From the State Water Resources Control Board:
The State Water Resources Control Board is providing an opportunity for written public comments on the draft Temperature Management Plan submitted by the United States Bureau of Reclamation pursuant to State Water Board Water Right Order 90-5 (Order 90-5).
In the interest of time to facilitate early review, an initial version of the draft Temperature Management Plan is below. The initial draft Temperature Management Plan will be updated by Reclamation in the next week. That updated draft Temperature Management Plan will also be provided once available.
BACKGROUND
Order 90-5 establishes water right requirements on Reclamation’s operations of Keswick Dam, Shasta Dam, the Spring Creek Power Plant, and the Trinity River Division related to temperature control in the upper Sacramento River for the protection of fishery resources. Order 90-5 requires Reclamation to meet a daily average water temperature of 56 degrees Fahrenheit (F) on the Sacramento River at Red Bluff Diversion Dam (RBDD) during periods when higher temperatures will be detrimental to fish. If there are factors beyond Reclamation’s reasonable control that prevent Reclamation from meeting 56 degrees F at RBDD, Reclamation may prepare a Temperature Management Plan for consideration by the Deputy Director for Water Rights proposing that the compliance point be moved upstream. The Deputy Director may approve the Temperature Management Plan or object to the plan within 10 days of the date the final plan is submitted.
Pursuant to the Proposed Project identified for the Reinitiation of Consultation on the Coordinated Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project and the associated National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Biological Opinion (BiOp), Reclamation plans to operate to meet temperatures on the Sacramento River above Clear Creek (47 river miles upstream of RBDD). Each year, Reclamation plans to prepare a draft Temperature Management Plan in April with a final plan in May describing proposed temperature management operations from May 15th through October 31st using a tiered temperature management strategy. In addition to meeting the NMFS BiOp requirements, the Temperature Management Plan is intended to meet the requirements of Order 90-5.
On April 3, 2020, the State Water Board sent a letter to Reclamation regarding development of the draft Temperature Management Plan (Attachment 2). Reclamation provided a response on April 17, 2020 (Attachment 3). The State Water Board’s April 3 letter indicates that the State Water Board will provide a two-week public comment period on the draft Temperature Management Plan in order to inform final development of the plan and consideration of the plan by the State Water Board. Reclamation submitted an initial draft Temperature Management Plan and supporting technical analyses on April 23, 2020 (Attachment 1). Reclamation is planning to update the initial draft Temperature Management Plan based on input from the Sacramento River Temperature Management Group and release an updated draft Temperature Management Plan by April 30. Reclamation plans to finalize the draft Temperature Management Plan as early as May 20, 2020.
SUBMITTING COMMENTS
In order to be fully considered, written comments on the draft Temperature Management Plan must be received by noon on May 11, 2020. Comments should be submitted via email to Bay-Delta@waterboards.ca.gov (please note that the email
capacity is less than 50 megabytes total). Please title the subject line: “Comment Letter – Sacramento River Temperature Management Plan.” Electronic submission by email in pdf text format is preferred.
The State Water Board appreciates submissions that conform to Universal Accessibility and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 standards, located at: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/.
- Click here for the notice of availability.
- Click here for the April 3rd letter from the State Water Board to Reclamation.
- Click here for the April 17th letter from Reclamation to the State Water Board.
