BOARD00700

• Board Meeting Date: 1/12/1998
• Description: ISF Section - New Appropriations - Notice to Appropriate Instream Flow Water Rights in Water Division 4
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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Natural Environment Studies

The CDOW and BLM have conducted field surveys of the fishery resources on these streams and
have found a natural environment which can be preserved on each of these streams. To quantify the
resources and to evaluate instream flow requirements, the CDOW and BLM collected biologic and
hydraulic data which were analyzed by the CDOW and Board staffs. Based on the results of these
analyses, the CDOW and BLM prepared recommendations of the amount of water necessary to
preserve the natural environment to a reasonable degree for each of the streams on the attached list
ofInstream Flow Recommendations.

Water Availability Studies

The CWCB staff has conducted an evaluation of water availability for these streams. To detennine
the amount of water physically available for the Board's appropriations, the staff analyzed available
USGS gage records, available streamflow models, and/or utilized appropriate standard methods to
develop a hydrograph of mean monthly flows for each recommendation. The staff also relied upon
the flow measurements made as part of the field survey as an indicator of the amount of water
physically available in each stream and analyzed the water rights tabulation for each stream and
consulted with the Division Engineer's Office to identify any potential water availability problems.
Based upon its analysis, the staff concludes that water is available for appropriation on each stream
to preserve the natural environment to a reasonable degree without limiting or foreclosing the e
exercise of valid existing rights,

STAFF RECOMMENDATION

For each stream listed in the attached List ofISF Recommendations, the staff recommends that the
Board:

. Form its intent to appropriate instream flow water rights, for the stream segments identified
on the attached List ofISF Recommendations;

. Direct the staff to Officially Notice the Board's intent to appropriate, as outlined in the
Procedures for New Appropriations adopted by the CWCB in 1997.

This action by the Board will start the Public Review and Comment and Board Action Phase (phase
III), as per the Procedures for New Instream Flow Appropriations, as adopted by the Board at its
May 1997 meeting (attached). Fmal decision by the Board on these recommendations will occur no
earlier than 120 days following the public notice,

Attachments (4)
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