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INSTREAM FLOWS WITHOUt WATER John W. Keys, III Regional Director, Pacific N( U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 550 West Fort St. P.O. Box 043 Boise, ID 83724 (208) 334-1908 ABSTRACT With the water in most of our Western rp fully or over appropriated and with the stoi reservoirs fully contracted, it has become it provide adequate levels of instream flows t? fisheries that have become so important to i the purchase of waters for instream flows and the competition for any available wate acute in the future as our supplies become i These realities in the world of water mar all to be creative in providing instream flo quality benefits as well as for the quantity, opportunities for us to provide the instrea the water or having it strictly allocated for managing the release of someone else's wat another purpose to provide the needed inst? time. The movement of irrigation and powe provision of flood-control space to satisfy pr contracts provide many opportunities for m water from the reservoirs of our Western h Several case studies from around the Bur show the variety of positive actions that hav Additionally, other strategies have been e these operations in supplying instream flow: water-bank water (may be specific to Idaho projects and the shift of "saved water," selec structures, water exchanges, etc. Used sings combination with special-operation strategi Reclamation is trying to use these opportun adequate instream flows in association with compatible with the resource, the project pu that protect the users, and state water laws. CASE STUDIES Pacific Northwest Region: 1. South Fork/Snake River - the move water from Jackson Lake to the Minidok accommodate users of the river and still when needed for the crops. Region 2. South Fork/Boise River - the movement of irrigation water from one reservoir to another in the Boise Project during the winter to keep the fishery alive in a period of extreme drought. 3. Columbia/Snake River - the shift of flood-control space from Dworshak and Brownlee Reservoirs to lake Roosevelt (Grand Coulee) to allow the storage of additional water for salmon flush. 4. Payette River - the release of salmon flush replacement water over a longer period during the winter to benefit the Payette River resident fishery. vers and streams Mid-Pacific Region: age in most of our 1. American River - power-generation releases from creasingly difficult to . Nimbus Dam downstream from the source, Folsom maintain the Reservoir, are made for hatchery and instream fishery is. Public funds for purposes and are then diverted from the river for M&I re difficult to obtain, purposes. The releases are also used for Bay-Delta water- will be much more quality control (salinity control) as well as exportation from pore taxed. the Delta to agriculture users. agement call for us 2. Stanislaus River - power-generation releases from New s, both for water- Melones Reservoir through the downstream Tulloch and f that flow. There are Goodwin Dams are used for fishery purposes, water-quality flows without owning control in the San Joaquin River, and agriculture. nstream flows, i.e. 3. Sacramento River - power-generation releases from !r or water for Clair Engle (Trinity River) and Shasta Reservoirs to the eam flow at the same Sacramento River to serve the in-river fishery, refuge water r water and the supply, water-quality control, Bay-Delta water-quality oject purposes and control, agriculture diversions, Delta exports for agricul- ultiple uses of the ture, and M&I users. :au of Reclamation Lower Colorado Region: been taken. 1. Colorado River - releases are planned from Hoover, cplored to assist Parker, and Davis dams on an hourly, daily, and monthly such as the use of basis to accommodate instream flows in the river while water-conservation delivering contracted water to Imperial Dam. ive withdrawal 2. Lake Mojave below Hoover Dam - the reservoir levels larly or in and releases from Hoover Dam are coordinated to manage s, the Bureau of levels in the river and in the lake for the razorback sucker, `.ies to provide an endangered species. its projects that are Upper Colorado Region: ,poses, the contracts 1. Rio Chama, New Mexico - movement of irrigation water between El Vado Reservoir (USBR) and Abiquiu Reservoir (COE) for recreational rafting. 2. Pecos River, New Mexico - movement of irrigation water between Fort Sumner and Brantley reservoirs to nent of irrigation benefit an endangered species. a Project to 3. Colorado River, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona - provide the water modification of power and storage releases from mainstem 15