Fed. Appellate Court Supports Trinity River Plan (More Water For Fish)

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SAN FRANCISCO — "A federal appellate court approved a congressional plan Tuesday to increase flows into the Trinity River to restore fish habitat, reducing water to California farmers and hydroelectric plants.

Most of the water in the Trinity, which originates in Northern California's Trinity Alps and flows west into the Klamath River, has been diverted for decades to service a fast-growing state where much of the water is located far from where people live and farm. In 1984, Congress mandated restoration of the 112-mile-long Trinity River to combat dwindling supplies of salmon, steelhead and other aquatic life. In 2000, after years of studies, the Department of the Interior approved a plan to increase Trinity water.

The plan was backed by Indian tribes who use the waters for sustenance fishing, while farming and hydroelectric power interests opposed it. The Trinity is a major artery in the Central Valley Project's system of dams, tunnels, canals and reservoirs that supply 200 water districts serving 30 million people in the agricultural rich Central Valley. It churns turbines for nine power generating stations.

The plan approved Tuesday diverts as much as 9% of the water project's capacity, depending on rain and snow amounts."

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