<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"><head><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml><o:OfficeDocumentSettings><o:AllowPNG/><o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch></o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--></head><body><div class="ydp61b49312yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><a href="https://www.redwoodtimes.com/2019/12/10/humboldt-county-trinity-river-salmon-could-face-irreversible-harm/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.redwoodtimes.com/2019/12/10/humboldt-county-trinity-river-salmon-could-face-irreversible-harm/</a><br></div></div><div><div class="ydp825e4d9cheader-title-area" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; z-index: 1;"><div class="ydp825e4d9cheadline-area" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: 1152.84375px;"><div class="ydp825e4d9cheadlines" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 class="ydp825e4d9centry-title" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.26667em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Lora, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; letter-spacing: -0.03em; width: 1152.84375px; clear: both;"><span class="ydp825e4d9cdfm-title" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Humboldt County: Trinity River salmon could face ‘irreversible harm’ </span></h1><h2 class="ydp825e4d9csubheadline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Lora, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.4375em; font-weight: 500; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.3; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(72, 70, 66); letter-spacing: -0.023em;">Concerns raised about Sites Reservoir project diversions to Sacramento Basin</h2></div></div></div><div class="ydp825e4d9carticle-content" style="margin: 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="ydp825e4d9carticle-content-wrapper" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="ydp825e4d9cheader-features ydp825e4d9cdefault" style="margin: 0px; padding: 3em 0em 2em; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 954.875px;"><div class="ydp825e4d9cimage-wrapper" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: auto; position: relative; width: 954.875px;"><img alt="" title="" class="ydp825e4d9csize-article_feature ydp825e4d9clazyautosizes ydp825e4d9clazyloaded" data-sizes="auto" data-src="https://www.redwoodtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver1-1.jpg?w=620" data-srcset="https://www.redwoodtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver1-1.jpg?w=620 620w,https://www.redwoodtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver1-1.jpg?w=780 780w,https://www.redwoodtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver1-1.jpg?w=1020 1020w,https://www.redwoodtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver1-1.jpg?w=940 940w" src="https://www.redwoodtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver1-1.jpg?w=620" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; max-width: 100%; position: relative; width: 954.875px;"></div>Ali Forsythe of Sites Reservoir project told the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that the project’s stakeholders intend to preserve the river’s water rights. (Shomik Mukherjee — The Times-Standard)<div class="ydp825e4d9cmeta" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px 0px 1em; border-width: 0px 0px 3px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(200, 196, 192); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; width: 954.875px;"><a href="https://www.redwoodtimes.com/2019/12/10/humboldt-county-trinity-river-salmon-could-face-irreversible-harm/#comments" class="ydp825e4d9ccomments-link enhancr_card_6405782463" style="margin: 0.3125em 0px 0px; padding: 0.8125em 1.0625em; border: 1px solid var(--primary-dark); font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.15385; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); letter-spacing: 0.05em; float: right; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="ydp825e4d9cdsq-postid" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="ydp825e4d9cicon-comment" style="margin: 0px 0.4375em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: icomoon; font-size: inherit; font-weight: 400; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: none;"></span></span></a><div class="ydp825e4d9cbyline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9375em; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.71429; vertical-align: baseline;">By <a href="https://www.redwoodtimes.com/author/shomik-mukherjee/" title="Posts by Shomik Mukherjee" class="ydp825e4d9cauthor-name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.7; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SHOMIK MUKHERJEE</a> | <a href="mailto:smukherjee@times-standard.com" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">smukherjee@times-standard.com</a> | </div><div class="ydp825e4d9ctime" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.42857; vertical-align: baseline;">PUBLISHED: December 10, 2019 at 5:51 pm | UPDATED: December 10, 2019 at 5:57 pm</div></div><div><br></div><div id="ydp167f3bfdenhancr_card_6405782463" class="ydp167f3bfdyahoo-link-enhancr-card ydp167f3bfdymail-preserve-class ydp167f3bfdymail-preserve-style" style="max-width:400px;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" data-url="https://www.redwoodtimes.com/2019/12/10/humboldt-county-trinity-river-salmon-could-face-irreversible-harm/" data-type="YENHANCER" data-size="MEDIUM" contenteditable="false"><a href="https://www.redwoodtimes.com/2019/12/10/humboldt-county-trinity-river-salmon-could-face-irreversible-harm/" style="text-decoration:none !important;color:#000 !important" class="ydp167f3bfdyahoo-enhancr-cardlink" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><table border="0" class="ydp167f3bfdcard-wrapper ydp167f3bfdyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="max-width:400px"><tbody><tr><td width="400"><table border="0" class="ydp167f3bfdcard ydp167f3bfdyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="max-width:400px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(224, 228, 233);border-radius:2px"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp167f3bfdcard-primary-image-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/70HyDqK7fnSkZAEmilbnXw--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://www.redwoodtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver1-1.jpg?w=1024&h=576.cf.jpg" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" height="175" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-size: cover; position: relative; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;"><v:fill type="frame" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/70HyDqK7fnSkZAEmilbnXw--~A/Zmk9ZmlsbDt3PTQwMDtoPTIwMDthcHBpZD1pZXh0cmFjdA--/https://www.redwoodtimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver1-1.jpg?w=1024&h=576.cf.jpg"/></v:rect><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydp167f3bfdcard-overlay-container-table ydp167f3bfdyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:100%"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp167f3bfdcard-overlay-cell" background="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png" bgcolor="transparent" valign="top" style="background-color: transparent; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; min-height: 175px;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><v:rect fill="true" stroke="false" style="width:396px;height:175px;position:absolute;top:-18px;left:0;"><v:fill type="pattern" color="#000000" src="https://s.yimg.com/cv/ae/nq/storm/assets/enhancrV21/1/enhancr_gradient-400x175.png"/><v:textbox inset="0,0,20px,0"><![endif]--><table border="0" class="ydp167f3bfdyahoo-ignore-table" height="175" style="width: 100%; min-height: 175px;"><tbody><tr><td class="ydp167f3bfdcard-richInfo2" style="text-align:left;padding:15px 0 0 15px;vertical-align:top"></td><td class="ydp167f3bfdcard-actions" style="text-align:right;padding:15px 15px 0 0;vertical-align:top"><div class="ydp167f3bfdcard-share-container"></div></td></tr></tbody></table><!