Appeals Court Rules to Restore the Trinity River

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa Valley) hailed today's ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court repealed a lower court's decision regarding the Trinity River Record of Decision (ROD) and ruled that the ROD should be fully implemented. “This is a great victory for the Hoopa Tribe and Northern California's costal communities, whose economy and jobs have been decimated by declining fisheries,” Thompson said. “More water in the Trinity River will help restore the Klamath Basin Fisheries.” Since the completion of the Lewiston and Trinity Dams on the Trinity River in 1963, up to 90% of the Trinity River water has been diverted to the central coast. The result has been the near destruction of the river's fishery. Salmon and steelhead populations are found in less than 10% of their historical range and most are either listed, proposed for listing or under status review for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Through four administrations, the Department of Interior has worked to restore and maintain the Trinity River fishery. In 2000, the Trinity River ROD was issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide 47% of the original flows back to the River. The ROD was based on an exhaustive, peer-reviewed study of the Trinity River basin conducted over the past twenty-two years. In 2003 Judge Oliver W. Wanger ruled that the Trinity River ROD needed to be revaluated. Today's court decision reaffirms the science and methods of the Trinity River ROD. The Court states, “The number and length of the studies on the Trinity River…are staggering, and bear evidence of the years of thorough scrutiny given by the federal agencies to the question of how best to rehabilitate the Trinity River fishery without unduly compromising the interest of others who have claim on Trinity River water.” “Today's ruling sustains over 20 years of scientific evidence that more water is needed for the fish on the Trinity River,” Thompson said. # # #