<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>From: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">Regina Chichizola <<a href="mailto:klamathrights@gmail.com">klamathrights@gmail.com</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>Date: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">April 12, 2013 3:17:07 PM PDT<br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><br></span></b></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Humboldt
County Hoopa Valley Tribe</span></b></div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Press Release <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i>For immediate release: April 12, 2012<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><i> </i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal">Contact: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Ryan Sundberg, Humboldt County Supervisor 707 599-6382<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Leonard Masten, Jr., Hoopa Valley Tribe 530 739-2892 <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Regina Chichizola, Hoopa Valley Tribe541 951-0126 </i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Northern County and Tribe Warn; Governor’s Plan Could
Take County’s Trinity Water <o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Humboldt County says Interior Needs to Act to Protect
Their Water Right <o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Eureka, CA- </i>A Northern California county and Indian tribe
are warning that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and the Governor’s
tunnel proposal are overlooking North Coast California communities’
long-standing water rights to the Trinity River, and therefore overestimating
water availability. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">“The Trinity River is vitally important to the North Coast
economy,” stated Humboldt County supervisor Ryan Sundberg. “If the Bureau of
Reclamation (BOR) and state agencies don’t make the decision to uphold our
long-established right to Trinity River water, what confidence can other
Californians have that their rights will be honored in the BDCP process?” He
went on to say Humboldt County is expecting a decision from the Department of
Interior regarding its water right and this could upset the BDCP process if the
county water is not considered in modeling. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The Trinity River is the only out of basin water supply
diverted into the Central Valley. It is the largest tributary to the Klamath
River; it flows though the Hoopa Valley Reservation and Humboldt County.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In 1964, the BOR, which is managed by the Department of Interior,
began delivering Trinity River water to the Central Valley through tunnels.
Federal and state law limited those deliveries by setting aside water for
fisheries and making available an additional 50,000 acre-feet supply for economic
development by Humboldt County and other users. Thus far, the BOR has failed to
honor this water right, and only recently began to honor fisheries commitments
through implementation of the 2000 Trinity River Record of Decision. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Humboldt County and the Hoopa Valley Tribe have repeatedly
warned the Governor and BDCP planners that it is a mistake to assume that
50,000 acre-feet of Humboldt’s Trinity water is available even though federal
and state lawmakers allocated it to the North Coast nearly 60 years ago. The
county and the tribe have been in discussions with Interior and they are
expecting a decision that upholds Humboldt’s water right. Last July, Interior
said it would confer with them before any decision is made, but so far there
has been only silence. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The Hoopa Valley Tribe, which depends on salmon for
sustenance, says it is worried because Reclamation has stated inadequate
fishery water supplies in the Klamath River basin have become the new norm.
That means heightened risk of conflict over competing uses due to the fact the
salmon are increasingly depending on Trinity flows. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">“Ours is not a speculative
concern.” stated Leonard Masten of the Hoopa Valley Tribe “Last year federal,
state, and tribal fishery agencies forecasted a potentially devastating fish
kill in the Klamath River because of low Klamath basin water supplies and a
record-high population of returning fall Chinook. Reclamation took action and
set aside 92,000 acre-feet of Trinity River Division water and released nearly
39,000 acre-feet of additional water to avoid a disaster.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">This year another record return
of fish is forecasted and already government agencies, such as the Pacific
Fisheries Management Council, are considering asking for similar action.
Humboldt County has stated they are willing to use their water right to protect
Klamath River fisheries. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">“In the course of the last half-century, Humboldt County and
the Hoopa Valley Tribe have stood fast for our rights and interests,” stated
Supervisor Sundburg. “We all have a right and responsibility to protect this
precious resource, and urge all Californians to oppose any form of a BDCP that
takes more of our water. We also urge Interior to act to resolve this issue.” <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p></div></div></div></body></html>