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<p class=Addressee><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class=Addressee><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class=Addressee><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>VIA FACSIMILE: 530-623-5944<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>VIA EMAIL: <a href="mailto:bgutermuth@mp.usbr.gov">bgutermuth@mp.usbr.gov</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=Addressee><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Brandt Gutermuth<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=Addressee><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>P.O. Box</span></font></st1:Street>
1300</st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=Addressee><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Weaverville</span></font></st1:City>,
<st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">96093</st1:PostalCode></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=ReLine style='margin-right:5.65pt'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Re: Environmental
Assessment / Environmental Impact Report for Canyon Creek Suite of
Rehabilitation Sites: <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place> Run Mile
73 to 78<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=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:0in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Dear Mr. Gutermuth:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:0in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> This
letter is written on behalf of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority
(“Water Authority”) and Westlands Water District
(“Westlands”). The Water Authority and Westlands appreciate
this opportunity to comment on the Environmental Assessment and Environmental
Impact Report for the Canyon Creek Suite of Rehabilitation Sites: Trinity River
Run Mile 73 to 78 (“Canyon Creek EA/EIR”). Westlands is a <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> water
district with a contractual right to receive Central Valley Project
(“CVP”) water from the Bureau of Reclamation
(“Reclamation”). Westlands provides water for the irrigation
of approximately 600,000 acres on the west side of the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType> in <st1:City
w:st="on">Fresno</st1:City> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Kings</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Counties</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. The Water
Authority consists of 32 water agencies providing service for agricultural,
urban, and wildlife management purposes in the western San Joaquin valley, <st1:City
w:st="on">San Benito</st1:City> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Santa
Clara</st1:City></st1:place> counties. The Authority’s members
deliver water to more than 1.3 million acres of the nation’s most
productive farm lands, 1.7 million <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>
residents, and over 150,000 acres of some of the State’s most important
wildlife refuges in the Pacific Flyway.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:0in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> As
federal water contractors for the Central Valley Project (“CVP”),
the Water Authority and Westlands have an interest in the appropriate use of
the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (“CVPIA”) Restoration
Fund. While the Canyon Creek EA/EIR is silent as to the source of the
funding for this project, the budget for the Trinity River Mainstem Fishery
Restoration Program (“Restoration Program”) identifies the CVPIA as
a major source of funding for the program, including the mechanical restoration
component that is being implemented through the approval of the Canyon Creek
project. <a href="http://www.trrp.net/">http://www.trrp.net</a>.
The CVPIA section that addresses fishery restoration on the <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place> is CVPIA section 3406(b)(23). That section, however,
only addresses certain identified activities to increase flows in the <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place>, which are activities that have been
completed and never included physical restoration activities. The CVPIA does
not otherwise authorize the use of the Restoration Fund for the Canyon Creek
project or any other <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place> mechanical
restoration project.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:0in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> The
Water Authority and Westlands have concerns related to the California
Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) compliance for the Canyon Creek
Suite of Rehabilitation Sites. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> served as the CEQA
lead agency for the final Trinity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Program
Environmental Impact Statement / Environmental Impact Report
(“Restoration Program EIS/EIR”) in 2000. The <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, however, has never certified
the Restoration Program EIS/EIR, or any other CEQA compliance document for the
Restoration Program. The Canyon Creek project is part of that larger
program. By proceeding with parts of the program without completing the
program level review, the state and local agencies involved are piecemealing
the CEQA review. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>CEQA applies to discretionary approvals of
“projects” that may cause significant adverse environmental
impacts. Pub. Res. Code § 21080(d). CEQA and its implementing
regulatory Guidelines broadly define the term “project” to mean
“<u>the whole of an action</u>, which has the potential to result in
either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable
indirect physical change in the environment.” 14 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Cal.</st1:State></st1:place> Code Regs., § 15378(a) (emphasis added).
