# Navajo Reservoir Release Increase



## sjnovak3 (Jun 17, 2004)

Increasing to 500 cfs tomorrow (Tues) morning at 4am.

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
NAVAJO RESERVOIR RELEASES 

SENT VIA FAX AND E-MAIL
July 21, 2014


As a result of decreasing river flows in the San Juan River Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled an increase in the release from Navajo Reservoir from 350 to 500 cubic feet per second (cfs) on Tuesday, July 22nd beginning at 4:00 a.m. Releases are made for the authorized purposes of the Navajo Unit, and to attempt to maintain a target base flow through the endangered fish critical habitat reach of the San Juan River (Farmington to Lake Powell).

The San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program recommends a target base flow of between 500 cfs and 1,000 cfs through the critical habitat area. The target base flow is calculated as the weekly average of gaged flows throughout the critical habitat area. 

This scheduled release change is subject to changes in river flows and weather conditions. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Behery at 970-385-6560 or email at [email protected].


----------



## dustin.heron (Aug 17, 2008)

Thanks for posting... we've got a trip early August.

Do you have the link to a gauge below Navajo and above Bluff?


----------



## sjnovak3 (Jun 17, 2004)

San Juan at Archuleta is downstream of Navajo Reservoir
USGS Current Conditions for USGS 09355500 SAN JUAN RIVER NEAR ARCHULETA, NM

San Juan at Four Corners is upstream of Bluff, but still about a day upstream
USGS Current Conditions for USGS 09371010 SAN JUAN RIVER AT FOUR CORNERS, CO

San Juan at Bluff is just downstream of Bluff, near Mexican Hat
USGS Current Conditions for USGS 09379500 SAN JUAN RIVER NEAR BLUFF, UT

River flows at Bluff may dip low for a couple of days until the increase catches up with it. 

---
Susan Novak Behery, P.E.
Hydraulic Engineer
Reclamation
Western Colorado Area Office
Durango, CO
[email protected]
970-385-6560


----------



## Phil U. (Feb 7, 2009)

dustin.heron said:


> Thanks for posting... we've got a trip early August.
> 
> Do you have the link to a gauge below Navajo and above Bluff?



This would be it. I think it takes a couple days for the bigger release to make it to the gauge. We'll have enough... 


USGS Current Conditions for USGS 09379500 SAN JUAN RIVER NEAR BLUFF, UT


----------



## Phil U. (Feb 7, 2009)

Oops, Susan was all over it. As always, thanks for keeping us informed, Susan...


----------



## dustin.heron (Aug 17, 2008)

Thanks Susan! (and dad  )


----------



## sjnovak3 (Jun 17, 2004)

*Navajo Release Increase (Friday Edition)*

Another increase tonight at 11:00 pm to adjust for the quickly falling flows. The increase from earlier this week hasn't made it there yet (we should see a rise in the Bluff gage within a few hours), and this new release won't make it down there until after the weekend. Expect low average daily flows (in the 400s) through the Canyon for the next several days, unless the forecast rainstorm materializes.

-----

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
NAVAJO RESERVOIR RELEASES

SENT VIA FAX AND E-MAIL
July 25, 2014


As a result of decreasing river flows in the San Juan River Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled an increase in the release from Navajo Reservoir from 500 to 600 cubic feet per second (cfs) tonight, Friday, July 25th beginning at 11:00 p.m. Releases are made for the authorized purposes of the Navajo Unit, and to attempt to maintain a target base flow through the endangered fish critical habitat reach of the San Juan River (Farmington to Lake Powell).

The San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program recommends a target base flow of between 500 cfs and 1,000 cfs through the critical habitat area. The target base flow is calculated as the weekly average of gaged flows throughout the critical habitat area. 

This scheduled release change is subject to changes in river flows and weather conditions. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Behery at 970-385-6560 or email at [email protected].


