Oh, Trinity!
By John Driscoll, Eureka Times-Standard
January 21, 2005

A long legal brawl with Central Valley water interests over the Trinity River has taken a favorable turn for the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the North Coast. Westlands Water District and the Northern California Power Association won't take its attempt to block restoration of the river to serve Central California farms to the U.S. Supreme Court, the groups said Thursday.

That clears the once murky path toward reviving fisheries that for 40 years have languished from water diversions and a dam that blocks nearly 109 miles of salmon spawning grounds.

The bitter five-year legal battle was waged by Westlands following former U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's approval of a restoration plan based on nearly three decades of scientific study.

"You don't run into a case and win it overnight," said Hoopa Valley Chairman Clifford Lyle Marshall. "We were up against some very powerful opposition."

The tribe led the fight for the return of just under half the river's water. In 2000, Babbitt cleared the plan, and Westlands -- the primary beneficiary of the water -- sued. A U.S. District Court ruling in 2002 went Westland's way, but a following U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision trumped the lower court in the tribe's favor.

Westlands spokesman Tupper Hull said the district still believes there are flaws in the 9th Circuit decision, but has decided the odds of a Supreme Court review are small. He said that since the suit was filed, Westlands has worked with other water users and regulatory agencies toward more efficient water use in the Central Valley Project, an effort he hopes will make up for the loss of Trinity water.

The water is key to reshaping the river to make conditions better for salmon, and other elements of the plan are ongoing. Four bridges will have been replaced and one modified by this summer, key to opening the possibility of channel-changing flows in wet years.

But some of that effort could be stymied by a reduction in federal funding. The U.S. Interior Department has cut $1.4 million from the $10.8 million program, which Marshall described as severely underfunded.

Still, Trinity River proponents reveled in the victory, glad to refocus attention from the courts to the river. "Now we don't have to spend another 20 years preparing paperwork to tell us that fish need water," said Trinity County Senior Planner Tom Stokely.

Struggles may remain. The Trinity's water is diverted to the Sacramento River, and irrigators get their water via canals leading from Sacramento Delta pumps.

North Coast, fishing and environmental interests are concerned that ongoing renewal of long-term water contracts isn't being conducted through the National Environmental Policy Act, and won't meet obligations to the Trinity River's fishery.

"We have to maintain constant vigilance as it pertains to water issues facing the North Coast," said Humboldt County Supervisor Jill Geist. "This is a win for the moment." Hupa people are also taking a longsighted view toward recovery of the river and its salmon, sturgeon, steelhead and eels. Fishing and rafting guide Chuckie Carpenter said the court victory will help the overall healing of the Hoopa Valley.

"It's like this river is the bloodline of our people," Carpenter said. "Our ancestors lived on it since time began. It's a way of transportation and a way of life."

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