Z-Friends of Trinity River Newsletter, November 2004

8/9/2019 Z-Friends of Trinity River Newsletter, November 2004

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progress, ount on Westlands o assert hat TrlDlty's increasedlows are "wasting o thesea,"and he water shouldgo to it.Pro2ram EvaluatioD Review and ReDOrtTom Weseloh,NorthcoastManagerof California Trout, Inc. (CaJTroDt),and FOTRboardmember,and o a very minor extentLeydecker, rovidedsignificant nput into thework that resulted n the Program Evaluation Sub-CommitteeReport. This analysisand eview, ncluding nterviewswith Program staff, nvolved a greatdeal of time, workand effort. Curtis Aadenon, of the CaHfornla DepartmeDtof Water Resources,chaired his sub-committee ndperformedcommendably.TriDity MaDagementCoDDcDTMC) hasadoptedmanyof the committee's ecommendations.Among he sub-committee'secommendations as hat specifications or restorationwork be detemlinedby Program statTand hen contracts dvertised nd awarded.Cunently,potentialcontractors ubmitapplicationso fund projects hey want to pursue,and he Program's action agendas detem1inedy selecting rom among heseproposals. In otherwords, potentialcontractorsargely havebeendetenniningbowProgram funds or restorationactionswould be spent. Clearly, hat makesno sense.A sub-committeeecommendation as o haveat leasthalf of all contractsawarded hisyear n responseo specificneedsof the PrOIr8m asdetenninedby Program staff andto haveall contractsawarded n that mannernext fiscal year. This merely s onerepresentativeecommendation f the major ssues he sub-committee eveloped ndincluded n its Report.Whetheror not TMC actually mplements ecommendedorrectiveactions emains o beseen. The changes eededareessentjaJo acmevingeffective Program results. We willcontinue o press or jrnplementation f the sub-committee'secommendations.F1oodDlaiaWork to AccommodateROD's HiDer River nOWIWe alsowrote o the Program's executivedjrector,Douglal SchleulDer,with copies oall Program participants, o deterntinewhat nfonnationhadbeendeveloped n requiredfloodplainworlc:o accommodate igher lows asprovided n the ROD. It turnedout thatthe nfonnationwas Wlknown. (SeeBudget section below). Subsequently, n engineerhasbeenemployed o inventoryand establish osts or this work.PrO2ramBude:etA budget s merely he financial expression f a plan. In this case t reflects,amongotherthings,costsof actions he Proanm intends o undertake.Within T AMWG, we havebeen nvolved heavily n its previousandcurrentyear startedOctober 1) budget. Giventhe scanty nformation we havebeenprovided,we nevertheless ere able o influenceT AMWG to recommend omebudgetchangeso TMC. Our position on budget ssues

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wasconcerned articularly with infrastructure nd low relatedneeds hat requireimplementation y the Program, aswell ascertaincosts hat were not understandablerexplained.The final budget or fiscal year 2005 otals $10.8million. Of this amount,almosteightpercent $818,911)was for Non-ProjectAdministrativecosts "Trinity ProgramSupportNon-ProjectCosts." These undsgo only to severalmemberagencies f the TMC forpurposeshat T AMWG members,or the mostpart, havebeenunable o detennine.Includedare unds or the Bareau ($53,073)ad U. S. F1sh& WfldUfe Service(USF&WS) $139,667).Fundsallocated or floodplain structure elocation n the Poker Bar and ndian Creekareasotals $325,900, f which $93,100 s for DesignandPlanningand $232.800 s forimplementation.The forD1erigure essentially efers o detenniningwhat needs o bedone.and he atter o getting t done.It is clear hat work in the floodplain - removalofhouse(s?),posSlole elocationofhouses, ossible elocationof waterwells, resolvingproblemwith a "to be" islandpropertyat Poker Bar and other actions equired o provide a floodplain o allowincreasedlows of 8.500and 11,000 fs is going o be very expeosive it appearst maybe n the millions of dollars. Beyond his year,only $140,000 s reflected n tentativebudgets or years2006 hrough 2008.These ostsshouldhavebeendeterminedong ago, undedand mplementation houldhavebeenunderway. At this point, we will not get ncreasedlows until this Proaramimperative s fulfilled. We will press or determination f total costsof theseneedsandfor adequateunding n next year'sbudget. Meanwhile, f we havewet or extremelywetwater-type ears.TriDlty River will not receive he water t is supposedo receive. Inaddition, hat waterwill be ost forever o the river. It Cam1ote carriedover tosubsequentears.This year's budgetprovides or implementation f the Hocker flat ($546,000)andCanyon Creek ($93,111)areamainstem hannelmanipulationprojects. The atter smerely o startconstructionof the project. Theseareonly construction ostsanddo notincludedesign,environmental eview, andotherpre-project osts.Gnvel Introd8cdoD'On our behalf,Joe NeD,an FOTR member,provided mportant nput and deasat thescience-basedorkshopon gravel ntroductions nto the river to compensateor gravelreplenishment lockedby Trinity Dam. Scientists rom the UDiversity of CaliforniaDavis anda Program scientist,Aadreas KrauH, havemade mportantprogressndevelopinga gravel ntroductionplan that s moving n the right direction ftD.ny.FOTR blocked a plannedgravel ntroduction ast yearbecauset was more of the samedump t wherever t's convenientwith no particular houghtaboutwhat t would

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accomplish.We also have abored or years or development f an overall GnvelManagementPlan. It appearshat underMr. KRuse's leadership,hat s now on theway to realization.

