Laserfiche WebLink
<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />It is envisioned that the dedication of storage and its associated yield will <br />allow the US Fish and Wildlife Service to produce a flow regime more beneficial <br />to the fish than today's regime. The yield of the 500,000 af of storage will <br />be dependant on the manner in which the storage is operated. There are many <br />different ways in which the US Fish and Wildlife Service could operate storage <br />provided them. The following indicates several ways that the storage would be <br />used. <br /> <br />maintain flows at Bluff which would have been expected during <br />historic pre-Navajo times during .Ian, Feb, Mar, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, <br />Nov, Dec. up to the average monthly flows. <br /> <br />or <br /> <br />recreate 90 percent of the June peak flow rates which would have been <br />expected without Navajo Reservoir on the river system. <br /> <br />or <br /> <br />maintain flow below Navajo at 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) during <br />the 46 year study period. <br /> <br />or <br /> <br />create June flows averaging 8,000 cfs or greater in 29 of the 46 year <br />study period. This is almost twice the estimated frequency of 8,000 <br />cfs or greater flows which would have been expected without Navajo <br />Reservoir on the river system. <br /> <br />One can see that the dedication of Navajo Reservoir storage to the USFWS would <br />allow considerable flexibility in how the system could be operated to serve fish <br />needs. Since the fish needs are not currently defined, we believe the dedication <br />of storage should give the biologists the hydrologic flexibility they need to <br />improve the habitat for the fish. We believe that this flexibility is required <br />to make the alternative more palatable to the USFWS. <br /> <br />Comments or questions on this discussion should be addressed to Ross ~ethel, <br />Leonard Rice Consulting Water Engineers, 2401 15th Street, Suite 300, Denver, <br />CO. 80202, (303) 455-9589. <br /> <br />~ Leonard Rice Consulting Water Engineers, Inc, <br />