a hearing in Walnut Grove, as small riverfront town in the Delta, this week to showcase the project?s shortcomings and contribute, they hope, to its demise.As with all big public works, the key to WaterFix?s future is money. Its estimated cost approaches $17 billion, although ? based on the state?s recent record of big projects ? one should be skeptical.Construction is supposed to be financed by the water agencies that depend on the state system, particularly the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Westlands Water District that supplies farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which serves Silicon Valley.Although Metropolitan Water District officially backs the project, its largest member agency, the San Diego County Water Authority, is highly critical, so continued backing in Southern California is not certain.The Santa Clara agency voted recently to?support?the project, but only after attaching conditions that could be fatal, such as suggesting the project be reduced to a single tunnel.Most ominously,?Westlands voted?to not participate and the U.S. Department of the Interior declared that it would not participate financially. The latter is important because Westlands had suggested that it might reconsider its opposition if farmers who get water from the federal Central Valley Project would pay a substantial share of the costs.Brown and his water officials are trying to put a positive face on the situation. After Santa Clara?s half-hearted ?approval,? Brown declared it ?a major step forward for California WaterFix and ensures that Santa Clara will have the water it desperately needs.?Hardly.Truth is, WaterFix needs a fiscal fix, and soon, to still be alive when Brown departs 13 months hence.CALmatters?is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California?s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to?calmatters.org/commentary.
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From sari at sisqtel.net  Mon Nov 27 14:45:15 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2017 14:45:15 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Water Deeply: Fire retardant use and fish risk
Message-ID: <01b501d367d1$651ab030$2f501090$@sisqtel.net>

https://www.newsdeeply.com/water/articles/2017/11/27/fire-retardant-use-expl
odes-as-worries-about-water-wildlife-risk-grow

 

Fire Retardant Use Explodes as Worries About Water, Wildlife Risk Grow

"Chemical fire retardants are considered a vital wildland firefighting tool,
helping to slow the spread of flames while ground crews move into position.
But as their use increases, the harmful side effects of these chemicals are
coming under increasing scrutiny.

The chemicals, usually dropped from low-flying aircraft, largely consist of
ammonia compounds, which are known toxins to fish and other aquatic life.
Studies have shown retardants can kill fish, alter soil chemistry, feed
harmful algae blooms and even encourage the spread of invasive plants. Yet
there is little regulation of their use, and no safer alternatives on the
market.

In California, state firefighting crews have applied 15.3 million gallons of
chemical fire retardants so far this year, according to data provided by
CalFire, the state's wildland firefighting agency. That's a new record, and
double the amount used just three years ago." 

[read more]

 

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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Wed Nov 29 13:29:07 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2017 21:29:07 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian Week 47
	(November 25)
Message-ID: <MWHPR09MB1822A99190D95C7155FB19DDBA3B0@MWHPR09MB1822.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW 47 (yes, this is a combo, 46 and 46 update).

Hatchery personnel are plugging along on recovery of tagged fish/returns/spawning at Trinity River Hatchery, and there still seem to be fish in the river (from what I can tell by the tags that are being returned). We hope to get some more Coho back to the hatchery before the returns peter out completely in the next couple of weeks ...then I hope to see a couple of solid weeks (or months) of steelhead showing in numbers...
Cheers!
MC


******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Wed Nov 29 13:32:07 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2017 21:32:07 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian
 Week 47 (November 25)
Message-ID: <MWHPR09MB182240F1523C27D49B5D1B10BA3B0@MWHPR09MB1822.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

GAH! Darned typos.
I meant, of course, combined JWs 46 and 47 update.
Sheesh.
MC

From: Kier, Mary Claire at Wildlife
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2017 1:29 PM
To: Sinnen, Wade at Wildlife <Wade.Sinnen at wildlife.ca.gov>
Subject: Trinity River trapping summary through Julian Week 47 (November 25)

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW 47 (yes, this is a combo, 46 and 46 update).

Hatchery personnel are plugging along on recovery of tagged fish/returns/spawning at Trinity River Hatchery, and there still seem to be fish in the river (from what I can tell by the tags that are being returned). We hope to get some more Coho back to the hatchery before the returns peter out completely in the next couple of weeks ...then I hope to see a couple of solid weeks (or months) of steelhead showing in numbers...
Cheers!
MC


******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Nov 30 10:47:55 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2017 18:47:55 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Public meetings for Sites Project draft
 environmental review documents
In-Reply-To: <e9d682df0e6f47b29fd13b4993fba3d9@usbr.gov>
References: <e9d682df0e6f47b29fd13b4993fba3d9@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <1062239053.4834497.1512067675902@mail.yahoo.com>

I understand that this project may have some impacts on the Trinity River.
TS 

    On Thursday, November 30, 2017 9:51 AM, Sarah McBride <smcbride at usbr.gov> wrote: Public meetings for Sites Project draft environmental review documentsMEDIA ADVISORY? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
November 30, 2017??Contact:?Janet Barbieri,?Sites Project Authority,?530-919-9306
? ? ? ? ? ? ? Erin Curtis,?Bureau of Reclamation,?916-978-5100Public meetings for Sites Project draft environmental review documents WHO:?The Sites Project Authority (Authority) and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) are hosting two public meetings to solicit input from the public, Tribes and agencies on the Draft Environmental Impact Report/ Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIR/EIS) for the Sites Project.In preparing the Draft EIR/EIS, the Authority serves as the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act, and Reclamation as the lead agency under the National Environmental Policy Act. Reclamation?is also the lead agency for the Federal Feasibility Investigation and is a cost sharing partner with the Authority to determine the federal interest and role in the project.WHAT:? The Draft EIR/EIS provides information about the potential environmental effects and mitigation measures associated with constructing and operating the Sites Project. The public has an opportunity to weigh-in on the contents of the Draft EIR/EIS to ensure the full range of issues related to project implementation are identified and addressed.The two public meetings on the Draft EIR/EIS will begin with an open house where staff will be available to provide information and answer questions about the environmental review process and documents. Public comments will then be taken after a brief presentation.Written comments will be accepted at each meeting, and written and electronic comments can be submitted through January 15, 2018:
Email to: EIR-EIS-Comments at SitesProject.orgMail to:
Draft EIR/EIS Comments
Sites Project Authority
P.O. Box 517
Maxwell, CA 95955WHEN:? Public meetings will be held on:??????????????Tuesday, December 5, 2017 from 1:00 PM ? 3:00 PM
? ? ? ? ? ? ? Thursday, December 7, 2017 from 6:00 PM ? 8:00 PMWHERE: Tuesday, December 5th (1:00 PM ? 3:00 PM) 
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Embassy Suites
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 100 Capitol Mall, Old Sacramento Ballroom
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Sacramento, CA 95814? ? Thursday, December 7th (6:00 PM ? 8:00 PM) 
? ? Sites Project Authority Office
? ? 122 Old Highway 99 West
? ? Maxwell, CA 95955The Sites Project represents decades of planning and evaluations to optimize water supplies and deliveries throughout California and provide direct and real benefits to instream flows and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem. The Authority has spent the last seven years working toward this goal by engaging the public, stakeholders, state and federal agencies and landowners, conducting feasibility studies and now, furthering the required environmental planning process.For more information about the Draft EIR/EIS, visit https://www.sitesproject.org/environmental-review/. For questions about the Sites Project or the meetings please contact: Janet Barbieri, Sites Project Authority, at 530-919-9306 or Mike Dietl, Reclamation, at 916-978-5070.###The Sites Project is an innovative and environmentally-focused offstream water storage solution. It creates a unique opportunity for direct and real benefits to instream flows, the Delta ecosystem, and water supply. Follow the Sites Project on social media @SitesProject.Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.?

If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Thu Nov 30 12:11:16 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2017 20:11:16 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Management Council Meeting Agenda 12/6-7,
 Weaverville ; TAMWG no longer exists
References: <942382079.4893703.1512072676097.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <942382079.4893703.1512072676097@mail.yahoo.com>

All,
Below is the agenda for the December 6 and 7 Trinity Management Council Meeting.
The Federal Advisory Committee for the Trinity River Restoration Program, the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) has been effectively dissolved. ?It was declared "administratively inactive" by the Interior Department. ?The group has not met since March 2017. ?
Tom Stokely

TRINITY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL

Location: ?Trinity River Restoration Program

1313 SouthMain Street, Weaverville, CA 


?
Agenda for December 6 and 7, 2017


?
Wednesday December 6, 2017 


?

Time ?????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????? ??????????????????????? DiscussionLeader



?
RegularBusiness:


?
9:00???????????????? Introductions:??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? DonBader, Chair

??Welcome andIntroductions

??Approval of Agenda

??Approval of SeptemberTMC Meeting Minutes


?
9:30???????????????? Public Forum:? Comments from the public????????????????????????????? Bader, Chair


?
9:45???????????????? Report fromTAMWG ?????????? ??????????? ??????????????????????????????????? TomStokely


?
10:00?????????????? Report fromExecutive Director??????? ??????????????????????????????????? Caryn HunttDeCarlo


?
Information/ Decision Items:


?
10:30?????????????? Election of TMCVice Chair (Decision Item)????????????????????????? Bader,Chair

??????????? ??????????? 

10:45?????????????? Schedule 2018teleconference and meeting dates?????????????????? HunttDeCarlo


?
11:00?????????????? Break


?
11:15?????????????? TRRP Drone Use??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? EricPeterson

??????????????????????????????????? 

11:45?? ??????????? Reinitiation of Consultation ????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bader,Chair


?
12:00 ? ??????????? Lunch 


?
1:00???? ??????????? Safety of Dams Presentation????????????????????????????????????????????????? Bader, Chair

??????????????????????? 

1:30???????????????? WinterVariability Flow (Decision Item)??????????????????????????????? JennyNorris (+)


?
3:00???????????????? Break


?
3:15???????????????? Junction CityHouse?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? MikeDixon


?
3:30???????????????? FY18 Budget?Allocationof Remaining Funds (Decision Item) Caryn Huntt DeCarlo


?
4:30???????????????? Public Forum:? Comments from the public????????????????????????????? Don Bader, Chair


?
4:45???? ??????????? Adjourn


?
6:00 ??????????????? TMC Dinnerat Golf Course Restaurant, 130 Golf Course Drive, Weaverville


?

?
Thursday December 7, 2017 


?
Time ?????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? DiscussionLeader


?
RegularBusiness:


?
9:00???????????????? Update on theTRRP Refinements Summary Reports?????????????????????? ChadSmith

??????????????????????? 

9:15???????????????? Public Forum:? Comments from the public???? ??????????????????????? Don Bader, Chair


?
Information/ Decision Items:


?
9:30???? ??????????? FY18 Budget?Allocation of Remaining Funds(Decision Item) Caryn Huntt DeCarlo 


?
10:30?????????????? Redd surveys?????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????? Kautsky (+)


?
10:45?????????????? Break


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11:00?????????????? Helena and Buck Fires Burned Area Assessment ????????????????? Brad Rust


?
12:00?????????????? Lunch


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1:00???? ??????????? TRRP New Website??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? EricPeterson 


?
1:30???????????????? Dutch Creek Design Presentation ????????????????????????????????????????? Dixon(+)

??????????? 

2:00???????????????? Proposed AgendaItems for March TMC Meeting ??????????????? DonBader, Chair


?
2:15???????????????? Public Forum:? Comments from the public???????????????????????????? DonBader, Chair


?
2:30???????????????? Adjourn


?

?
WebEx and Call in Information:


?
TMC ? Day 1 ?Wednesday,December 6th

Join by Phone: 1-408-792-6300

Meeting number (access code): 809 740 529 

Meeting password: iKV3fJ7B

TMC Meeting Link: https://trrp.webex.com/trrp/j.php?MTID=mf5209b75b1d919fd8887880ac645bc6b

Can't join the meeting? https://help.webex.com/docs/DOC-5412

_____________________________________________

TMC ? Day 2? Thursday,December 7th

Join by Phone: 1-408-792-6300

Meeting number (access code): 804 709 542 

Meeting password: zSMM8Qgq

TMC December Meeting Day 2 MeetingLink:

https://trrp.webex.com/trrp/j.php?MTID=m78d7e9ee2b84c911f390bb3eef3af296

Can't join the meeting? https://help.webex.com/docs/DOC-5412



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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Dec  1 10:33:53 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2017 18:33:53 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Interior IG faults cleanup project in San Joaquin
	Valley
References: <258833754.5509876.1512153233188.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <258833754.5509876.1512153233188@mail.yahoo.com>

The Trinity River was dammed to send water to the San Luis Unit of the CVP, which includes the Panoche Water District.TS

https://www.eenews.net/greenwi re/2017/11/30/stories/10600676 93


WATER POLLUTION


Interior IG faults cleanup project in San Joaquin Valley
Michael Doyle, E&E News reporterPublished:?Thursday, November 30, 2017The Interior Department inspector general is examining the handling of the multimillion-dollar San Luis Demonstration Treatment Plant.?Slayden Constructors Inc.Interior Department auditors are raising "significant" concerns about the management of a high-profile groundwater cleanup project in California's San Joaquin Valley, a new advisory reveals.Interior's Office of Inspector General, which is examining the handling of the multimillion-dollar San Luis Demonstration Treatment Plant, found the potential problems serious enough to merit an early heads-up to federal Bureau of Reclamation officials this week."We also identified invalid single audits, conflicts of interest with key personnel, a general absence of project oversight, and questionable use of a cooperative agreement," Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall?wrote.Operated under a cooperative agreement between Reclamation and the Panoche Drainage District, the San Luis Demonstration Treatment Plant was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of treating groundwater to remove heavy metals and contaminants.It's a high-stakes effort for the San Joaquin Valley, where farmers are bedeviled by the accumulation of tainted irrigation drainage.But in her sharply worded, two-page advisory, Kendall said investigators "question how and why the project grew from a pilot-scale $15 million demonstration and research and development plant to a full-size $37 million plant."Investigators are also raising doubts about the facility's cost-effectiveness."We have been told that the costs to operate and maintain the plant could outweigh the benefits of the treated water produced," Kendall warned.Unlike a final IG report, the management advisory dated?Monday?does not include a response from either Panoche or Reclamation. Bureau officials, though, say they are taking the issues seriously."We received the OIG management advisory earlier this week, and we are currently reviewing it to develop potential actions to address the concerns outlined," Reclamation spokeswoman Erin Curtis said in a statement yesterday, adding that "we also look forward to receiving the final report from the OIG so that we can address items of concern specifically."A spokesperson for the Panoche Drainage District could not be reached.More criticism appears to be coming, as Kendall stated that the IG team plans to "fully address the cost deficiencies, along with several other concerns in two subsequent reports."The alleged problems have arisen at a politically sensitive time for some Central Valley farmers and their congressional allies who have been wrestling with drainage issues.Leaders of the 600,000-acre Westlands Water District, located south of Panoche, are trying to secure passage of legislation that would implement an irrigation drainage settlement negotiated with the Obama administration.The proposed deal would forgive a roughly $375 million debt owed by Westlands for its share of Central Valley Project construction. The deal would set terms on future water contracts and oblige Westlands to retire 100,000 acres. In return, it would relieve the federal government of the obligation to construct irrigation drainage facilities.Earlier this month, senators rejected a House GOP proposal to add the Westlands drainage legislation authored by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) to the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (Greenwire, Nov. 9).Three smaller districts located north of Westlands ? the Panoche, Pacheco and San Luis water districts ? seek to wrap up a similar irrigation drainage deal, but officials say it has been stalled pending the outcome of IG and other investigations.The Panoche Drainage District provides drainage services to the Panoche Water District and 6,000 adjacent acres, and the management of the two districts overlaps.Earlier this year, California Controller Betty Yee released a scathing report on the 38,000-acre Panoche Water District. The report found that between 2013 and 2015, the district gave employees $86,000 in interest-free loans and allowed them to use district credit cards for more than $37,000 in personal spending (E&E News PM,?Jan. 31)."It should be noted that the district has taken substantial corrective actions and continues to make efforts to enhance its administrative and internal accounting controls," the state audit added.Curtis, the Reclamation spokeswoman, said the bureau requested the IG audit following release of the state audit."At that time, Reclamation placed PDD under an agency review as well," Curtis said.The new IG advisory focusing on the treatment plant project cautioned that "we audited $772,974 in claimed costs under this cooperative agreement, and currently estimate questioning or disallowing nearly 30 percent of these costs."

