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<p><span class=storyheadline><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:18.0pt'>County's expert on <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place>
retires </span></font></span><br>
<span class=storybyline><b><span style='font-weight:bold'>By SALLY MORRIS </span></b></span><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-element:frame'><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>by PHIL NELSON <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">Tom Stokely</st1:PersonName> poses by the river in the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Douglas</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">City</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> area. </span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'><!-- ImageEnd -->Referred to by many as a walking
encyclopedia on Trinity River issues past and present, retiring Trinity County
principal planner <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Tom Stokely</st1:PersonName>'s last
day on the job was Friday. <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'>Though he plans to relocate from <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType> to Mount Shasta "mostly to
ski," he promises to continue his Trinity River advocacy work on a larger
scale with the nonprofit <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
Water Impact Network (C-WIN) of which he has become a director. <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'>Stokely, 53, has worked for the County Planning Department
for 23 years, establishing the natural resources division in the early 1990s to
focus primarily on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> water rights and
fishery restoration efforts. <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'>He worked with the Trinity River Restoration Program toward
the original signing of the <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place>
Record of Decision in 2000 that allocated greater flows to restore salmon and
steelhead fish populations. He was also instrumental in completing the
supplemental environmental review and legal defense required to ultimately
clear the decision through the appellate courts four</span></font></b> <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>years later. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>Stokely then worked on the environmental documents to build
four new bridges and modify another on the <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place>
to make way for higher flows. The work included soliciting cooperation from
private landowners to modify water and sewage disposal systems along the river
to accommodate higher flows, and completing the Indian Creek project designed
to reduce floodwater elevations for homes in the area and to provide fish
habitat. <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'>Upon his retirement, Stokely was presented a resolution of
appreciation from the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">North</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType> Regional Water Quality Control Board for
distinguished service to the people of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType>, the north coast region and the
state of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>.
<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 resolution cited Stokely's accomplishments on behalf of
the <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place> and also noted that he has
administered millions of dollars in grants through the planning department for
park improvements, watershed restoration, fish passage and other fish habitat
improvements in the county. He was also instrumental in achieving site and time
specific temperature objectives for the Trinity River which have led not only
to improvement in fish runs but also an enormous increase in whitewater boating
in the Trinity River due to higher flows through the summer. <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'>Beyond <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType> lines, Stokely has been a frequent thorn in
the side of the Westlands Water District in the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType>, the
largest water provider in the federally owned <st1:place w:st="on">Central
Valley</st1:place> Project. He drew the ire of the powerful irrigation
district on himself and Trinity County when he testified at the State Water
Resources Control Board's Bay-Delta hearings that the Trinity River was dammed
and diverted to benefit the Westlands District--and it has been at the expense
of the Trinity River, the Delta and the San Joaquin River. <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'>He has been tireless in advocating for the retirement of
drainage-impaired land in the Westlands Water District, where he claims bad
irrigation practices have made a few farmers rich but resulted in the build-up
of metals and salts to toxic levels. The effect has placed the federal
government under court order to resolve what is anticipated to be a $2.7
billion taxpayer problem to come up with a viable drainage plan that will avert
another environmental disaster affecting wildlife as occurred in the 1980s at
Kesterson 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'>As he goes to work for C-WIN, a nonprofit group of well-known
environmental and water rights advocates, Stokely said the group is pursuing a
strategy session with experts to explore the best ways to tackle the problem of
drainage impaired lands through litigation. CWIN's board of directors selects
the cases it fights, hires and raises the funds to pay the attorneys, and
oversees the litigation it elects to get involved in. <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'>Stokely said he believes he will be better able to pursue his
professional goals by working for C-WIN, where he will no longer incur any
liability for cash strapped <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. He added that the
county's recent reorganization of the planning and building departments has
also been a factor in his decision, but not the only one. <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'>Noting that he's not being replaced, Stokely said it's more
important than ever for the county to be involved in the <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place> Restoration Program, adding "nobody can look out for
our interests but us." <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 program has a $10 million annual budget and pumps at
least $1 million into payroll in Weaverville, "not to mention contracts,
road work in watersheds and other ecosystem improvements. Given the budget
situation in D.C., the county needs to stay very involved to be sure that it keeps
going," he said. <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'>As a consultant with C-WIN, he expects to come back to the <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType>
Board of Supervisors seeking support for regional efforts to protect <st1:place
w:st="on">Northern California</st1:place> water rights. <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 comments to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control
Board, he cautioned that the State Water Resources Control Board estimates that
the amount of water allocated statewide is about seven times the amount that
actually exists, yet contracts have been sold and the water delivered. <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 chickens are coming home to roost with the dry
conditions and the record pumping from the Delta," he said, noting that
Delta pumping in 2007, classified as a dry year, was more than in 2006 —
a wet year. Reservoir storage is down statewide, and Stokely predicted that temperature
issues for salmon survival will get much worse if the drought conditions
continue another year or two. <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 drought is real, but it's also artificial,"
Stokely said, adding that he plans to continue working to reduce the over
allocation of "paper water" in the state's water plans. He said the
record Delta pumping and reservoir drawdown over the past three years have led
to lake levels that are lower now than they were after four to six years of
drought in the 1980s and 1990s. <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'>He added that proposals to build a peripheral canal to get
around pumping restrictions and endangered species protections in the Delta
would enable unfettered pumping, which would be to the detriment of the Trinity
River without some kind of additional protection. <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'>Stokely advised that the only way the Trinity River can be
protected is by decreasing demand (through retirement of millions of acres of
drainage-impaired lands in the western San Joaquin Valley) and limiting annual
Trinity exports to the Central Valley Project in keeping with the increased
river flows under the Trinity Record of Decision. An enforceable minimum cold
water pool also needs to be established for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Trinity</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Lake</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
to protect in-stream fisheries through the summer months. <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'>He told the regional water board, "I'll be working on
that in my next career, hopefully, and I'm sure I'll see you again."<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><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><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</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, JCT</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><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</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 cell</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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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><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a>
(secondary)</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a href="http://fotr.org">http://fotr.org</a>
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