Babbitt Cuts Trinity River Flow to Growers

Four decades after the remote Trinity River was dammed and diverted to pour water into California’s farm belt, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on Tuesday cut the flow to growers to keep more water in the north.

In emotional ceremonies on the ancestral lands of the 4,000-member Hoopa tribe, Babbitt said his decision fulfilled a pledge he made in 1993 to the Hoopa and Yurok tribes, which have economic and cultural ties to the river and the salmon that swim in it.

“This wasn’t just a project. It was a cause invested with a moral imperative,” Babbitt said.

Legislation backed by growers led to federal projects completed by the early 1960s that dammed the river and diverted about 90% of the water through huge tunnels to get more water into the Central Valley to produce power and irrigate crops.

Babbitt’s decision splits the diversion about in half--52% to the Central Valley and 48% to be retained in the north.

Farmers, irrigation districts and utilities say the river is a crucial part of California’s water delivery and power generating system, and that reducing the flows south violates federal promises.

“Today’s decision was irresponsible,” said John Fistolera of the Northern California Power Agency, a consortium of nearly two dozen cities and farm belt irrigation districts. He said the decision was based on flawed science and came at a time when California seeks new sources of energy to cope with an electricity crisis.