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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>For some context on this issue, the Bureau of
Reclamation holds water permits for the Trinity River amounting to over 16
MILLION acre-feet of water, which is over 12 times the average annual runoff to
Trinity and Lewiston reservoirs.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Tom Stokely<BR>Water Policy
Coordinator<BR>California Water Impact Network<BR>201 Terry Lynn Ave (USPS and
UPS)<BR>Mt Shasta, CA 96067<BR>V/FAX 530-926-9727<BR>Cell 530-524-0315<BR><A
href="mailto:tstokely@att.net">tstokely@att.net</A><BR><A
href="http://www.c-win.org/">http://www.c-win.org/</A></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=bwl3@comcast.net href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">Byron Leydecker</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=fotr@mailman.dcn.org
href="mailto:fotr@mailman.dcn.org">FOTR List</A> ; <A
title=env-trinity@mailman.dcn.org
href="mailto:env-trinity@mailman.dcn.org">Trinity List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 08, 2009 10:29
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [env-trinity] Trinity Journal
10-7-09</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P><SPAN class=storyheadline><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Current SWRCB
Water Permits granted the Bureau allow it to divert 90 percent of Trinity's
water. They need to be amended to reflect flows contained in the ROD - a
53 percent diversion of Trinity water with 47 percent returned to Trinity
River.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storyheadline><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">Byron<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=storyheadline><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt">County protests
water rights request </SPAN></SPAN><BR><SPAN class=storybyline><B>BY SALLY
MORRIS THE TRINITY JOURNAL </B></SPAN><BR><BR><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><B>Trinity County supervisors voted 5-0 last week to hire well-known
California water attorney Michael Jackson of Quincy to file a protest on the
county's behalf concerning Trinity River water rights hearings currently
pending before the State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento.
<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>The Bureau of Reclamation has petitioned the State Water Board for an
extension to the year 2030 on certain Central Valley Project water rights
permits, including seven on the Trinity River, allowing more time to put the
water allocated under the permits to what it calls "full beneficial use."
<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>Originally granted to Reclamation in 1959, but never developed, the
Trinity River permits in question promise allocations amounting to millions of
acre-feet of water in addition to what is already diverted to the CVP for
irrigation, municipal and industrial deliveries, fish and wildlife
enhancement, water quality control and power generation. An acre-foot is
enough water to cover an acre of land to a depth of 1 foot.
<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>A notice of the petition for time extension on the permits was published
Sept. 3 and with a deadline of Oct. 5 for the filing of any protests, the
Trinity County Board of Supervisors met in a special session last week in
order to take timely action. <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>In a closed session, board members voted to protest the requested
extension of CVP water rights filed by Reclamation. They then agreed to retain
attorney Michael Jackson to file the protest on the county's behalf.
<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>Jackson is an environmental lawyer who has spent many years specializing
in Northern California water rights, serving as legal counsel to the Regional
Council of Rural Counties, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and
numerous other government and environmental entities including the nonprofit
advocacy group California Water Impact Network. <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>County Administrative Officer Dero Forslund estimated the county's legal
fees to initiate the protest will amount to approximately $5,000. If there is
further action required, additional compensation would have to be negotiated
in a separate agreement. <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>Forslund said the Bureau of Reclamation has rights to a significant
amount of Trinity River water in the CVP, some of which has not been used
since the permits were originally applied for "and now they want to extend
those permits 30 years. In our protest, we're saying 'no — if you haven't used
the permits, they shouldn't be left sitting at the will of the Bureau of
Reclamation.'" <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>"We are concerned about county of origin rights and we want a seat at
the table," he added, noting a major problem with the permits issued in 1959
is that they bear no relation to the in-stream flows set forth years later in
the Trinity River Fishery Restoration Record of Decision. <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>The permits in question are based on minimum in-stream flows amounting
to just 120,500 acre feet of water a year, or 10 percent of the Trinity's
water. The Trinity ROD, signed in 2000 by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt,
increased the minimum in-stream flow to an average of 594,500 acre-feet of
water a year which is approximately 48 percent of the river's water.
<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>Forslund said Reclamation has not changed its sale and distribution of
water relative to the ROD, "and we think they should — they are selling more
water than they have." <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>Reclamation indicates it is in the public interest for the State Water
Board to grant the requested extension of time it says is needed to put all
the water appropriated under the permits to full beneficial use. The agency
cites increasing municipal and industrial water demands within the CVP and the
need for additional diversions of water to comply with possible environmental
conditions that may be applied in the future under the Bay Delta Conservation
Program and Federal Endangered Species Act. <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>Supervisor Judy Pflueger said the requested time extension on the
permits provides Trinity County "with a rare opportunity to get involved in
the water issue. I feel we've been uncompensated for our water going down the
hill. We're looking for a seat at the table and perhaps compensation down the
road." <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>Supervisor Roger Jaegel said he thinks the "beneficial uses" of Trinity
River water within the boundaries of Trinity County "are extremely important
and these extensions would extend those permits for water to be used outside
of Trinity County." He added that if the county doesn't speak up now
concerning the permit extensions, it won't likely get another opportunity to
comment. <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>During a previous discussion about the water permits, Supervisor Howard
Freeman suggested legal recourse, saying "many times the only way to a seat at
that table is not by issuing a position, but by throwing a big monkey wrench
in." <o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>Trinity County's retired senior resource planner Tom Stokely commented
later that the board's protest "gets the county's foot in the door so it will
have official standing in future proceedings. It's also a great opportunity to
demonstrate issues with the Trinity River that the state board needs to pay
attention to and I've been harping about for years — the ROD's minimum flows
and the minimum temperature objectives that have never been implemented
through a water rights hearing. That all needs to be tidied up."
<o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P><B>He added the state has appropriated 8.5 times more water through
approved permits than actually exists in the state and with a three-year
drought "and the rapid drawdown of Trinity Lake, it's apparent to anyone who
sees it that the Trinity River is already more than fully appropriated." <BR
clear=left><o:p></o:p></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="COLOR: gray; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Byron
Leydecker, JcT</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="COLOR: gray; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Chair,
Friends of Trinity River</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="COLOR: gray; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">PO Box
2327</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="COLOR: gray; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Mill Valley,
CA 94942-2327</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="COLOR: gray; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">415 383 4810
land</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><I><SPAN style="COLOR: gray; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">415 519 4810
cell</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><SPAN style="COLOR: gray; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><SPAN
style="COLOR: blue">bwl3@comcast.net</SPAN></A></SPAN></I></B><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><SPAN style="COLOR: gray; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><SPAN
style="COLOR: blue">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</SPAN></A>
</SPAN></I></B><I><SPAN
style="COLOR: gray; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">(secondary)</SPAN></I><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><I><SPAN style="COLOR: gray; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://fotr.org/"><SPAN
style="COLOR: blue">http://www.fotr.org</SPAN></A> </SPAN></I></B><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
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<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>env-trinity mailing
list<BR>env-trinity@velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us<BR>http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/env-trinity<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>