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<br />The spring peak release will be planned to meet the statistical requirements of the spring flow <br />recommendations The summer, fall and winter base releases are also intended to meet the flow <br />recommendation targets in the river downstream of Farmington of 500 to 1,000 cfs for habitat <br />protection and water conservation. All releases will be made within the operational <br />limitations/constraints of Navajo Dam. <br /> <br />Reclamation will utilize existing Navajo Operations Meetings, held three times a year, to set the <br />upcoming period's operations. At these meetings, held in January, April, and August of each <br />year, Reclamation will solicit input regarding the many and diverse affected resources on the San <br />Juan River from members of the public, government (local, state, Federal) agencies, tribes, and <br />others to gain the required information needed to set water releases from Navajo Reservoir. For <br />each operation meeting, Reclamation will also utilize existing forecasts and historic averages to <br />predict the upcoming water supply available to meet endangered fish flow recommendations and <br />other purposes. This information, along with plans to meet flow recommendations, will be <br />analyzed and considered by Reclamation to develop an operation plan. The operations would <br />fall within the sideboards analyzed within the Navajo Reservoir operations EIS, with releases <br />between 250 and 5,000 cfs. <br /> <br />Inherent in the operation of Navajo Dam, under all conditions, there exist variables that influence <br />operations. These int1uences include errors with inflow forecasts, fluctuations in Animas River <br />contributions, strong precipitation events, the water's travel time down the river after an <br />adjustment at the,dam occurs, gage errors and discrepancies. contractual obligations with the city <br />of Farmington (powerplant operations), and maintenance needs at Navajo Dam. <br /> <br />Two areas of flexibility may exist in the reservoir operations. First, water committed for future <br />development but not currently used offers flexibility in reservoir releases. This is a significant <br />amount of water and will need to be released downstream under normal operations until used for <br />development. The release of this water could be incorporated into operations to maintain a 250 <br />cfs or greater release outside the runoff season, used to extend the duration of the spring peak, or <br />released as a fall spike. The decision on how this water would be released will be made in <br />consultation with the Service during the Navajo Operations Meeting process. As this water <br />begins to be developed through the upcoming years, this flexibility would be reduced. <br /> <br />This proposed operation would meet development commitments as well as meet or exceed <br />endangered fish spring peak recommendations. It could, however, on occasion cause (or at least <br />not prevent) maximum base flows downstream from Farmington to exceed the endangered fish <br />flow recommendations upper target (1,000 cfs). The endangered fish minimum baset10ws <br />downstream from Farmington (500 cfs) would be met consistently under this operation. To <br />determine ifbase flows are being met, the average flow at two of the four gages downstream <br />from Farmington would be used. In practice, Reclamation and the Service would discuss flows <br />at least weekly during the summer months to determine releases needed to meet base <br />recommendations. <br /> <br />7 <br />