--[if gte mso 9]></v:textbox></v:rect><![endif]--></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td><table border="0" align="center" class="ydp167f3bfdcard-info ydp167f3bfdyahoo-ignore-table" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background:#fff;position:relative;z-index:2;width:100%;max-width:400px;border-radius:0 0 2px 2px;border-top:1px solid rgb(224, 228, 233)"><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff;padding:16px 0 16px 12px;vertical-align:top;border-radius:0 0 0 2px"></td><td style="vertical-align:middle;padding:12px 24px 16px 12px;width:99%;font-family:Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;border-radius:0 0 2px 0"><h2 class="ydp167f3bfdcard-title" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px 0px 6px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Segoe UI, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">Humboldt County: Trinity River salmon could face ‘irreversible harm’</h2><p class="ydp167f3bfdcard-description" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(151, 155, 167);">The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved two letters on Tuesday threatening to yank back su...</p></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></a></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="ydp825e4d9carticle-body" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="ydp825e4d9cbody-copy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.03125em; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.63636; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -0.01em;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved two letters on Tuesday threatening to yank back support for a reservoir project that would divert more water from the Trinity River and pose further harm to its fishery.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">The board’s vote was met with widespread public support as tribal members and water rights advocates called on the county to stand against the latest environmental impact report for the Sites Reservoir project, an off-stream storage of water that partly diverts Trinity River water to the Sacramento Basin.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">In its letters, the county states that the project’s current design would take too much water out of the Trinity River, which science indicates would leave the water temperature too high for salmon populations to be healthy.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">“Humboldt County has a vested interest in this project because significant impacts to the Trinity River, which is partially diverted into the Sacramento River, would cause irreversible harm to Humboldt County’s commercial, sport, and tribal fisheries,” one county letter states.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">The county had offered support for the project in 2018, under conditions that no further water be diverted from the basins and that stakeholders explore options to reduce out-of-basin transfers of Trinity River water.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">As a result of past diversions, the Trinity River’s water supply has been spent and its quality diminished, leaving salmon in the lower Klamath River in peril.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Tom Stokely of environmental group Save California Salmon emphasized on Tuesday the county has a “huge stake” in the Trinity River. He called on the county to insist upon a stronger agreement with Sites Reservoir that protects water and salmon interests.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">“I’ve never seen anyone get anything in the water world by being nice,” said Stokely, who has worked for decades in natural resource planning. “Unless you play hardball, I don’t think you’re going to have your interests looked out for.”</p><img class="ydp825e4d9clazyautosizes ydp825e4d9clazyloaded" src="https://i1.wp.com/www.times-standard.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver2.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1" data-sizes="auto" data-src="https://i1.wp.com/www.times-standard.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver2.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1" data-srcset="https://i1.wp.com/www.times-standard.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver2.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1 620w,https://i1.wp.com/www.times-standard.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver2.jpg?fit=780%2C9999px&ssl=1 780w,https://i1.wp.com/www.times-standard.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver2.jpg?fit=810%2C9999px&ssl=1 810w,https://i1.wp.com/www.times-standard.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TrinityRiver2.jpg?fit=630%2C9999px&ssl=1 630w" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3125em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; max-width: 620px; width: 664px;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true">A crowd of environmental advocates and some tribal members came to support the supervisors’ decision to re-engage Sites Reservoir on its potential impacts to the Trinity River. (Shomik Mukherjee — The Times-Standard)<p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Ali Forsythe of Sites Reservoir spoke in defense of the project, assuring the board that it will be a “good steward” of the rivers. She apologized for a “delay” in protecting the Trinity River’s water rights and said Sites remains committed to the county’s 2018 conditions.</p><div id="ydp825e4d9cdiv-gpt-ad-Cube_Article" class="ydp825e4d9cdfp-ad ydp825e4d9cdfp-Cube_Article" data-ad-unit="Cube_Article" data-google-query-id="CL_JmNilruYCFYUEfQodAMkIOA" style="margin: 0px auto 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 710.375px;"></div></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">“We understand as an organization that the better the fish are, the better the ecosystems are and the better the people of the state of California are,” Forsythe said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Tuesday’s meeting also featured public comments from a handful of Native American tribal members who rely on the Trinity River’s fishery and historically have sacred ties to the river water.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">With all of the water diversions, there’s no water left to funnel elsewhere, said one Hoopa tribal member.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">“You guys have got to really study this before making a decision,” the tribal member said. “I go to happy hour — my bar is the river bar. You guys go to the local pub; we go to the river. You guys should think about saving it.”</p><div><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Shomik Mukherjee can be reached at 707-441-0504. </span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>