[env-trinity] Trinity Journal: Extremely wet’ year for the Trinity

[Tom Stokely]

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
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   - 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.    
   
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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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