WSP11317 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

From: J.... D. H.....,. To: Gene J.notok Dolo: 511_ Time: 12:llm ,/ I ..,.~ ~lj Salt Lake City, Utah Barry D. Wirth (801) 524-6477 Provo, Utah Bruce Barrell (801) 379-1101 For Release: May 16,1995 RECLAMATION ANNOUNCES FLOWS FOR SPRING 1995 FOR GREEN RIVER J<'laming Gorge Operations Adjusted To Meet High Spring Hows The U.S. Fish and Wildlife SeIVice (SeIVice) and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) have developed the operational scenario that will be in eJIect for the upcoming spring runoff of the Yampa and Green Rivers. These operations will allow biologists to gather needed data on endangered fish in the Green River. Releases from Flaming Gorge will be adjusted to maintain an extended target flow on the Grecn Rivcr at .Tcnscn, 1 Ttah, of 15,000 to Ill,OOO cuhic fcct pcr sccond (cf.~). Flows from flaming Gorge will be increased starting May 17 and should reach full powerplant capacity (4,500 cis) by about May 22. The Flaming Gorge flows will be adjusted as necessary to meet the target flows at Jensen as the Yampa River rises. This means as the Yampa runoff increases, flows from the dam may be decreased all the way doWll to the minimum levels 0[800 cis i[necessary. Such adjustments are difficulL to predict at this time. The high releases from Flaming Gorge will end in the latter part of June, when the high flows on the Yampa River have subsided. These operations should not result in extensive flooding in the Jensen area. Studies conducted in 1994 indicatc that significant flooding occurs at lcvcls abovc Ill,OOO cfs. The Service and Reclamation are cooperating in research efforts on the Green River to collect data that will be used to revise the flow recommendations for the operation of Flaming Gorge Dam established in the November 1992 Biological Opinion on the Operation o[Flaming Gorge Dam. The Biolob>ical Opinion is required under terms o[ the Endangered Species Act. As a result, Reclamation is in the fourth year of a five-year research effort of providing test flows for research purposes in the spring and winter. Central to completing the research effort is the Service's need to collect data under several different flow regimes. The forecasted flow conditions for the Green and Yampa Rivers have changed notably since a public meeting was held in Vernal, Utah, on April 12, 1995. Snowpack has increased significantly in the Yampa and Green River basins, and cool wet weather has increased the likelihood ofa peak flow in excess of 15,000 cfs on the Yampa River. PageZofl