From what I read in my inbox tonight, I believe we made some headway on the Trinity release issue today. The following is a copy of the attachment in it's entirety.
"SECRETARY GALE NORTON ANNOUNCES NEW TRINITY RIVER FLOW SCHEDULE FOR FALL RELEASES TO TRINITY RIVER TO PROTECT FISHERIES
Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has announced that a new flow release schedule for the Trinity River this fall has been developed to use as needed if it is determined that the Trinity River salmonoid population would be damaged without the additional flows.
This release schedule follows a series of actions initiated by the Klamath Basin Working Group last March when Interior submitted a report to U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger entitled “Recommendations for Averting Another Adult Salmonid Die-Off” (March 18th Plan). Judge Wanger then issued a ruling on April 4, 2003, that allowed the Bureau of Reclamation authority to use up to 50,000 acre feet from the Trinity River Division of the Central Valley Project (CVP) “at its reasonable discretion” to benefit lower Klamath River fish runs. The Klamath Basin Working Group was created by President Bush in 2002 and is comprised of the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce, as well as the Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
This proactive flow release schedule is the result of cooperation among agencies, tribes, and stakeholders in the Klamath/Trinity basin, including the Trinity Management Council and Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group. It is designed to allow Trinity River Chinook salmon to initiate migration upriver and reduce the potential for this year’s projected above-average fish densities in the Lower Klamath River that could lead to increased transmission of disease.
This action will take place following a previously scheduled increase from a summer base flow of 450 cubic feet per second (cfs) to a peak flow of 1,650 cubic feet per second in late August, then ramping down to 1,000 cfs by September 15, followed by a return to the summer base flow. The total volume of water associated with this proactive release schedule is 33,000 acre-feet, well within Judge Wanger’s maximum allowance of 50,000 acre-feet. In order to minimize possible impacts to other CVP users, the water for these fishery releases has been acquired through a recent negotiated exchange agreement that allows Reclamation to use up to 50,000 acre-feet of water belonging to Metropolitan Water District of Southern California that is being made available to the CVP for immediate use. The water will be returned to MWD at a time when the return will not harm CVP users.
The new release schedule is available online at the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Operations website at:
www.usbr.gov/mp/cvo/
http://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvo/ "
Jamie
"SECRETARY GALE NORTON ANNOUNCES NEW TRINITY RIVER FLOW SCHEDULE FOR FALL RELEASES TO TRINITY RIVER TO PROTECT FISHERIES
Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton has announced that a new flow release schedule for the Trinity River this fall has been developed to use as needed if it is determined that the Trinity River salmonoid population would be damaged without the additional flows.
This release schedule follows a series of actions initiated by the Klamath Basin Working Group last March when Interior submitted a report to U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger entitled “Recommendations for Averting Another Adult Salmonid Die-Off” (March 18th Plan). Judge Wanger then issued a ruling on April 4, 2003, that allowed the Bureau of Reclamation authority to use up to 50,000 acre feet from the Trinity River Division of the Central Valley Project (CVP) “at its reasonable discretion” to benefit lower Klamath River fish runs. The Klamath Basin Working Group was created by President Bush in 2002 and is comprised of the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce, as well as the Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
This proactive flow release schedule is the result of cooperation among agencies, tribes, and stakeholders in the Klamath/Trinity basin, including the Trinity Management Council and Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group. It is designed to allow Trinity River Chinook salmon to initiate migration upriver and reduce the potential for this year’s projected above-average fish densities in the Lower Klamath River that could lead to increased transmission of disease.
This action will take place following a previously scheduled increase from a summer base flow of 450 cubic feet per second (cfs) to a peak flow of 1,650 cubic feet per second in late August, then ramping down to 1,000 cfs by September 15, followed by a return to the summer base flow. The total volume of water associated with this proactive release schedule is 33,000 acre-feet, well within Judge Wanger’s maximum allowance of 50,000 acre-feet. In order to minimize possible impacts to other CVP users, the water for these fishery releases has been acquired through a recent negotiated exchange agreement that allows Reclamation to use up to 50,000 acre-feet of water belonging to Metropolitan Water District of Southern California that is being made available to the CVP for immediate use. The water will be returned to MWD at a time when the return will not harm CVP users.
The new release schedule is available online at the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Operations website at:
www.usbr.gov/mp/cvo/
http://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvo/ "
Jamie
