The U.S. Department of Interior on Friday released its internal legal opinion that acknowledges Humboldt County’s right to 50,000 acre feet of water from the Trinity River to protect salmon and steelhead runs on the lower Klamath River during dry years, drawing praise from Tribal, federal and local government officials.
The long awaited Interior Solicitor’s opinion analyzes and clarifies the authority Humboldt County bargained for in the 1955 legislation that led to the damming and diversion of the Trinity River as part of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP).
Trinity River water is currently diverted through a tunnel through the mountains from Trinity Lake to Whiskeytown Reservoir. The water is then released from Whiskeytown into Clear Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River, in order to supply subsidized water to corporate agribusiness interests on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.
The Hoopa Valley Tribe and Congressman Jared Huffman issued statements welcoming the legal opinion.
"The Hoopa Valley Tribe in particular has lobbied lawmakers to honor the agreement, which was written into the Trinity River Division Act and reaffirmed by contract in 1959," according to the Tribe. "In exchange for this concession, Central Valley farmers got Trinity water included in the Central Valley Project. Yet despite repeated demands and a massive fish kill in the Klamath (of which the Trinity is the largest tributary) back in 2002, the state has never released those 50,000 acres. Today County employees that have worked on water planning expressed a debt of gratitude to the Hoopa Valley Tribe for footing the bill and lobbying for the decision."
Hoopa Fisheries Director Mike Orcutt, along with 2nd District U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman, have both stated that one of the major issues regarding the low flows is an unfulfilled provision in a law passed by Congress in 1955 that authorized the Trinity River Division Project.
Orcutt said the law only allows water other than that needed to protect Trinity River fish to be exported into the Central Valley, and that there was to be 50,000 acre-feet of water released annually for Humboldt County and downstream water users’ benefit. "The annual releases have never occurred consistently," Orcutt said.
A similar pre-emptive release that occurred in 2013 also led to litigation, Orcutt said, with two Central Valley water districts, the Westlands Water District and San Luis & Mendota Water Authority, challenging that release. With the Department of the Interior defending its decision based on the provision of the 1955 law that calls for the protection of Trinity River fish, a federal judge ruled in October that the Interior could release the water to the Trinity River Basin only, according to Orcutt.
"The problem is we use the Trinity water to mitigate decisions on the Klamath River,” Orcutt said, noting that the Trinity River is a tributary of the Klamath River
The Tribe said funding prevented the County Board of Supervisors from pursuing the County rights to the 50,000 acre feet of water since, it would cost the County too much in litigation fees. The County owes a debt of gratitude to the Hoopa Valley Tribe for footing the bill and lobbying for the decision.
Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) "wholeheartedly welcomed" the legal determination.
“Humboldt County’s annual right to 50,000 acre feet of water from Trinity Lake is not a close call – it was explicitly guaranteed by statute and in a federal contract six decades ago, but these commitments have been ignored by the federal government,” Huffman said. “I’m gratified that the Solicitor thoroughly examined this issue and that the Interior Department heeded my requests to publicly release the solicitor’s findings. The disclosure of the Solicitor’s legal opinion confirms the position I have argued for the past two years and is an important step toward honoring the promise Congress made 60 years ago.”
Humboldt County Supervisor Ryan Sundberg praised the opinion also, stating, “Humboldt County welcomes the long-awaited determination that we, and other downstream users, will be receiving not less than 50,000 AF annually, in accordance with our 1959 contract with the Bureau of Reclamation. We look forward to taking the next step to determining uses for this water, and coordinating flow releases with resource agencies that will best benefit our North Coast communities.”
For the complete release from Huffman's office, go to: http://www.times-standard.com/...
The December 23 opinion by Department of the Interior Solicitor Hilary C. Tompkins states:
"The prior interpretations generally deemed water to satisfy Humboldt County and downstream water users under Proviso 2 as being subsumed within the fishery releases of Proviso 1. It is my conclusion that these interpretations may not be consistent with the distinct purposes of the two provisos. I conclude instead that the better reading of the statue is that the two provisos authorize and may require separate releases of water as requested by Humboldt County and potentially other downstream users pursuant to Proviso 2.”
The full opinion is available at: http://posting.northcoastjournal.com/...
In a message to the Hoopa Valley, Yurok, Karuk and other Tribes and stakeholders on Friday, Mid-Pacific Regional Director David Murillo, noted that the department has also drafted a long-term plan “that will serve as general guidance for considering and possibly undertaking actions to protect adult salmon in the lower Klamath River.”
The Department of Interior's decision to recognize Humboldt County's right to its 50,000 acre feet of water is long overdue - and it will greatly assist in the protection and restoration of salmon, steelhead and other fish species on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.