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I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I UPPER COLORADO RIVER RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM COORDINA TED RESERVOIR OPERATIONS 1998 OPERATIONS REPORT I. Introduction The Water Acquisition Committee (WAC) of the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program) proposed the Coordinated Reservoir Operations Study (CROS), in 1994 with a report completed in August 1996. The purpose of CROS is to provide water in the IS-Mile Reach of the Colorado River for the benefit of the endangered fish by voluntarily bypassing storable inflows during the spring peale Recovery Program research rsulted in recommendations for spring flows of 12,900 cfs or greater in the 15 Mile Reach of the Colorado River (USFWS 1995). These flows are beneficial to sediment movement, scouring of spawning bars and reshaping of the channel to improve and maintain desirable endangered fish habitat. The actual coordinated reservoir operations began in 1997. The following reservoir operators and participating agencies have been involved since the inception: · U.S. Bureau of RecIamation (Bureau) . Division 5Engineer's Office · Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) · Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) · National Weather Service (NWS) · Colorado River Water Conservation District (CRWCD) . Denver Water · Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD) · Southeastern Water Conservancy District (SEWCD) . City of Aurora . City of Colorado Springs The objective of CROS is to coordinate bypasses of inflows from various reservoirs resulting in enhancement of habitat in the IS-Mile Reach ofthe Colorado River without exceeding the National Weather Service flood level of 26,600 cfs at Cameo. These bypasses may have passed through the participating reservoirs during the runoff period. Coordinated reservoir operations moves those bypasses to the peak of the runoff hydro graph to enhance spring peak flows, which are important to spawning and improvement of aquatic food sources. Coordination and modification of operations are voluntary and occur within current authorizations and guidelines and without affecting project yields to either federal or non- federal reservoirs. The Feasibility Study conducted in 1995 to determine the benefit of these bypasses provided the following: . Analysis of potential operational alternatives . Identification of constraints · Listing of issues to be addressed by the Recovery Implementation Program (RIP) · Process of coordination to enhance flows in the Reach. A unified accounting system for the Colorado River used to account for contributions and facilitate coordination of releases has been developed with the help and support of the Water Division 5 Engineer's office. In addition, the Colorado River Decision Support System (CRDSS) was utilized to ensure that accounting logic is consistent. 3