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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Dec  1 12:00:41 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2017 20:00:41 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: TRRP Winter Variable Flow Recommendation
In-Reply-To: <CAGpyTHQRNHRcjxvFbQ1fnX2iYhrUpGJOw4a7Q_ygx6Uabc1i=Q@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAGpyTHQRNHRcjxvFbQ1fnX2iYhrUpGJOw4a7Q_ygx6Uabc1i=Q@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1850045644.5559295.1512158441577@mail.yahoo.com>

On Friday, December 1, 2017 11:38 AM, "Huntt DeCarlo, Caryn" <chunttdecarlo at usbr.gov> wrote:


 
Attached is the TRRP?technicalflow recommendation for variable flows?betweenFebruary and April of 2018.? This is a DRAFT proposal and will be presented to the Trinity Management Council on December 6th at 1:30 p.m. at the TRRP office at 1313 South Main Street in Weaverville.? The meeting is open to the public.   
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Dec  3 09:28:10 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2017 17:28:10 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Feds disband Trinity River project watchdog group
References: <2049910933.696036.1512322090882.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2049910933.696036.1512322090882@mail.yahoo.com>

A note:
While it is true that I was not asked directly by the Interior Department to justify the TAMWG's existence, I do recall that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sent in a substantial amount of paperwork to try and get approval for June, July, September and December TAMWG meetings (that were not approved), including a separate justification for the December meeting. ?I never saw it, but I'm sure they did it. ?I had informed the Times-Standard of that on Friday, but it apparently didn't get into the article.

Tom Stokely
Feds disband Trinity River project watchdog group

  
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Feds disband Trinity River project watchdog group
 A recent decision by President Donald Trump?s administration to effectively disband a watchdog group tasked with...  |   |

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Feds disband Trinity River project watchdog group
 In this Sept. 29, 2017, file photo, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. The Interior Department?s recent decision to disband a citizen?s watchdog group for the multi-million dollar federal Trinity River Restoration Program has come under scrutiny, with program leaders saying the move will reduce public oversight and involvement.?Andrew Harnik ? Associated PressBy?Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardPOSTED:? 12/02/17, 10:05 PM PST ?|? UPDATED: 4 HRS AGO1 COMMENTA recent decision by President Donald Trump?s administration to effectively disband a watchdog group tasked with overseeing a multi-million dollar, publicly funded habitat restoration project for the Trinity River surprised and concerned group members, tribes and government agencies.??We now have a very controversial $15 million a year program with virtually no public oversight whatsoever,? the group?s Chairman Tom Stokely said to the Times-Standard on Wednesday.The Interior Department?s reasoning behind the group?s disbanding has also come under question.Interior Department Press Secretary Heather Swift said the department?s decision to deactivate the Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group was made because the group did not file paperwork justifying why it should continue operating. The group was one of several federal advisory bodies the Interior Department froze earlier this year to allow the department to assess their purpose.?During review, the Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group (who advise the [Trinity Management] Council) chose not to submit a short justification memo for continuation? of their $100,000/year operation,? Swift wrote in an email to the Times-Standard on Friday afternoon. ?Their decision to not seek continuation led to the group becoming inactive.?But Stokely said the group was never asked to submit such a memo by either the Interior Department or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has acted as a sort of liaison between the working group and the Interior Department.?Stokely said he was contacted by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Fisheries Program leader Nicholas Hetrick out of Arcata on Nov. 17 about the working group becoming inactive, but said that the Interior Department did not provide a reason as to why the decision was made.Stokely said Swift?s response to the Times-Standard on Friday was the first he had heard of the justification memo and the department?s reasoning behind disbanding the group.?Nobody asked me for that,? Stokely said Friday about the justification memo. ?The Fish and Wildlife Service certainly would have had they known that. No one ever asked me for that. I would have been more than happy to fill it out if given the opportunity.?While the working group is now designated as ?administratively inactive,? Stokely said the group members? appointments will expire in January, making it ?effectively disbanded.?The Times-Standard sent multiple follow up questions to the Interior Department inquiring about when the request for the justification memo was made, what entities it was sent to and for copies of other memos that had been submitted. No response was provided by Friday afternoon. Fish and Wildlife Service officials deferred all questions about the decision to the Interior Department.The 15-member working group is composed of a diverse group of people who work or live in the Trinity River area, including environmentalists, utility interests, landowners, raft guides and business owners to name a few. The group?s charge is to be the public adviser and overseer for the Trinity Management Council, which manages the Trinity River Restoration Program.The federal program was created in a 2000 record of decision under the Clinton administration for the purpose of restoring fisheries in the Trinity River that have been impacted by dam construction, water diversions to the Central Valley and historic mining and logging operations.The Trinity Management Council?s eight members include the Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribes, the Interior Department?s Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Forest Service, Trinity County and the California Natural Resources Agency.The Times-Standard contacted several of the council?s representatives about the department?s decision, with many expressing concern about there being a lack of public oversight.?One council alternate, National Marine Fisheries Service fish biologist Seth Naman, said Friday that the input from the working group?s diverse membership has led to several changes on how the river is managed.?The [working group] provides really valuable insight,? Naman said Friday. ?Many of the Trinity River Management Council members value their thoughts and opinions and insights. I know for myself, I?m disappointed that [the working group] is no longer able to do what they have done in the past to provide us recommendations and their thoughts and opinions.?Hoopa Valley Tribe Chairman Ryan Jackson said he was ?shocked? by the decision, while the tribe?s Fisheries Director and management council representative Mike Orcutt said the group?s loss will represent a ?missing link? in the program?s operations.Yurok Tribe Fisheries Department Director Dave Hillemeier said community involvement is a ?vital part? of the restoration program?s success.?Absent the advisory board, the Trinity River Management Council should be diligent to hold extra public meetings (such as the one scheduled for last night to discuss flow management) to keep the public informed and to receive input regarding our effort to improve struggling spring and fall salmon stocks,? Hillemeier wrote in a statement Friday.California 2nd District Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) said he plans to register his concerns with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke ?and make sure he understands that it?s important for interested members of the public to be able to stay engaged in this vital effort.?Trinity River working group member and CalTrout North Coast Program Director Darren Mierau called the Interior Department?s decision a ?slap in the face,? especially given what he said the group was told after it was administratively frozen earlier this year.?The Department of Interior?s official line was they value the input from public stakeholder groups so much that they decided to put them all on hold to make sure they get it right with all these groups,? Mierau said.Mierau said that the working group is made up of all volunteers and is only reimbursed for travel expenses.The management council and working group have often been at odds with each other, especially about project funding, Stokely said.??The program has been troubled for many years,? Stokely said. ?There has been a lot of dissatisfaction with the way the program has been run.??At its last meeting in March, the working group reasserted its concerns about conflicts of interest and self-dealing by the management council?s members. The working group voted 9-2, with one abstention, in March to place these concerns, which had already been raised several times over the last decade, on the record.?The self-dealing nature of the [council] whereby member entities can vote on their own funding and block motions to do otherwise because of supermajority voting rules is inherently corrupt,? the working group stated in its motion. ?The [council] consistently rejects many of the [working group?s] recommendations and doesn?t even give the [working group] chair a vote on the [council], leading to tremendous frustration by [working group] members.?Orcutt said he does not see where the conflict of interest concerns fit into the working group being made inactive. Mierau said he does not have the insight to know whether the conflict of interest concerns played any role in the Interior Department?s decision.Stokely said he plans to attend the Trinity River Management Council?s upcoming meeting on Dec. 6 in Weaverville to call on the council to recommend Zinke reinstate the working group.?We?ve not given up,? Stokely said.Naman said that the various stakeholders from the working group will still have the ability to play a role in the restoration programs operations, but will now be limited to the public comment period of the meeting.?Basically, it?s going to make it more difficult and more challenging for these members to have a voice to make recommendations and it?s going to be more difficult for us to receive them in a coherent fashion and put it all together,? Naman said.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Dec  5 09:31:58 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2017 17:31:58 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Feds=E2=80=99_move_to_end_Trinity_River_w?=
 =?utf-8?q?atchdog_group_scrutinized?=
References: <140023667.2052269.1512495118996.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <140023667.2052269.1512495118996@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/general-news/20171204/feds-move-to-end-trinity-river-watchdog-group-scrutinized&template=printart

Feds? move to end Trinity River watchdog group scrutinized

Interior Department says paperwork not filed, group chairman says otherwise
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardMonday, December 4, 2017Was it politics or paperwork that led to the Trump administration?s decision last month to disband a public watchdog group tasked with overseeing a multi-million dollar, publicly-funded Trinity River restoration project last month??The U.S. Interior Department?s Press Secretary Heather Swift?told the Times-Standard last week?that it disbanded the watchdog group, known as the Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group, because the group did not submit a short justification memo on why the department should continue funding its $100,000 annual budget.?But the group?s chairman said to the Times-Standard on Monday that he was told on multiple times this year by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials that the paperwork had been filed.??There is some kind of bureaucratic mixup here,? Stokely said. ?I suggest they give us another chance.?Stokely said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials ? which have acted as a liaison between the group and Interior Department ? told him they had submitted the paperwork on several occasions between April and this month.??They were unsuccessful in getting approval for any meetings, and that includes June, July, September and December,? Stokely said Monday.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Assistant Regional External Affairs Director John Heil said Monday that all inquiries on this issue are being deferred to the Interior Department. This reporter?s attempts to contact the Interior Department?s press office for comment were not returned by Monday evening. The Times-Standard is still awaiting responses to questions sent to the Interior Department on Dec. 1 regarding the justification memos and the department?s decision to make the working group inactive.The 15-member working group serves as a public advisory body for the federal Trinity River Restoration Program, which began in 2000 and seeks to restore the Trinity River?s fisheries that had been affected by dam construction as well as historic logging and mining. The group, along with several other federal advisory bodies under the Interior Department, were frozen earlier this year by the department in order to allow the department to assess their purpose.California 2nd District Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) is set to send a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke this morning requesting answers and documentation regarding its decision to end the group. Huffman states in his letter that he was informed Fish and Wildlife officials had sent in repeated requests to the Interior Department to continue funding working group meetings.A draft of the letter obtained by the Times-Standard on Monday calls on the Interior Department to provide answers to when the department made its request for the justification memo, what deadline there was and why the Fish and Wildlife Service?s multiple requests for meetings were not an indicator that the advisory group ?was necessary and active??Huffman is asking the department to answer these questions by Dec. 22.Huffman is also requesting copies of Interior Department documents and communications regarding the working group since it began reviewing the status of the committee in May, ?including any justifications that were received but deemed inadequate.??The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group is essential to ensuring public accountability of the Trinity River Restoration Program and is crucial to the program?s success,? Huffman writes in the letter. ?In addition to the oversight requests above, I ask that [working group] immediately be declared active, that requests to hold [working group] meetings be acknowledged and approved, and that [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] be directed to advertise [working group] appointments before the expiration of current terms in March 2018.?Another working group member, David Steinhauser of Trinity River Rafting in Big Bar, said he has served on with the working group since 2001. Steinhauser said Monday that he is skeptical about the Interior Department?s claims that the paperwork wasn?t filed given that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials have always been very responsive to the group in the past.?To me, not submitting a simple memo is extremely unlikely,? Steinhauser said Monday.For this reason, Steinhauser said he believes the Interior Department?s decision was possibly politically motivated.The Interior Department?s move to make the group administratively inactive last month came as a shock to some members of the Trinity River Management Council, which manages the restoration program and is made up of six government agencies and two tribes.?The working group and council have butted heads on the restoration project?s management in the past, with some working group members recently expressing frustration because their recommendations are often not followed. The working group i also raised concerns in March of conflict of interest and self-dealing by the council agencies as it relates to project funding, which is an issue that had been raised by the group in the mid through late 2000s.?Steinhauser said he has been more supportive of the council?s operations compared to some of his colleagues, such as Stokely. Despite the disagreements and the council not always using the working group?s advice, Steinhauser said the loss of the working group represents a loss of dialogue and community integration.?I think having the [working group] in place adds to the credibility for the program because it was an opportunity for stakeholders to comment,? he said.Stokely held by his statement to the Times-Standard last week that the Interior Department had never asked him to submit this paperwork and that the department had not provided an explanation to them of why it disbanded the group in mid-November.Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Dec  5 10:15:01 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2017 18:15:01 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Your voice is needed to protect the Trinity River
In-Reply-To: <CAGpyTHRL1S4tWRuFr8Lm25Es8A=wspnok3vpdVbbGV3ZtRxXOQ@mail.gmail.com>
References: <28ecbd88a1a8b6ca927b578b8.da4777c2f7.20171205011432.969f275135.72649b03@mail201.suw101.mcdlv.net>
	<CAG7O7qqLsVcTHO610XonCyfG24uv5PEWb735y_FMEeP=nqkwvA@mail.gmail.com>
	<CAGpyTHRL1S4tWRuFr8Lm25Es8A=wspnok3vpdVbbGV3ZtRxXOQ@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1502338660.2069515.1512497701822@mail.yahoo.com>




   
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|  Tell Secretary Zinke that public interests matter.  |  View it in your browser.   |

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Speak up for the Trinity River
A few of us from CalTrout plus several friends and supporters were fortunate enough to spend last week fishing the Trinity River, the largest tributary to the Klamath. The clear water, blue skies, and silvery steelhead made for a memorable week and boosted our motivation to protect this important river. Coming off the river, we learned of the unfortunate news that the Department of the Interior had unilaterally ?de-activated? an important public group that oversees the Trinity River federal restoration program.?

As part of the Program?s management structure, the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) provides an opportunity for stakeholders to give policy and management advice about restoration efforts. The TAMWG is a volunteer-run group, and provides public oversight of the Trinity Management Council, which operates similar to a Board of Directors and oversees the multi-million-dollar Trinity River Restoration Program. The Program was created in 2000 with a mission of restoring fisheries in the Trinity River impacted by dam construction, water diversions to the Central Valley, and historic mining and logging operations.

We are shocked by this decision to disband the public working group. CalTrout?s North Coast Director, Darren Mierau, has been a member of the working group for four years and our organization has been involved since the Program?s inception.?

