Congressman urges legal opinion on Trinity releases

October 04, 2014

A day after a federal judge ruled on reservoir releases for Klamath River salmon, North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman demanded immediate clarification of Humboldt County's water rights from federal officials.

Humboldt County and the Hoopa Valley Tribe have been vying for consistent water releases for salmon in the Trinity and Klamath rivers since the death of more than 70,000 adult salmon in 2002. Westlands Water District and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority took the issue to court in 2013, arguing that water should be reserved for Central Valley agriculture.

Wednesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill in Fresno rejected this claim, but added that the next time the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation wants to release Trinity Reservoir water for Klamath River salmon, it would need to cite a better legal authority.

Huffman wrote Thursday to acting Bureau Commissioner Lowell Pimley, requesting a prompt legal response.

"It is imperative that Reclamation release the Interior Solicitor's opinion regarding Humboldt County's contract for 50,000 acre feet of water annually from Trinity Reservoir, which dates to the same 1955 Act authorizing the Trinity River division," Huffman wrote.

Huffman's letter asserts that while he believes the bureau is moving forward to protect salmon on the Trinity and Klamath rivers, the process is too slow for a drought-stricken region. Plans are not expected to be released by the bureau until late winter, Huffman's letter states.

"This delay is unacceptable," Huffman wrote. "Moreover, I am concerned that your agency is using a long-term planning process as an excuse to avoid making necessary decisions in the immediate term."

Calls to Pimley's office and to bureau spokeswoman Erin Curtis were not returned by deadline.

Wednesday's ruling added a new sense of urgency to the dispute over Humboldt County's water rights, Humboldt County 5th District Supervisor Ryan Sundberg said.

"I think Congressman Huffman hit the nail on the head and is on point with his letter," he said. "I very much appreciate him stepping up and pushing the bureau to give us the water we were promised decades ago."

Sundberg said that when he and 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace visited Washington, D.C., last month and spoke with Pimley about the contract, they were told that there was a legal opinion already developed but just not released to the public.

They were also told that a long term plan is in the works, and hope it will include the disputed 50,000 acre feet, Sundberg said.

"I think it would help them — they would be doing the right thing by honoring the contract," he said. "It is something that was promised and needs to happen, and it needs to happen soon."

Hoopa Valley Tribal Fisheries Director Mike Orcutt said tribal leaders, who have been working with Humboldt County on the issue and plan to appeal the judge's Wednesday ruling, were also pleased by Huffman's letter.

"You need to know the playing field," Orcutt said. "If the county owns the water and the county has authority, then we should know that."


Source: By Juniper Rose