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face=Arial><FONT size=5>Top <SPAN class=022560018-08012004>Topic<SPAN
class=335154315-09022004>:<SPAN class=449463217-12032004> <SPAN
class=110003517-16032004>Trinity
River</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><STRONG></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><STRONG>Indians rally to restore Trinity River
flows</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><STRONG>They target a coalition of power agencies and a
huge water district.</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><STRONG>Sacramento Bee - 3/16/04</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><STRONG>By Jennifer K. Morita, staff
writer</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P>They say that years ago, the Trinity River was so full of fish you could walk
across the water on the backs of salmon.</P>
<P>A fisherman could spend three days on the river and catch enough food for an
entire year.</P>
<P>Now, two American Indian tribes say the Northern California Power Agency and
one of the nation's largest water districts are taking too much water out of the
river, destroying the fish population and their way of life.</P>
<P>Roughly 60 Hoopa Valley and Yurok Indians, along with members of Friends of
the River, demonstrated in front of NCPA offices in Roseville on Monday
afternoon. They waved signs, beat a ceremonial drum and asked the agency to end
a legal battle that they say has blocked restoration of the Trinity River for
years.</P>
<P>"The river is our lifeline," said Tabitha Chenault, a 21-year-old member of
the Yurok tribe. "But these last few years, the river and fish have started to
die. All you have to do is walk by and see the dead fish floating down the
river. It's an awful, awful sight."</P>
<P>The Trinity River, which flows from the Trinity Alps near Redding to the
Pacific Ocean, was dammed 40 years ago by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Up to
90 percent of the river's flow was diverted to irrigate Central Valley farms and
provide hydropower to cities such as Sacramento.</P>
<P>As a result, salmon and steelhead trout populations have declined over the
years. In 2002, 33,000 fish died along the lower Klamath River. Some scientists
say that if water had been restored to the Klamath from the Trinity River, some
of the fish may have been saved.</P>
<P>Kendall Allen, 16, who spent the day demonstrating in front of the NCPA
offices, remembered the fish kill.</P>
<P>"It was so gross," Allen said. "It stunk and it was awful."</P>
<P>The U.S. Interior Department approved a plan to restore nearly half of the
Trinity's historical flows, but a federal judge blocked the plan after Westlands
Water District sued. Westlands, a 600,000-acre district in Fresno and Kings
counties, later was joined by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and the
Northern California Power Agency, a coalition of public power agencies.</P>
<P>NCPA officials say the government focused too much on increasing the water
flow and didn't consider other alternatives.</P>
<P>"Fundamentally, we feel we're on the same side," NCPA Legislative Director
John Fistolera said. "We share the same goal of restoring the river and
fisheries, but we have to do it in a way that is science-based and takes a
responsible look at everyone's needs and objectives."</P>
<P>NCPA Assistant General Manager Jane Dunn Cirrincione said the only way to
effectively restore the river is to continually evaluate flow levels and adjust
the plan accordingly.</P>
<P>"The concern is if you lock into a single flow level, it doesn't give federal
agencies the flexibility to evaluate the impact on the waterway and see if it
helps further restoration goals, or set restoration goals back," Cirrincione
said.</P>
<P>SMUD dropped out of the lawsuit last year, and Hoopa representatives have
been appealing to individual NCPA members to follow suit.</P>
<P>So far, the cities of Palo Alto and Alameda have dropped out.</P>
<P>Remaining litigants include Westlands Water District and the cities of
Roseville, Santa Clara and Redding.</P>
<P>Fistolera said the lawsuit has worked its course, and the Department of the
Interior is conducting a new environmental study of its proposed plan that he
expects will be released any day.</P>
<P>Hoopa Valley Tribal Chairman Clifford Lyle Marshall offered NCPA officials a
basket of homemade kippered salmon and asked the agency to drop its lawsuit.</P>
<P>"We hope you will do the right thing," Marshall said, extending an invitation
to visit the tribe. "Spend a few days rafting or try fishing. If you saw the
river even once, you'll understand why we love it so much and understand why
it's so important to protect it."</P>
<P>Hoopa Valley Tribal Councilman Joseph Jarnaghan said the Trinity River's
average flow used to be 1.2 million acre-feet a year.</P>
<P>"Now it's 120,000 acre-feet; that's 10 percent of what it used to be,"
Jarnaghan said. "You can imagine what the Sacramento River would look like if it
was only 10 percent of it's flow. It's just devastating.</P>
<P>"To us, the river is a way of life. We live, work and play in that water.
It's something we've always had, and something we plan to always have in the
future."</P>
<P>Several younger members of the tribe also attended the demonstration,
including Marshall's 18-year-old son Cliff Marshall Jr.</P>
<P>"You can see the decay of the river," the younger Marshall said. "There
didn't used to be as much moss, and it used to be one of the clearest rivers
around. We used to swim in the Klamath River when I was a kid, and now it's
brown.</P>
<P>"This century will be one of the most desperate times for the Indian people
because a lot is being lost. ... We're trying to hold on to what we can."#<FONT
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