----------



## dustin.heron (Aug 17, 2008)

Someone's pulling water out as fast as their adding it from Navajo... currently 208 at Bluff... that 2nd release hasn't hit the Bluff gauge yet, but that'll only bring it up to 350... and that's not accounting for whatever water must be getting diverted that's making it drop again after the bump reaches Bluff. 

Yikes, not too confidence inspiring for our launch this weekend...


----------



## sjnovak3 (Jun 17, 2004)

Believe me, we're scrambling to figure out where that water is going. There are several possibilities, including gage error (I'm hoping for that one, as we sent out the USGS to measure the gages today), some massive unknown diversion, or evaporation (likely accounts for a bit, but couldn't be all of it.). 

In the meantime we are planning another increase to compensate and I'll post it as soon as it's decided. Unfortunately it will usually take 3 days to get down there. There are some rains in the forecast the next two days, which may be of some help. 

---
Susan Novak Behery, P.E.
Hydraulic Engineer
Reclamation
Western Colorado Area Office
Durango, CO
[email protected]
970-385-6560


----------



## dustin.heron (Aug 17, 2008)

Thanks for the quick reply, Susan. Great to know that you're on top of it and working to assure good flows,

Dustin


----------



## sjnovak3 (Jun 17, 2004)

"Assure" is a strong word. We try our best. To that end, we are increasing the release at Navajo again tonight (Monday) at 11:00pm to 750 cfs. Press release below.


BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
NAVAJO RESERVOIR RELEASES 

SENT VIA FAX AND E-MAIL
July 28, 2014


As a result of rapidly decreasing river flows in the San Juan River Basin, the Bureau of Reclamation has scheduled an increase in the release from Navajo Reservoir to 750 cubic feet per second (cfs) tonight, Monday, July 28, beginning at 11:00 p.m. Releases are made for the authorized purposes of the Navajo Unit, and to attempt to maintain a target base flow through the endangered fish critical habitat reach of the San Juan River (Farmington to Lake Powell).

The San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program recommends a target base flow of between 500 cfs and 1,000 cfs through the critical habitat area. The target base flow is calculated as the weekly average of gaged flows throughout the critical habitat area. 

This scheduled release change is subject to changes in river flows and weather conditions. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Behery at 970-385-6560 or email at [email protected].

---
Susan Novak Behery, P.E.
Hydraulic Engineer
Reclamation
Western Colorado Area Office
Durango, CO
[email protected]
970-385-6560


----------



## Droboat (May 12, 2008)

*Criminal Wreckage*

_Assure_ may be a strong word, but _crime_ is even stronger.

It could be a crime to harm endangered fish based on what looks like an annual, deliberate, cynical, and failed attempt to hold releases at the very bottom end of the 500-1000 spectrum. Should be a crime to jerk boaters around and put them in needless danger by trying to hold back every drop possible, but probably isn't.

If it wasn't for the endangered fish obligations and potential crimes for harming the fish, Navajo would no doubt be operated even more like McPhee, where the flows are around 70cfs right now.


----------



## sjnovak3 (Jun 17, 2004)

As a boater myself, I can appreciate how it looks from the side of the boating community. However, we are currently releasing over four times the natural inflow into the reservoir in an attempt to keep flows downstream at a reasonable level. Sometimes it's possible for us to miss our mark for a few days, but I can assure you that we are not withholding water purely for the fun of it. 

We operate based on forecasts. It's easy to see what we should have done after the fact, but the best we can do is operate based on the information we have at hand. 

Feel free to give me a call if there are any questions or other comments, I'll be glad to chat or answer any other questions I can.

