BOARD02588

• Board Meeting Date: 5/24/1999
• Description: Directors' Reports
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

.

.

.

,

. general reservoir operating constraints including endangered fish releases, trout releases, and
water supplies;
. status of the Navajo Reservoir Operations Environmental Impact Statement and related
activities; and
. reservoir water levels.

This will be the first year that Reclamation will attempt to operate Navajo in the manner
described in the flow recommendation report for the San Juan River.

McPhee Reservoir Releases: Early snowpack conditions and runoff forecasts that were
at 46 percent of normal for the Dolores River basin. Therefore, Reclamation and the Dolores
Water Conservancy District announced that releases from McPhee Reservoir would be kept at 50
cubic feet per second (cfs). Releases are expected to remain at 50 cfs through the Memorial Day
Weekend, (May 31) and then increase to 75 cfs through August 21. Higher releases for rafting
are not anticipated during the 1999 water year, (Note: since this announcement, runoff forecasts
have improved.)

South Platte River Basin

Platte River Cooperative Agreement: On April 27 Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns
designated the Nebraska Director of Water Resources, Roger Patterson, as an alternate to Dayle
Williamson on the Governance Committee for the Platte River Partnership. Patterson has
experience with a similar program in California where he worked with DNR Assistant Director
Doug Robotham.

Cherry Creek Reservoir flood safety investigations: Following our discussion at the
March 1999 meeting, I discussed the dam safety and funding issues with interested parties,
including Senator Andrews, who sponsored a Senate Joint Resolution on this topic (copy
attached). On this basis, I drafted an amendment to our annual project funding bill (SB 99- I 73)
and presented the issue to the bill sponsors. The amendment was approved by the General
Assembly, providing us with authority to spend up to $ 75,000 dollars to match local
contributions for a technical evaluation and public review of the probable maximum precipitation
and probable maximum flood value calculations in cooperation with the Corps of Engineers.

We will work with the Corps, other state agency experts, local government officials, and
landowner's representatives in the preparation and implementation of a "Work Plan." Toward
that end, I have spoken with CoL V olz, the Omaha District Engineer. I have invited him to co-
host a small, technical discussion of the questions raised, the data and assumptions used to .
address them and the steps necessary to raise public understanding and acceptance to a level that
might support a request to Congress the money needed to implement any selected remedy (copy
attached).

Yampa and White River Basin

Yampa pIan status: On May 12 the Upper Colorado Endangered Fish Recovery
Program's Yampa Management Team updated the Management Committee on the status of the
Yampa Endangered Fish Recovery and Water Management Plan (Yampa Plan). A contractor
to the Colorado River Water Conservation District is synthesizing the results of several studies
into one report. A draft of the report should be released prior to a synthesis conference in July.
A final report, including potential water management options that could be further analyzed,
should be completed by the end of the fiscal year.
10