News Release Archive

Reclamation to Initiate Bypass Flows from Flaming Gorge Dam

Media Contact: Rick Clayton, (801) 524-3710, 05/22/2006 15:35
Doug Hendrix, dhendrix@uc.usbr.gov

For Release: May 22, 2006

Salt Lake City, UT - Beginning today at 4:00 p.m.., MDT, Reclamation's Upper Colorado Region will increase releases from Flaming Gorge Dam at a rate of 800 cfs per hour to a total bypass release of 2,000 cfs for a period of one full-day. Total release volume from Flaming Gorge Dam will be approximately 6,600 cfs, using a combination of full powerplant capacity and bypass. In total, Reclamation hopes to achieve a flow of 18,600 cfs in the Green River below the confluence with the Yampa River at the stream gauge located near Jensen, UT.

The spring matching flow releases are part of an annual release strategy developed by Reclamation, the Fish and Wildlife Service and Western Area Power Administration to benefit endangered fish species located in the lower stretches of the Green River. The spring flow strategies, as described in the 2006 Flaming Gorge Record of Decision and the Final Environmental Impact Statement, call for specific flow regimes that are dependant on forecasted hydrologic conditions. This year, the hydrologic condition has been classified as 'average' and the flow objective chosen for this year is one of three possible flow regimes that could occur in average years.

"While farmers should see an increase in the flow of the Green River near Jensen during the spring peak runoff, these levels are within the range of what is expected in average hydrologic years. River flows below Jensen, Utah are largely unregulated during the spring runoff and the releases from Flaming Gorge Dam add little additional impact to the flows this far down stream," said Rick Clayton, a project hydrologist with Reclamation's Upper Colorado Region. "At present, over 75 percent of the volume of flow in the Green River is from the Yampa River and not from Flaming Gorge Dam."

Once the flow objective has been achieved, Reclamation will schedule releases near full powerplant capacity to maintain flows below the confluence of the Yampa River that are at or above 14,000 cfs. Full powerplant capacity releases will be made as long as endangered fish larvae are present in the Green River and as long as the reservoir can be managed such that a draw down level of 6027 feet above sea level can be obtained by March 1, 2007 while also maintaining base flows in the Green River, measured at the Jensen stream gauge, between 1500 and 2400 cfs. Yampa River flows at Deerlodge, CO, are now averaging about 12,000 cfs.

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