Posted on 02/25/2003 9:35:21 PM PST by farmfriend
Court ruling offers an iota of hope for Trinity River
By John Driscoll The Times-Standard
A federal district court judge has relaxed an earlier decision that put the U.S. Department of the Interior on a seriously cramped timeline for finishing a key study needed to put more water down the Trinity River.
After an unnerving decision last week to force the completion of the study by Dec. 9, U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger in Fresno extended the timeline to July 9, 2004.
The change of heart came Monday, as Wanger heard from the Hoopa Valley Tribe, which is appealing a previous decision by Wanger that capped Trinity flows to the amount allowed in a dry year -- despite the amount of water available.
Wanger also asked the federal government to submit a declaration on increasing flows to what is called for in a normal or wetter year, which this year is shaping up to be. The parties in the lawsuit will give their views on that possibility, and Wanger is expected to make a decision sometime in March.
"To me it looks like more water," said Hoopa Tribal Councilman Boyd Ferris by cell phone outside the Fresno court. "I think he's got a pretty good idea what's going on here."
Ferris said additional water is especially important this year to ensure the survival of young salmon. That, he said, is critical after September's huge fish kill on the Klamath River. Most of the 33,000 salmon killed were bound for the Trinity River, the main Klamath tributary which runs through the Hoopa Valley Reservation.
This year, the water outlook for the Klamath is bleak, about half of average. Already irrigators are worried that water may be scarce come planting season, and fishermen and Indians are concerned that low flows might cause a repeat of the September fish kill.
The case arises from a 2000 decision by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to restore nearly half of the Trinity's water from above Lewiston Dam to the river. But Westlands Water District sued to continue the disproportionate diversion to the Sacramento River where it's used on the irrigation giant's San Joaquin Valley land -- much of which is becoming increasingly polluted by salt and selenium.
Wanger agreed with Westlands and power interests that the Interior Department needs to reexamine the effects Babbitt's decision will have on power generation and on endangered species in the Sacramento River delta -- specifically delta smelt, which Westlands ironically wants removed from the endangered species list.
Reclamation Bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken said the study deadline of Dec. 9 would have been difficult to meet at best.
When told of Wanger's decision to extend the deadline, McCracken said, "That's refreshing to hear. This gives us the opportunity to do this thing the right way."
Mary Ellen Mueller, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's California-Nevada fisheries supervisor, said the service had already contacted its contractor for the study to find out if it was possible to meet the Dec. 9 deadline. She expected that the service would likely have found itself in contempt of court for failing to meet that deadline.
The study will present alternatives for operating the Trinity River diversion, which the interior secretary will review and choose from. Wanger asked for two progress reports to be submitted between now and the July 9, 2004, deadline.
Because it is impossible to restore virginity?
There is only one thing lost during screwing my dear.
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