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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Water district buys fish club<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Westlands' purchase of NorCal
property could ease dam expansion.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>By <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Mark
Grossi</st1:PersonName> / The <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Fresno</st1:place></st1:City>
Bee<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><!--/STORYHEADLINE--><!--STORYBODY-->02/02/07
05:05:23<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
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<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'><!-- end textads_storylevel_ibox.comp -->Westlands Water
District, a 600,000-acre farm water agency mainly in <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Fresno</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType>, has purchased a $35 million
private fishing club in <st1:place w:st="on">Northern California</st1:place> to
clear an obstacle for expanding Shasta Reservoir.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>With Westlands as owner, Shasta expansion someday can swamp
the fish club land with no opposition, and a bigger reservoir would mean more
irrigation supplies for the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Fresno</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> water district.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The deal, which closed in January along the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">McCloud</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
infuriates a local Indian tribe and environmentalists. They call it a water
grab at the expense of <st1:place w:st="on">Northern California</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The Indian tribe, the Winnemem Wintu, fears sacred sites
thousands of years old will be lost. Tribe members also wanted to obtain the
property but believed they never got the chance. They are looking for a legal
way to stop the sale. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"We are in the fight of our life," said Mark
Franco, whose title is tribal head man for the 125 members living near the
McCloud. "If that land is inundated, our culture could die."<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>A federal dam-raising study on Shasta is expected to be
completed next year. If the reservoir is expanded, it would cover the 3,000
acres of the Bollibokka fishing club, previously owned by the family who
founded Hills Brothers Coffee.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>In buying the property from the family, Westlands agreed to
continue running it as a fishing club for the next 25 years, unless Shasta is
expanded in the meantime. A dam-raising project on a major reservoir could take
decades and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"We will contract with some entity to manage the
club," said district general manager and counsel Tom Birmingham. "It
is a beautiful property."<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The possibility of additional water supply appeals to
Westlands, he said. The district's deliveries have been cut back in the last 15
years due to endangered fish protections, drought and water quality concerns in
<st1:place w:st="on">Northern California</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>The district buys irrigation water from the federal <st1:place
w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> Project. Shasta — eight times larger
than <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Millerton</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Lake</st1:PlaceType>
near <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Fresno</st1:place></st1:City>
— is the project's cornerstone. If the dam is raised 18 feet, the
reservoir would add more water than Millerton's entire capacity.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Like the Winnemem Wintu, the Hills family opposed raising
Shasta. But the family put its private fishing club up for sale last year,
asking $30 million.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>When Westlands officials learned one possible buyer was
considering building vacation homes, they bid $5 million above the asking
price. Homeowners might oppose Shasta expansion, so Westlands considered a new
subdivision to be an obstacle.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who has supported raising
Shasta Dam, said the deal appeared to be a case of a willing buyer and a
willing seller. She said she liked the idea of preserving the option to raise
Shasta Dam.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>But environmental advocates have long criticized irrigation
diversions from Northern California for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
farmers. They said the Westlands purchase smacks of the infamous deals <st1:City
w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:City> made to acquire water in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Owens</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
decades ago.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>"They paid $11,600 per acre," asked <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">Byron Leydecker</st1:PersonName>, founder of the Friends of <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place>. "That's pretty expensive for a
fishing club. There should be some kind of hearings or investigation. People
are outraged." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></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=2 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place>, Chair</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>California Trout,Inc., Advisor</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address tabIndex="0"
style="BACKGROUND-POSITION: left bottom; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(res://ietag.dll/#34/#1001); BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat-x"
w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font size=2 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
size=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
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=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font size=2
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;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=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'><a
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color:blue'> </span></font></i></em><em><i><font size=2 color=gray
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