<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px"><div class="" style=""><a href="http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_26662708/congressman-urges-legal-opinion-trinity-releases" class="" style="">http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_26662708/congressman-urges-legal-opinion-trinity-releases</a><br style="" class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; " class=""><span class="" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; "><h1 id="articleTitle" class="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.2; color: inherit;
text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-size: 33px; white-space: normal !important; ">Congressman urges legal opinion on Trinity releases</h1><div id="articleSubTitle" class="" style="text-align: left; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; text-transform: none; -webkit-user-select: text; font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold !important; "><h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(85, 85, 85); text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-size: 14px; " class="">Tribes, supervisors seek clarity on water rights</h2></div><div id="articleByline" class="" style="text-align: left; font-weight: normal; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: italic; font-size: 14px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right:
0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: italic; font-size: 14px; " class="">By Juniper Rose</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: italic; font-size: 14px; " class=""><a href="mailto:jrose@times-standard.com" style="color: rgb(82, 120, 174); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition-property: initial; -webkit-transition-duration: 0.1s; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-out; -webkit-transition-delay: initial; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; " class="">jrose@times-standard.com</a> @juniperjrose on Twitter</div></div><div id="articleDate" class="" style="text-align: left;
font: normal normal normal 10px/16.989px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap; ">POSTED: 10/03/2014 11:50:01 PM PDT<a href="http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_26662708/congressman-urges-legal-opinion-trinity-releases#disqus_thread" data-disqus-identifier="ci_26662708" style="color: rgb(128, 128, 128); text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition-property: initial; -webkit-transition-duration: 0.1s; -webkit-transition-timing-function: ease-out; -webkit-transition-delay: initial; float: right; " class="">0 COMMENTS</a></div><div id="articleDate" class="" style="text-align: left; font: normal normal normal 10px/16.989px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); text-transform: uppercase; white-space: nowrap; ">UPDATED: 10/03/2014 11:50:02 PM PDT</div><br class="" style=""><span fd-type="start" fd-id="default" class=""
style=""></span><div class="" style="text-align: left; "></div><span fd-type="end" fd-id="default" class="" style=""></span><div id="articleBody" class="" style="text-align: left; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22.652px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><div class="" id="articleViewerGroup" style="text-align: left; float: right; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; "><span class="" style="text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; "></span><span fd-type="start" fd-id="default" class="" style=""></span><span fd-type="end" fd-id="default" class="" style=""></span></div><span fd-type="start" fd-id="default" class="" style=""></span><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal
15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">A day after a federal judge ruled on reservoir releases for Klamath River salmon, North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman demanded immediate clarification of Humboldt County's water rights from federal officials.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">Humboldt County and the Hoopa Valley Tribe have been vying for consistent water releases for salmon in the Trinity and Klamath rivers since the death of more than 70,000 adult salmon in 2002. Westlands Water District and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority took the issue to court in 2013, arguing that water should be reserved for Central Valley
agriculture.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">Wednesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill in Fresno rejected this claim, but added that the next time the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation wants to release Trinity Reservoir water for Klamath River salmon, it would need to cite a better legal authority.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">Huffman wrote Thursday to acting Bureau Commissioner Lowell Pimley, requesting a prompt legal response.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom:
11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">"It is imperative that Reclamation release the Interior Solicitor's opinion regarding Humboldt County's contract for 50,000 acre feet of water annually from Trinity Reservoir, which dates to the same 1955 Act authorizing the Trinity River division," Huffman wrote.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">Huffman's letter asserts that while he believes the bureau is moving forward to protect salmon on the Trinity and Klamath rivers, the process is too slow for a drought-stricken region. Plans are not expected to be released by the bureau until late winter,
Huffman's letter states.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">Calls to Pimley's office and to bureau spokeswoman Erin Curtis were not returned by deadline.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">Wednesday's ruling added a new sense of urgency to the dispute over Humboldt County's water rights, Humboldt County 5th District Supervisor Ryan Sundberg said.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times,
serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">"I think Congressman Huffman hit the nail on the head and is on point with his letter," he said. "I very much appreciate him stepping up and pushing the bureau to give us the water we were promised decades ago."</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">Sundberg said that when he and 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace visited Washington, D.C., last month and spoke with Pimley about the contract, they were told that there was a legal opinion already developed but just not released to the public.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman',
Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">They were also told that a long term plan is in the works, and hope it will include the disputed 50,000 acre feet, Sundberg said.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">"I think it would help them — they would be doing the right thing by honoring the contract," he said. "It is something that was promised and needs to happen, and it needs to happen soon."</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">Hoopa Valley Tribal Fisheries Director
Mike Orcutt said tribal leaders, who have been working with Humboldt County on the issue and plan to appeal the judge's Wednesday ruling, were also pleased by Huffman's letter.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class="">"You need to know the playing field," Orcutt said. "If the county owns the water and the county has authority, then we should know that."</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 11.326px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 15px/normal Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif !important; line-height: 22.652px !important; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); " class=""><em style="font-style: italic; " class="">Contact Juniper Rose at 441-0506.</em></div></div></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);
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