[env-trinity] Trinity Journal LTE's on Winter Flow Issue

[Tom Stokely]

 http://www.trinityjournal.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/article_6e4e3b7e-c542-11ee-88f1-0be7700109cc.html
Better options for supervisor     
   - From Chad AbelWeaverville
   -  Feb 7, 2024

The Trinity River Restoration Program has worked to implement winter flow variability (WFV) for a decade. WVF simply means dam releases are higher in winter, just like the higher flows that naturally occur this time of year to our tributaries.
WFV creates shallow water habitat for salmon fry and distributes dam releases across two seasons (winter and spring) instead of the approach Reclamation has used since 2004 to do restoration releases only in the spring. Big late-spring releases chill the river so much that every cold-blooded aquatic organism suffers, including our juvenile salmon.

WVF does not increase the annual volume of water released from Trinity Lake to the river. It’s the same amount of water over a longer period.
 
Scientists from six federal, state and tribal agencies on the Trinity River agree WFV will result in healthier juvenile salmon that will grow faster and reach the ocean sooner, as does all the published literature on temperature suppression from rivers across the West.

Trout Unlimited, a very sportsmen-centric organization, likewise agrees. So why hasn’t this simple change to dam operations occurred? Because Trinity County gets to weigh in on this decision, and Sup. Liam Gogan, as the county representative, continues to oppose. Then in a disgusting act of bait and switch, he recently said yes, if TRRP met his conditions, and TRRP acquiesced, only to have him again vote no just two weeks ago.
District 3 deserves a better supervisor than a science denier that prioritizes his own self-interest over the health of our river.
http://www.trinityjournal.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/article_46c10f6a-cacd-11ee-a301-0f0807a23501.html
County engaged in water issues     
   - From Russ GiuntiniLewiston

I am writing in response to Chad Abel’s letter to the editor that ran on Feb. 7. What he wrote was misleading at best, but it’s something we’ve come to expect from TRRP over the past 20 years.
The fact of the matter is the county put together a winter flow proposal that TRRP rejected. Rather than negotiating, TRRP counter-offered with the same plan they implemented the year before that harmed the local economy and the taxpayers of Trinity County.
With that in mind, their counteroffer was rejected by Sup. Liam Gogan, the county’s representative on TMC, and the Hoopa Tribe thereby blocking its implementation. Facts matter Mr. Abel. It’s a new day and thankfully the county is fully engaged and at the table. 

http://www.trinityjournal.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/article_911957de-cacd-11ee-940c-937da97d2e76.html
 Gogan working to solve issues
     
   - From Tom StokelyMount Shasta

I write as an individual. I disagree with Chad Abel on Liam Gogan’s integrity, and I call him out for his lack of honesty and the TRRP’s lack of integrity. Vote for Liam Gogan, supervisor, District 3.

I supported winter flows in 2023 as an experiment. Unfortunately, there were many negative consequences of the winter flow for Trinity County that the TRRP continues to deny.

To break a stalemate at the Trinity Management Council, I hired a salmon biologist with years of experience on the Trinity River to develop a compromise winter flow that perhaps Trinity County could live with and might benefit the fishery.

The biologist’s proposal called for increased winter flows from Feb. 15 through April 28 with a range of 26,244 to 107,075 acre feet, no small amount of water. It was offered in good faith by Liam. Unfortunately, the TRRP came back with a counteroffer that was more water — 60,000 to 120,000 acre-feet, and wouldn’t even consider the county’s proposal, even though it had reduced impacts. Negotiations simply broke down.
 
Abel misrepresented Liam’s actions on the winter flow as “disgusting.” I disagree. I think it showed a spirit of openness and compromise by Gogan, despite criticism from some of his constituents and friends.

Sadly, despite my years of trying to support the TRRP, the continued misrepresentation of facts and lack of integrity by some TRRP staff and their spouses like Abel makes it difficult to believe or support anything that they do.

Vote for Liam Gogan.





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