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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Speaker: <b>State's
water woes certain to impact Trinity</b> </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><br>
<b>By AMY GITTELSOHN </b><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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href="javascript:openimage('005p1_xlg.jpg',1024,571)"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=139 height=250
id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01C9D93F.200A1AF0"
alt="http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/2009/0520/front_page/005p1_lg.jpg"></span></a><span
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mso-element-wrap:around;mso-element-anchor-vertical:paragraph;mso-element-anchor-horizontal:
column;mso-height-rule:exactly'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>by PHIL NELSON Tom Stokely discusses the
state of California's water management and its future impact on Trinity
County. </span></b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Poor water
management made California's three-year drought worse than it had to be, and
proposed fixes — including revival of the peripheral canal concept
— could drain Trinity Lake even further, a guest speaker in Weaverville
said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>There will
always be droughts — what is needed is better planning, said Tom Stokely,
a former Trinity County planner now working for a water advocacy organization.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"They sent
record amounts of water south," Stokely said. "If you drain your
reservoirs in the early part of the drought, it's really not going to do much
for you."<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Last Thursday at
the Trinity County Library in Weaverville, Stokely was the first speaker in a
series of water talks to be held in Trinity County. Stokely is a water policy
coordinator for the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN). C-WIN's Web site
states that it is a nonprofit which advocates for the equitable and
environmentally sensitive use of California's water.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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mso-element-top:middle;mso-height-rule:exactly'><a
href="javascript:openimage('005p2_xlg.jpg',190,384)"><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:blue;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=250 height=123
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alt="http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/2009/0520/front_page/005p2_lg.jpg"></span></b></a><b><span
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column;mso-element-left:right;mso-element-top:middle;mso-height-rule:exactly'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Water exports
from the North State have increased, going from 5 million acre-feet in the
1980s to approximately 4.6 million acre feet in the 1990s to 6 million
acre-feet from 2000 to 2007. 2008, the diversion was 556,000 acre-feet and the
river release was 641,000.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The diversions
do benefit Trinity County in one way, Stokely said, in a nod to the Trinity
Public Utilities District.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>“The
Trinity River is the largest tributary of Clear Creek on the Sacramento
River,” he said, “unfortunately for the Trinity River but good for
our power supply here.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Attempting to
deliver full water allocations to agricultural and municipal water users while
complying with the record of decision has drained the slow-filling Trinity
Lake, Stokely said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Overheated water
from the low lake could add up to another salmon kill, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Cutbacks due to
low reservoirs have affected farmers and caused water rationing in some areas
this year.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The drought is
being used to push for more dams, a peripheral canal, more water transported
from Sacramento to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, less water
regulation, and less area of origin protection, Stokely said, and
“that’s one of the big things Trinity’s had in its
favor.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>“What we
have now is a big scare going on,” he said. “We don’t think
it was an accident.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The idea of a
peripheral canal to take water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the
largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas, was rejected by California
voters in 1982, but it has been revived by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s
Delta Vision Task Force. Proponents contend that it will protect endangered
species harmed by pumping water through the Delta for agricultural and urban
use, while providing more reliable water deliveries.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Opponents see
that as an attempt to grab more North State water.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>A peripheral
canal will draw down Trinity Lake, Stokely said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The State Water
Resources Control Board has admitted over-allocating by four to eight times the
amount of water that exists, Stokely said, adding that works fine in wet years,
but in dry years it creates “a run on the bank.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The five-member
water board is appointed and “one hundred percent controlled by the
governor of the State of California,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Stokely also
took aim at the Westlands Water District, which encompasses more than 600,000
acres of farmland in western Fresno and Kings counties. The Trinity River
Division was completed in 1963, the same year Westlands signed a 40-year water
contract with the federal government.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Irrigation on
the poorly draining lands has brought naturally occurring selenium and other
substances damaging to crops and wildlife to the surface, and the federal
government is on the hook to solve this problem under the Westlands contract.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>“The
government stupidly signed a contract they couldn’t fulfill",
Stokely said. "They've spent all their money Congress gave them to solve
this problem.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>But a deal was
proposed to permanently guarantee Westlands 1 million acre-feet of CVP water
annually in return for Westlands solving the problem itself. That deal is
stalled at the moment, but Sen. Dianne Feinstein has made reaching an agreement
with Westlands a priority, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>“These
people are the junior water users in the state and they want to put themselves
at the first of the line,” Stokely said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Even during this
drought year, he noted, farmers with longstanding water rights are<br>
getting their full CVP allocations, while Westlands is getting 10 percent (up
from preliminary forecasts after recent rains).<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Ken Baldwin of
Weaverville asked if wildlife is a public trust why the projects that are
harming wildlife aren’t shut down by the state.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>“They
could but they won’t,” Stokely responded, reiterating that the
water board must be reformed.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Stokely said
things to fight for include an enforceable minimum pool at Trinity Lake during
drought years so the lake is not drawn down too quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>He suggested
that people against the idea of a peripheral canal write their state and
federal legislators and let them know they don’t want to see that in a
water bond. Instead, he said, there should be measures that promote regional
self sufficiency for water, conservation and taking toxic lands out of
commission.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Diversions from
the Trinity River via the Clear Creek tunnel, in the past as high as 90
percent, have gone in the other direction with environmental requirements such
as the 2000 Trinity River Record of Decision. But a significant amount is still
diverted. Figures from the federal Bureau of Reclamation show that in 2007,
615,500 acre-feet of water was diverted while release to the river was 470,100.
In <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
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