News Release Archive

Lower American River Gets New Flow Regime

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

For Release: September 13, 2005

A milestone was reached late last week on a new flow regime on the Lower American River for fish, primarily fall-run Chinook salmon and steelhead, by increasing minimum flows in the river. Parties to the agreement include the Water Forum, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The temperature and quantity of flows is key to fish protection on the river. Water is released to the Lower American River from Reclamation's Folsom Dam and Reservoir for irrigation, municipal and industrial uses, hydroelectric power, recreation, water quality, flood control, and fish protection. By law, Folsom Dam is operationally integrated with Reclamation's Central Valley Project (CVP).

The agreement on the new flow regime is part of a new overall Flow Management Standard that will also include development of a river management group, a monitoring program, and agreements with American River purveyors to make additional water available to the system in dry and critically dry years. Negotiations with purveyors on dry year agreements are in progress. The other elements of the flow standard will be developed in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and California Department of Fish and Game by the end of 2005, with the overall flow standard to be completed and presented to the State Water Resources Control Board for approval in 2006. "We have been working on this agreement for some time," said Kirk Rodgers, Reclamation's Mid-Pacific regional director. "I am gratified that we were able to reach agreement for a new flow regime on the Lower American River that will benefit fish, while allowing us to provide water so essential for people and industry."

Leo Winternitz, the Water Forum's executive director, said, "The Water Forum is very happy and encouraged that we've arrived at a flow regime for the Lower American River, and we look forward with optimism to completing the entire flow standard and taking it to the State Board."

Steve Thompson, manager of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's California and Nevada Operations Office, said, "All parties worked hard in reaching this agreement, which is a significant milestone in providing flows that are beneficial to salmon and steelhead."

The new flow regime calls for a minimum flow in the River between 800 - 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) depending upon hydrologic conditions, time of year, and year-type (critical, dry, below normal, above normal, wet). The current flow standard, established by the State of California in 1958, regulated flow minimums to between 250 - 500 cfs, although Reclamation has historically operated at significantly higher flow levels in compliance with biological opinions and other CVP-wide commitments and requirements. The American River is the second largest tributary to the Sacramento River - a critical component of the Delta system that provides drinking water to two-thirds of the state and irrigation water to half of California's agriculture industry. The lower American River provides important fish and wildlife habitat, a high-quality water source, a critical floodway, and a regional recreational parkway. Over the years, Reclamation has complied with the Central Valley Project Improvement Act and NOAA Fisheries under the requirements of the Endangered Species Act for protection of anadromous fish in the river.

Development of the Flow Management Standard implements an important component of the Water Forum Agreement - a comprehensive package of linked actions signed in 2000 designed to provide a reliable and safe water supply for the region's economic health and planned development to the year 2030 while preserving the fishery, wildlife, recreational and aesthetic values of the lower American River. The flow standard is available on the Water Forum's website at http://www.waterforum.org.

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Relevant Link:

Flow Management Standard