The Working Group and the Council go hand-in-hand. Stakeholder input from people that live or work in the Trinity River area is a crucial part of the restoration program?s success. These stakeholders have a right to be heard. These are voices of environmentalists, landowners, utility interests, commercial fishermen, rafting guides, and business owners to name a few? all who have a stake in the Trinity River?s health and recovery. ?

CalTrout recognizes the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group as a vital part of the restoration program?s success. Please help us reinstate it by contacting Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Send an email or mail a letter to Secretary Zinke ? We?ve provided a sample letter that you may use, or write your own. Send the email to exsec at ios.doi.gov, or mail to Secretary Ryan Zinke, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW Washington DC, 20240.

Click here for sample letter.

Tweet @SecretaryZinke ? Use our sample below or write your own!?

@SecretaryZinke Trinity River Restoration Prgm needs stakeholder involvement. Don?t take away their voice ? Reinstate TAM Working Group.  |

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|  ?Donate to California Trout?

Support our advocacy efforts fighting for a better California.  |
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|  Photo: "North Fork Trinity River" by Dustin Revel.
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Tue Dec  5 13:38:19 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2017 21:38:19 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian Week 48
	(December 2nd )
Message-ID: <MWHPR09MB18229237990376BFCA271409BA3D0@MWHPR09MB1822.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary though JW 48.

Trapping only at the Hatchery for the rest of the season. They finished up Chinook spawning today, if I'm not mistaken, and maybe have one more Coho spawning day this season, then it will be an all-steelhead show through March.
I hope you are all finding time to enjoy the sunshine and/or the rain, whether while fishing or whatever else you might be doing...
Cheers!
MC
******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Dec  6 11:46:07 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2017 19:46:07 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] CalTrout Sample letter in Support of TAMWG
References: <345381735.2946339.1512589567665.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <345381735.2946339.1512589567665@mail.yahoo.com>

All,
There was a link in the CalTrout action alert with a sample letter. ?Many thanks to California Trout. Here it is:http://caltrout.org/2017/12/sample-letter-sec-zinke-re-tamwg/?utm_source=California+Trout+List&utm_campaign=969f275135-Trout_Clout_Trinity_Working_Group&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cf2a51cf18-969f275135-300279961
California Trout, Inc.Solving complex resource issues while balancing the needs of wild fish and people.   
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Home?>?Uncategorized?> Sample Letter to Sec. Zinke Re: TAMWG
Sample Letter to Sec. Zinke Re: TAMWG

Sample Letter to Sec. Zinke Re: TAMWG
December 4, 2017?9 CommentsSend to?exsec at ios.doi.gov?or mail to?Secretary Ryan Zinke, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW Washington DC, 20240.Email subject: Public Comment ? Reinstate Trinity Adaptive Management Working GroupDear Secretary Zinke,I disagree with the recent decision to deactivate the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG), a primary component of the Trinity River Restoration Program. TAMWG is comprised of volunteers, a diverse group of stakeholders that provides valuable input to the Trinity Management Council. Taking away their input is taking away the public?s crucial opportunity to be closely involved in decisions affecting the Trinity River. Without the working group, stakeholder engagement will be limited to only the public comment period during Trinity Management Council meetings, which will not satisfy the public?s capacity to provide input.I encourage the Department of the Interior to immediately re-instate the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group.Sincerely,[Your name][City, State]FILED UNDER:?UNCATEGORIZEDSolving complex resource issues while balancing the needs of wild fish and people.??2017 California Trout Inc. All Rights Reserved. Photos and graphics ? CalTrout or used with permission.
360 Pine Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104, (415) 392-8887.
Fish photo, Jim Inman. Water photo,Wyatt Horsley. People photo, Jacob Katz.Return to top of page |?Home?|?Privacy Policy?|?Contact Us?|?News????
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Dec  8 10:59:29 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2017 18:59:29 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal Article - River concerns: TMC
 considers controversial winter flow proposal today
In-Reply-To: <CAGpyTHTbObBjo2qYNhazopc+aOHerz_m0gH+ccX+NuPC4MfO+g@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAG7O7qpYaL4NMBktegYwL8nWBp70imqcfAZrFcs1GtrU695gng@mail.gmail.com>
	<CAGpyTHTbObBjo2qYNhazopc+aOHerz_m0gH+ccX+NuPC4MfO+g@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <743081364.1326173.1512759569247@mail.yahoo.com>

This article was published on Wednesday. ?TS


River concerns: TMC considers controversial winter flow proposal today
   
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN T??he Trinity Journal
?   
   -  Dec 6, 2017
A Trinity River Restoration Program proposal for several peak water releases to the river in late winter and early spring comes before the Trinity Management Council today, Dec. 6.The TMC meeting starts at 9 a.m. The winter flows portion of the discussion is slated to start at 1:30 p.m. Time has been added for public comment after the winter flow presentation and before the vote, said Caryn Huntt DeCarlo, executive director of the restoration program.The meeting will be at the restoration program office at 1313 South Main St., near Tops Super Foods, in Weaverville.The staff proposal is for variable flows in the coming months when typically the release from Lewiston Dam to the Trinity River is kept at 300 cubic feet per second.The draft recommendation includes three pulse flow releases between February and April 2018 with a one-day ramp up to a maximum flow release of 1,800 cfs to be held for five hours starting in the late afternoon, then gradually ramping back down to 300 cfs over five days. Peak flows are scheduled on Tuesdays (Feb. 6, March 13, and April 10). The recommendation would shift the release of 20,000 acre-feet of water from later flows to this time period, so it would not increase the overall annual allocation to the river.The proposal has drawn protests over the impact on steelhead fishing and late notice to fishing guides and hotels that already have reservations from anglers.Restoration program staff explained the ?why? and ?what? of the project at a public meeting last Thursday, but were vague on the ?when,? which they initially said was still being hammered out and would not be available until today?s TMC meeting. Responding to Thursday?s comments, on Friday they shared a proposed, draft hydrograph.The higher releases will bring more food to naturally spawned steelhead and salmon fry at an important time, fish biologists with the program said.The fry emerge from the spawning gravels during the time period targeted. Their food is bugs, and it?s important they grow enough to have a better shot at making the long migration out to the sea, said fisheries biologist Kyle De Juilio.?Salmon and steelhead hold in place and food passes by and they pluck it,? he said. ?We want to increase the amount of food passing by.?By boosting flows to as high as 1,800 cfs instead of keeping them at 300 cfs, items such as leaves wash in and certain types of bugs go after them, De Juilio said. Other bugs get swept into the river as well, adding to the food supply.The proposed flow increase would affect fishing.According to the presentation, above Rush Creek the waters would be too high for wade fishing on two to three days of each month during the 80-day period of implementation. It would be too high for drift boat fishing on one to two days of each month, though some in the audience felt those numbers were too low. No predictions are made as to when the river will be fishable below Rush Creek due to added waters from tributaries.It was noted that the pulses would be scheduled during weekdays and would not be so high that the Trinity PowerPlant turbines would need to be bypassed.Results of the project are to be monitored, with drift samples taken to see what is in the water and gastric lavage on small fish to determine what they?ve been eating.Most of the responses to the plan ranged from skeptical to irate.However, fishing guide Matt Dover was generally supportive of the plan, saying increasing the food for fish will be a good thing.When questions were raised about just how well the program is doing at restoring the fisheries, Dover said, ?As a fishing guide I?m seeing more and more fish spawning in the mainstem than I have ever seen.?Fishing guide Lonnie Boles had another perspective.?We?re forfeiting our income for two months because of this,? an angry Boles said, demanding to know if restoration staff would forego their salaries for two months.Boles was upset with the short notice for a plan the program has been working on for over a year.?I?m backed against the wall,? he said. ?I want direct answers. I want to make a living.?From Indian Creek Lodge, Mary Perkins said the two days of the week the river won?t be fishable during each peak is significant.??If you asked the mill to shut down two days a week it would affect a lot of things,? she said, asking if that?s reasonable.Dover responded, ?It is if you can have the mill long-term.?Trinity County Chamber of Commerce President Wayne Agner said details on the proposal were insufficient. Not having the proposed hydrograph with specifics of when the flow will be increased until the decision is being made gives the public ?zero time? to weigh in, he said. (The draft proposed hydrograph has since been distributed).Agner also said he?s heard from a number of hotel owners that people are already making reservations for that time period.The owner of Indian Creek Lodge, John Letton, questioned the validity of the bug monitoring that is planned and asked if it has been established that the fry in the river are undernourished.?It doesn?t really ring right,? he said.De Juilio responded that there is lots of science that show when flows increase bugs do as well. More fish can be grown in the same amount of habitat, he said.Letton replied that the fishing guides already have clients booked, and said, ?sounds like you?re all ready to go ? a year from now.?At several points throughout the meeting, program staff pointed out that everyone in the room wants the same thing ? more fish. Regarding the possibility of delaying the plan for the year, it was suggested that the comment be made to the Trinity Management Council.Note: Trinity County Chamber of Commerce President Wayne Agner also is owner/publisher of The Trinity Journal.


   
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Mon Dec 11 09:23:56 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2017 17:23:56 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian Week 49
	(December 9)
Message-ID: <MWHPR09MB1822F0E0F2606EE0B74D8008BA370@MWHPR09MB1822.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW 49.

A reminder:
Please send in any fish reward tags you might have for the season...especially for any Chinook you might have encountered. Having the most fully informed estimate going into the management process is best.

Cheers!
MC


******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From sari at sisqtel.net  Mon Dec 11 11:00:58 2017
From: sari at sisqtel.net (Sari Sommarstrom)
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2017 11:00:58 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] CBB: How Timing Of Fishing Seasons Impacts Spawning,
	Life History Patterns
Message-ID: <013801d372b2$62359420$26a0bc60$@sisqtel.net>

The Columbia Basin Bulletin: Weekly Fish and Wildlife News

www.cbbulletin.com

December 1, 2017             Issue No. 853

 

Study Brings Attention To How Timing Of Fishing Seasons Impacts Spawning,
Life History Patterns

 

A new University of Washington study points to an often overlooked factor
that is hampering the ability of fish to reproduce: the timing of fishing
seasons. 

 

The paper, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/faf.12248/full,
appearing online last month in the journal Fish and Fisheries, is one of
only a handful of studies that considers how the timing of fishing efforts
might disproportionately target certain fish and change the life history
patterns of entire populations.

 

"The more you think about it, the more pervasive you realize it is," said
senior author Tom Quinn, a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences.
"The real purpose of this essay is to raise the profile of this neglected
issue."

 

The authors build the case for more attention on timing by outlining
examples of how fishing seasons have altered a population's makeup --
specifically, its diversity and productivity. 

 

Fishing regulations, the patterns and habits of people who fish, and even
weather can increase fishing efforts at certain times, putting more pressure
on fish during a short period. For salmon in particular, migration and
spawning are timed so that both parents and offspring have the highest
chance for survival. Fishing that targets only early or late-arriving fish
can, over many generations, reduce the numbers moving and spawning at the
time that is most favorable for them biologically, the researchers explain. 

 

This may also affect the ability of fish to adapt to climate change. If
colder stream water necessary for spawning turns up later each autumn due to
climate change, fish must "choose" between being fished or being fried --
when they otherwise would adapt to changes and swim upstream whenever water
temperatures proved adequate.

 

"We are reducing the ability of fish to find good environmental conditions,"
said lead author Michael Tillotson, a UW doctoral student in aquatic and
fishery sciences. "We're perhaps also reducing the ability of fish to adapt
to climate change."

 

Salmon return from the ocean to the streams in which they were born to spawn
at predictable times throughout the year. The migration and spawning timing
vary over the years for each salmonid species, but factors such as daylight
hours and water temperature are natural markers that drive when salmon will
start their journey home.

 

Commercial and tribal fishing seasons are built around salmon's reproductive
timing; regulations vary, but in general, fishing can occur in the ocean and
rivers starting on a specific day as salmon migrate home to spawn. The
season ends on a predetermined date, or when a certain number of fish are
caught.

 

For example, if a fishery opens on Aug. 1, salmon that return to their natal
streams before that date are home free. In contrast, fish migrating on the
first of the month or after can face an incredible amount of fishing
pressure, especially if the weather is favorable and the conditions good for
harvesting. 

 

When this pattern repeats year after year, a population can evolve to
migrate earlier or later because parents that migrate early tend to have
kids that migrate early, too. But those changes also affect their ability to
survive; migrating earlier in the summer means spawning in warmer water,
which isn't favorable for egg survival. Returning too late also decreases
chances for survival.

 

"By disrupting this long-evolved distribution of timing, you can reduce the
reproductive output of adults or the survival of their offspring," Tillotson
said. "This paper is serving as a call to attention for researchers."

 

While salmonid species were the focus of this study, the findings could be
applied to other fish that have equally complex migration and breeding
behaviors. Fishing seasons often are set around periods when breeding adults
congregate in a specific location, which also puts undue pressure on fish
during an important period of their lives.

 

Fishing season dates should reflect the biology of fish, recognize the
importance of timing and be responsive to changes, the authors say. The goal
of management, in addition to making sure enough fish spawn, should be
ensuring those that do reflect the diversity of the total population. This,
the researchers said, is key for giving salmon and other fish the best
chance to adapt in a changing world.

 

They hope other scientists and fisheries managers will apply these findings
to their own data and respective fish populations, and ultimately devise
fishing regulations that will be viable for the future.

 

"We would like to think creatively about how to integrate climate-driven
processes with fishing to be more protective of the populations, and more
sustainable in fishing practices in the long run," Quinn said.