FOTR was engagedully in a three-dayTriDIty ScleDtific Framework Workshop inEurekA n October. Many Program participantswere nvolved, ncluding TMCtechnical epresentatives, embers f the ScieDce dvisory Board, someT AMWGmembers, ndothers hat long havebeenactive n TriDity restorationactivities.Currently,outsideconsultants reestablishinghe basic ramework,with somestaffinput, but this critically importantProgram elementmust be fulfilled andhousedwithinthe Program. The schedules to have t in-housewithin two years.Included n the framework s establishment f the "scientific databaseline" o enablequantifiedassessmentf Program actions/results, onitoringneeds,and other Programactivities. This hasyet to be established s he ROD approachests fourth anniversary.Flow Schedules.Fisberv BiolO2is~ Interaction with Proe:ramLeaders. OthersWe were nvolved n establishment f the Trinity River flow schedule or the 2005wateryear hat startedMarch 1. Involved were decisionsaboutspring/summerlows anda second etof considerationsor increasedall flows designed o protect ish in theLower Klamath. That effort extendedwell into springand summer,and ncludedmeetings nd conference alls with TMC members ndothers.We alsowereone of five personsnvolved n interviewsofvacant isheriesbiologist positions n the Program.We havecommunicated xtensivelywith somemembers f the SdeDceAdvisory Boardabout ssueswe believe are critical to the Prognm's success.We havehad discussionsandprovided nput to the Proaram'l BranchChiefs scienceand mplementationregarding estoration ssues.

We havebeen ully engagedn meetingsof the stakeholder roup,T AMWG, and alsohaveofferedour own input to the TMC. Objectivelystat~ as a memberand analternatememberofT AMWG we haveprovidedsignificant eadershipn this group.We have orcedcrucial restoration ssues o be considered nd pursuedwithrecommendationsorwarded o TMC. Thesemeetingsare grueling,or in George Bush'swords,~ work."

for one of two

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Trinity Adantive Mana2emeotWorkio2 Groan StatusT AMWG, the stakeholders roupon which we serve, s a Federal Advisory CommitteeAct organization. t is chartered or two yearperiodsunder hat law, and eachmembermust eapply or appointment y the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), smay otherswho wish to serve,when a charter s renewed.Our charterexpired n October,and hepersonwith USF&WS responsibleor renewing t, simply didn't to renew t timely.AnotherT AMWG memberand Leydeckerwrote o the Secretary about his grossoversight,or negligence.The Secretary subsequently igneda new charter his month,also ndicating hat the entity will continue o operate, nd hat existing memberswillretain heir positionsuntil new nominees re selected nd appointed.ProoosedCanyon Creek Gold Minin2We alsowrote extensive copingcomments or the CanYO8Creek E8viro8D1e8taiImpact Statemeat EIS) to be prepared or a proposed S acregold mining operationU. S. Forest Service (USFS) and adjoining he creek. That operatio~ f allowed oproceedwithout establishingmajor requirements rotecting he creekand and. couldresult n significantadversempacts o Triaity River. The creek s a tributary of theTriatty .The USFShasallowed he felling of trees, ncluding old growth, on a five-acre testsite," while the EIS barely basbegun o be develope


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RENEWAL MEMBERS, CONTRIBUTORS AND SPECIAL RECOGNmONAs you know. FOTR only asksonce. year for memberso renew. Sinceour JulyNewsletter.severalpeoplehave enewed heir membership r oined FOTR. Severalotherpersons aveprovidedsupport or our Trinity effort in other ways. If you haverenewedyour membenhip siDceour July Newsletter and your name(s)has beenomitted here, please et us know - we want o recognize our support.Our very genuine appreciation to the following peopleandorganizations:Chico AreaFlyflshers, Inc.. Kurt Christiansen. Joel Cohen, SamuelD. Cohen, Joe NeD.JaniceParakDasandRoy Baker, Gale Pike. JamesPowell, S.N. Roscoe.Frances and HarrySalstrom, Caroline and Kevin Scarpelli, Linda and Coach George Seifert, Mary andJohn Simons,andJanis and Warren Watkins. Thank you!

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Friends of Trinity RIverP. o. Box 2317Mill Valley. CA 94941-1317

~ ~~~.-c:1) . cO~; '"c" ...j::!! "~ l' ,,~"'-'c i,.-::',it):'

Please end nf~ cm ~ ~ OM'I would ike o belp ard8 by V~-'-q w~ ~ c;.,My check is eaclc8d "'- 175- 1100- Other

Friends of TriDity RiverPO Box 2327Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

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Z-Friends of Trinity River Newsletter, November 2004

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