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<p class=MsoNormal><span class=headingstory1><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>WATER QUALITY IN <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">TRINITY</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">COUNTY</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>:<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=headline11><b><font size=4 color="#333333"
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>Editorial:
Pristine' Trinity waters contain a hidden hazard</span></font></b></span><span
class=headline11><b><font color=black face=Tahoma><span style='font-family:
Tahoma;color:windowtext'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=headline11><b><font size=4 color="#333333"
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>Redding
Record-Searchlight – 5/1/05</span></font></b></span><span
class=headline11><b><font size=4 color="#333333" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=headingstory1><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>The adjective "pristine" is as
tightly linked to <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType>'s mountains as "sunny" is to "<st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>" and
"United" to "States," but looks aren't everything. </span></font><font
color=black><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>As happened everywhere the 49ers hunted
for gold, miners left behind a hidden residue of mercury, which they used to
separate precious metal from worthless rock. Quicksilver leaked from sluice
boxes, but even more from mines such as the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Altoona</st1:City></st1:place> on the East Fork of the Trinity. The
crud flows downstream until something stops it, in this case Trinity Dam. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>In a sad process scientists call
"biomagnification," mercury concentrates as it goes up the food
chain, with a 10-fold increase at each step from lake-bottom bacteria to
plankton to bugs to little fish to big fish. At the top of that ladder stands
the angler on the lakeshore. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>There's no need for paranoia about mercury
in fish -- as officials from the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment will explain at a Tuesday workshop in Weaverville -- but lovers of
trout, salmon and bass should be cautious, especially pregnant women and
children. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>At worst, mercury poisoning mars babies'
growing brains. The Environmental Protection Agency says exposure in the womb
can hurt children's memory, language and motor skills. That's no way to get a start
in life. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>The state guidelines advise that women who
could become pregnant and children eat bass and Trinity Lake chinook salmon no
more than once a month, and most other fish in the watershed no more than once
a week. For older women and men, the limits are looser -- once a week for the
big fish, three times a week for the others. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>Frankly, anyone who pulls his supper fresh
from the water more often than that probably feels lucky enough to take his
chances, but it's worth knowing what the experts say. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>It's also worth keeping things in
perspective: Fish is among the healthiest foods, and government scientists with
human health in mind err on the side of caution. Enjoy your day at the lake. <br>
<br>
A welcome flood on a parched river <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>Speaking of the Trinity, the river is in
the midst of a remarkable transformation as the Bureau of Reclamation
re-creates -- as far as possible in a thoroughly plumbed and tamed waterway --
a natural spring surge that should scour the river channel and rush young
salmon on their way to the ocean. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>The artificial flood is huge, taking the
river from a few hundred cubic feet per second up to a peak of 7,000 cfs on May
10. That is about the difference between Cottonwood Creek and the entire <st1:place
w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>To some, the reservoir is always
half-empty, and water diverted from agriculture and power back to nature is
simply a squandered resource. Certainly, we must take human needs into account,
but if the Trinity restoration project succeeds in building healthier
fisheries, there will be a substantial economic as well as ecological payoff. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>And -- who knows? -- maybe the flood will
wash away some leftover mercury.</span></font><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>
<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><em><i><font color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, </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'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><u><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></u></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a><u>
</u></span></font><font color=black><span style='color:black'>(secondary)</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></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><em><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'><a href="http://caltrout.org">http://caltrout.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'> </span><o:p></o:p></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>
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