Spring 2005 Fisheries Newsletter, Kings River Conservation District Newsletter

8/2/2019 Spring 2005 Fisheries Newsletter, Kings River Conservation District Newsletter

1/4

Joining together to improve the Kings River fisheries.

It was an event that began, in asense, years earlier when the CentralCalifornia climate inexplicablyturned dry. For months during thespring through fall of 2004, it domi-nated the work and deliberations of

those who manage the Kings River. Inthe end, it concluded with hardly anacknowledgment that a potentialproblem had even existed, let alonethat troubles had been averted.

The concern involved fisherytemperature management in theKings River downstream from PineFlat Dam.

"We used all the tools we hadavailable," said Steve Haugen, Kings

River Fisheries Management Program

Executive Officer and the river'sWatermaster.

In fact, such has been the caseduring every year that the FisheriesManagement Program has been inexistence.

"We had six below average wateryears in a row," said Haugen, whomanages the KRWA. "A lot of under-standing has been gained and wehave not had a catastrophic fisheryfailure because of low water or tem-perature conditions."

The last of those six years, how-

ever, included the worst water condi-tions and generated the most anx-iousness.

As late as early March 2004, theKings River's late winter water sup-ply hopes were still encouraging. TheCalifornia Department of WaterResources was predicting April-Julyrunoff on the Kings River would be 92percent of average. On the otherhand, the weather had turned dry.

By April 1, the time at which thesnowpack was supposed to be peak-ing, spring's snowmelt had long since

begun. The DWR slashed the Kings'runoff forecast to 69 percent of aver-age. It would ultimately amount tojust 57 percent.

"All of a sudden we knew therewas the potential for Pine Flat toapproach minimum storage by late inthe summer or early in the fall,"Haugen said.

Every future fishery conditionsindicator seemed to be dropping withthe diminishing spring runoff. Lessrunoff would mean that Pine FlatReservoir, already having met heavy

continued on page 4

Spring 2005

irrigation demands during the previ-

ous below-average runoff years,faced the likelihood of being drawndown to near the temperature controlpool (TCP) level of 100,000 acre-feetestablished under the FisheriesManagement Program FrameworkAgreement in 1999.

"By May, KRWA was spending atremendous amount of time forecast-ing what minimum storage mightturn out to be," Haugen said. "In theprevious years, we'd really never hadto face this strong of a potential ofgetting down to the TCP and the spe-cial temperature management issuesthat could result."

Summer arrived along withheavy water-use demands from farm-ers trying to make the most of limitedsupplies throughout the one millionacres of the Kings River service area.

"We continued making computerprojections of minimum storage andhow much cold water was likely toremain in Pine Flat under various sce-narios," Haugen said.

"Frankly, there was considerableconcern that we might exhaust whatwe knew was a limited supply ofcolder water needed to keep down-stream temperatures cool enough fortrout.

The Fisheries ManagementProgram partners - KRWA, the KingsRiver Conservation District and CDFG- had briefed the program's PAG atevery step.

"Fortunately, we had some expe-rience in meeting temperature man-agement challenges in 2002, and thePAG was aware there had been nofishery losses in that event," Haugen

About Kings River Fisheries NewsThe Kings River Fisheries Management Program continues to be an envi-

ronmental success story in the making.

To let you know what the program and its participants are doing and

planning, the Kings River Conservation District and its program partners, theKings River Water Association and California Department of Fish and Game,

occasionally bring you Kings River Fisheries News.

AnatomyOf AFisheryEvent

How TemperatureConcerns, DroughtSparked Kings WorriesBut Caused No Harm


2/4

2Kings River Fisheries News Spring 2005

After five years of accumulatingfunding and accumulating scientificand technical data, the Kings RiverFisheries Management Program is onthe eve of a significant increase inhabitat enhancement projects thatare being directed at trout and otherspecies.

The program's Executive PolicyCommittee (ExCom) has adoptedplanning documents that will enableon-site development to occur in sev-eral locations along the river down-stream from Pine Flat Dam, particu-larly in the typically low-watermonths of fall and winter.

"We're moving forward towardimplementing habitat improvementprojects," said Steve Haugen, KingsRiver Watermaster and FisheriesManagement Program Executive

Officer. "We've accumulated a fairamount of funding. We're puttingthose funds on the ground wherethey will be of benefit to the fishery."

Assisting in making the plannedhabitat activities a reality is thereceipt of nearly all of the variouspermits required from federal andstate agencies to permit work to takeplace in and along the river channel.

"We've also received commit-ments to extend these permits," saidHaugen, who manages the KingsRiver Water Association (KRWA).

"We have all the permits we need toimplement our new Habitat MasterPlan. We anticipate a significantamount of work during the next lowflow period."

The Kings River ConservationDistrict (KRCD), KRWA andCalifornia Department of Fish andGame (CDFG) established the cooper-ative, consensus-based FisheriesManagement Program in May 1999.

During the program's February10 ExCom meeting, a technicalreport detailing recent accomplish-

ments was adopted and ExCommembers examined the workingdraft of a Kings River conceptualmodel.

