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<p class=MsoPlainText><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><b><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:bold'>TRINITY</span></font></b></st1:PlaceName><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:bold'> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">RIVER</st1:PlaceType></span></font></b></st1:place><b><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:bold'> RULING UPDATE<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>By AMY GITTELSOHN<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> With
an appellate court ruling last week in favor of a plan to restore the <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place>, full implementation of that plan --
including very high spring flows for wet years -- is expected in 2005 or 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> Barring
further legal action by the opposition, the remaining obstacles are structures.
Although work to replace four bridges to accommodate higher flows is to be
completed by the end of December, there are other issues in the flood plain
that haven't been addressed, said Ed Solbos, implementation branch chief for
the Trinity River Restoration Program.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> "We
are trying very hard to be ready by the spring of '05," Solbos said, but
measures also have to be in place to protect some houses and roads. So far it
appears the Bureau of Reclamation will foot the bill for that work, although
three programs will fund the bridge work.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> If
that work cannot be completed this year, Solbos said that all efforts will be
made to see that "we absolutely make the following year."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> "We're
all thrilled with the ruling," Solbos said, "and we'll get the river
ready."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> It
already is ready for implementation in a "normal" water year in which
the spring peak is 6,000 cubic feet per second at <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Lewiston</st1:place></st1:City>. In fact, the appellate court
allowed implementation of a normal year flow this year before its final
decision was rendered last week.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> But
the 8,500 cfs peak called for in a "wet" year would impact
structures, as would the 11,000 cfs high in an "extremely wet" year.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> The
decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:City></st1:place> was hailed as a victory by the
Hoopa Valley Tribe which appealed a lower court decision blocking the higher
flows.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> "I
think it's essentially a total victory for the river and the tribes and for the
sports users," said attorney Tom Schlosser, who argued the case for higher
flows.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> Writing
for a three-judge panel that heard the case, Judge Alfred T. Goodwin stated
that with 40 years of diversion of Trinity River water to the Sacramento River
Basin, Trinity River chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead trout
populations "have been decimated by the decades of reduced water
flows."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> Throwing
out most of the rulings by U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger, Goodwin
stated that there was no need for the supplemental report Wanger ordered with
more information on mechanical alternatives and effects on power generation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> The
report did consider non-flow alternatives, he stated, and the authors were not
required "to have considered every conceivable permutation of flow and
non-flow measures."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> He
noted that according to former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's Record of
Decision of December 2000, the restoration plan would equate to "a
reduction in the statewide electrical energy supply of approximately one-tenth
of one percent."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> "The
number and length of the studies on the Trinity River, including the EIS, are
staggering," Goodwin stated, "and bear evidence of the years of
thorough scrutiny given by the federal agencies to the question of how best to
rehabilitate the Trinity River fishery without unduly compromising the
interests of others who have claim on Trinity River water."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> Under
the restoration plan, yearly flows will range between 369,000 acre feet in
critically dry years to 815,000 acre feet in extremely wet years. On average,
52 percent of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place> water would still
be exported for agriculture and other purposes.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> The
program also includes 47 new habitat rehabilitation sites to be constructed,
mostly bank feathers. Judge Wanger had not held up the stream bank work in his
ruling, but it has yet to begin.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> The
latest ruling by the appellate court came as a blow to the Westlands Water
District which initiated court proceedings to block the high flows.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> Westlands
spokesman Tupper Hull called the ruling "mixed" because the appellate
court upheld Wanger's decisions on a couple of items, but acknowledged that
"we're obviously disappointed the bulk of the ruling is unfavorable to
Westlands and the Central Valley Project water users."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> In
Westlands' favor, the appellate court agreed with Wanger that a mitigation
measure insisted upon by the Fish and Wildlife Service to offset salinity in
the Delta is too extreme and the implications had not been analyzed, and
another agency exceeded its authority in stating that the restoration plan must
be put into effect immediately.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> "We
are looking at the ruling very carefully... It's mixed in terms of its impact
on the record of decision," <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Hull</st1:City></st1:place>
said, adding that at this point Westlands has made no decision on how to
proceed.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> "I
expect they will petition for a rehearing by the 9th Circuit Court either by
the full board or the same three, and if that's denied will petition for a
Supreme Court review," said Schlosser, the attorney for the other side.
"They'll throw some more money at this problem."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> However,
Schlosser said he believes both efforts are likely to be rejected.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron Leydecker</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Consultant, California Trout, Inc.</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810 ce</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><em><i><font
face="Times New Roman">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</font></i></em></a><em><i><font
face="Times New Roman"> (secondary)</font></i></em><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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