 

 

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From tstokely at att.net  Mon Dec 11 11:15:40 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2017 19:15:40 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal: Public health warning about drinking
	water
References: <2136749354.3013915.1513019740226.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <2136749354.3013915.1513019740226@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_fae8fd48-dc7e-11e7-be39-130103ed2c17.html
Public health warning about drinking water
   
   - Dec 8, 2017?Updated?Dec 8, 2017
?- ?0
   
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The following news release is from Trinity County Environmental Health and Trinity County Public HealthILLEGAL MARIJUANA GROWS ON PUBLIC LANDS ARE POISONING TRINITY COUNTY?S DRINKING WATER12/8/2017 (Trinity County, CA)?Trinity County?s Environmental Health Director and Trinity County?s Public Health Officer are notifying the public about water quality concerns they have along the Trinity River and its tributaries.Illegal marijuana grows on public lands are of increasing concern.? According to recent study titled?Sciencewith Solutions: Documentation, Reclamation and Monitoring of the Ecological Impacts of Marijuana Cultivation on Endangered Species?(IERC 2017)1, multiple sites evaluated in Trinity County have tested positive for California banned pesticides and residuals of those pesticides spanning over several years, and they found that even sites that are several years old continue to contaminate the soil and leach chemicals into the surrounding area.Illegal marijuana cultivation on public lands is often not cleaned up or remediated due to lack of funding, so many of these sites remain and still have the potential to contaminate Trinity County?s drinking water, the wildlife, the aquatic life, and the vegetation. These illegal grow sites are found to be wide spread throughout the South Fork of the Trinity River and its tributaries, the North Fork of the Trinity River and its tributaries, and throughout publically owned land in Trinity County (A list of known areas are listed below). It?s unlikely that current testing being done, even in public water systems, is ?capable of finding pesticides from these grows in the drinking water, and treatment to remove pesticides depends on the pesticide that?s contaminating the stream. Variations of hot/cold weather, and wet/dry weather can determine whether or not a stream is actively being contaminated.One of the major pesticides being found in these grow sites is a US banned pesticide by the name of Carbofuran and because of the tendency of these illegal growers to use creek beds and proximate areas to cultivate, we have decided to warn the public about the potential contaminates polluting surface waters.Carbofuran is a toxic pesticide of the carbamate class of pesticides and the over-riding concern is that most of Trinity County?s drinking water sources could be impacted due to the fact that most large water systems are water diversions of the Trinity River. We will continue to share more information as we receive it. Here are some additional resources/information links:For testing of your water source at any given point in time (may not give an accurate representation throughout the year due to activity and environment)?North Coast Labs in Arcata, CA:?EPA 531.1 - ?N-methyl-carbamoyl oximes and carbamates?includes testing for Carbofuran and?EPA 507 - Nitrogen-Phosphorous Containing Pesticides?includes Thiobencarb).The bottom line, and the point we wish to emphasize, is that if you drink water down-stream from an illegal grow site you need to treat your drinking water out of an abundance of caution.?How do you treat water before drinking??Many of the pesticides of concern can be treated with a Granular Activated Carbon filter and non-ionic polymeric resin filters. Individuals can Google NSF 42, 53, and 401 point-of-use or point-of-entry filters, or they can call our office at 623-1459 for more information.Here's the list of affected Trinity County waterways:Bar CreekBarker CreekBaxter GulchBear CreekBear GulchBell CreekBierce CreekBig Bar CreekBig CanyonBig CreekBig Creek (Denny)Big Creek (Hyampom)Big French CreekBlack Rock CreekBrock GulchBrowns CanyonBrowns CreekCanadian CreekCave CreekChina CreekClawton GulchClear GulchCold Spring?s CreekConner CreekConrad GulchCopper CreekCorral CreekDark Can CreekDeadwood CreekDigger Pine FlatDobbins GulchDon Juan CreekDrinkwater GulchDuncan CreekDutch CreekDutton CreekE. Branch E. Fork N. Fork TrinityE. Fork Browns CreekE. Fork S. Fork TrinityEagle CreekGold CreekGrassy Flat CreekHastings CreekHawkins CreekHayfork CreekHayshed CreekHeadwaters Grouse CreekHeadwaters N. Fork EelIndian CreekItalian CreekJim Jam CreekJims CreekKekawaka CreekKerlin CreekKingsbury GulchLine GulchLittle Brown?s CreekLittle CreekLittle French CreekLower Big French CreekLower Devil?s CanyonLower Eltapom CreekLower Grass Valley CreekLower Indian CreekLower Mumbo CreekLower Rattlesnake CreekLower Tule CreekMcAllister CreekMcClellan PlaceMcDonald RiverMiddle Eltapom CreekMill CreekMiner?s CreekMonroe CreekN. Dobbyn CreekNaufus CreekNorth Fork GulchNorth Fork Trinity RiverOlsen CreekPanther CreekPelletreau CreekPlummer CreekPost CreekPrince CreekProspect CreekQuinby CreekRed Lassic CreekRich GulchRipstein GulchRush CreekSalt CreekSalt Creek (Eel tributary)Shell Mountain CreekSmokey CreekSouth Fork Trinity RiverSulfur Grade CreekThurston GulchTom Lang GulchTreloar CreekUpper Big Creek (HYK)Upper Big French CreekUpper Corral CreekUpper Trinity RiverUpper Tule CreekW. Fork Van DuzenW. Hayfork CreekWilson CreekYellow Jacket CreekArticle referenced above:Gabriel, M.W.(1), G.M., Wengert(1), J.M., Higley(2), D.L. Clifford(3), R.H., Poppenga(4),L.W. Woods(4), S. McMillian(3), S. Torres(3), (2017)?Science with Solutions:Documentation, Reclamation and Monitoring of the Ecological Impacts of Marijuana Cultivation on Endangered Species, Final Performance Report, Grant #F14AP00021, USFWS: Endangered Species Act (Section-6) Grant-in-Aid,?http://www.trinitycounty.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=5020(December 6, 2017)
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Dec 13 08:46:03 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2017 16:46:03 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] River plan for winter pulses put off
References: <1353124589.4686328.1513183563906.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1353124589.4686328.1513183563906@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_4a944922-dfb0-11e7-9c81-4760e68cfd46.html

River plan for winter pulses put off
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
   
   - 
The Trinity Management Council decided last week that a proposal by Trinity River Restoration Program staff for higher winter ?pulse? flow releases to the Trinity River is not ready for implementation yet.With that ? barring any safety of dams releases that could be needed ? release from Lewiston Dam to the Trinity River are to be kept at a steady 300 cubic feet per second until the annual spring high flow begins.However, at their meeting in Weaverville Dec. 6, TMC members voiced support for moving toward more natural flows, which would be at their highest rather than at their lowest in the winter if it weren?t for the dams. The proposal for this coming winter was seen as a bridge to a more natural flow regime. ?Program staff have said studies elsewhere show an increase in bugs that juvenile salmon and steelhead eat entering the water when flows are increased. It provides more food to the fry at a critical time and supports more fish in the same-size area, said fisheries biologist Kyle De Juilio.De Juilio said food availability has not yet been studied on the Trinity River, and the plan was to gather information prior to the flow ramp up for a baseline and to monitor during the higher flows.The proposal to implement several pulse flows of up to 1,800 cfs in late winter and early spring drew protests from fishing guides and business owners. The flows would make the river unfishable at times.?We have trips on the books. Some of them were booked a year in advance,? said Bryan Quick from The Fly Shop. ?It makes it really tough to interface with our clients on the phone ? to get them to come back out.?There were other issues as well.The Solicitor General has requested more information before providing environmental approval, said TMC Chair Don Bader, area manager for the federal Bureau of Reclamation?s Northern California office.Also, a technical white paper by program staff for the proposal is still in draft form.From the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, TMC member Nicholas Hetrick said members are ?super supportive? of the idea of more natural river flows, but noted the white paper has undergone five or six scientific reviews, and ?it?s still not ready for prime time.??We need our ducks in a row,? he said.Others felt that shifting the 20,000 acre-feet of water needed for the pulses from other parts of the flow schedule as planned could be a mistake.?We support the science,? said Mike Orcutt, TMC member from the Hoopa Valley Tribe.But he suggested that possibly some of the 50,000 acre-feet of water allocated to Humboldt County could be used. Other possibilities are having the additional water released under the same authority that allows the release to protect salmon in the lower Klamath River, or possibly using the safety of dams releases to the same effect, he said.From the audience, Tom Stokely who represents the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen?s Associations, said there is evidence the winter pulse flows could improve the fishery.But he added that the hydrograph for the Trinity River Record of Decision was developed over many years, and said the message from shifting the water could be that ?the water isn?t needed. If I was a CVP customer I?d start asking.?It would be better to seek another source such as the water to Humboldt, he said.Also in the audience, John Letton from Indian Creek Lodge remained skeptical.With the limited amount of water, ?what incremental increase in food supply will that cause?? he asked.He emphasized that it?s not just the fishing guides who will lose business. For example, he said Indian Creek Lodge has 13 employees working at the lodge and restaurant and their hours will be affected.?There?s an economic impact there on 13 different families,? Letton said. ?It?s a real price to be paid.??The number one tourist for Trinity County is the steelhead fisherman,? said Kelli Gant, vice president of the Trinity County Chamber of Commerce.Some winters the river is too high to fish, she said, but when it?s manmade the analysis should include economics and people.From The Fly Shop, Quick estimated that with the numbers of days the river would be too high to fish under the proposal, the local economy could lose $152,000 including payments to guides, lodging, meals, fuel, shuttles and entertainment.?I?d love to see a robust fishery for so many reasons,? Quick said, but he added that the logic of the 1,800 cfs release is unclear.?I definitely hear the economic impacts,? said TMC member Dave Hillemeier of the Yurok Tribe. He noted that the Trinity fish populations ?have not been doing all that fantastic the last couple years or so,? and the tribe went two years with basically no fishing.The proposal seemed to be a way to gain the science needed to move to a more natural hydrograph, he said.Safety of dams releases can also affect fishing, but TMC member and Trinity County Sup. Keith Groves said that?s different.?That?s the point, it?s not a choice,? he said. ?This is. We?re just throwing something out and we are economically impacting people.?Groves, too, said he likes the concept of more natural flows, but he doesn?t know that the science is adequate to back up rushing into it this winter.Hillemeier, from the Yurok Tribe, said if this is a substantial interference for the guides than maybe it should be put off a year. Noting that some have said they need a year?s notice at least, he asked if this coming March would provide enough time.That, Quick responded, ?would be awesome.?Ultimately, the TMC voted for the restoration program staff to develop guidelines for the use of potential safety of dams releases, with that information to be shared with Central Valley operations.It was noted that a safety of dams release is not a given. In fact, Bader noted, ?the way the weather?s trending it looks like it?s not going to be the motherlode of all winters.?The TMC also voted to take action at their March meeting on the managed winter-spring flows for 2019.   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Dec 13 08:49:42 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2017 16:49:42 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] River advisory group axed
References: <983806672.4664847.1513183782204.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <983806672.4664847.1513183782204@mail.yahoo.com>

River advisory group axed

  
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River advisory group axed
 By By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal The Interior Department has taken an action that effectively dissolves the advisory group that provides input on...  |   |

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River advisory group axed
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
?The Interior Department has taken an action that effectively dissolves the advisory group that provides input on Trinity River Restoration Program decisions.?We don?t know why they did it,? said Tom Stokely, who was chair of the advisory group known as the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG). Stokely and other members were advised in November that the Interior Department had declared the group ?administratively inactive.?The effect of that, Stokely said, is ?we?re not allowed to meet? and soon the terms of existing members will expire.Formation of the TAMWG was called for in the Trinity River Record of Decision signed by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in 2000.The group had 15 stakeholder members with a variety of interests. Stokely represented commercial fishermen. The group made recommendations to the Trinity Management Council, which is the agency/tribal board of directors for the river restoration program.The TAMWG last met in March. Soon after, it was suspended by the new Trump administration along with many other federal advisory commissions. Their charters and charges were being reviewed to ensure compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and Trump?s executive orders, Interior Department Press Secretary Heather Swift told the Journal at the time.Members had hoped the suspension would be lifted, and Stokely said he knows of other groups where that happened. But not for the TAMWG.The Interior Department did not respond to queries from the Journal over the past few days.Swift, the public affairs officer, was quoted in the Eureka Times-Standard last week as saying the stakeholder group was deactivated because the group didn?t file paperwork justifying why it should continue operating.?Their decision to not seek continuation led to the group becoming inactive,? Swift said in an email to the paper.?I was never asked for anything,? Stokely responded, but he added that staff from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife in Arcata submitted paperwork on multiple occasions seeking approval for the group to resume meeting.?Something?s fishy,? Stokely said.Or, this could be a case of bureaucratic mix-up. ?That may well be the case,? Stokely said, and if that?s so then Interior could reconsider.Another possibility, he said, is the TAMWG?s criticism of the Trinity Management Council. The stakeholder group drafted a letter this year to the TMC chair stating, ?The self-dealing nature of the TMC whereby member entities can vote on their own funding and block motions to do otherwise because of supermajority voting rules is inherently corrupt.? The TAMWG also said its recommendations are consistently rejected and the fact that its chairman can?t be a voting member of the TMC is a source of frustration.Yet another possibility, Stokely said, is his work on behalf of commercial fishermen and in opposition to the Westlands Water District.?It may just be I?m the chairman and I?m a troublemaker,? he said.Rep. Jared Huffman has sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke saying that the stakeholder group is ?an important oversight committee? and essential to the restoration program. The group made up of Trinity River area residents, sport and commercial fishermen, water users and utility interests must be restored to its former status, Huffman?s letter states.Last Thursday, the topic came up at the TMC meeting as Stokely requested a letter supporting reactivation of the stakeholder group.TMC representatives of agencies under the Interior Department, including Don Bader of the federal Bureau of Reclamation, noted they?ve been told to refer any questions on the issue to the Interior Department where the decision was made.Several TMC members said they would support signing a letter. Trinity River Restoration Program Executive Director Caryn DeCarlo, who is not on the TMC, said she hopes the matter gets resolved and ?as executive director I recognize the incredible value of the TAMWG.?At one point Bader, from the federal Bureau of Reclamation, noted that the decision has been made, and he and the representative from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ?need to be considerate of the decision.?However, all four federal employees on the TMC, even those from agencies that are not under the Interior Department, said they would have to recuse themselves from the vote.State and tribal representatives indicated they would sign such a letter. However, there was no point in a vote after that, Stokely said, because under the TMC bylaws a motion can?t be passed with four of the eight recusing.   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Dec 13 09:59:09 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:59:09 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity County:Trespass marijuana grows taint streams
References: <264602228.4760448.1513187949840.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <264602228.4760448.1513187949840@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_ed537630-dfae-11e7-aa8d-f3a930da1541.html



