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<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'>CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT / <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">TRINITY</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">RIVER</st1:PlaceType></st1:place></span></font></b></strong><font
size=4><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'>Oh, Trinity! </span></font></b></strong><font
size=4><span style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><strong><b><font
size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'>Eureka</span></font></b></strong></st1:place></st1:City><strong><b><font
size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
Times-Standard - 1/21/05</span></font></b></strong><font size=4><span
style='font-size:13.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><strong><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
13.5pt;font-family:Tahoma'>By <st1:PersonName w:st="on">John Driscoll</st1:PersonName>,
staff writer</span></font></b></strong><font size=4><span style='font-size:
13.5pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>A long
legal brawl with Central Valley water interests over the Trinity River has
taken a favorable turn for the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">North</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Westlands
Water District and the Northern California Power Association won't take its
attempt to block restoration of the river to serve <st1:place w:st="on">Central
California</st1:place> farms to the U.S. Supreme Court, the groups said
Thursday. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>That
clears the once murky path toward reviving fisheries that for 40 years have
languished from water diversions and a dam that blocks nearly 109 miles of
salmon spawning grounds. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>The
bitter five-year legal battle was waged by Westlands following former U.S.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's approval of a restoration plan based on
nearly three decades of scientific study. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>"You
don't run into a case and win it overnight," said Hoopa Valley Chairman <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">Clifford Lyle Marshall</st1:PersonName>. "We were up against
some very powerful opposition."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>The tribe
led the fight for the return of just under half the river's water. In 2000,
Babbitt cleared the plan, and Westlands -- the primary beneficiary of the water
-- sued. A U.S. District Court ruling in 2002 went <st1:City w:st="on">Westland</st1:City>'s
way, but a following <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision trumped the lower court in the tribe's
favor. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Westlands
spokesman Tupper Hull said the district still believes there are flaws in the
9th Circuit decision, but has decided the odds of a Supreme Court review are
small. He said that since the suit was filed, Westlands has worked with other
water users and regulatory agencies toward more efficient water use in the
Central Valley Project, an effort he hopes will make up for the loss of Trinity
water. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>The water
is key to reshaping the river to make conditions better for salmon, and other
elements of the plan are ongoing. Four bridges will have been replaced and one
modified by this summer, key to opening the possibility of channel-changing
flows in wet years. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>But some
of that effort could be stymied by a reduction in federal funding. The U.S.
Interior Department has cut $1.4 million from the $10.8 million program, which <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Marshall</st1:place></st1:City> described as
severely underfunded. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Still, <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place> proponents reveled in the victory, glad to
refocus attention from the courts to the river.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>"Now
we don't have to spend another 20 years preparing paperwork to tell us that
fish need water," said Trinity County Senior Planner <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">Tom Stokely</st1:PersonName>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Struggles
may remain. The Trinity's water is diverted to the <st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento
River</st1:place>, and irrigators get their water via canals leading from
Sacramento Delta pumps.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:13.5pt'>North</span></font></st1:PlaceName><font size=4><span
style='font-size:13.5pt'> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType>,
fishing and environmental interests are concerned that ongoing renewal of
long-term water contracts isn't being conducted through the National
Environmental Policy Act, and won't meet obligations to the <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place>'s fishery. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>"We
have to maintain constant vigilance as it pertains to water issues facing the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">North</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,"
said Humboldt County Supervisor <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Jill Geist</st1:PersonName>.
"This is a win for the moment."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Hupa
people are also taking a longsighted view toward recovery of the river and its
salmon, sturgeon, steelhead and eels. Fishing and rafting guide Chuckie
Carpenter said the court victory will help the overall healing of the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Hoopa</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>"It's
like this river is the bloodline of our people," Carpenter said. "Our
ancestors lived on it since time began. It's a way of transportation and a way
of life."<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><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><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></st1:PersonName><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"><span style='text-decoration:none'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></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><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-style:italic'><a href="http://www.caltrout.org">http://www.caltrout.org</a></span><o:p></o:p></font></i></p>
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