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Instream Flows for Recreation: A Handbook on Concepts and Research Methods
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Instream Flows for Recreation: A Handbook on Concepts and Research Methods
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Water Supply Protection
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Instream Flows for Recreation: A Handbook on Concepts and Research Methods
Date
1/1/1993
Author
Whittaker, Doug; Shelby, Bo; Jackson, William; Beschta, Robert - National Park Service
Title
Instream Flows for Recreation: A Handbook on Concepts and Research Methods
Water Supply Pro - Doc Type
Report/Study
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Chapter 1 <br />INTRODUCTION <br />There are a number of important elements common to any quality river recreation trip. High <br />on almost any list are scenery, a natural or natural- appearing environment, fish and wildlife. <br />Depending on the river, the availability of good campsites, picnicking areas, or whitewater may also <br />be important, as could the availability of solitude, quality fishing or hiking. In making such a list, a <br />sufficient amount of water in the river — the river's instream flow -- may not immediately come to <br />mind. Too obvious perhaps, instream flows are critical to almost every other element on the list. <br />Flows carve the scenery, nourish the environment and its fish and wildlife, create many of the best <br />campsites, and generate the whitewater. Flows also dictate whether boaters can get up or down the <br />river — or how much fun they'll have trying to do so — and whether people will want to swim or fish <br />in it. <br />As important as instream flows may be for providing high quality recreation experiences, <br />resource managers and researchers have spent relatively little energy studying them for that purpose. <br />Faced with the loss of flows to out -of- stream uses such as hydropower and agriculture, the <br />conservation community has long recognized a need to protect or maintain river flows. The bulk of <br />this concern, however, has been focused on flows to keep the fish alive; and most instream flow <br />research has been written by fish biologists. In recent years, people have begun to think more <br />broadly. Flows have effects on any number of river values, recreational and otherwise, and policy <br />makers are required to factor them into their water allocation decisions. The task at hand is to <br />provide decision- makers with better information about flows and their effects on the full range of <br />resource values. <br />The coming decade will bring increasing opportunities to maintain or obtain instream flows <br />for recreation and other values. Both federal and state land managing agencies have shown <br />heightened interest in using existing law and regulatory capability to secure instream water rights on <br />designated rivers (Wild and Scenic rivers, State Scenic rivers, and so forth). At the Corps of Engineers <br />and the Bureau of Reclamation, there has been a shift in policy focus from traditional flood control or <br />irrigation to providing multiple benefits from water development projects, including downstream <br />recreation needs. And at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency responsible <br />for reviewing more than 200 privately- operated hydroelectric projects under its re- licensing process, <br />amendments to federal law have instructed regulators to give "equal consideration" to recreation and <br />conservation by looking for ways to avoid, minimize, or mitigate adverse impacts. <br />To take advantage of these opportuni- <br />ties, recreation interests will need to develop <br />better information about recreation flow needs, <br />or the consequences of not meeting those <br />needs. Increasing awareness of the full range <br />of values that flows can provide has guaranteed <br />that recreation values will be considered during <br />water allocation negotiations. But this doesn't <br />necessarily mean those values will be sustained. <br />Out -of -stream water users know and can amply <br />demonstrate what water they need. In order to <br />successfully compete, instream water users <br />must learn and show the same -- just as the <br />fishery interests, to their credit, have been <br />doing for the past couple of decades. Now is <br />simply the time for recreation interests to <br />develop similar knowledge and skills . <br />sustaining features of the river environment, including <br />camping beaches on Oregon's Rogue River. <br />
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