County: Trespass marijuana grows taint streams

Officials urge water treatment
By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal?- 3 hrs ago
?- ?0
?- ?3 min to read
Toxicant pile containing Carbofuran, zinc and aluminum phosphide as well as several hundred pounds of soluble fertilizer less than 10 feet from a Salt Creek tributary.ContributedTrinity County?s Environmental Health director and Public Health officer are warning residents to ensure measures are taken to remove pesticides from their drinking water if their source is downstream from an illegal marijuana cultivation site.The announcement made late Friday afternoon by Kristy Anderson and Dr. David Herfindahl includes a long list of streams in the county known to have been impacted by illegal grows (see sidebar list).Of particular concern is the U.S. banned pesticide Carbofuran which has been found in the water or soil near some grow sites, including a site in Trinity, in a regional study.?If you drink water downstream from an illegal grow site you need to treat your drinking water out of an abundance of caution,? Anderson and Herfindahl stated in the announcement.The warning was prompted by the recent completion of a study that evaluated multiple sites in Trinity and nearby counties, Anderson said.The study, ?Science with Solutions: Documentation, Reclamation and Monitoring of the Ecological Impacts of Marijuana Cultivation in Endangered Species,? by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Integral Ecology Research Center and state Department of Fish & Wildlife looked at illegal, trespass grows on public and private lands in a seven-county area including Trinity. Nine trespass sites were intensively assessed and there were one-time assessments of many more sites. Reclamation work was done on 29 sites.The work was done with the assistance of the Trinity County Sheriff?s Office and other law enforcement agencies.In the nine areas intensively assessed, at one grow site in the area of Hobo Gulch near Helena, water testing was positive for the pesticide Diazinon in 2014, and trace insecticides in 2016. Soils testing in 2014 at the Hobo site also revealed an anticoagulant rodenticide.In 2015, soils testing found Carbofuran at the Telephone 2 grow site in the watershed that drains into Salt Creek.Pesticides were also found in waters and soils near illegal grows in other counties, some detected well after the marijuana plants had been removed.Anderson said the decision was made to release the long list of Trinity County waterways where trespass grows were found even though testing has not been done on many of the waterways.The growers are ?using the same methods,? she said. ?We had to kind of draw from that to at least warn the public because nobody is doing testing on every one of those sites.?It has taken time to get together the list of waterways with illegal grows based on information provided by law enforcement, Anderson said, but her goal is to release the information more quickly.?Some of them are still pending criminal investigations,? she noted.Anderson said although there certainly could be pesticide use going on at marijuana grows on private property that are not trespass grows, she isn?t commenting other than to say that its uncommon for her to see them on private property and ?I haven?t found any of those banned ones myself on private land operations.?Large operations such as timber companies use licensed pest control appliers and are required to test the water downstream from where they apply, she noted.The Journal has followed up with the two largest water suppliers in the county about their treatment systems and response to the county announcement.Regarding waterways affected by trespass grows, the list is already so long it might be easier to say what?s not on it.One notable exception is East and West Weaver Creek. East Weaver Creek is the primary water source for the Weaverville Community Services District, although the district uses the Trinity River (on the list) for its Douglas City customers and, at certain times of the summer, for parts of Weaverville.The large flow of the Trinity River means contaminants are diluted much more than smaller waterways, and the district pulls its water from six feet below the river bed at Douglas City, said WCSD General Manager Wes Scribner.Scribner said the district?s treatment process for all its plants does in fact use the carbon process that Public Health recommends.?All of our filters have carbon in them and it should pull any contaminants out,? Scribner said.While the district does test its water for other contaminants, it doesn?t test for pesticides. The district will be getting in touch with the laboratory it uses to see about the best way to test for the pesticides of concern, he said. He?s hoping the county health agencies follow up with guidance as well.In Hayfork, Trinity County Waterworks District #1 General Manager Craig Hair said he?s sent the county?s information to the state health department.The district tested for numerous pesticides about 10 years ago and didn?t find detectable amounts, but those results are out of date, Hair said, and ?that doesn?t mean there wasn?t any in there. You could get a slug that went through five minutes before.??It literally is like trying to chase a ghost,? Hair said.The district does use activated carbon in its filtering system for taste and odor control in a different method than WCSD?s, he said, but he added that he doesn?t know if it would be effective on Carbofuran. The Big Creek watershed is fairly rugged, Hair said, and he hasn?t heard of huge grows there.There are many more water systems in Trinity County, from systems serving smaller communities to those used by individual residences.Additional resourcesHere are some additional resources/information links:For testing of your water source at any given point in time (may not give an accurate representation throughout the year due to activity and environment) ? North Coast Labs in Arcata, CA: EPA 531.1 - ?N-methyl-carbamoyl oximes and carbamates includes testing for Carbofuran and EPA 507 - Nitrogen-Phosphorous Containing Pesticides includes Thiobencarb).Many of the pesticides of concern can be treated with a Granular Activated Carbon filter and non-ionic polymeric resin filters. Individuals can Google NSF 42, 53, and 401 point-of-use or point-of-entry filters, or call Trinity County Environmental Health at 623-1459 for more information.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Dec 13 17:48:27 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2017 01:48:27 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal Editorial: Answers,
	reinstatement needed on TAMWG
References: <625671613.5135134.1513216108005.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <625671613.5135134.1513216108005@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/opinion/editorials/article_4cec23a2-dfab-11e7-918d-bf8eb46eaa61.html

Answers, reinstatement needed on TAMWG
   
   - 11 hrs ago
?- ?0
   
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In a move that shocked many, the stakeholder advisory group that provides input on Trinity River Restoration Program decisions has been effectively dissolved by the Interior Department.?We don?t know why they did it,? Tom Stokely, who was chair of the advisory group known as the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG), told the Journal. Formation of the TAMWG was called for in the Trinity River Record of Decision signed by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in 2000, and serves as the advisory group to the Trinity Management Council, which oversees the Trinity River Restoration Program.TAMWG was suspended earlier this year by the new Trump administration along with many other federal advisory commissions. That, in and of itself, isn?t unusual. Commissions and committees regularly come under review under new administrations. Most groups are up and running again in short order.Not TAMWG, and no one can provide a direct answer as to why. The Interior Department indicated the group was deactivated because the group didn?t file paperwork justifying why it should continue operating.?I was never asked for anything,? Stokely responded. And staff from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife in Arcata told Stokely it has submitted paperwork, in addition to seeking approval on multiple occasions for the group to resume meeting. So the government?s claim that this is an ?inactive? group doesn?t hold water.On one level this could just be your typical bureaucratic snafu that happens with new administrations.But no, this goes deeper. We see something far more sinister in this ? yet another attempt to secure more Trinity River water for the Central Valley Project by taking away the public?s crucial opportunity to be closely involved in decisions affecting the Trinity River.During the most recent Trinity Management Council meeting, federal government representatives declined to support a letter requesting reactivation of the stakeholder group. TMC representatives of agencies under the Interior Department, including Don Bader of the federal Bureau of Reclamation, noted they?ve been told to refer any questions on the issue to the Interior Department where the decision was made.Their not-so-subtle message to TAMWG supporters: The decision has been made, get over it. We?re not losing our jobs over this.With former Westlands Water District lobbyist David Bernhardt now a deputy director at the Department of Interior, it?s not hard to see how this is playing out. Weaken stakeholder input on Trinity River issues and ease the path for another water grab.Not on our watch.We ask Interior officials to immediately reinstate the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group.In the meantime, we ask county and state officials to exercise every ?Area of Origin? right on the books.It?s also time we find a way to start charging for the export of our most valuable resource. We see no reason Trinity County shouldn?t be getting $20 an acre foot or more for the first 500,000 acre feet of water going over the hill, and even more for every acre foot thereafter. That would fund a fair amount of new sheriff?s deputies, road repairs, and longer library hours, along with other much-needed projects.If Interior thinks our water is that valuable (and in California it is), then Trinity County deserves to bereimbursed for such.The county also deserves a healthy and viable river fishery and ecosystem that comes from public oversight of the controversial restoration program, whose projects over the years have met with decidedly mixed results. End the charade and reinstate TAMWG now.
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Dec 13 08:49:42 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2017 16:49:42 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] River advisory group axed
References: <983806672.4664847.1513183782204.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <983806672.4664847.1513183782204@mail.yahoo.com>

River advisory group axed

  
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River advisory group axed
 By By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal The Interior Department has taken an action that effectively dissolves the advisory group that provides input on...  |   |

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River advisory group axed
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
?The Interior Department has taken an action that effectively dissolves the advisory group that provides input on Trinity River Restoration Program decisions.?We don?t know why they did it,? said Tom Stokely, who was chair of the advisory group known as the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG). Stokely and other members were advised in November that the Interior Department had declared the group ?administratively inactive.?The effect of that, Stokely said, is ?we?re not allowed to meet? and soon the terms of existing members will expire.Formation of the TAMWG was called for in the Trinity River Record of Decision signed by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in 2000.The group had 15 stakeholder members with a variety of interests. Stokely represented commercial fishermen. The group made recommendations to the Trinity Management Council, which is the agency/tribal board of directors for the river restoration program.The TAMWG last met in March. Soon after, it was suspended by the new Trump administration along with many other federal advisory commissions. Their charters and charges were being reviewed to ensure compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act and Trump?s executive orders, Interior Department Press Secretary Heather Swift told the Journal at the time.Members had hoped the suspension would be lifted, and Stokely said he knows of other groups where that happened. But not for the TAMWG.The Interior Department did not respond to queries from the Journal over the past few days.Swift, the public affairs officer, was quoted in the Eureka Times-Standard last week as saying the stakeholder group was deactivated because the group didn?t file paperwork justifying why it should continue operating.?Their decision to not seek continuation led to the group becoming inactive,? Swift said in an email to the paper.?I was never asked for anything,? Stokely responded, but he added that staff from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife in Arcata submitted paperwork on multiple occasions seeking approval for the group to resume meeting.?Something?s fishy,? Stokely said.Or, this could be a case of bureaucratic mix-up. ?That may well be the case,? Stokely said, and if that?s so then Interior could reconsider.Another possibility, he said, is the TAMWG?s criticism of the Trinity Management Council. The stakeholder group drafted a letter this year to the TMC chair stating, ?The self-dealing nature of the TMC whereby member entities can vote on their own funding and block motions to do otherwise because of supermajority voting rules is inherently corrupt.? The TAMWG also said its recommendations are consistently rejected and the fact that its chairman can?t be a voting member of the TMC is a source of frustration.Yet another possibility, Stokely said, is his work on behalf of commercial fishermen and in opposition to the Westlands Water District.?It may just be I?m the chairman and I?m a troublemaker,? he said.Rep. Jared Huffman has sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke saying that the stakeholder group is ?an important oversight committee? and essential to the restoration program. The group made up of Trinity River area residents, sport and commercial fishermen, water users and utility interests must be restored to its former status, Huffman?s letter states.Last Thursday, the topic came up at the TMC meeting as Stokely requested a letter supporting reactivation of the stakeholder group.TMC representatives of agencies under the Interior Department, including Don Bader of the federal Bureau of Reclamation, noted they?ve been told to refer any questions on the issue to the Interior Department where the decision was made.Several TMC members said they would support signing a letter. Trinity River Restoration Program Executive Director Caryn DeCarlo, who is not on the TMC, said she hopes the matter gets resolved and ?as executive director I recognize the incredible value of the TAMWG.?At one point Bader, from the federal Bureau of Reclamation, noted that the decision has been made, and he and the representative from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ?need to be considerate of the decision.?However, all four federal employees on the TMC, even those from agencies that are not under the Interior Department, said they would have to recuse themselves from the vote.State and tribal representatives indicated they would sign such a letter. However, there was no point in a vote after that, Stokely said, because under the TMC bylaws a motion can?t be passed with four of the eight recusing.   
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From tstokely at att.net  Wed Dec 13 17:48:27 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2017 01:48:27 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity Journal Editorial: Answers,
	reinstatement needed on TAMWG
References: <625671613.5135134.1513216108005.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <625671613.5135134.1513216108005@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.trinityjournal.com/opinion/editorials/article_4cec23a2-dfab-11e7-918d-bf8eb46eaa61.html

Answers, reinstatement needed on TAMWG
   
   - 11 hrs ago
?- ?0
   
   - Facebook
   - Twitter
   - Email
   
   - Facebook
   - Twitter
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In a move that shocked many, the stakeholder advisory group that provides input on Trinity River Restoration Program decisions has been effectively dissolved by the Interior Department.?We don?t know why they did it,? Tom Stokely, who was chair of the advisory group known as the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG), told the Journal. Formation of the TAMWG was called for in the Trinity River Record of Decision signed by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in 2000, and serves as the advisory group to the Trinity Management Council, which oversees the Trinity River Restoration Program.TAMWG was suspended earlier this year by the new Trump administration along with many other federal advisory commissions. That, in and of itself, isn?t unusual. Commissions and committees regularly come under review under new administrations. Most groups are up and running again in short order.Not TAMWG, and no one can provide a direct answer as to why. The Interior Department indicated the group was deactivated because the group didn?t file paperwork justifying why it should continue operating.?I was never asked for anything,? Stokely responded. And staff from the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife in Arcata told Stokely it has submitted paperwork, in addition to seeking approval on multiple occasions for the group to resume meeting. So the government?s claim that this is an ?inactive? group doesn?t hold water.On one level this could just be your typical bureaucratic snafu that happens with new administrations.But no, this goes deeper. We see something far more sinister in this ? yet another attempt to secure more Trinity River water for the Central Valley Project by taking away the public?s crucial opportunity to be closely involved in decisions affecting the Trinity River.During the most recent Trinity Management Council meeting, federal government representatives declined to support a letter requesting reactivation of the stakeholder group. TMC representatives of agencies under the Interior Department, including Don Bader of the federal Bureau of Reclamation, noted they?ve been told to refer any questions on the issue to the Interior Department where the decision was made.Their not-so-subtle message to TAMWG supporters: The decision has been made, get over it. We?re not losing our jobs over this.With former Westlands Water District lobbyist David Bernhardt now a deputy director at the Department of Interior, it?s not hard to see how this is playing out. Weaken stakeholder input on Trinity River issues and ease the path for another water grab.Not on our watch.We ask Interior officials to immediately reinstate the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group.In the meantime, we ask county and state officials to exercise every ?Area of Origin? right on the books.It?s also time we find a way to start charging for the export of our most valuable resource. We see no reason Trinity County shouldn?t be getting $20 an acre foot or more for the first 500,000 acre feet of water going over the hill, and even more for every acre foot thereafter. That would fund a fair amount of new sheriff?s deputies, road repairs, and longer library hours, along with other much-needed projects.If Interior thinks our water is that valuable (and in California it is), then Trinity County deserves to bereimbursed for such.The county also deserves a healthy and viable river fishery and ecosystem that comes from public oversight of the controversial restoration program, whose projects over the years have met with decidedly mixed results. End the charade and reinstate TAMWG now.
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From tstokely at att.net  Sun Dec 17 10:07:14 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2017 18:07:14 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Lawmakers_ask_Interior_Department_to_reco?=
 =?utf-8?b?dmVyIOKAmG1pc3NwZW504oCZIGZ1bmRz?=
References: <1487629780.146352.1513534034330.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1487629780.146352.1513534034330@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20171216/lawmakers-ask-interior-department-to-recover-misspent-funds&template=printart
Lawmakers ask Interior Department to recover ?misspent? funds

By The Willits News staffSaturday, December 16, 2017Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) has sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, urging him to recover $84.8 million in taxpayer money that was identified in a recent inspector general report detailing how the funds were misspent, according to information released Friday by Huffman?s office.The funds were to benefit a select few California water districts participating in the ?WaterFix? planning process, according to a report titled ?The Bureau of Reclamation Was Not Transparent in Its Participation in the [San Francisco] Bay Delta Conservation Plan.??According to the letter, the Interior Department had approved these payments for the planning costs associated with the project, previously known as the Bay-Delta Conservation plan, and as the Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Program, but failed to disclose them to Congress, as required by law, nor to other Central Valley Project water users, stakeholders and the public.?The letter, co-signed by Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), Anna G. Eshoo (D-Atherton), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) and Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento), asks that Zinke recover the missing funds and for the department to shed more light on the matter, including whether similar undisclosed subsidies were provided to any other parties, or if the water districts that benefited from this arrangement might still be reimbursed by taxpayers.Specifically, the inspector general identified $84.8 million in funds as of June 30, 2016, that were spent on this project without authorization or rationale, all to benefit a few California water districts participating in the WaterFix planning process.?The inspector general?s report describes an unusual funding arrangement that the Bureau of Reclamation created and used to subsidize nearly two-thirds of these water districts? share of the project cost.Lawmakers noted that according to the Bureau of Reclamation?s May 2017 response to the inspector general, and in staff briefings in recent months, the Interior Department has made it clear that there are no plans to recover these funds, and has offered no explanation for why any of those expenditures would be ?nonreimbursable.??The Bureau of Reclamation appears to have ?written off? federal funding that should have been reimbursed by the water contractors, requiring the taxpayers to cover those expenses instead, the lawmakers stated.?These decisions by the Interior Department dating back to 2007 appear to violate multiple laws and policies,? wrote lawmakers, ?including the state law requirement that the beneficiaries of a Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta conveyance facility must pay for ?costs of the environmental review, planning, design, construction and mitigation? of any new facility.?We look forward to hearing how you intend to correct this situation, and to ensure that future work by your Department is conducted in a transparent manner that does not undermine the law and the Congressional appropriations process,? continued the members of Congress in Friday?s letter.The lawmakers noted although the ?scheme? began well before Zinke?s confirmation as secretary, they expressed concern that the department has not taken meaningful action in response to the ?serious violations? unearthed by the inspector general.Accordingly, Huffman and the other lawmakers stated they wanted a reply to a number of questions by Jan. 31, 2018 including:1. How does Zinke intend to ensure that the Bureau of Reclamation recoups the tens of millions of dollars that improperly subsidized water contractors? participation in the WaterFix Project?2. Does the $84.8 million identified in the inspector general?s report represent the total amount spent on this project through this method?3. Of the total funds identified in the report, how much did the Bureau of Reclamation credit toward water contractors? existing obligations including capital costs and operation and maintenance?4. Was this same funding mechanism used in, or is still being used in any other Interior Department planning processes?5. What changes have been made in the department in response to the inspector general?s recommendations, which included significant new procedures and controls to ensure federal funding could not be inappropriately recognized as ?nonreimbursable? without cause??The revelations in this alarming report, which identifies numerous apparent violations of law and policy,? the legislators wrote, ?contradict the Interior Department?s prior claims regarding the level of federal support for the project. We believe that the Department must recapture the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars that were misspent.?
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From MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov  Mon Dec 18 09:22:43 2017
From: MaryClaire.Kier at wildlife.ca.gov (Kier, Mary Claire@Wildlife)
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2017 17:22:43 +0000
Subject: [env-trinity] Trinity River trapping summary through Julian week 50
	(December 16)
Message-ID: <MWHPR09MB1822A0DA1E38F642C2E30920BA0E0@MWHPR09MB1822.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>

Greetings!
Attached please find the TRP trapping summary through JW 50.

