SOS: Trinity River
By Elizabeth Riggall
Main Fork, downriver from Lewiston Dam, which regulates Trinity River flows in cubic feet per second (cfs).
The health of the land reflects the health of its people. The Trinity River has provided life to this region since its inception, and to the people of this land, the Chimariko, Nor Rel Muk Wintu, Tsungwe, and Wailaki tribes since time immemorial. We must pay our respect to the peoples of the land, past, present and future, who have been and will continue to be stewards of this region for generations. This is their sacred land. We must be committed to recognizing their relationship to this land. The Trinity River is an integral characteristic of Northern Californian culture, ecosystem, community, and existence. Born out of the Klamath Mountains, the Trinity River flows 172 miles south and west through Trinity County, and then north until it meets the mighty Klamath River in Weitchpec, on the Yurok reservation (1). The merging of the Trinity and Klamath occurs 43 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean (1). When marine meets mountain, there is an extraordinary explosion of life. Every year, anadromous fish like steelhead, coho salmon, and the regal Chinook salmon bound upriver to return home and initiate the next generation of life-givers (2). Like the name suggests, anadromous fish species are unique- they live life in two phases. The first phase occurs in freshwater, where the hatched young fry remain for months to years in their natal river (2). After they have matured, the fish enter the second phase, and migrate to the ocean where they endure their adult existence (2). Despite the distance, the adult salmonids remember the river in which they were born and instinctively return home every year to spawn. These homecomings are marked by seasons: Spring-run and fall-run Chinook, fall-run coho, and summer, fall, and winter-run steelhead. While salmon are focused on reproduction, the surrounding biosphere welcomes the bountiful harvest that the salmon bring. Plants and animals alike benefit from the medicine that the salmon bring home with them: marine-derived nitrogen that is imperative for riparian vegetation growth, calorie rich protein for carnivores, omnivores, and scavengers that is fundamental for survival, and essential vitamins and minerals unquestionably necessary for human well-being. The seemingly simplistic salmonids supply unparalleled ecosystem and cultural services that sustain the whole environment’s health and longevity.
North Fork Trinity River, by Helena
However, this ceremony has been chronically interrupted. The construction of now-obsolete hydropower dams on the Klamath, along with the diverted river channel turned reservoir on the Trinity have buried cobblestone nurseries, obscured the natural alluvial plains, and prohibited salmonids from making their full journey home. On the Trinity River, the lasting impacts of hardrock mining have left mounds of mine tailings throughout the watershed. Rusted and defunct mining equipment is scattered far and wide in the previously prolific floodplain (3). The river’s morphology has been forever changed by the “get rich quick” hydraulic mining methods carried out by obtuse gold miners (4). The veiled biological damage manifests as mercury pollution that plagues the waters downstream from extraction mines. The use of mercury in the search for gold has impacted almost every river in California. Once in an aquatic environment, mercury is converted by microbes deep in the sediment into methyl mercury. Methyl mercury then bioaccumulates and biomagnifies through trophic levels. Consumption of fish or shellfish that have been contaminated by methyl mercury has teratogenic neurological effects.
Salmon populations have been struggling as a result of the aforementioned cumulative stressors. Numbers have dwindled due to lost habitat, impaired flows, pollution, debris, the list goes on. But there is hope for redemption. There are targeted and accomplishable restorative projects to reclaim the river: Channel rehabilitation to dismantle the unnatural hills of mine tailings and recover natural channel form, variable flows from Lewiston and Trinity dams to release seasonally-competent fluxes of water to mimic an unimpeded river, gravel augmentation to improve spawning habitat and to reconstruct the cobblestone nurseries, and prevention of sedimentation into the river from surrounding roads to reduce the obstacles on the journey home for steelhead and salmon (5). At the same time, restoring the Trinity River should be more than a palliative practice. Identifying the causes, conflicts, and consequences that are a result of participating in an extractive economy is crucial for implementing sustainable change. Repairing the Trinity River takes time, patience, and commitment. Recreating an ecosystem so that its natural structure and function mirror what existed before disturbance allows for a partnership to be built between the land and humans. To quote the steward and scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer, “ecological restoration can be viewed as an act of reciprocity in which humans exercise their caregiving responsibility for the ecosystems that sustain them” (Kimmerer, 336). The relationship we have with the land should propel our desire to heal it. Restoring habitat for salmon restores the health of the circumambient ecological community. Kimmerer writes “biocultural restoration raises the bar for environmental quality of the reference ecosystem, so that as we care for the land, it can once again care for us” (338). We must be committed to recognizing our relationship with the land.
