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<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><STRONG>NORTH COAST RIVERS</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><STRONG>Editorial: Ruling on Trinity River water
should help</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><STRONG>Klamath Falls Ore. Herald & News -
7/20/04</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
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<P><FONT size=4>Last week's court ruling that ordered more Trinity River water
to be released in the lower Klamath River looks like good news for the Klamath
Reclamation Project irrigators. After all, what's not to like about sharing the
burden of meeting water demands for the lower Klamath River which, until now,
has been unfairly and too narrowly made the responsibility of Klamath Project
irrigators?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The decision's not the complete answer, which demands a
Basin-wide approach, but it is a key part.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The decision from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel
also may not be the final word. It could be appealed, either to 9th Circuit for
a rehearing or to the U.S. Supreme Court. It also pits the competing needs of
two agricultural areas over water use. If the matter ever came down to a contest
of political muscle, central California has a lot more than the Klamath
Basin.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>It does make sense, though, to look to the Trinity River for
more of the solution to meeting the Klamath River's water problems.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The 112-mile long Trinity enters the lower Klamath 43.5 miles
from the Pacific Ocean. It's the Klamath's best source of clear, cold water.
Certainly, it's better "fish" water than that which comes from the languid lakes
of the Upper Klamath Basin. That water's warm to begin with, and gets warmer on
its 200-mile journey to meet with the much colder Trinity. Warm water encourages
fish diseases and water temperature is seen as one of the elements in the
decline of Klamath River fish runs.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The Trinity begins in the northern California mountains. Much of
its flow was diverted decades ago into California's Central Valley to meet the
needs of utilities, growing cities and agriculture.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>In last week's ruling, the court pointed out that Congress had
approved a restoration plan for the Trinity 20 years ago and was still waiting
for it to be implemented. The plan calls for sending 368,900 acre-feet to
815,000 acre-feet a year down the Trinity that otherwise would have gone
elsewhere.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The suit was brought by the Westlands Water District after a
lower court decision said the water should be sent to the Klamath. The Yurok
Tribe of northern California, which looks to Klamath River salmon and other fish
to provide food, intervened in the suit.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The decision points out the water issue's complexity and the
competing interests involved. It also sends a message, we hope, that the Klamath
Project shouldn't be solely responsible for solving the river's
problems.#</FONT></P>
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