<div dir="ltr"><div><a href="http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_a2321f84-c5b0-11ec-8c20-0bde63c98700.html">http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_a2321f84-c5b0-11ec-8c20-0bde63c98700.html</a></div><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail-asset-masthead" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:20px 0px 40px"><h1 class="gmail-headline" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:inherit;font-size:42px;margin:0px 100px 0px 0px;font-weight:400;line-height:1.1;color:inherit"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato">Spring releases raise Trinity River</span></h1><h2 class="gmail-subhead" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:inherit;font-weight:400;line-height:1.1;color:inherit;margin:10px 100px 10px 0px;font-size:24px"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato">TRRP addresses concerns amid drought</span></h2><div class="gmail-meta" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin-top:20px;margin-right:100px"><span style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><ul class="gmail-list-inline" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;padding-left:0px;list-style:none"><li style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;display:inline-block;padding-right:5px;padding-left:5px"><span class="gmail-tnt-byline" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato">By Tony Reed The Trinity Journal</span></li><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><li class="gmail-hidden-print" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;display:inline-block;padding-right:5px;padding-left:5px">4 hrs ago</li><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><li class="gmail-hidden-print" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;display:inline-block;padding-right:5px;padding-left:5px"><a href="http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/local/article_a2321f84-c5b0-11ec-8c20-0bde63c98700.html#comments" class="gmail-cm" title="0 comments" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none"><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="gmail-count gmail-comment-counter" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato">0</span></a></li></ul></span></div><div class="gmail-share-container gmail-headline-right gmail-pull-right gmail-hidden-xs gmail-hidden-sm" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;float:right"><ul class="gmail-social-share-links gmail-hidden-print gmail-list-unstyled gmail-stacked gmail-icon" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;padding-left:0px;list-style:none"><li class="gmail-social-share-link gmail-fb" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;opacity:0.8;margin-bottom:1px;max-height:2em"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trinityjournal.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Farticle_a2321f84-c5b0-11ec-8c20-0bde63c98700.html%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_campaign%3Duser-share" class="gmail-tnt-share-link gmail-fb" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" title="Share on Facebook" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;background-color:transparent;color:inherit;text-decoration:none;display:block;white-space:nowrap"><span class="gmail-tnt-stack" title="" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;display:inline-block;height:2em;width:2em"></span><span class="gmail-sr-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;border:0px none;height:1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0px;width:1px">Facebook</span></a></li><li class="gmail-social-share-link gmail-tw" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;opacity:0.8;margin-bottom:1px;max-height:2em"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?&text=Spring%20releases%20raise%20Trinity%20River&via=trinityjournal&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trinityjournal.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Farticle_a2321f84-c5b0-11ec-8c20-0bde63c98700.html%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_campaign%3Duser-share" class="gmail-tnt-share-link gmail-tw" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" title="Tweet" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;background-color:transparent;color:inherit;text-decoration:none;display:block;white-space:nowrap"><span class="gmail-tnt-stack" title="" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;display:inline-block;height:2em;width:2em"></span><span class="gmail-sr-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;border:0px none;height:1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0px;width:1px">Twitter</span></a></li><li class="gmail-social-share-link em" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;opacity:0.8;margin-bottom:1px;max-height:2em"><a href="mailto:?subject=%5Btrinityjournal.com%5D%20Spring%20releases%20raise%20Trinity%20River&body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trinityjournal.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Farticle_a2321f84-c5b0-11ec-8c20-0bde63c98700.html%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Demail%26utm_campaign%3Duser-share" class="gmail-tnt-share-link em email-share-link" title="Email" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing:border-box;fon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xt-align:center"><div class="gmail-item-container" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><div class="gmail-photo-container gmail-layout-vertical" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px auto;display:block;background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.9)"><a href="http://www.trinityjournal.com/content/tncms/live/#2" class="gmail-hover-expand" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none;display:block"><span class="expand" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;opacity:0;background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:rgb(255,255,255);padding:5px 10px;border-radius:5px;font-size:18px"></span><div style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><img src="https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/trinityjournal.