North Trinity Hiking Trail PDFs...
Major North Trinity Events
Last modified on: Thursday, 22-Sep-2016 10:42:28 EDT
Trinity Lake Report
9/22/16 - The lake is down to 2,254', 116' from the spillway, 41% of capacity,
holding at 58% of its historical average for the date. THEY CONTINUE
DUMPING THE LAKE AGAIN down the river. This is for the FAILED river restoration program.
They will have dumped an ADDITIONAL 84,000 acre-feet. That is nearly 9 feet of lake elevation.
So far, they have dumped the lake 8 feet for this nonsense.
The program is supposed to "mimic nature" to restore fish levels. When was
there a big, natural dump of water in August before the dam? They argue that they have
to "cool" the river because the fish would have been in Coffee Creek before
the dam. Locals say not so. This is a collasal waste of water while the state is still
in a drought. The "science" is mostly based on speciulation because historic,
pre-dam data is very scarce.
The failed river restoration program needs to be defunded and TRULY let nature fix the problem. The management of the project is one, huge conflict of interest with the tribes and federal agencies voting themselves money.
Shasta Lake, on the other hand, remains 63% full, holding at 104% of its historical average
for the date. They have taken Trinity down faster than normal, while
Shasta Lake is staying above normal. The junk science on fish that comes out of the National
Marine Fisheries Service says Shasta water is too warm for fish. How can the water at the
bottom of Shasta Lake be too warm???? And if you believe all this climate change blather
(not counting the anthropogenic global warming nonsense,)
then this is the "new normal" -- drought and more rain than snow -- their fish had better adapt because
we cannot keep doing this to save a failing fish species.
Here is a graph
of historic lake elevation, updated to show spillway and Trinity Center ramp elevations.
Last winter's low-water mark occurred on Nov 21, 2014 and then the lake rose about 83'.
The Dec 8, 2015 low-water mark was the third lowest ever, the prior two being 1977 and 1992.
(The gaps in the line on the graph are due to missing or bad data in the state's database.)
The Bureau has published a proposed Draft Plan to make the fall flows permanent.
The plan has many comments showing that it is not based on any authorizing legislation
and is not based on science. It violates California water law.
(See information below about the Draft Long-Term Plan.) THEY GO AHEAD AND DUMPT THE WATER
ANYWAY, even though they have no approved plan.
USFS Local Fuels Reduction Project - DONE !!
The Forest Service project east
of Hwy 3 just north of KOA is done and looks great.
Here is a map of the project area.
The treatment removed trees up to 8", with a few 10" trees,
to reduce the density of ladder fuels. Brush and duff will be burned in the Fall. The intent is keep the forest
canopy to prevent sunlight from reaching the ground and regrowing the brush.
2015 Draft Long-Term Plan for Protecting Late
Summer Adult Salmon in the Lower Klamath River
US Reclamation solicited comments on a draft plan to make their late-summer augmentation release
(up to 83,000 acre feet) permanent. Comments were due Aug 20, 2015. The draft plan and posted comments
are available at
http://www.usbr.gov/mp/kbao/lt-plan.html.
Trinity Lake Revitalization Alliance submitted
comments on this draft. Our first comment is that the title of the plan is biased and reflects an
unscientific assumption that the salmon need protecting.
Under the plan's preferred action, water would be released if "triggers" occur
in the lower Klamath River.
Reclamation is supposed to answer all submitted comments, modify the plan accordingly, and
then issue an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) in Spring 2016. At that time, the public can
again submit comments on the EIS and final plan.
TLRA's position is that these extra water releases beyond the Trinity River Record of Decision
(ROD) damage Trinity County and the businesses and communities in the North Lake. Lake recreation
is a huge part of Trinity County's only remaining legal economy: tourism.
Therefore, Trinity County and lake-based businesses should be compensated for damage due
to diminished lake levels and boat facilities improvements should be funded to increase
the public ability to safety access the lake for recreation.
Trinity County Code Enforcement
Here are a few quick links to documents on the Trinity County website:
Bay Delta Conservation Plan and Delta Tunnels
Controversy continues
as more people become aware of the Governor's proposal to divert Northern Calif water south through
two 32-foot diameter tunnels under the Delta. You can read much about this plan on our Stop
the Tunnels page. Below are some recent articles and news:
