Wednesday November 4, 2026
KDRV —
California’s State Water Resources Control Board committed to public scoping hearings on Trinity River water quality and flow issues after hours of debate and testimony from tribal communities on Oct. 29.
The decision came after dozens of tribal members testified that the Bay-Delta process failed to address major impacts on the Klamath-Trinity River system. Most of the Trinity River, the Klamath’s largest tributary, is diverted to the Bay-Delta for use by agribusiness interests.
“The implications of your decision today will impact our children’s children,” Georgiana Genshaw said. Genshaw, a Yurok Tribal member whose family are subsistence fishermen, told the board her kids grew up in the Un-dam the Klamath era. “They have never known a life where we were not having to protest for water,” Genshaw said.
Genshaw said the Klamath River is getting stronger and healthier. “But now you want to take his sister,” Genshaw said. “We, the Yurok and Karuk people, understand the Trinity is important for a multitude of reasons, including the cold water and oxygen it provides.”