COLORADO RIVER RECOVERY PROGRAM PROGRAM

COLORADO RIVER RECOVERY PROGRAM PROGRAM FY-99 ANNUAL PROJECT REPORT RECOVERY PROJECT # 19H I. Pro jec t T itle: General Hydrology Support for W ater Acquisition Activities. II. Principa l Investiga tor: George Smith, P.O. Box 25486, Denver, C0 80225-0486 Email: george_smith@fws.gov Phone: (303) 236-5322 Ext. 235 Fax: (303) 236-4224 III. Project Summ ary: The Service's Division of W ater Resources provides su pport a ctivities undertake n by the W ater A cq uisition Com mittee (W AC) and the Recovery Program Director in the area of water acquisition, water scheduling and coord ination. W AC su pp ort include s cha iring the W AC, preparing agendas, preparing meeting summ aries, developing Scopes of W ork, preparing Annual Reports, and w orking on W AC related pro jec ts. O th er m ajo r ta sk s in clu ded participation in sp ecial pro jects like G ran d V alley W ater M an ag em en t, Coordinated Reservoir Operations, Yampa River Operation and Management Plan, and scheduling rese rvoir re lea se s for flo w su pport in th e 1 5-M ile Reach and Y am pa river. IV. Study Schedule: Ongoing V. Relationship to RIPRAP: Colorado River Action Plan, Mainstem: Deliver flows to the 15-Mile Reach I.A.3.c.(3)., I.A.3.c.(3)(c) and (f) Yampa River Action Plan I.A.4.a.(3) Yampa River Management Plan & I.A.4.a.(I)(b) Steamboat Lease VI. Accom plishm ents of 1999 Tasks and D eliverables: A. Gage Installation and M aintenance: W ater Rights A cq uisition C om m itte e A dm inistrative W ork: Scop es of W ork and con tracts w ere developed for the operation of the Palisade Gage, two gages on the Yampa River and two gages on the Duchesne River. The gages on the Colorado River and Yam pa River were funded cooperatively by 1

th e R ec ove ry Pro gram, th e C olorad o D ivis ion of W ildlife and USGS. The two gages on the Duchesne River w ere funde d coope ratively by the R ecovery Program the Central Utah W ater Conservancy District and USGS. Matching funds for the gages w ere p ro vid e fro m non federal funds w hich are h eld by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. B. Hydrology Support for Water Acquisition activities: Assistance was provided to the Recovery Program Director in development of criteria for Ruedi releases, and coordination of the annual public meetings. The year 1 99 9 w as a year w hen spring p eak flow s w ere low followed by a w et summ er and early fall. The Service W ater Resou rces staff particip ated in the following activities in support of meting service flow recomm endations on the Colorado, Green and Yam pa Rivers. 1. During the late sum mer flows in the 15-Mile Reach were monitored on a daily basis and weekly conference calls w ere held to coord inate releases from Ruedi, Green Mountain and W olford Dillion, Williams Fo rk, and G ram by R es ervo irs. Flow s in th e 1 5-m ile Reach remained above Service recomm endations of 1,630 cfs all of the summ er with flow support from pa rticipa ting reservoirs. Th e fina l acc ou nting is yet to be completed but preliminary estimates are that 42,50 0 2 0,4 00 and 6,00 0 A cre feet o f w ater w ere pro vide d from Green M ou ntain, Ruedi, an d W olford Res ervo irs. D ata is not yet av aila ble fo r D illion, W illiams Fork, and Gramby Reservoirs. The use of w ater for flow su pp ort w ill be do cu m en ted in the Serv ices a nn ua l rep ort to CW CB in M arc h o f 20 00. 2. Yampa River flows w ere monitored closely and dropped relatively low by the end of summ er but did not d ro p belo w Servic e flow targ ets o f 150 cfs in A ugust, 1 10 cfs in S ep tem ber a nd 115 cfs in O cto ber. W ater was released between October 1 and October 20 from Steamboat Lake under the take or pay lease with the Colorado Division of Parks. 3. The geomorphology peer review panel was supported and the panel was used to review 2 important program reports. The panel has not functioned well and the W AC has discussed options for expanding the panel an a case by case basis 2

