History Page 4 - Newlands Water Protective Association

**4. Cut Throat Politics**
The Army Corps of Engineer’s river channel straightening destroyed the spawning habitat of the Lahontan Cut Throat Trout, and soon thereafter, the species became extinct in Pyramid Lake. To this day, the Tribe blames diversions at Derby Dam for the decrease in fish numbers, In reality, though, it was a combination of many things that caused the extinction. There were lumber mills and sewer plants that dump their waste into the Truckee River. The Corps took out all the natural spawning grounds. The Tribe’s own commercial fisheries were not operated in a wise resource management fashion. Yes, the Newlands Project took, on the average, about a third of the Truckee River flows, but the farmers are certainly not the only cause of the extinction of the Lahontan Cut Throat Trout. Pictured above is a baby Avocet. The passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1964 brought with it the listing of the Cui-Ui fish in Pyramid Lake as the first fish ever to be listed as endangered. The listing brought new regulations promulgated by the Bureau of Reclamation. The regulations known as Operating Criteria and Procedures (OCAP), were all aimed at decreasing allocations to the Newlands Project. In an effort to resolve the problems, Senator Harry Reid arranged for a negotiated settlement. The problem was, if Sierra Pacific Power and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe didn’t get whatever they wanted, the settlement was not acceptable. To give the Tribe and the Power Company what they desired would have meant the destruction of the agriculture industry in the Newlands Project. TCID allegedly walked out of these negations. The truth is, they stayed to the bitter end, but their concerns were ignored and they refused to sign the final agreement because it required the Bureau to take water from the water right owners, through the regulatory process or otherwise, without compensation, for the benefit of Sierra Pacific Power Company and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. The settlement became Public Law 101.618, passed by Congress in the wee hours of the morning on the day before the Christmas recess of the legislative session in 1992. The Newlands Water Protective Association, Inc. is a non-profit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Nevada for purposes of protecting and defending the water and hydropower rights of the water right owners of the Newlands Reclamation Project. The formation of our organization in October of 1993 was necessitated by what is perceived by the water right owners as an all out attack on their constitutionally confirmed property rights instigated and perpetrated by the federal government and various Native American Indian Tribes. After much work and dedication, confirmation that our Association had achieved recognition as an entity that must be consulted when considering actions affecting water and property rights was received when we were included as a negotiating party to the "second generation" negotiation sessions held in the latter months of 1994 and early months of 1995. The End

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