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/94/8946a7be-c5b1-11ec-b891-439e104e7d74/6268755c6df98.image.jpg" alt="Ruth Lake" class="gmail-img-responsive gmail-owl-first-image gmail-owl-lazy gmail-letterbox gmail-default" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato; border: 0px none; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%; height: auto; width: auto; transform-style: preserve-3d; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 0.4s ease 0s; object-fit: contain; max-height: 500px; margin: 0px auto;" width="400" height="459"></div></a></div><div class="gmail-caption-container" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;text-align:left;padding-top:10px"><div class="gmail-caption-inner-a2321f84-c5b0-11ec-8c20-0bde63c98700 gmail-collapse gmail-in" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;display:block"><div class="gmail-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><div class="gmail-subscriber-preview" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-size:13px;line-height:1.4em">Having some fun aboard personal watercraft, taking advantage of a full Ruth Lake Sunday.</p></div></div><div class="gmail-card-meta" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;font-size:14px"><ul class="gmail-list-inline" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:5px 0px;padding-left:0px;list-style:none"><li class="gmail-credit" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;display:block;padding-right:5px;padding-left:0px;font-size:12px;color:rgb(153,153,153);margin-top:5px"><span class="gmail-tnt-byline" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato">Tony Reed | The Trinity Journal</span></li></ul></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-owl-item" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;min-height:1px;float:left;width:565px;margin-right:0px"><div class="gmail-item gmail-photo-2f75287c-c5b2-11ec-a38d-5ba5b318eee5" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;text-align:center"><div class="gmail-item-container" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><div class="gmail-photo-container gmail-layout-vertical" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px auto;display:block;background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.9)"><a href="http://www.trinityjournal.com/content/tncms/live/#3" class="gmail-hover-expand" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none;display:block"><span class="expand" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;opacity:0;background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:rgb(255,255,255);padding:5px 10px;border-radius:5px;font-size:18px"></span><div style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><img src="cid:ii_l2hvxiwg0" alt="image.png" width="281" height="500"></div></a></div><div class="gmail-caption-container" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;text-align:left;padding-top:10px"><div class="gmail-caption-inner-a2321f84-c5b0-11ec-8c20-0bde63c98700 gmail-collapse gmail-in" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;display:block"><div class="gmail-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><div class="gmail-subscriber-preview" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-size:13px;line-height:1.4em">TRRP's flow schedule for 2022.</p></div></div><div class="gmail-card-meta" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;font-size:14px"><ul class="gmail-list-inline" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:5px 0px;padding-left:0px;list-style:none"><li class="gmail-credit" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;display:block;padding-right:5px;padding-left:0px;font-size:12px;color:rgb(153,153,153);margin-top:5px"><span class="gmail-tnt-byline" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato">Tony Reed | The Trinity Journal</span></li></ul></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-owl-item" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;min-height:1px;float:left;width:565px;margin-right:0px"><div class="gmail-item gmail-photo-4ffa10f8-c5b2-11ec-b1c7-37c82ed0000e" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;text-a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amount will level off for the first 17 days of May before returning to normal rates, he said.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Asked if the increased flows were timed to coincide with a week of rain and snow showers, Dixon called it a ”happy accident.” He said it was decided to make a quick release early in spring, rather than extend a slow release out into the summer months, partly to encourage salmon to head for the ocean earlier.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">He explained that continually releasing cold water into the river encourages fish to stay, rather than return to the ocean, which can cause a die-off in the Klamath River.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px"> “The idea is that when we start our spring release from the dam, depending on how much water we’re releasing, the flows can drop the temperature of the river by over 10 degrees Fahrenheit, because that water is coming off the bottom of the reservoir,” he explained. “When the water is colder, it slows down fish growth.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">He said one cue that sends fish to the ocean is reaching a certain size, so keeping cold water in the rivers encourages them to stay longer.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“It’s a nice place to be when the river is nice and cold up here, but unfortunately, just because it’s nice and cold up here doesn’t mean that the lower Trinity and the lower Klamath [River] are going to be as hospitable, so we’ve had big disease problems for many years in the lower Klamath.” He said the reasons have been many, but it’s determined that disease is much worse in drought years. Dixon recalled that as many as 90 percent of fish migrating out of the Klamath died. Dixon said fish can sense declining flows and temperature differences which also indicate they should head back to the ocean.