Thus, the term “project” is defined as the whole activity to be
carried out and “which may be subject to several discretionary approvals
by governmental agencies” but “does not mean each separate
governmental approval.” 14 <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Cal.</st1:State></st1:place>
Code Regs., § 15378(c). Thus, the North Coast Regional Water Quality
Control Board (“Regional Board”), and the other state and local
agencies, may not narrow the scope of their environmental impact analysis by
defining the “project” in terms of small sub-set of discretionary
approvals, when the action approved is admittedly a necessary part of a much
larger “project” whose significant adverse environmental impacts go
far beyond those attributable to just the narrowly defined action being
approved.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:0in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> The
Regional Board, as the lead agency for the Canyon Creek Suite of Restoration
Projects, cannot justifiably take the position that it may now proceed with
project level implementation of the Restoration Program because the Regional
Board cannot change the decision made in the program record of decision signed
by the federal government in 2000. Restoration Program EA/EIR p.
1-2. The series of discretionary approvals required to implement the
Restoration Program trigger CEQA review, and that is why an EIR was prepared for
the entire program. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> apparently
believes that the program EIR is flawed and therefore did not certify it.
Nonetheless, the Restoration Program is a project that must be the subject of a
single EIR before individual mechanical restoration projects may proceed.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:0in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> The
Regional Board’s failure to properly identify the project has led to
improper “piecemealing” or “segmentation” of CEQA
compliance for the Restoration Program. CEQA’s mandate requires
that environmental considerations not become submerged by chopping a large
project into many little ones – each with a minimal potential impact on
the environment. <i><span style='font-style:italic'>See e.g., Bozung, et.
al. v. Local Agency Formation Commission of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Ventura</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
et. al.</span></i> (1975) 13 Cal.3d. 263, 283-284. <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>See also</span></i>, Cal. Code of Regs., tit. 14,
§ 15165 (identical to predecessor section 15069 that court in <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>Bozung </span></i>identified as codifying prohibition
against piecemealing CEQA review). By drafting individual CEQA documents
for the various mechanical restoration projects, like the Canyon Creek EA/EIR,
the Regional Board is improperly piecemealing CEQA compliance because it is
chopping the impacts of the Restoration Program into small pieces that do not
accurately account for the impacts of the whole
project. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:0in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> Finally,
the Water Authority and Westlands question the absence of Department of
Fish and Game (“DFG”) permitting for the project. Canyon
Creek EA/EIR at p. 1-21. While the federal government is involved in this
project, the Canyon Creek Suite of Rehabilitation Sites are on private
property. The owners of the private lands included in this project are
subject to the authority of the DFG. The owners of the private lands are also
subject to the permitting requirements of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType>, including <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>’s
requirements for Floodplain Development Permits and Encroachment Permits.
The Canyon Creek EA/EIR, therefore inappropriately assumes that the only state
permit that is required for the Canyon Creek Suite of Projects is a section 401
permit from the Regional Board. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:0in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> Thank
you for the opportunity to comment. Based on the issues raised in these
comments, the project should not go forward without much broader CEQA review.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoBodyText style='text-indent:0in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> Very
truly yours,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=LetterSignature><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class=LetterSignature><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>KRONICK, MOSKOVITZ, TIEDEMANN & GIRARD<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=LetterSignature><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>A Professional Corporation<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=LetterSignature><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class=LetterSignature><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class=LetterSignature><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class=LetterSignature><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Becky D. Sheehan<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=LetterSignature><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='page-break-after:avoid'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>BDS/ll<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='page-break-after:avoid'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='page-break-after:avoid'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>cc: Thomas
Birmingham<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='page-break-after:avoid'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
Dan Nelson<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='page-break-after:avoid'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
Diane Rathman<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='page-break-after:avoid'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
Ara Azhderian<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'>Advisor, California Trout, Inc</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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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><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></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><u><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>http:www.caltrout.org</span></font></u><font
color=lime><span style='color:lime'> </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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