[env-trinity] Trinity Journal- Q&A with staff of restoration program

[Tom Stokely]

http://www.trinityjournal.com/sports/outdoors/article_13055272-83e9-11e1-b9ca-0019bb30f31a.html 
Q&A with staff of restoration program
Posted: Wednesday, April 11, 2012 8:15 am
The Trinity River Restoration Program has provided answers to questions raised about the program at a public outreach meeting held in December in Junction City. The meeting at the North Fork Grange was held by the Trinity County Resource Conservation District, under contract with the restoration program.
Although there was restoration work on the Trinity River prior to 2000, the current Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP) was authorized in that year, and answers are based on that timeframe.
The TRRP responded in writing to questions that were raised. A sampling of the questions and answers follows:
Q. "How much money has been spent on the program so far?"
A. "$130 million over 12 years, which is an average of $10.8 million per year. The Record of Decision (the federal decision from 2000 that returned higher flows to the river) envisioned full program funding of $16 million per year, which would have totaled $192 million. This funding goal was never reached."
Q. "Did the implementation of the projects help reach goals?"
A. "Yes, in the short ecological timeframe since the first project went in (2005) there are signs of improvement in key program targets. The program is attempting to re-establish natural river processes throughout a 40-mile stretch of the Trinity River, resulting in improved fisheries habitat. This is a natural system and we are seeking broad-scale changes, we are seeing a gradual change in the use of project sites by fish." Performance Measure Reports are available at www.trrp.net/?pageid=490.
Q. "Is there maintenance on existing sites?"
A. "No, the program was designed to restore river processes and no funds were designated for maintenance. Current projects are being designed to respond to river flows and will change in response to changing river dynamics."
Q. "Who is responsible for removing hazards?"
A. "Hazards such as drifting logs and submerged fallen trees are a normal component of a natural dynamic river in a forested watershed and are to be expected in Wild and Scenic Rivers … On occasion, hazards may be removed by one of the partner federal agencies (BLM, USFS) that administer public lands along the river when resources are available."
Q. "Adult holding pools are mentioned in the Record of Decision but no strategies are described in the EIR/EIS … Are pools filling in and is the TRRP addressing that issue?"
A. "A bathymetric survey was already planned for 2012 and is being completed to assess the effects of the 2011 11,000 cfs restoration release. The results will quantify the scour and fill of pools throughout the 40-mile reach between Lewiston Dam and the North Fork Trinity River and compare them to a 2009 survey."
The full text of the answers from the Trinity River Restoration Program to the questions posed in Junction City is available online athttp://trinityriver.org/questions_and_answers/
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