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;font-weight:bold">Scour the channel</strong></p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Dixon explained that another purpose of the spring flows is to “scour the channel,” meaning to move silt, gravel and sediment away. He said it’s not a regular objective, but had not been done following an unprecedented three years of critically dry conditions. It was determined to be necessary in order to move gravel and scour willow bushes from river edges. Dixon said a common issue for the Trinity is a lack of connection to the flood plain.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“Flood plains are really important to fish,” he said. “People think of the river as the part that has water in it, but the river is the whole valley. If we build all this habitat for fish by lowering flood plains and creating these off-channel features, we want to make sure we are managing that water by getting the habitat wet at the right times.” He said early on, an issue that disconnected the Trinity from its flood plain was willow bushes.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“We had willows grow right on the edge of the river because we were releasing the same amount of water every day, 365 days a year,” he said. When that happened, dense sand would then accumulate and create levies that kept the river from accessing its flood plain. When flows increase, the tight channel will speed water flow through an area, confining it to a tight channel. Dixon said that after 18 years of trying to open the channel, TRRP is trying to keep the river from returning to the tight channel condition.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Asked if flushing helps to resolve issues around toxic algal blooms, Dixon said those typically occur later in the summer when releases are not happening. However, he said TRRP will sometimes release water in fall to lower temperatures and increase flows in the lower Klamath River, which can mitigate or stop the proliferation of blue green algae.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“That’s not an objective, it would just be a convenient consequence,” he said.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;font-weight:bold">Because we have to</strong></p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“What it really boils down to is that we have to release the water,” he said. “We have a set allocation for restoration purposes and we are releasing the minimum amount we are legally allowed to release and we are doing it in a way that is informed by the 20 years of science we’ve accumulated since the program started.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Asked to address common concerns from the public, Dixon noted questions about why water can’t be retained for recreation or as storage for future dry years.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“It really boils down to the purpose of Trinity Dam, based on what Congress said,” he explained. “The purpose of Trinity Dam is for irrigation. It’s not even for flood control. If it controls flood, it’s also a consequence of holding back water for subsequent diversion for irrigating.” Dixon said the program gets a set amount of water for restoration purposes, but all else is available for diversion to the Central Valley Project. He said there are no minimum constraints to accommodate boat ramps in the reservoir or recreation, because it’s not the intended purpose of the dam.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“Congress authorized that specifically to hold onto water to use for irrigation and if we can generate power on the way to irrigation, all the better,” he said. “That’s why we have some of the cheapest power in California.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Asked if the release increases significantly lower the level of Trinity Lake, Dixon said they can release 369,000 acre feet of water in a critically dry year, and all but 98,000 acre-feet becomes the summer and winter base flows.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“The 98,000 extra acre-feet comes out of a total lake storage of 2.5 million acre-feet,” he said. “What we ae seeing right now is fairly small relative to the capacity of the lake,” he said, “but, to be fair, the lake’s only at 772,000 acre-feet of storage right now. We’re at, I think, 42 percent of the historical average for the date. It’s quite low, almost unprecedentedly low, but not quite.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;font-weight:bold">For more info</strong></p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Asked if he would like the public to know anything about TRRP, Dixon said staff enjoy sharing information with the public at events or one-on-one.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“We love this stuff,” he said. “We really like communicating and … the conversation doesn’t happen properly over social media. It’s hard to engage properly and share the right information.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">As for who makes the decision to release or hold water, it’s rarely one office.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“We’re an eight-agency partnership who are all here to work together to restore the river, so these decisions on how and when to release water, it’s not the Bureau of Reclamation that’s formulating these hydrographs. It’s the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, it’s the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Yurok Tribe and Trinity County,” he said. “All of these entities get together and decide at the technical level and then, at the policy level, what we’re trying to accomplish this year and that’s what we end up doing.