depending on the types of reports to be reviewed. C. Yam pa River Reservoir Studies: Yampa O peration and Management Plan: The Division of W ater resources staff participated in the team effort to dev elo p low flow reco m m en dation s for the Yampa River. D. Coo rdinated Reserv oir O pe ratio ns : Assistance was provided to the Bureau of Reclamation and CW CB staff in developing the coordinated reservoir annual operation plans with and without coordination. Once the plan for coordination was competed, it was presented at tw o sets o f pu blic m eetings. Staff from W ater Re sources rep resen ting the Service/R ecovery Pro gra m pre sente d information on the Recovery Program and the need for high spring flow s periodically. The year 1999 was a year when co ord ination w as iden tified to be o f ben efit and a full sc ale co ordina tion effo rt co m m en ce d. W ate r Res ou rce s s taff pa rticipa ted in b iw eekly m eeting s and conferen ce calls to facilitate coordination and made the final decision on when to c om m en ce co ordina tion. During the s pring runo ff period th e flow s w ere m onitored co nstan tly in co operation with the Loveland and Grand Junction offices of Bureau of Reclam ation, D en ver W ater, CB T th e R iver D istrict, the D ivision Engine er a nd the N ation al W ea ther S erv ice. Coordination began on June 3 and continued through June 10. During this period a maximum daily augmentation of 2,356 cfs w as ad ded to flow s in the 1 5_M ile R ea ch. In the final analysis, 38,800 acre feet of water was added to the spring peak in the 15 mile reach. The allocation of w ater for flow en ha nc em en t w ill be do cu m en ted in the CW CB 19 99 Coo rdin ated re servo irs rep ort. T he be ne fit of the flows to habitats in the 15 and 18 m ile reach is covered in the 15-M ile Reach Channel Monitoring report, annual rep ort # 85. VIEW GRAPH E. General Support Activities: Served as Chairman of the W ater Acquisition Com m ittee w here the follow ing tasks w ere performed: 1) prepared meeting sum maries for all W AC m eetings and reports to the Management Committee, 2) prepared annual reports to the Colorado W ater Conservation Board on Ruedi flows and associated benefits to the 15-M ile Reach, and 3) prepared Scopes of W ork and annual reports for 3

the follow ing projects: 1. Water Right Consultant Services 2. Palisade gage operation and m aintenance 3. Steamboat Lake water lease 4. Yampa/Green Sediment Sampling 5. W ater acqu isition H yd rolog y S up po rt 6. Basin wide Channel Monitoring 7. 15-mile Reach Channel Monitoring 8. Peer review of Geomorphology 9. Yampa Gages 10. Duchesne Gages As chairman of the W AC I serve as coordinator for Grand Valley Water Management, Redlands Gage, Coordinated Reservoirs and the three CW CB projects. Many of the tasks included attending meetings, reviewing reports, providing comments, and reporting to the Service and WAC. VII. Recom mendations: VIII. Project Status: The project is ongoing and changes each year to m eet the ch an gin g o bjective s of the Rec ove ry Pro gram in se cu rin g, pro tecting an d de livering w ater for end an ge red fish h ab itat. IX. FY-99 Budget A. Funds provided: $47,500 B. Funds expended: 47,500 C. Difference: $ 0 X. Status of Data Submission: Not applicable. XI. Signed: George Smith December 7, 1999. Principal Inv estigator D ate APP EN DIX: R ep orts, on w ater right eva luations, and return flow analysis produced by the water rights consultant were submitted to the W AC. An annual report is produced on th e b en efits of R ued i relea se for endan gered fish ea ch ye ar by M arch 1, 2000. The U.S. Geological Survey publishes flow data from the Palisade gage in the annual water res ou rce pap ers. GRAPH 4

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