And so I circle back to the sentiment, the health of the land reflects the health of its people. As a nutrition educator in Trinity County, I care deeply about my community’s health. The health of the community is impacted by a litany of environmental, social, and genetic factors. These influences are not mutually exclusive - the health of our environment influences our social spheres and our genetic predispositions. A major determinant of nutritional health is access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle, also known as food security and sufficiency. As an educator, I have professional responsibility to teach about a healthy lifestyle. As an educator, I have a personal responsibility to be a model for positive nutrition, health, and food safety. As an educator in the public health field, I have a moral responsibility to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among populations. When I teach about what healthy eating patterns look like, I know I am personally enthralled by the data and statistics of nutritional content provided by food. I obsess over the didactic details of the health benefits we receive when we eat salmon. Salmon are a divinely nutrient-dense food, stocked with essential vitamins and minerals like vitamin D, almost all B vitamins, especially vitamin B12, potassium, heme iron, selenium, and protein, while simultaneously being low in methyl mercury, and high in polyunsaturated and essential fatty acids like Omega 3. Vitamin D promotes bone health and immune function. B vitamins aid in the release of energy from fat, carbohydrates, and protein, and they are necessary for hemoglobin production and nerve function. Potassium lowers blood pressure, while selenium influences thyroid hormone function and is a component of antioxidant enzymes (6). Heme iron is readily absorbed in the body, and carries oxygen to the brain and to muscles. Protein is an essential macronutrient that is needed for structure, function, and regulation of body tissues and organs (7). Salmon are also low in the neurotoxin methyl mercury. Arguably, the most important active components in salmon are the two types of Omega-3 fatty acids: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Scientific studies show that DHA is “essential for growth and functional development of the brain in infants, while DHA deficiencies in the brain are associated with cognitive decline during aging and the onset of sporadic Alzheimer disease. Simultaneously, the leading cause of death in western nations is cardiovascular disease. Epidemiologic studies have shown a strong correlation between fish consumption and reduction in sudden death from myocardial infarction. The reduction in nearly 50% with a 200 mg/day dose of DHA from fish'' (8). EPA found in cold-water fish like salmon is associated with lowering the risk of heart disease, lowering triglyceride levels in the bloodstream, lowering blood pressure and reducing inflammation (9).
In California, the leading 6 of the top 10 causes of death are heart disease, stroke, hypertension, cancer, chronic liver disease/cirrhosis, and diabetes (10). Most of these diseases are chronic and non-communicable. All of these diseases are influenced by nutrition. All of these diseases are potentially preventable by improving nutritional intake. I believe there is a strong correlation between the prevalence of chronic disease and the prevalence of salmon in our rivers. The dams on the Klamath River and the Trinity River collect sediment in the streambeds just like how low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) contributes to the accumulation of plaque in our arteries. Blockage of a river causes death of the surrounding landscape due to deprivation of water flow and nutrients by returning salmon. Blockage of our arteries causes death of heart tissue due to deprivation of blood flow and oxygen brought by circulating hemoglobin. The health of the land reflects the health of its people. I would be remiss not to provide a nuanced counterargument: consuming salmon is not a panacea. Nutrition is mutli-faceted, and a healthy lifestyle requires more than just centering one’s diet around one food item. At the same time, knowledge of the nutrients salmon provide does not lead to change in behavior. Motivation is a critical factor to learning. There is an ancient proverb that reminds me that our values must be rooted in our actions: “I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.” When we cultivate a relationship with the river, we are understanding how the health of the land reflects our own health. When we restore the Trinity River for the salmon, we are also restoring our ability to have access to a nutrient-dense food that is a part of an active, healthy lifestyle. Yet, restoration advocacy that is solely based on the nutritional benefits of salmon would be an unbalanced approach to justice if it did not acknowledge and respect the composite cultural, spiritual, environmental, and intrinsic values of salmonids. Reasons for restoration are interdisciplinary and complex, but the rewards can lead to integrative ecosystem prosperity. Our relationship with the land should be based on reciprocity for the sake of our environment and our own health and longevity.
Follow Lizzie’s journey on Instagram @LizBizRig
Citations:
United States, Congress, State Water Resource Control Board, and Catherine Kuhlman. Watershed Planning Chapter, North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, Feb. 2005. www.waterboards.ca.gov/northcoast/water_issues/programs/wpc/20trinitysec2.pdf.
“Fish of the Trinity River.” Trinity River Restoration Program, www.trrp.net/program-structure/background/fish-of-the-trinity/.
Albert, Marc. “Salmon Restoration Effort On Trinity River Mired In Complexity (Part 2).” North State Public Radio, Cal State University, Chico, 2 June 2017, www.mynspr.org/post/salmon-restoration-effort-trinity-river-mired-complexity-part-2.
“The Search for Gold in Weaverville, California.” Trinity County Resource Conservation District, www.tcrcd.net/wcf/pdf/Search_for_Gold_in_Weaverville.pdf.
“Channel Rehabilitation: Reason for Action.” Trinity River Restoration Program, www.trrp.net/restoration/channel-rehab/.
“Micronutrients for Health Revised 2020.” Oregon State University, Linus Pauling Institute, 2020.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. December 2015. Available at http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.
Horrocks LA, Yeo YK. Health benefits of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Pharmacol Res. 1999;40(3):211-225. doi:10.1006/phrs.1999.0495
“Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA).” Mount Sinai Health System, www.mountsinai.org/health-library/supplement/eicosapentaenoic-acid-epa.
“Stats of the State of California.” National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13 Apr. 2018, www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/california/california.htm.
Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2020.