There was a little more spawning of Coho than I indicated there would be a couple weeks back as they were short on the egg take and had a few more fish coming in. TRH did meet Fall Chinook egg take this season.

Keep in mind when looking at the returns of Coho and steelhead that these numbers reflect the second season with lower production at TRH, ~300,000 rather than 500,000 Coho and  no more than 448,000 rather than 800,000 steelhead.

Travel safely this week, if you're traveling...
Cheers!
MC

******************************************************
Mary Claire Kier
CA Department of Fish and Wildlife - Trinity River Project
Environmental Scientist - Fisheries
707/822-5876
5341 Ericson Way, Arcata CA 95521
******************************************************
Klamath/Trinity Program reports can be found online @
https://nrmsecure.dfg.ca.gov/documents/ContextDocs.aspx?cat=KlamathTrinity


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From tstokely at att.net  Tue Dec 19 12:43:53 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2017 20:43:53 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Times Standard Opinion: Large new reservoirs threaten
 Trinity River water gains
References: <238012282.1477377.1513716233664.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <238012282.1477377.1513716233664@mail.yahoo.com>

http://www.times-standard.com/article/NJ/20171215/LOCAL1/171219898&template=printart



Large new reservoirs threaten Trinity River water gains

By Regina ChichizolaFriday, December 15, 2017A new $4.7 billion proposal from the Sites Project Authority to build up to 11 new dams and two reservoirs in the Sacramento Valley presents a threat to the salmon on the Trinity and Klamath Rivers, and years of decisions to provide them water.The new proposed Sites and Holthouse Reservoirs in Northern California could store up to 1.8 million acre feet of water, making them almost half the size of Shasta Reservoir and twice the size of Folsom Reservoir. They would be owned by the Sites Project Authority, which is made up mainly of state and federal water contractors and irrigation districts, and could be partially funded with Proposition 1 money. The authority is applying for up to 3 million acre feet of new water rights from the Sacramento and already offering new water rights in watersheds where five times more water is allocated than exists to powerful water districts, such as the Metropolitan Water District (MWD). MWD recently stated they will only support Sites if it and the California Water Fix (formally the Twin Tunnels) are a package deal.This proposal includes inundating four creeks and building a new 2000 cubic feet per second (cfs) diversion on the Sacramento River, a 109 megawatt powerhouse, and two new diversion pumps in Red Bluff. Important decisions over funding, and federal and state approval will be playing out over the next few years.How does this impact the Klamath watershed? Currently about half of the Trinity River, the Klamath?s largest tributary, is pumped into the Sacramento River via a series of reservoirs and tunnels to supply Central Valley water contractors. About 80 percent of the Trinity?s flow at Lewiston was diverted until the early 2000s when the Trinity River Record of Decisions (ROD) was signed. Several decisions to provide Trinity water for Klamath salmon have been made since, including a decision to honor Humboldt County?s 1959 water contract for 50,000 acre feet a year of Trinity water. This water has been used to avert Klamath fish kills during drought years.The current Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Sites does not mention this history, but it proposes to lower flows and increase water temperatures during some water years and months.For instance the DEIS predicts the project will provide; ?similar long-term average monthly flows during the evaluation period, and equivalent or slightly higher average monthly flows during most water year types, except during above normal and below normal water years, when flows would be reduced by 31.2 and 33.6 percent during March and February, respectively?.Perhaps more troubling is the fact that much of the Trinity River information used for modeling in EIS is from before the year 2000, and the No Action (no new dams) alternative assumes increased water diversions and deliveries. This leaves many questions to how Sites could impact the Trinity ROD, which is federal law, and how climate conditions and carry over storage are accounted for.The fact is there is not extra water to divert in the Sacramento or Trinity Rivers. High flows have many benefits. High flows inundate floodplains, help out migrating salmon, scour out sediments and algae, move spawning gravel, and reduce fish diseases, all of which greatly increase salmon numbers. Multiple years of low flows often lead to salmon crises like we see now on the Klamath.The Sites Authority is spending a lot of money on a media campaign designed to convince the public that new dams will help salmon by storing water for releases into the Bay Delta. This is an effort to justify taxpayers footing portions of the expense. However, the over allocation of water rights, and new water rights, creates a situation where water right holders and contractors can make claim to any new water.If the Twin Tunnels and Sites Reservoir are built, Sites water will be used to fill the tunnels. Whether these projects are approved, and how much Trinity water goes to them, may depend on how hard we fight.A petition to stop Sites is at?http://chn.ge/2AzGcyi.Comments are due Jan. 15 and can be mailed to Comments at SitesProject.org.Documents available at:?https://www.sitesproject.org/information/DraftEIR-EIS/full.html?fullID=46438.More information is at SaveCaliforniaSalmon.org or Save the Klamath Trinity River on Facebook. Email klamathtrinityriver at gmail.com for more information.Regina Chichizola is an Orleans-based activist.
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Dec 22 15:15:40 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 23:15:40 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Legal or not,
 cannabis takes a toll on Northern California watersheds
References: <1693560458.2865146.1513984540319.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1693560458.2865146.1513984540319@mail.yahoo.com>

http://kalw.org/post/legal-or-not-cannabis-takes-toll-northern-california-watersheds#stream/0

Legal or not, cannabis takes a toll on Northern California watersheds?
By?ANGELA JOHNSTON???DEC 18, 2017   
   - Bryan McFadin and Jacqueline monitor one of 33 different locations in the Trinity River watershed.ANGELA JOHNSTON
Listen?Listening...0:00Ben Durkee is a true Trinity local. He?s lived and worked in the Northern California county his entire life. ??I grew up on a little creek on Ransom Road in Weaverville," he says. "We always called the creek the ?wrong creek? because it was near a two-house little dirt road that was labeled ?The Wrong Road.?"Wrong creek isn?t quite rightHe remembers swimming there, splashing around with his friends and watching his neighbors tend to their bountiful fruit and vegetable garden with water from the creek.?But Durkee says, for the past decade, things on ?wrong creek? haven?t been quite right.??It's been a dry riverbed for over 10 years now, and it's probably never going to come back, which is just really sad,? Durkee says.Durkee works at a fishing lodge, which caters to visitors casting their lines in the Trinity River watershed.??If there's no water for people to fish, my job doesn't exist,? he says. ?Like many people up here, Durkee believes one group is responsible for the loss of his childhood creek: Marijuana farmers, who are ?damming up local creeks that are used as the primary water source for residences, effectively stealing that water for their own gain.??There are thousands of cannabis farms near creeks in Trinity County, and Durkee thinks they may be to blame.?Forensic hydrologyThose creeks are where you?ll likely find water detective Bryan McFadin, up to his waist in freezing cold water, wading deep in what he dubs ?forensic hydrology,? investigating Durkee?s concerns.McFadin works for the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. A few years ago, locals approached him wanting to know why their creeks were drying up. To find out, McFadin and his team monitored the water flow at more than 30 locations up and down the Trinity watershed.??A lot of people feel like cannabis cultivation is taking an extreme amount of water, and I don't know that that's the case, but that's part of why we're doing this project, to shed light on that,? McFadin explains as he zips up his fly fishing waders and he shuffles down the riverbank toward the stream.?The monitoring processFirst, McFadin stretches a long tape measure across the width of the creek.Then, he sticks a long metal pole into the water. It?s called a flow tracker, and it has a computer at the top and an acoustic sensor at the bottom.?CREDIT ANGELA JOHNSTON
McFadin inches it along the tape measurer, recording the water?s velocity and depth at different increments across the creek. Those measurements, plus a little math, tell him the exact flow of the water moving by.McFadin compares these numbers with the amount of water that historically flows through the creeks at the same time of year. Although his team hasn?t published their final report yet, it?s easy to tell where there are some big, big changes.?Back in the car, McFadin shows me some graphs.?This red line is what we measured, the dotted line is what the equation predicts,? he says, ?and so this deficit here tells us, ?Hmm there is something going on here.?In some spots this year, the flow levels plummeted. Someone, he says, emptied the creek, quickly.?We can say, ?Oh God, yeah, there?s something going on there.? Basically what we see is right around the end of July, somebody turned on a pump ... shut it off, turned it back on, and basically flatlined the stream. It was to the point where we couldn?t really measure it, it was so low, just a thin film of water on the top,? he says.?In other places around the watershed, it?s worse.??It is everywhere?Post Creek is downstream from Trinity Pines, an extremely concentrated subdivision of cannabis farms packed on top of each other into the hillsides.Trinity Pines, as seen from Google Earth.
You can see it from Google Earth ? hundreds of beige pockmarks dotting the green landscape.?If you zoom in closer, you can see rows and rows of plants.?It is everywhere. You can see that they've, in some cases, built terraces into the hillside to make room for the plants,? McFadin points as we drive through the subdivision.?What you can?t see from the car windows, you can smell.?I would estimate we've driven past a few thousand marijuana plants in just the last few minutes, and I would imagine it?s a lot more than 1,000 plants that are back there,? he says.?Not everyone here takes water directly from the creek, but the past two summers, Post Creek dried up.??It gives you a sense of the scale of the issue.?More than just numbersThe implications are also huge, and far-reaching. After a day of monitoring, McFadin and I sit on the bank of the Trinity River and watch a fly fisherman cast his line into the water. A Chinook salmon slowly swims by our feet.A fly fisherman in Trinity River in Weaverville.CREDIT ANGELA JOHNSTON
?He and his kin are a big part of what we're trying to protect,? McFadin says. ?At one time, there were really large runs of fish like this that fed a lot of families and provided a lot for the local economy, and that isn't the case anymore. We'd sure like to turn that around.?Photographs, water rights records, and data from the water board?s cannabis-permitting program show it isn?t only marijuana farmers diverting water from these habitats.Traditional agriculture, and homes, use as much water in the Trinity region, McFadin says, but cannabis irrigation is just incredibly hard to monitor, and wasteful practices are difficult to correct.?We've seen some really egregious things too where people just build the roads in the stream,? he says, ?things that we hadn't seen since the logging days of the ?60s.??McFadin hopes his team?s data will help right these wrongs.?The water board?s already understaffed enforcement unit can use info about the most vulnerable streams to decide which water guzzlers they should patrol first.?And, he hopes it?ll encourage growers to get with the programs. If you want to grow recreational cannabis legally next year, you?ll need to get permits with the waterboard, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the county.?And depending on what you?re growing for, you?ll probably need one or more state permit, too.?If they stay in the cannabis economy and they abide by the regulatory programs that are out there for cannabis, that are designed to protect the environment, then over time I think those things will get fixed,? McFadin says.But, so far, waterboard enrollment numbers are on the low side.?Getting your marijuana farm up to code costs a lot of money ? many farmers find it cheaper to stay under the radar, or just leave the business completely, and leave their mess behind, too.?Since, if you buy marijuana in California, there?s a good chance it?s grown here, McFadin says it?s ultimately up to the consumer to ask where their marijuana comes from.?You should ask the question, and you should be interested if you're a cannabis user, because market opinions matter,? he says. ?And if people don't want to buy marijuana that's grown with water that is impacting the environment, then I think marijuana cultivators will respond. If they're not able to sell it for as high a price as otherwise, that?s going to get their attention.?Growing greenDown in Sonoma County, farmer Mike Benziger says that?s what his customers value.??They're asking the right questions. More and more my customers are younger people who really understand that the environment is in trouble and that their kids, and maybe their grandkids, are going to be paying for the bad actors in the past,? he says as he takes me on a tour.Benziger grows his 50 cannabis plants alongside persimmon trees, Swiss chard, eggplants, and other colorful fruit and veggies.?Mike Benziger stands in front of his fruit and veggie plot.CREDIT ANGELA JOHNSTON
?It?s a little banana belt. The sun always shines here, the birds always tweet. It?s a little bit like la-la land,? Benziger says.?His crops overlook the winery he used to own with his siblings. It?s where he started experimenting with biodynamic farming ? a process that focuses on cultivating really healthy soil so farmers don?t have to use as many other resources.?He likes to think of it as the most advanced form of organic farming.When Benziger was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, he and his wife wanted a change. So they left the winery and started growing produce and three types of medicinal cannabis.?We grow a sativa called ?Tangie,?" he says, "a hybrid called ?Girl Scout Cookies,? and a hybrid called ?Bubba Kush.???When I visit, Benziger?s harvested it all. He?s drying and trimming the buds in the barn behind his house. He stops to show me their empty beds.Watering on the plant?s schedule, not the farmers?One of the things he?s most proud of is how little water he uses, thanks to soil-moisture probes that enable him to determine exactly how much water each plant needs.??We are not just watering by formula, and we are not just watering from the seat of our pants, but we are watering because we are measuring and we know what the plants need. We know where the roots are so we can hold the water back until the last second,? Benziger explains.Remember water detective Bryan McFadin? Research he?s done shows that many cannabis farmers water their plants with up to six gallons of water a day.?With these moisture meters, Benziger cut that to under two gallons.?We can water only when the plant wants it, not when the farmer thinks it.?Benziger shows off his biodynamic soil.CREDIT ANGELA JOHNSTON
Benziger also waters his cannabis, and all his other crops, with recycled water. He captures it from the roofs and stores it in giant green rain barrels.?This technology makes it easy for him to comply with new environmental regulations. Benziger installed this system years ago, not anticipating that starting in 2018, most cannabis growers in Sonoma County will have to use recycled water.?Indoor growers will have to use 100 percent renewable energy. Benziger?s got that covered too ? a large plot of solar panels power his small indoor operation. While he says they are scalable at any size farm, he knows they?re not cheap.?
??Let me put it this way ? the expense is usually in building the infrastructure up front,? he says.Now, they spend less on water, soil, and power. Benzinger says it cost him $50,000 to install his recycled water system ? a high price for a small operation.?He thinks this is the reason why few growers have signed up for permits: only 127. He says, there could be as many as 8,000 farms in Sonoma County.?So what's going to happen?? Benziger asks. ?They're not going to go away, and it seems like some of these ordinances are so onerous that they're just driving the growers deeper into the woods, unfortunately.??He thinks there should be more flexible regulations, and farmers with water-saving or composting systems should get tax breaks ? rewards for growing with care.?That will help protect the watershed, and, he says, that?s what?s going to produce better marijuana, too.
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Dec 22 15:17:00 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 23:17:00 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] =?utf-8?q?Bidding_in_secret=3A_Officials_quietly_so?=
 =?utf-8?q?licit_contracts_on_=E2=80=98twin_tunnels=E2=80=99_project_despi?=
 =?utf-8?q?te_lawsuits=2C_lack_of_permits?=
References: <1695743988.2860046.1513984620982.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1695743988.2860046.1513984620982@mail.yahoo.com>

https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/bidding-in-secret-officials-quietly/content?oid=25554485

Bidding in secret: Officials quietly solicit contracts on ?twin tunnels? project despite lawsuits, lack of permits
Department of Water Resources director says awarding big contracts ?has a nice ring to it?
By?Scott Thomas Anderson?
scotta at newsreview.com


This article was published on?12.21.17.

| Courtland?s marina at sunset. The town?s third- and fourth-generation pear farmers are among the north Delta residents who beliveve their businesses and communities will be ended by the twin tunnels. PHOTO BY SCOTT THOMAS ANDERSON |
| Related stories:?
Why save the Delta? Unknown river towns fear untold devastation from Jerry Brown?s twin tunnels project
Meet the farmers and river people who don?t want to say goodbye to their way of life.?SN&R, 08.31.17. 