---
Susan Novak Behery, P.E.
Hydraulic Engineer
Reclamation
Western Colorado Area Office
Durango, CO
[email protected]
970-385-6560


----------



## greenwater780 (May 31, 2007)

Droboat said:


> _Assure_ may be a strong word, but _crime_ is even stronger.
> 
> It could be a crime to harm endangered fish based on what looks like an annual, deliberate, cynical, and failed attempt to hold releases at the very bottom end of the 500-1000 spectrum. Should be a crime to jerk boaters around and put them in needless danger by trying to hold back every drop possible, but probably isn't.
> 
> If it wasn't for the endangered fish obligations and potential crimes for harming the fish, Navajo would no doubt be operated even more like McPhee, where the flows are around 70cfs right now.


Droboat,
before you accuse operators at Navajo Dam of "deliberate, cynical, and failed attempts," perhaps you could explain the 400cfs differential between the Four Corners gauge and the Bluff gauge that has existed for at least the entire day and perhaps longer. Do you know if the gauges are working properly, and if so where is this water going? There is plenty of water at all gauges above Bluff. I for one am very curious what is going on between the last gauge above Bluff and the Bluff gauge itself. Please advise if you know what causing the discrepancy.


----------



## sjnovak3 (Jun 17, 2004)

Some of that discrepancy is the lag between when our increase from Friday hit the Four Corners gage and when it will hit Bluff- it can take anywhere from 1 to 2 days between just those two gages (a total of 3-4 days from when we make the release change). You can actually see Bluff just barely starting to start increasing as of now (5:30pm). However there's still about 200 cfs difference beyond that I'm still searching for. This is why we've asked for a shift measurement, and are investigating other possibilities for the loss.

---
Susan Novak Behery, P.E.
Hydraulic Engineer
Reclamation
Western Colorado Area Office
Durango, CO
[email protected]
970-385-6560


----------



## Phil U. (Feb 7, 2009)

sjnovak3 said:


> Some of that discrepancy is the lag between when our increase from Friday hit the Four Corners gage and when it will hit Bluff- it can take anywhere from 1 to 2 days between just those two gages (a total of 3-4 days from when we make the release change). You can actually see Bluff just barely starting to start increasing as of now (5:30pm). However there's still about 200 cfs difference beyond that I'm still searching for. This is why we've asked for a shift measurement, and are investigating other possibilities for the loss.
> 
> ---
> Susan Novak Behery, P.E.
> ...


Thank you Susan. Not all of us think you guilty of criminal behavior.


----------



## greenwater780 (May 31, 2007)

Phil U. said:


> Thank you Susan. Not all of us think you guilty of criminal behavior.


Exactly.


----------



## Droboat (May 12, 2008)

*Wrecked Crimes Against Nature*

Take a look at the gauge readings during dry pre-monsoon periods over the past few years and Wrecked's just-in-time, but often too late, attempts to release just enough to maintain the bottom end of the 500 - 1000 cfs range. Once is a mistake. Every June/July suggests it is deliberate or negligent. 200cfs suggests reckless disregard. 

Wrecked appears to build no margin of error for the fish or boaters into just-in-time releases that seem to make every attempt to satisfy the water buffalo's greedy demands to hold water in Navajo (and every other damn Wrecked dam). 

Nice that Susan steps up and warns boaters of the Wrecked release mismanagement and likes to float a boat, but that does not excuse Wrecked's repeated fails.


----------



## sjnovak3 (Jun 17, 2004)

I will be happy to discuss the details and decisions that were made over this last low flow period, if that will help. I do make an effort to operate as transparently as possible. Feel free to give me a call. We are also having our public operations meeting in August, and you can share your view in-person. I'll post the date and time in the coming weeks.

---
Susan Novak Behery, P.E.
Hydraulic Engineer
Reclamation
Western Colorado Area Office
Durango, CO
[email protected]
970-385-6560


----------



## dustin.heron (Aug 17, 2008)

Glad to see the rains bring the levels up... hope the bureau maintains the same base flow though... we know that the current release is what's required to maintain minimum flows if the rains dry up. Don't want to see flows plummet and have to wait 3-4 days for a Navajo release to get to Bluff. My 2 cents, Susan. Thanks.


----------

