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<TD class=articleDate><SPAN class=articleDate><FONT face=Verdana
color=#000088 size=1>Article Launched: 05/24/2006 04:18:26 AM
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<DIV><BR><!-- overline--><!--title--><STRONG><FONT face=Verdana><SPAN
class=articleTitle>Trinity River higher than ever before</SPAN><BR></DIV><!--subtitle--><!--top author info--></FONT></STRONG><SPAN
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<TD class=articleByline><!-- overline--><SPAN class=articleByline><FONT
face=Verdana size=1>John Driscoll The
Times-Standard</FONT></SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>
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border=0></FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>This year marks second biggest
controlled release of water from Lewiston Dam since the 1960s; swimmers
urged to be careful
<P>
<P>Officials expect to release more water from Lewiston Dam than they
planned weeks ago, bringing the Trinity River higher than it has been in
any spring in decades.
<P>So much water has flowed into Trinity Lake that when operators tried to
release 8,500 cubic feet per second from the dam this week, they overshot
the mark. Flows went as high as 10,000 cfs.
<P>The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which was monitoring the river --
especially upstream from Douglas City near Weaverville -- didn't notice
any problems. They cut the flows back to 8,500 cfs, but by Tuesday had
ramped them back up to 10,000 cfs. If all goes well, the bureau may
release 11,000 cfs for a few days sometime next week.
<P>”If we can hit it, we're going to try to,” said Doug Schleusner with
the Trinity River Restoration Program.
<P>The reason the program is able to release more than it planned is
because less melt water is coming down the river's tributaries in the past
few days, Schleusner said. It will be the second biggest controlled
release of water from Lewiston Dam since it was built in the 1960s. Only
once before, in January 1974, was more water released -- 14,000 cfs meant
to prevent unsafe overfilling of the reservoir.
<P>This winter saw twice the average snowpack in the Trinity Alps and 11
feet of snow was reported at 5,500 feet about 10 days ago. Part of the
2000 restoration plan for extremely wet years calls for flows of 11,000
cfs to reshape river banks and clear out sand and silt from salmon
spawning gravel. The program is expected to be limited to 8,500 cfs out of
concern for some properties in the Douglas City </P>
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<P>area. </P>
<P>Either way, there's a lot of water racing down the river. At Hoopa on
Tuesday, 13,600 cfs was registered at the gauge, only 3,300 less than the
maximum flow ever recorded. </P>
<P>The cold torrent will be in full swing for Memorial Day weekend, and
U.S. Forest Service safety officials are hoping people will be wary. Other
rivers, too, are swollen, including the Klamath and the Salmon rivers.
People should realize that beaches and drop-offs may have changed
significantly with the heavy flows the rivers have experienced this winter
and spring.
<P>Rafting companies have said they are choosing different routes from
their usual runs in certain areas, or are floating tributaries until the
bigger rivers come down. But it is swimmers and other non-professionals
who don't keep up with river conditions like outfitters do who are most at
risk.
<P>Six Rivers National Forest River and Wilderness Manager Bob Hemus said
he'll be visiting popular sites along the river to encourage people to be
safe. Kids are vulnerable, Hemus said, especially when they wander along
the edge of a murky river. It can be difficult to see drop-offs and
sometimes impossible to resist the current once caught in it.
<P>”It's the parents that really need to keep a heads-up,” Hemus said.
“This year it's not going to be the status quo.”
<P>He said wearing a lifejacket and appropriate clothing and staying with
at least one other person are basic measures that can help people stay
safe. </P></TD></TR>
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