That model serves as a founda-tion for the Kings River HabitatMaster Plan and the FisheriesManagement Program's most recent5-Year Plan, both of which are loaded

with habitat improvement projects.

"During the past two years we'veslowed down habitat funding so thatour agencies' staffs and the Public

Advisory Group could take a long

and hard look at what needs to bedone," said Haugen. "During the nextprogram year we will implement asmuch of the program as we can withfunds we have available."

The concept model examines theinterrelation of all factors related tothe life cycle of trout. That includessuch elements as spawning, eggincubation and hatching, juvenilerearing and adult abundance. Themodel looks at habitat or biologicalprocesses affecting the life cycle aswell as stresses and management

actions. Water conditions and manyother factors are considered andlinked.

"It's an important element inwhat we are doing," said WilliamLoudermilk, an ExCom member andCDFG Regional Manager. It is com-plex. It is not easy.

It shows that we are makingprogress in looking at conditionscomprehensively, agreed DavidOrth, an ExCom member and theKRCD General Manager.

Hank Urbach, an angler andPublic Advisory Group member, toldExCom members, When you gaveus that conceptual model, it startedto tie things together. It began show-ing all the complexities.

The Habitat Master Plan adopt-ed by the ExCom shows what wecan do within the constraints offlood control, access to the river for

Habitat Projects Are Ahead For Kings River

equipment and permitting, saidHaugen. It probably exceeds thefunding we have available but willbe there and ready as fundingbecomes available.

It concentrates on Kings Riverreaches downstream from the ArmyCorps of Engineers bridge belowPine Flat Dam, downstream fromWinton Park in the Piedra area anddownstream from Avocado Lake.The focus will initially be on thelower area near Avocado Lake andwell work upstream, Haugen said.

Each reach will include suchprojects as channel ripping and boul-der placement, addition of spawninggravel, enhancement of an existingsmall side channel and riparian

plantings. Other activities includesuch things as river access improve-ments and introduction of wild rain-bow trout into the river below PineFlat.

Each year, KRCD will engineerprojects for as much money as isavailable, said Haugen.

In adopting its new 5-Year Plan,the ExCom budgeted a total of$301,000, more than two-thirds ofwhich will go toward new capitalimprovements - mainly fish habitat.

Another $89,000 is earmarkedfor ongoing capital elements with$5,500 allocated for fishery facilitiesmaintenance.

These habitat improvementswe are doing are fundamental towhatever we do in the future,Urbach said. Every nickel is ulti-mately going to pay off.


3/4

3Kings River Fisheries News

A system of large pipelines mayseem at a glance to just be part of theplumbing at the base of Pine FlatDam but the turbine bypass devicecompleted two years ago is payingbig water temperature managementdividends for the Kings River fish-ery.

"The turbine bypass has provento be remarkably resilient and flexi-ble in its operations," said KingsRiver Watermaster Steve Haugen,the Kings River FisheriesManagement Program's ExecutiveOfficer.

"Not only has it proven to beeffective in managing temperaturesand the reservoir's supply of late-season cold water reserves, it is goodfor river aeration," said John Moore,Chief-Hydro Division, Pine Flat

Power Plant.The turbine bypass efficiently

takes care of dissolved oxygen needsdownstream from the dam when thedevice is in use.

The facility was dedicated inApril 2003.

The Kings River ConservationDistrict and Kings River Water

Association helped fund the local

portion of the construction cost afterbecoming convinced its temperaturemanagement and related environ-mental enhancements would be aboon to the Kings River FisheriesManagement Program. KRWA,which Haugen manages, KRCD andthe California Department of Fishand Game are partners in the fish-eries program.

Corps of Engineers officialsidentified the turbine bypass as apotential environmental enhance-ment project during a reconnais-sance-level study. The Corps, withsupport and legislative backing byCongress, pursued design and devel-opment of the turbinebypass as a modification ofthe original Pine FlatProject under a "fast track"

approach.The turbine bypass,

located at the dam's base,was designed and con-structed at a cost of nearly$6 million, includespipelines, support struc-tures, valves and relatedcontrol devices.

It permits water to bereleased through the pen-

Turbine Bypass Proves Its Fishery Worthstocks (pipelines) that normally sup-ply water to the Pine Flat PowerPlant's turbines. The turbine bypassis to be used at times when waterreleases into the Kings River to meetirrigation demands are too low togenerate electricity. Such conditionstypically occur in the late summerand fall months.

The power plants penstockintakes are at a reservoir elevationmidway between Pine Flat Damsmid- and low-level sluice gates.Thus, the turbine bypass permitsreleases of water through the pen-stocks to better manage tempera-tures in the river below the dam.

Spring 2005

Congress is again expected toconsider legislation this year thatwould provide federal funding forhabitat improvements along portionsof the Kings River to further enhancethe Kings River FisheriesManagement Program.

Such a possibility was proposed

in 2004 by the Kings RiverConservation District and KingsRiver Water Association as an alter-native to an earlier federal proposalto invest in construction of a hugelyexpensive multi-level intake struc-ture at Pine Flat Dam.

