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Overview of South Yuba River Hydrology Bob Center Presented to FERC Academy on December 10, 2005

Overview of South Yuba River Hydrology Bob Center Presented to FERC Academy on December 10, 2005. South Yuba River, Edwards Crossing, May 20, 2005, 14,000 cfs. Introduction.

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Overview of South Yuba River Hydrology Bob Center Presented to FERC Academy on December 10, 2005

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  1. Overview of South Yuba River Hydrology Bob Center Presented to FERC Academy on December 10, 2005

  2. South Yuba River, Edwards Crossing, May 20, 2005, 14,000 cfs

  3. Introduction • The FERC re-licensing process has as a primary concern some re-allocation of South Yuba River watershed runoff. At the heart of any new license will be a specification of how much water is to be returned to the rivers and creeks, water temperature, and how the water is to be distributed through time. • An understanding of the runoff that is to be the object of this re-allocation will improve understanding of possibilities and constraints, and can assist in articulating interests in discussions with other stakeholders • This presentation will provide an overview of runoff in the South Yuba watershed in basic terms: • How much runoff there is, where it comes from, and when, and where it goes • The great variability of precipitation and runoff on all time scales • How dams and diversions impact the rivers and creeks in terms of reduction in volume, continuity and variability • First is an overview of runoff in the watershed as a whole, including the over-all effects of dams and diversions • Next is a look at the impact that dams and diversions have on: • Middle Yuba River • Canyon Creek • Fordyce Creek • South Yuba above Spaulding Reservoir • South Yuba below Spaulding Reservoir

  4. Major Streams, Reservoirs and Conduits in the South Yuba Watershed South Yuba Watershed Milton Res M. Yuba Jackson Meadows Res Milton - Bowman Canal Weber Peak 8092 + Bowman L Poor Man Canyon Black Buttes 8030 + Bowman - Spaulding Canal Fordyce L Castle Peak 9103 Spring Humbug + Fordyce Washington S. Yuba Scotchman Shady Jefferson L Spaulding S. Yuba Canal S. Yuba Rock Mt Lincoln 8382 + Englebright Res Rush Kentucky Drum Canal Owl

  5. Pre-Development South Yuba River Basin Hydrology vs Current Hydrology (Data from USGS 1999 Hydrological Data Report) Today’s Flow Additional flow were there no diversions Average Recorded Yearly Flow (‘000s of acre feet) 282 Yearly flow estimate (‘000s of acre feet) 200 Flow Scale: ¼” = 100,000 acre feet / year Canyon Creek Poorman Creek 97 Creek 96 Fordyce 50 57 96 S Yuba River 200 93 720 343 279 172 97 279 S Yuba River Note that many creeks enter the river below Poorman Creek, adding about 140,000 af, mostly from rain. Jones Bar (Hwy 49)

  6. Lake Spaulding Stores and Distributes Upper South Yuba River Water (Data from USGS 1999 Hydrological Data Report) Runoff above Lake Spaulding 530,000 af / yr (Includes 158,000 af from Bowman-Spaulding canal, which include 62,000 af from the Middle Yuba) Late Spring Spill 85,000 af /yr* Lake Spaulding Release to River South Yuba River 93,000 af / yr South Yuba Canal 62,000 af / yr Drum Canal 375,000 af / yr

  7. Middle Yuba River and Milton Bowman Canal Milton Res M. Yuba Jackson Meadows Res Milton - Bowman Canal Weber Peak 8092 + Bowman Res Poor Man Cr Canyon Cr Black Buttes 8030 + Bowman - Spaulding Canal Fordyce L Castle Peak 9103 Fordyce Cr + S. Yuba L Spaulding S. Yuba Mt Lincoln 8382 S. Yuba Canal + Hwy 49 (Jones Bar) Drum Canal

  8. Impact of Jackson Meadows Reservoir, Milton Dam and Milton-Bowman Canal on Flow Volume on the Middle Yuba River Note: “Pre Dev” means that the data represents the flow before the construction of the dams and diversions immediately upstream (calculated using the equation “Input – Output = Change in Storage”). The date range “71-04” gives the time period covered by the data used in the continuity calculation. Where a date range appears by itself, such as “’88-’04”, the data represents post-development gauge readings, in this case below Milton Dam.

  9. Impact of Jackson Meadows Reservoir, Milton Dam and Milton-Bowman Diversion on Flow Volume and Variability in the Middle Yuba River

  10. Bowman Reservoir, Bowman-Spaulding Canal, and Canyon Creek Milton Res M. Yuba Jackson Meadows Res Milton - Bowman Canal Weber Peak 8092 + Bowman Res Poor Man Cr Canyon Cr Black Buttes 8030 + Bowman - Spaulding Canal Fordyce L Castle Peak 9103 Fordyce Cr + S. Yuba L Spaulding S. Yuba Mt Lincoln 8382 S. Yuba Canal + Hwy 49 (Jones Bar) Drum Canal

  11. Impact of Bowman Reservoir and the Bowman-Spaulding Canal on Flow Volume In Canyon Creek

  12. Impact of Bowman Reservoir and Bowman-Spaulding Canal on Flow Volume and Variability In Canyon Creek

  13. Fordyce Lake and Fordyce Creek Milton Res M. Yuba Jackson Meadows Res Milton - Bowman Canal Weber Peak 8092 + Bowman Res Poor Man Cr Canyon Cr Black Buttes 8030 + Bowman - Spaulding Canal Fordyce L Castle Peak 9103 Fordyce Cr + S. Yuba L Spaulding S. Yuba Mt Lincoln 8382 S. Yuba Canal + Hwy 49 (Jones Bar) Drum Canal

  14. Impact of Fordyce Lake on Flow Timing In Fordyce Creek

  15. Impact of Fordyce Lake on Variability In Fordyce Creek

  16. South Yuba River above Lake Spaulding Milton Res M. Yuba Jackson Meadows Res Milton - Bowman Canal Weber Peak 8092 + Bowman Res Poor Man Cr Canyon Cr Black Buttes 8030 + Bowman - Spaulding Canal Fordyce L Castle Peak 9103 Fordyce Cr + S. Yuba L Spaulding S. Yuba Mt Lincoln 8382 S. Yuba Canal + Hwy 49 (Jones Bar) Drum Canal

  17. The South Yuba above Lake Spaulding

  18. Lake Spaulding, the Drum Canal,the South Yuba Canal and the South Yuba River Milton Res M. Yuba Jackson Meadows Res Milton - Bowman Canal Weber Peak 8092 + Bowman Res Poor Man Cr Canyon Cr Black Buttes 8030 + Bowman - Spaulding Canal Fordyce L Castle Peak 9103 Fordyce Cr + S. Yuba L Spaulding S. Yuba Mt Lincoln 8382 + Hwy 49 (Jones Bar) S. Yuba Canal Drum Canal

  19. Lake Spaulding, the Drum Canal,the South Yuba Canal and the South Yuba River

  20. The South Yuba canyon between Fordyce Lake and Englebright Lake produces a large volume of unimpaired runoff. Accretion from 44 miles of the South Yuba, 9 miles of Canyon Creek below Bowman L, 12 miles of Poorman Creek and numerous smaller creeks creates a “new” river with substantial natural flow and significant natural variability at all scales.

  21. In this late season rain and rain-on-snow event, dams on the Yuba attenuate the river’s response when compared to the North American, a similar river (View at 200% to see labels)

  22. Spring snowmelt causes daily variation in flow. Enough snowmelt escapes dams to provide some daily variation on the South Yuba (View at 200% to see labels)

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