The Trinity River Restoration Program (TRRP), Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Redding Field Office are beginning a 14-day public scoping period for the Upper Conner Creek (Junction City) and Sawmill Gravel Processing (Lewiston) Channel Rehabilitation Projects.
We invite input and participation from community members and interested parties starting Monday, December 4, 2023 through Sunday, December 17, 2023.
The TRRP will complete an Environmental Assessment/Initial Study (EA/IS) to meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The NEPA effort will be led by Reclamation and the BLM Redding Field Office. The CEQA effort will be led by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. The EA/IS will evaluate and disclose the potential environmental effects of implementing each project. Reasonable alternatives that could satisfy the intent of the proposal will be analyzed if they are determined to be feasible. At minimum, the EA/IS will analyze the effects of the Proposed Actions and a No Action Alternative.
To access information regarding the proposed Upper Conner Creek Channel Rehabilitation (Junction City) please click the button below:
To access information regarding the proposed Sawmill Gravel Processing Site Rehabilitation Project (Lewiston) please click the button below:
Background
The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) established the TRRP in 2000 with the goal of restoring the fisheries of the Trinity River affected by dam construction and related water
diversions of the Trinity River Division of the Central Valley Project. Baseline ecological
conditions of the Trinity River at the time the TRRP was established also reflected the effects of past mining and timber harvesting in the watershed. These effects are the target of the Program’s restoration activities.
Administered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the TRRP is a partnership of federal and state resource agencies, tribes, and Trinity County. The Program’s objective is to restore the processes and attributes of an ecologically functioning river system, which should in turn recover diminished salmon and steelhead populations while retaining Trinity and Lewiston Dams’ deliveries of water and power to California’s Central Valley.
The TRRP’s restoration strategy is to foster a natural, dynamic river system that promotes all life-stages of salmonids through the following actions. The Program works to achieve this goal with the five following restoration strategies;
Variable flow management: Restoration flow releases are designed to help establish and maintain complex habitat features in the river. Flow management uses a variable flow regime based on five water year types designated by the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR).
Channel rehabilitation: restoring the functional floodplain of the river, which has been channelized and simplified by managed river flows and mining.
Sediment management: reintroducing spawning-sized gravel (aka coarse sediment) to the river and controlling fine sediment input from upslope areas. Gravel needed for spawning and habitat diversity is blocked by the dam, and moves downstream during high-flow events. The reintroduction of gravel improves fish and macroinvertebrate habitat.
Watershed restoration: addressing negative impacts that have resulted from poor land management in the basin. Watershed restoration activities include decreasing the input of fine sediment from Trinity River tributaries and increasing aquatic habitats.
Adaptive management: monitoring, evaluating, and improving the effectiveness of river restoration actions.
Proposed Project Timeline
- Send your comments via mail or email to the addresses listed to the left.
- Please include “UCC-Sawmill Project Scoping Comment” in the subject line and the following information:
- Your name and address (telephone and email address are also suggested)
- Site-specific comments about the Proposed Action along with supporting information that would help identify issues, if necessary, develop alternatives to respond to those issues, or predict the environmental effects of the proposal. Full citation of referenced literature is requested to ensure and expedite its retrieval.
- Comments received will be considered part of the public project record for this proposal and will be available for public inspection
