[env-trinity] Various Trinity-Klamath-CVP Articles- Fish Kill Trial, etc.

[Tom Stokely]

http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2004/09/10/news/community_news/cit5.txt

      Friday, September 10, 2004 
      Archives 
     
        

      Judge puts fish death trial on ice Thursday

      Published September 10, 2004

      Tribes, government debate blame for massive fish die-off

      By DYLAN DARLING

      The courtroom debate about what caused 34,000 salmon to die on the Klamath River in Fall 2002 was delayed again Thursday.

      A trial pitting the Yurok Tribes against the federal government and the Klamath Water Users Association, set to start on Sept. 20 in Oakland's District Court, was postponed, said Judge Saundra B. Armstrong's court clerk.

      No new trial date has been set because motions to dismiss the case, submitted by both the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the water users, will be considered in a hearing on Oct. 26, said Lisa Clark, court clerk. Depending on what Armstrong decides, a new trial date could be set or the case could be thrown out of court.

      At the heart of the potential trial is determining whether the Bureau's Klamath Project contributed to the die-off of salmon on the lower Klamath River in 2002. The Bureau and the water users have moved to have the case dismissed because they say the court doesn't have proper jurisdiction and because the plaintiffs, who have a reservation on the river, are asking for relief that doesn't match any damages.

      "They are asking for a future specific requirement that the government gives them more water, even though this is trying to redress something that happened in 2002," said Andrew Lloyd, an attorney which is representing the water users in the case.

      The Yuroks have said they want more water to flow down the river from the Klamath Project to prevent another fish kill caused by infection and disease like that seen in September 2002.

      Federal officials routinely don't comment on pending litigation.

      The potential trial is an off-shoot of an overarching case that was set for the courtroom in Spring 2003. In that case, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and other downstream interests, along with they Yurok Tribe, sued the federal government to release more water down the Klamath River from Iron Gate Dam.

      The water users entered the case as interveners on the side of the defendants.

      The trial for the original case was canceled the day it was set to begin in May 2003 and Armstrong said she would come out with a written decision, except for the issue of what caused the death of the salmon. For that, she said, a trial was needed.

      In her written decision made in July 2003, Armstrong said the Bureau needed to tweak two parts of its biological opinion, or guiding document for the management for the river, to bring the Project into compliance with the Endangered Species Act.

      She didn't give a time frame on when the changes needed to be made. The Bureau has made one of them and is still working on the other.

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      http://www.times-standard.com/cda/article/print/0,1674,127%7E2896%7E2395428,00.html




      Fishermen want salmon plan now 
      By John Driscoll The Times-Standard 


      Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 

      Fishermen and fishing businesses repeated their call to the federal government this week to begin preparing for a possible closure or restriction of salmon fishing next year due to past disease outbreaks on the Klamath River. 

      This fall's salmon run on the Klamath could be among the lowest on record. Since opportunities to fish for salmon up and down the West Coast are affected by the weak Klamath stocks, fish managers could be forced to close or clamp down on fishing to protect the salmon. 

      In the spring of 2002, as many as 200,000 juvenile salmon perished from diseases while they were migrating. Biologists won't know how much damage that did until the 2- and 3-year-old fish born that year return this fall, but the implications are grave. 

      Fish managers will determine in March how many -- if any -- salmon can be taken and still leave enough spawners to perpetuate the stocks. 

      Eureka commercial salmon fisherman Dave Bitts said commercial fishermen are trying to reduce their take of 4-year-old salmon by imposing a 28-inch limit and reducing the number of fish they take this year. 

      "Otherwise, there's not a whole lot we can do," Bitts said. 

      But the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations and others are calling for the federal government to take responsibility for the fish kill. They want the Bush administration to develop either a disaster relief program or a means to allow fishermen to target more abundant stocks in 2005. 

      The federation wrote to the Bush administration in July asking it to begin planning for a possible fishery meltdown. To date there has been no reply. 

      It also wrote to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, asking the council to plan for the worst. 

      The council divvies up fish among commercial fishermen, tribes and sport fishermen each year. 

      "Planning for alternative fishing scenarios or designing a disaster relief program for the impacted fisheries takes time, and waiting until next March until addressing the matter would be highly irresponsible," wrote the federation's Zeke Grader. 

      Bitts said the problem is especially galling because most other West Coast rivers are producing well. On the Klamath, juvenile fish have been dying in recent years and the September 2002 fish kill claimed up to 68,000 salmon in an otherwise abundant run. 

      Bitts said he hopes a solution can be found that will allow fishing. 

      "I'd much rather fish the ocean than fish the mailbox," Bitts said. 

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      http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11268~2397083,00.html


            Article Last Updated: Sunday, September 12, 2004 - 4:08:28 AM PST 
           
           

            Bay-Delta bill runs into small snag in the U.S. Senate 

            By Erica Werner, Associated Press 

            WASHINGTON -- Key California lawmakers said Friday they're optimistic about getting a Senate vote soon on a final version of a landmark bill authorizing the California Federal Bay-Delta Program. 
            A $389 million CalFed bill passed the House in July, but Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said at least one major provision couldn't make it through the Senate, and she's been working since then to resolve the problem. 

            Overall, the legislation, in the works for a decade, would authorize numerous water projects to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and ensure water supplies for millions of people. 

            The provision that's problematic would allow the secretary of the interior to approve select water projects without congressional signoff. Congress would be given 120 days to say no but would not be asked to say yes. Feinstein said senators of both parties would balk at that. 


            She said she's hopeful the Senate will act soon on a bill without the so-called pre-authorization language, and that she thinks the House will accept the bill that way. 

            "The House would have to accept that," Feinstein said in an interview. "I see that happening, because getting a bill is too important, and we have a united community. We have the governor helping, we have all of the water agencies on board, so there is very solid support for this bill." 

            Often when different versions of bills pass the House and Senate, a conference committee is appointed to resolve the differences, but Feinstein said there weren't plans for a conference committee on the CalFed bill. That means the version that passes the Senate would be the final version. It would have to win approval from the House as well, then go to the president. 

            Feinstein has been working with House Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy. Pombo's hoping for Senate passage before the fall congressional recess set to begin in early October, his spokesman said. 

            "The chairman is optimistic that, with Sen. Feinstein's partnership, we will be able to deliver a good bill to the president before recess. He is committed to working with her in every way he can to make sure we do," said Pombo spokesman Brian Kennedy. 


           
           


     
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