Clogged tunnels? North Delta towns stay guarded after financial setback for twin tunnels
As Westlands Water District appears to pull out, cheers ring from Freeport to Rio Vista.?SN&R, 09.28.17. 
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Opponents of the embattled ?twin tunnels? project?in the Delta were breathing a sigh of relief last fall when a $3 billion hole was suddenly blown into its financing scheme. Nevertheless, on December 7, California officials quietly opened a construction bidding process on the conveyance system?despite the missing funding, the project?s lack of permits, dozens of pending lawsuits, 90 percent of needed design work, a damning state auditor?s analysis, and the fact that environmental impact hearings on the tunnels haven?t taken place yet.California officials didn?t announce they were now soliciting contracts to any media, but rather went with the minimal legal requirement of notification on an obscure state website.Officially known as California WaterFix, the twin tunnels project would take a huge volume of fresh water from the north Delta and divert it primarily to an arid agricultural industry south of Fresno.Conservationists and independent scientists have predicted catastrophic effects on the Delta if the project is built?the result of salt water incursions moving up the estuary from the Bay. That development alone could put farmers, fishers and marina owners out of business from Freeport to Isleton, and kill much of Sacramento County?s annual $507 million agricultural economy.State scientists deny this will happen.In August, an SN&R analysis of the twin tunnels? 40,000-page environmental impact report revealed additional impacts from 14 years of nonstop construction, including massive excavation, deep dredging, steel pile-driving, the razing of historic homes, the draining of ground wells, and hundreds of heavy diesel trucks rolling across 90-year-old bridges every day for over a decade. (Read ?Why save the Delta?? Feature, August, 31, 2017.) The EIR?s graphics indicate that the north Delta?s bucolic riverbanks and sloughs will become a permanent industrial zone.Tunnel foes saw a ray of hope?in September when the Westlands Water District unexpectedly voted not to help fund the project, creating an estimated $3 billion shortfall in its budget.But then, on December 6, the Department of Water Resources held what it called ?a California WaterFix Industry Day? at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento?and put the event on in conjunction with Metropolitan Water District, one of the largest beneficiaries of the tunnels. Standing in front of some 250 drilling and construction contractors, DWR Director Grant Davis said the state was now accepting requests for proposals for a project he estimated was about a year from breaking ground.?That certainly has a nice ring to it, doesn?t it?? Grant told the contractors and consultants in the audience. ?I see a lot of people nodding?bidding opportunities.?The next presentation came from WaterFix program manager Chuck Gardner, whose PowerPoint presentation hinted at the construction boom by referring to ?a mega-tunnel project.?That was echoed by the management team?s John Bednarski, who said the tunnels will equal ?massive construction efforts taking place.? Bednarski said the bidding processing was starting the next day. His presentation acknowledged only four of the 11 major state and federal permits for the tunnels have been approved. The design of the tunnels and their Herculean intakes is only 5 percent complete, officials also conceded.During a question and answer session, Department of Water Resources contract specialist Nikki Hatcher admitted her department had not notified or advertised the opening of the bidding process in any media, but rather posted the news on the Cal eProcure website, which is a different website than the state?s official California WaterFix site.?I haven?t heard of the website before,? said Barbara Daly of North Delta CARES, a nonprofit watchdog group that opposes the tunnels.Responding to an inquiry from SN&R, DWR spokesperson Erin Mellon wrote in an email that a general time-line for bidding on the project?s construction is posted on the official WaterFix website. However, the graphic that Mellon referred to only notes that the proposals process is slated for some time within a year.Daly stressed that specific notification about the bidding process to media is important?or at least having it spelled out on the state?s official website?because many Californians think the project is on hold. That?s because of an array of lawsuits over imminent domain, business loss and environmental impact, as well as the missing $3 billion in funds and a recent state auditor?s report decrying the project?s skyrocketing costs.The state Water Resources Control Board also hasn?t yet held hearings on recreational and environmental impacts from the tunnels project.?Now they?re signing all of these contracts, but what will happen if the project doesn?t move forward and the contracts are broken?? Daly said. ?Are the California taxpayers going to be liable??
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Dec 22 15:20:05 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2017 23:20:05 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Six House Democrats urge Secretary Zinke to recover
 $84.8 million illegally spent on Delta Tunnels
In-Reply-To: <09B547B1-E075-4E48-ABFA-C31BCDCEA696@fishsniffer.com>
References: <A9DA4DB4-3BCF-43C7-BD82-5474E68A9404@snowcrest.net>
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	<09B547B1-E075-4E48-ABFA-C31BCDCEA696@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <1339691755.2860359.1513984806192@mail.yahoo.com>

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/18/1725716/-House-Democrats-urge-Secretary-Zinke-to-recover-84-8-million-illegally-spent-on-Delta-Tunnels




Congressman Jared Huffman and the late Zeke Grader, the longtime executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, in April 2015. Photo by Dan Bacher.

Six House Democrats urge Secretary Zinke to recover $84.8 million illegally spent on Delta Tunnels
By Dan Bacher
Washington, D.C. - On December 15,?Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and five other House Democrats sent?a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke urging the federal government?to recover $84.8 million in taxpayer funds that were misused to benefit a select few wealthy?San?Joaquin Valley agricultural?water districts participating in the?controversial?Delta Tunnels planning process.In September, the?Inspector General for DOI?issued a 42-page audit?detailing the misuse of the money and the recommendations made to Reclamation to avoid similar misspending from taking place in the future. ?The Bureau of Reclamation was not transparent in its financial participation in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan,?  the title of the audit summed up.Governor Brown and members of his administration have continually said that taxpayers will not pay for the construction of the tunnels, but the conclusions reached in the federal audit reveal that federal taxpayers have indeed already paid over $84.8?million to subsidize the widely-unpopular project.?The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) had approved these payments for the planning costs of the California WaterFix, formerly called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP),?but did not disclose them to Congress, as required by law, nor to other Central Valley Project water users, stakeholders, and the publicHuffman?s letter, cosigned by Northern California Representatives?Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), Anna G. Eshoo (D-Atherton), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), Mike Thompson (D-Saint Helena) and Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento),?requests?Secretary Zinke to recover the missing funds and ?to shed more light on the scheme,??including whether similar undisclosed subsidies were provided to any other parties, or if the water districts that benefitted from this arrangement might still be reimbursed by taxpayers.?These decisions by the Interior Department, dating back to 2007, appear to violate multiple laws and policies, including the state law requirement that the beneficiaries of a Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta conveyance facility must pay for ?costs of the environmental review, planning, design, construction, and mitigation? of any new facility,??the Representatives wrote.??We look forward to hearing how you intend to correct this situation, and to ensure that future work by your Department is conducted in a transparent manner that does not undermine the law and the Congressional appropriations process,? the lawmakers wrote.The lawmakers?requested Secretary Zinke to reply?to the following questions by January 31, 2018:    
   - ?How do you intend to ensure that the Bureau of Reclamation recoups the tens of millions of dollars that improperly subsidized water contractors? participation in the WaterFix project? This is not a congressionally authorized project, and the Bureau of Reclamation has repeatedly conceded that it cannot fund or participate in its construction. We believe these undisclosed subsidies to this select group of water contractors amount to an invisible tax on other Central Valley Project contractors and taxpayers, none of whom should be on the hook for these project expenses.
   - Does the $84.8 million identified in the Inspector General?s report represent the total amount spent on this project through this method?
   - Of the $84.8 million identified in the report, how much of the funding did the Bureau of Reclamation credit toward water contractors? existing CVP obligations, including capital costs and operation and maintenance, or toward costs included in the Firebaughsettlement? Crucially, how do you intend to ensure that these CVP contractors do not get reimbursed by taxpayers for planning costs that were subsidized by taxpayers in the first place?
   - Was this same funding mechanism used in, or is it still being used in, any other Interior Department planning processes?
   - What changes have you made at the Department in response to the Inspector General?s recommendations, which included significant new procedures and controls so that federal funding could not be inappropriately recategorized as ?nonreimbursable??without cause?? ?
The Representatives also wrote,??The revelations in this alarming report, which identifies numerous apparent violations of law and policy, contradict the Interior Department?s prior claims regarding the level of federal support for the project. We believe that the Department must recapture the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars that were misspent.?To date, nobody involved in the Delta Tunnels illegal funding scheme has been reprimanded, fired or held accountable ??nor have any measures been taken to recover the money ripped off from the taxpayers to support the unpopular California WaterFix.The Delta Tunnels plan, renamed the California WaterFix in 2015, features?two massive 35-mile-long tunnels under the Delta to export Sacramento River water to the Westlands Water District, Stewart and Lynda Resnick's agribusiness operations in Kern County and other big growers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The tunnels would also provide water for Southern California water agencies and for fracking and other extreme oil extraction operations in Kern County.?The IG investigation resulted from a complaint the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed on the behalf of a Reclamation employee on February 19, 2016. The complaint detailed ?how a funding agreement with the California Department of Water Resources was ?illegally siphoning off funds that are supposed to benefit fish and wildlife to a project that will principally benefit irrigators? under the California WaterFix.?More information: www.counterpunch.org/...?Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu, commented on Facebook?about?how the same?federal government?that misused $84.8 million of taxpayers? money for the Delta Tunnels has?failed to find the money to restore?wild winter run Chinook to the McCloud River above Lake Shasta.?Where are the?funds for the Wild Chinook return and swim-way study?? Chief Sisk asked. ?This is about?salmon,?not more water to Westlands and Resnicks! We are desperately fund raising to return our wild winter run Chinook from New Zealand to the McCloud River while money is spent by the very agencies hoarding all the water and charging outrageous water prices!?The Inspector General?s audit is not the only example of financial misspending that has plagued the California WaterFix planning process. On October 5,?State Auditor Elaine Howle released an audit on the WaterFix revealing extensive mismanagement by the Department of Water Resources, including the violation of state contracting laws, spending millions of dollars over anticipated costs, and failure to complete either an economic or financial analysis. ??Not only does the Delta Tunnels proposal not make any economic or financial sense, but the project, at its core, is based on the unscientific and untenable premise that diverting more water from a river and estuary will somehow magically restore that river or estuary.I have challenged numerous Brown administration officials in my writings and testimony at meetings?to give me one single example in U.S. or world history where a project designed to divert water from a river system or estuary has resulted in the restoration of that river system or estuary. Not one Delta Tunnels proponent has been able to answer that question.The construction of the?Delta Tunnels would?likely result in the extinction of winter and spring Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and green sturgeon, as well as imperiling?the salmon and steelhead populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.For more information, go to:?www.dailykos.com/...?

   
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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Dec 23 10:59:05 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 23 Dec 2017 18:59:05 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Feds decline to provide info on decision to disband
 Trinity River restoration watchdog group
References: <1567430009.3107396.1514055545144.ref@mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1567430009.3107396.1514055545144@mail.yahoo.com>

Feds decline to provide info on decision to disband Trinity River restoration watchdog group

  
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Feds decline to provide info on decision to disband Trinity River restorati...
 President Donald Trump?s administration as of Friday has refused to provide more information behind its decision...  |   |

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Feds decline to provide info on decision to disband Trinity River restoration watchdog group

Department of Interior declines to provide info on decision to nix restoration program watchdog group
By Will Houston, Eureka Times-StandardFriday, December 22, 2017President Donald Trump?s administration as of Friday has refused to provide more information behind its decision to disband a public watchdog group tasked with overseeing a multi-million dollar, publicly funded Trinity River restoration program.?I sent a letter to the [Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke?s] office and I haven?t heard anything back,? the group?s chairman Tom Stokely said this week. ?I don?t expect to ... I really don?t think they care.?The department?s Press Secretary Heather Swift told the Times-Standard earlier this month that the department decided to disband the watchdog group, known as the Trinity River Adaptive Management Working Group, because the group failed to submit a short memo that justified why the department should continue to fund its $100,000 per year operations.?However, Stokely said that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials ? who have acted as a sort of liaison between the working group and the Interior Department ? had submitted several requests for funding this year to continue the meetings. Stokely also said that the Interior Department never notified the working group that it needed to submit the memo.?These circumstances have led to some working group members believing the Interior Department?s decision to disband the group?was politically motivated.?The working group was one of several federal advisory bodies the Interior Department froze earlier this year to allow the department to assess their purpose. The working group?s membership expires in March 2018, and has not met since March 2017 as a result of the federal action.The Times-Standard requested this month for the Interior Department to provide information on when and to which individuals it sent its request for a justification memo to and why the department did not view the Fish and Wildlife Service?s multiple funding requests as justification for continuing the group.Swift responded to the Times-Standard earlier this month that the request for a justification memo was sent ?early this year,? but did provide any further details.??You have the Department?s statement on the matter. We have nothing to add at this time,? Swift wrote to the Times-Standard on Dec. 13.?Swift did not reply to a follow-up email requesting further information. This reporter?s attempts to contact the department on Friday were not returned. The Times-Standard has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain a copy of the letter requesting the justification memo and all funding requests submitted by the Fish and Wildlife Service for the working group meetings.?In a letter to the Interior Department, California 2nd District Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) requested similar information to be provided to his office by Friday. Huffman said Friday that he has not received a response.The Trinity River Adaptive Management Working group is composed of 15 members who reside or rely on the Trinity River, ranging from raft guides to utility company representatives. The group?s charge is to be the public adviser and overseer for the Trinity Management Council, which manages the Trinity River Restoration Program. The management council is made up of six government agencies and two tribes ? the Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribes.The federal program was created in a 2000 record of decision under the Clinton administration for the purpose of restoring fisheries in the Trinity River that had been impacted by dam construction, water diversions to the Central Valley and historic mining and logging operations.Stokely said the working group had access to documents and other information about the restoration program that members of the public who attended the council meeting would not. By eliminating the working group, Stokely said the Trump administration has ?effectively shut down public participation in the restoration program.???[The council] still has a public comment period at the beginning of the meeting, but they don?t have to respond to you,? Stokely said. ?They don?t have to do anything. [The Interior Department has] effectively excluded the public from participating in this program. And it?s sad.?The Trinity River restoration program?s working group and council have been at odds in recent years, with some members of the working group expressing frustrations that their recommendations are not being followed. Some working group members have raised concerns about conflict of interest and self-dealing by the council?s membership, which can allocate funding to their own departments for project.Stokely said he attended the management council?s meeting earlier this month to urge it to send a letter to the Interior Department asking for the working group to be reinstated. While Stokely said there was a lot of sympathy expressed by council members, half of the management council members ? the Interior Department?s Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Forest Service ? had to abstain from a vote on the letter because they are federal agencies that receive directives from the Interior Department.?Stokely said that the council?s operating rules require five of the eight members to vote, meaning there was not a quorum to allow a vote on the letter.?I think this is another example of how the council is extremely dysfunctional,? Stokely said. ?They weren?t even able to take a position on this because they had so many members that were conflicted.?Will Houston can be reached at 707-441-0504.
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From tstokely at att.net  Fri Dec 29 13:37:59 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2017 13:37:59 -0800
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Reclamation invites public input on efforts to
	maximize water deliveries, power generation from CVP
References: <2c37469bbe02458ea20a3ac9dbd044ae@usbr.gov>
Message-ID: <167D05AC-BF64-4552-A866-E957CB5510A7@att.net>



Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Erin Curtis" <eccurtis at usbr.gov>
> Date: December 29, 2017 at 9:31:36 AM PST
> To: tstokely at att.net
> Subject: Reclamation invites public input on efforts to maximize water deliveries, power generation from CVP
> 
> 
> Mid-Pacific Region
> Sacramento, Calif.
> 
> Media Contact: Erin Curtis, 916-204-2348, eccurtis at usbr.gov
> 
> For Immediate Release: Dec. 29, 2017
> 
> Reclamation invites public input on efforts to maximize water deliveries and power generation from Central Valley Project
> 
> SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? The Bureau of Reclamation has announced it will conduct an environmental analysis of potential modifications to the operation of the Central Valley Project, in coordination with California?s State Water Project, to maximize water deliveries and optimize marketable power generation.
> 
> The CVP is a major water source for agricultural, municipal and industrial, and fish and wildlife demands in California. State and federal regulatory actions and other agreements have significantly reduced the water available for delivery south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. This project will evaluate alternatives to restore water supply in consideration of all of the authorized purposes of the CVP.
> 
> A Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, ?Revisions to the Coordinated Long-term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, and Related Facilities? was published in the Federal Register, Friday, Dec. 29, 2017 and can be accessed at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/current#reclamation-bureau. Reclamation is the lead federal agency and will request other agencies to participate as cooperating agencies. Reclamation is seeking comments by Feb. 1, 2018, that will be used to develop alternatives to the proposed action. Public scoping meetings will be scheduled for mid-January.
> 
> Written comments are due by close of business, Feb. 1, 2018, by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to Katrina Harrison, project manager, Bureau of Reclamation, Bay-Delta Office, 801 I Street, Suite 140, Sacramento, CA 95814-2536; fax 916-414-2439; or email kharrison at usbr.gov. For additional information, please contact Harrison at 916-414-2425 (TTY 800-877-8339).
> 
> ###
> 
> Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.
> 
> 
> 
> If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
> Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States
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From lrlake at aol.com  Fri Dec 29 14:05:47 2017
From: lrlake at aol.com (lrlake at aol.com)
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2017 17:05:47 -0500
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Reclamation invites public input on efforts
 to maximize water deliveries, power generation from CVP
In-Reply-To: <167D05AC-BF64-4552-A866-E957CB5510A7@att.net>
References: <2c37469bbe02458ea20a3ac9dbd044ae@usbr.gov>
	<167D05AC-BF64-4552-A866-E957CB5510A7@att.net>
Message-ID: <160a44f4831-1725-302a@webjas-vaa078.srv.aolmail.net>

Oh, how dandy.  Seems no one at BOR can remember any Law or promise.  


Happy new year.


Larry


Lawrence Lake, RPF
Redding, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Stokely <tstokely at att.net>
To: env-trinity <env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us>
Sent: Fri, Dec 29, 2017 1:38 pm
Subject: [env-trinity] Fwd: Reclamation invites public input on efforts to maximize water deliveries, power generation from CVP





Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:



From: "Erin Curtis" <eccurtis at usbr.gov>
Date: December 29, 2017 at 9:31:36 AM PST
To: tstokely at att.net
Subject: Reclamation invites public input on efforts to maximize water deliveries, power generation from CVP





Mid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.
Media Contact: Erin Curtis, 916-204-2348, eccurtis at usbr.gov
For Immediate Release: Dec. 29, 2017
Reclamation invites public input on efforts to maximize water deliveries and power generation from Central Valley Project
SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? The Bureau of Reclamation has announced it will conduct an environmental analysis of potential modifications to the operation of the Central Valley Project, in coordination with California?s State Water Project, to maximize water deliveries and optimize marketable power generation.
The CVP is a major water source for agricultural, municipal and industrial, and fish and wildlife demands in California. State and federal regulatory actions and other agreements have significantly reduced the water available for delivery south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. This project will evaluate alternatives to restore water supply in consideration of all of the authorized purposes of the CVP.
A Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, ?Revisions to the Coordinated Long-term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, and Related Facilities? was published in the Federal Register, Friday, Dec. 29, 2017 and can be accessed at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/current#reclamation-bureau. Reclamation is the lead federal agency and will request other agencies to participate as cooperating agencies. Reclamation is seeking comments by Feb. 1, 2018, that will be used to develop alternatives to the proposed action. Public scoping meetings will be scheduled for mid-January.
Written comments are due by close of business, Feb. 1, 2018, by U.S. mail or hand-delivery to Katrina Harrison, project manager, Bureau of Reclamation, Bay-Delta Office, 801 I Street, Suite 140, Sacramento, CA 95814-2536; fax 916-414-2439; or email kharrison at usbr.gov. For additional information, please contact Harrison at 916-414-2425 (TTY 800-877-8339).
###
Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation?s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov. Follow us on Twitter @USBR and @ReclamationCVP.



If you would rather not receive future communications from Bureau of Reclamation, let us know by clicking here.
Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Alameda & Kipling Street PO Box 25007, Denver, CO 80225 United States


_______________________________________________
env-trinity mailing list
env-trinity at velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity

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From tstokely at att.net  Sat Dec 30 11:48:04 2017
From: tstokely at att.net (Tom Stokely)
Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2017 19:48:04 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: [env-trinity] Fw: Delta smelt numbers reach record low as Trump
 Administration pushes to reduce pumping restrictions
In-Reply-To: <D8BFA2AD-7556-4482-8237-00D2A83896DB@fishsniffer.com>
References: <A9DA4DB4-3BCF-43C7-BD82-5474E68A9404@snowcrest.net>
	<59E8FBF7.3090101@dcn.org> <59E8FC65.9050609@dcn.org>
	<3E36C073-EDF0-4BEA-B348-C20481724B77@fishsniffer.com>
	<B19D64AF-4334-461F-9AA1-D1D2DF83224B@fishsniffer.com>
	<19C3BF8B-1A6B-494B-9ACF-C4A3628768DF@fishsniffer.com>
	<E185E73A-123D-428D-BA59-25E1D3D43788@fishsniffer.com>
	<32B5342D-464A-43E5-ACF1-4852567DC56B@fishsniffer.com>
	<95E5D164-5003-4340-9049-DD4376B1F7A8@fishsniffer.com>
	<D27C5052-F8E6-477C-858E-C983E2576B0F@fishsniffer.com>
	<FDC7AADD-3CAF-49C8-B1CD-7ED0609424F3@fishsniffer.com>
	<AEF12BE0-0C10-4BAE-9BD1-7C8CFC6BD301@fishsniffer.com>
	<8E1C2C09-4789-41F7-95E0-1E783876C2D0@fishsniffer.com>
	<09B547B1-E075-4E48-ABFA-C31BCDCEA696@fishsniffer.com>
	<35E29268-AF62-49EA-92CF-86D6E0F6CD77@fishsniffer.com>
	<D8BFA2AD-7556-4482-8237-00D2A83896DB@fishsniffer.com>
Message-ID: <707280065.5817839.1514663285399@mail.yahoo.com>

On Saturday, December 30, 2017 12:19 AM, Daniel Bacher <danielbacher at fishsniffer.com> wrote:


 

 

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/28/1728350/-Delta-Smelt-Reaches-Record-Low-Despite-High-River-Flows
Delta smelt numbers reach record low as Trump Administration pushes to reduce pumping restrictions
By Dan Bacher
In spite of a record water year in?Northern California,?the abundance of Delta smelt recorded in the state?s?annual fall midwater survey (FMWT)?is the lowest in the survey?s 50-year history.The results of the survey were announced as the Trump administration proposes?the reduction of pumping restrictions and other measures to ?maximize water?deliveries? for Central Valley Project irrigators,?making conditions?even worse for the smelt. ?Only two Delta smelt were collected at Delta index stations in October. One was from Suisun Bay and the other from the confluence of Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, reported?James White, California Department of Fish and Wildlife environmental scientist, in a memo.The CDFW collected?no Delta smelt ?in September, November, or December.The?agency?collected the smelt, along with other five other pelagic (open water)?species, in trawl nets?at 100 index stations throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin River?Delta, the largest estuary on the?West Coast of the Americas,?from September 1 through December 13. ? ?The population is so low that they can?t find each other to mate,? Tom Cannon, a fish ecologist and consultant for the California?Sportfishing Protection Alliance, told Alex Breitler of?the Stockton Record. ?We?re lucky to have any smelt.During the last big water year, 2011,?the number of Delta smelt increased ten times, but not this year. Maligned by agribusiness groups and San Joaquin Valley Republican Congressman as a ?small minnow? supposedly?standing in the way of deliveries of Delta water to irrigators, the Delta smelt is in fact a indicator species that demonstrates the health of the Delta ecosystem like the proverbial ?canary in the coal mine.?Three other species surveyed by the agency,?longfin smelt, striped bass and threadfin shad,?did relatively better in the high water flow conditions that hit the Delta from the fall through summer.?Two others,?threadfin shad and Sacramento splitail, didn?t fare so well. The health of the fish populations is?measured by means of the CDFW?s ?abundance index,? a relative measure of?abundance.The abundance index (141) for longfin smelt is the highest since 2013. Seventy longfin smelt were collected at index stations. ?The index (470) for striped bass is the highest?since 2001. Three hundred ninety-nine age-0 striped bass were collected at index stations. The number (3086) for American shad is the highest since 2003. Two thousand three hundred fifty-seven American shad were collected at index stations. ?The threadfin shad didn?t do as well as its cousin, the American shad.?The?threadfin?index (291) is the?seventh lowest in FMWT history (Figure 4). Only two hundred sixty-two threadfin shad were collected at index stations. The index for the Sacramento splittail ?shows a continuing trend of very little to no catch of splittail in FMWT,? said?White.One splittail was collected at an index station in December from Suisun Bay. No other splittail were collected in September, October, or November from index or non-index stations, said White.?Dr.?Peter B Moyle,?Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, at the?Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology,?Center for Watershed Sciences, UC Davis, said there ?is no easy answer??why the smelt declined even in a record water year when biologists would have expected a rebound.?The answer is that we really don't know.?The best explanation I can think of is that numbers are so low that an increase (or decrease) in the index would not be detectable with the FMT sampling,? he said.?Another is that there was so much water?last winter that ?smelt were more dispersed than usual and had a hard time finding mates; this would keep numbers low. When numbers are as low, as they clearly are for smelt, random factors in sampling, in distribution, in spawning success etc can make a big difference to the total population or the index,? said Moyle.?Note that Delta smelt are still abundant enough in places so that focused sampling can find them. For example, Tien-Chieh Hung had no problem collecting a 100 smelt in one day for his smelt culture program,? he noted.?What is interesting is that the indices for striped bass and American shad show a fairly strong positive response to the wet winter,? Moyle?stated.??Both have planktivorous larvae/juveniles that are estuarine-dependent, carried there by higher flows. They are better indictors of a functioning estuary than are smelt these days. ?Note that indices for splittail and threadfin shad are meaningless because the FWT is not a good way sample them.?A number of factors have resulted in the decline of Delta smelt and the other pelagic species, including increases in toxics and invasive species, but no factor has helped precipitate the collapse of Delta fish species more than the export of big quantities of water to agribusiness and Southern California water agencies from?the state and federal pumping facilities in the South Delta?over the past 50 years.?The record total for water exports, including water diverted by the Contra Costa Canal and North Bay Aqueduct, was 6,633,000 acre-feet in 2011. That was?163,000 acre-feet more than the previous record of 6,470,000 acre-feet set in 2005, according to DWR data. The Delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) is an endangered slender-bodied smelt, about 2.0 to 2.8 in long, in the family Osmeridae.?Once the most abundant fish found in the estuary that numbered in the millions, the fish has declined dramatically in recent years.Found only in?the upper Sacramento-San Joaquin River Estuary, the smelt?mainly inhabits the freshwater-saltwater mixing zone of the estuary, except during its spawning season, when it migrates upstream to freshwater following winter "first flush" flow events,?around March to May, according to Wikipedia.The?smelt is very susceptible to changes in the environmental conditions of its habitat due to its one-year lifecycle and relatively low fecundity. Because of this, the fish is an ?indicator species? that demonstrates the health of the Delta ecosystem.?Government efforts to protect the endangered fish from moving closer to extinction have focused on limiting or modifying the pumping activities of state and federal water projects in the South Delta, as well as the creation of a captive breeding facility.However, these limited efforts have not been aggressive?enough to prevent the species from nearing extinction in the wild. To make things worse, the?Trump administration today formally announced its intention to?"maximize water deliveries" for Central Valley Project contractors?and "augment operational flexibility by addressing the status of listed species,? including Delta and?longfin smelt, spring and winter-run Chinook steelhead, Central Valley steelhead and?other fish species.The Bureau of Reclamation, under the helm of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman, said in the Federal Register that it?intends to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) for ?analyzing potential modifications to the continued long-term operation of the federal CentralValley Project (CVP), for its authorized purposes, in a coordinated manner with the State Water Project (SWP), for its authorized purposes.??Reclamation proposes to evaluate alternatives that maximize water deliveries and optimize marketable power generation consistent with applicable laws, contractual obligations, and?agreements; and to augment operational flexibility by addressing the status of listed species. Reclamation is seeking suggestions and information on the alternatives and topics to be addressed and any other important issues related to the proposed action,? according to Reclamation.Written comments on the scope of the EIS must be submitted by February 1, 2018. To read the?Federal Notice, go to:?www.gpo.gov/...


   
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