A multi-level intake structure'sdevelopment to control temperaturesof water being released into theKings River was studied for severalyears by the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers and KRCD. The Corps con-cluded the project would be feasibleand that the United States had aninterest in its construction.

However, with completion ofthe turbine bypass at the dam's base

already proving to be a highly suc-cessful tool in controlling waterrelease temperatures at times whenthe Jeff L. Taylor-Pine Flat PowerPlant is not operating, KRCD andKRWA officials concluded habitatwork might be a better federalinvestment.

The intake structure wouldhave been constructed on the dam'supstream face. Its gates could beopened or closed at various eleva-tions within the reservoir to admitwater into the power plant's pen-stocks. Those are the pipes that leadto the plant's turbines. By drawingwater from different reservoir eleva-tions, temperatures of water beingreleased into the river below PineFlat Dam could be controlled.

The new turbine bypass per-mits water to be drawn through thepenstocks and into the river even ifthe power plant is not operating.Temperature control results thus farhave been very encouraging.

The KRCD-KRWA alternativewas proposed last year to be part ofthe federal Water ResourcesDevelopment Act (WRDA).

It proposed that Congress con-sider the following:

A $200,000 appropriation to

bring the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers into the Kings RiverFisheries Management Program.

More extensive federal fiscalparticipation in Kings River fisheriesimprovement in lieu of building acostly dam intake structure.

When consideration of themulti-faceted WRDA bogged downlast year, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California), carried the KRCD-KRWAproposal as separate legislation,although it did not receiveCongressional action.

Reports from Washington say a

draft of new WRDA legislation con-tains the Kings River language.

Habitat Projects Proposed In Federal Legislation


4/4

"We were blessed with favorableweather during the fall and never didend up with a real late season heatwave that really could have createdwater temperature problems," saidHaugen.

The weather further cooperatedwith an early September storm that

dropped a half-inch of rain over muchof the watershed and snow at higherelevations, slightly bolstering the coldwater pool.

"By mid-September we were cer-tain there was enough cold waterremaining in Pine Flat and that thesituation was manageable," Haugensaid.

The final temperature manage-ment victory was sounded by heavyrain and snow falling over the KingsRiver watershed in mid-October.

"When it started raining and we

had a big slug of cold water cominginto the reservoir," Haugen said, "wewere home free this year."

Kings River Conservation District4886 E. Jensen Avenue

Fresno, CA 93725

Nonprofit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDFresno, CA 93706

Permit #1687

Please send subscription requests to:Kings River Conservation District

4886 E. Jensen AvenueFresno, California 93725

Published by the Kings RiverConservation District, Kings River

Water Association, CaliforniaDepartment of Fish and Game, and thePublic Advisory Group.

said. "Their decision was to see whatwould happen with the feeling thatwe might be able to make it."

By July and August, many KingsRiver agencies were ending waterruns, having already gone throughtheir entitlements based on the river'sdiminished natural runoff.

The moment of truth - whetherKings River temperatures could bekept cool enough to sustain trout -was arriving. A temperature manage-ment tightrope walk began withextraordinary coordination of KRCD'sJeff L. Taylor-Pine Flat Power Plantoperations with water demands.

When the power plant shutdown August 20 because irrigationdemands had fallen too low to oper-ate, managers switched to the newturbine bypass at the dam's base(please see related story, Page 3) topreserve as much cold water as possi-ble at reservoir elevations below thepenstock intakes.

The U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers, which operates and main-tains the dam, again agreed to releasea limited amount of water from gatesat the very bottom of the dam. TheCorps also participated with man-power to make frequent inspectionsof its low level gates to check for anydamage.

"We took the cold water poolthat was available and tried to budgetit out to maintain a blended releasetemperature of 18 degrees Celsius,"Haugen said. "The turbine bypass andthe Corps' operators were resilientand flexible."

That resulted in water tempera-tures being managed below 24degrees C at Fresno Weir, nine milesdownstream, but dropping quickly asair temperatures cooled each evening.

At the same time, the tempera-ture management effort had a bighand from Mother Nature.

Anatomy Of A Fishery Event, continued

4Kings River Fisheries News Spring 2005

Much of the Kings River Fisheries ManagementProgram's attention has been devoted to Kings Riverreaches downstream from Pine Flat Dam but importantwork is also going on within Pine Flat Lake.

Randy Kelly, CDFG Fisheries Biologist and formerTechnical Steering Committee member points out thatsome $10,000 per year has been made available for habi-tat work within the reservoir.

Grass and wheat have been planted. In a number ofareas, cyclone fence cages filled with brush have beeninstalled and anchored to the reservoir's bottom to helpprovide habitat for fish.

Project Is Aiding Habitat Within ReservoirWhen water storage is low, such artificial habitat

may also benefit birds and other animals.

Most recently, Haugen said, a network of threedozen large concrete blocks has been installed in a 200-foot grid with cables being stretched in between for useas habitat anchors.

The Fisheries Management Program paid for thematerials. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers placed theconcrete blocks and cables, and fire crews have beenanchoring fish habitat materials, such as brush anddebris, to the cables.

Documents

Spring 2005 Fisheries Newsletter, Kings River Conservation District Newsletter