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">For more information, questions or to schedule an information meeting or event, send an email to<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:info@trrp.net" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);text-decoration:none">info@trrp.net</a><span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span>for the quickest response.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;font-weight:bold">A different prediction</strong></p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Asked if he would like to weigh in, Tom Stokely, representing the Save California Salmon and other Trinity River groups, began by noting that 2022 will go down as one of the driest years in history, and even after last week’s rain and snow, the lake will reach its lowest level since 1977.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“Thanks to mismanagement of the cold water pool by the Bureau of Reclamation, with the blessing of the State Water Resources Control Board, river temperatures in 2022 are expected to be very warm for all life stages of salmon and steelhead, particularly during fall spawning. Therefore, significant salmon spawning failure and pre-spawn mortality is expected in 2022. Spring chinook salmon are listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act, and coho salmon are listed as threatened under the state and federal ESAs.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Stokely said the Bureau of Reclamation’s April 6 Draft Temperature Management Plan predicts Trinity Lake storage at 399,000 acre-feet at the end of October, with Lewiston Dam outflow temperatures for October at 56.9 degrees Fahrenheit.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“Under water right order 90-5, temperatures should be 56 degrees at the North Fork confluence in October, 40 miles downstream,” he said. “I don’t expect the recent precipitation to make a huge difference because the ground is so dry and a very hot summer is likely.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Stokely said warm waters in Trinity Lake in the last two months of 2021 resulted in significant mortality and unpermitted take of coho eggs at the Trinity River Hatchery. He predicted the action will be repeated this year.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“Hydropower will also be adversely impacted by the low storage this year,” he said. “There will hopefully be strategic powerplant bypasses to provide colder water for salmon during fall spawning, but it remains to be seen how much cold water will be left in Trinity Lake at all by October.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">According to Stokely, Save California Salmon, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and California Water Impact Network submitted an alternative water operations plan for 2021 to the SWRCB that would have resulted in an additional 500,000 acre-feet of stored water in Trinity and Shasta reservoirs for 2022.  </p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“Unfortunately, our plan was rejected and now we face a serious salmon and hydropower crisis,” he said. “Protections for the Trinity River that are contained in SWRCB Water Right Order 90-5 have been completely ignored. Save California Salmon is the only organization that has spoken up to the SWRCB about their failure to protect the Trinity River. “</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Stokley asserted that in order to save this year’s run of salmon in the Trinity River, export of Trinity River water to Whiskeytown Lake and the Sacramento River should be further curtailed per the letter from Congressman Huffman to the Commissioner of Reclamation.  </p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“To do otherwise spells disaster for those who depend on Trinity and Klamath River salmon and steelhead,” he said.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px"><strong style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;font-weight:bold">Ruth Lake full</strong></p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Over on Ruth Lake April 19, water was cresting the spillway for the first time since last October.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Ruth Lake Community Services District Manager Caitlyn Canale said the spillover happens naturally when the lake is full. Unlike Trinity Lake, the 7-mile-long reservoir in southern Trinity County doesn’t take long to fill.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“We’re rather fortunate, being as small as we are, that one rainstorm can fill it,” Canale said. “For example, we were pretty low back in October and one huge storm filled it completely.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture website, the reservoir was formed by the damming of the Mad River in 1962. It provides water to Humboldt County and serves as a recreation area for many.  </p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">While the dam does not generate power, it brings tourism revenue to the area, mostly in fishing-related commerce.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">“The lake is popular for largemouth bass fishing and this year, we are doing three bass tournaments,” she said. “We had one on April 2 and we’ll have one on April 30 and another on June 4. They usually have really good turnouts.”</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">Asked what other fish one can expect to catch in Ruth Lake, Canale said trout, bluegill and catfish are common.</p></div><div class="gmail-subscriber-only" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato"><p style="box-sizing:border-box;font-family:Lato;margin:0px 0px 24px;color:rgb(68,68,68);font-size:16px;line-height:27px">According to the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, the level of Ruth Lake on April 19 was 104 percent of capacity.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>