News Release Archive

Grassland Bypass Project Annual Report Now Available

Media Contact: Jeffrey McCracken, 916-978-5100, jmccracken@mp.usbr.gov

For Release: September 28, 2004

The San Francisco Estuary Institute, in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and other agencies, has released an Annual Report for the Grassland Bypass Project for October 1, 2001, through December 31, 2002. The 218-page report compiles data from 6 years of operation and discusses the physical and biological effects of the Project on the Grassland Basin and the San Joaquin River.

Since 1996, the Project has separated agricultural drainage water from channels used to deliver water to wetland habitat in the Grassland Basin of Central California. The Project uses a portion of the San Luis Drain to convey agricultural drainage water to Mud Slough, a tributary of the San Joaquin River. The volume and concentration of this discharge must meet water quality objectives specified in Waste Discharge Requirements No. 5-01-234 issued by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (Central Valley Region).

The Annual Report documents the monitoring program conducted by Reclamation, the Regional Board, the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the U. S. Geological Survey, the California Department of Fish & Game, the Grassland Area Farmers, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, Block Environmental Services, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Chapters of the report deal with project operations, flow and salinity monitoring, water quality, biological effects, toxicity testing, sediment accumulation, and project effects on the San Joaquin River.

The Annual Report is available upon request from Mr. Chris Eacock at Reclamation's South-Central California Area Office, 1243 N Street, Fresno, California 93721, at 559-487-5133, or via email at ceacock@mp.usbr.gov. The report is available on CD-ROM and a limited number of copies have also been printed. The report is also available online from the San Francisco Estuary Institute web page at http://www.sfei.org/grassland/reports/gbppdfs/AnnualReports/GBPAnnualReport2001-2002.pdf.

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Relevant Link:

Annual Report for the Grassland Bypass Project for October 1, 2001, through December 31, 2002.