Lower Provo River Ecosystem Flow Recommendations Final Report
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LOWER PROVO RIVER ECOSYSTEM FLOW RECOMMENDATIONS FINAL REPORT September 2008 Prepared by: Melissa Stamp and Darren Olsen, BIO-WEST, Inc; Tyler Allred, Allred Restoration, Inc. Submitted to: Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission 230 South 500 East, Suite 230 Salt Lake City, Utah 84102-2045 Submitted by: BIO-WEST, Inc. 1063 West 1400 North Logan, UT 84321-2291 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS BIO-WEST, Inc., would like to thank Mark Holden and Maureen Wilson (Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission), Marianne Crawford (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and Michael Mills (Central Utah Water Conservancy District) for their input into this report. We would also like to acknowledge Christopher Keleher (Utah Department of Natural Resources), whose previous work formed the basis for the recommendations in this report, as well as the many other parties whose guidance, insight, spirit of cooperation, and past efforts have added greatly to the value of this report. TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 Purpose and Need ............................................................................................................... 2 Background......................................................................................................................... 2 SECTION 2. HYDROLOGIC ALTERATIONS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON FLOW- DEPENDENT ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS ................................................... 5 Ecological Importance of Instream Flows .......................................................................... 6 Individual Ecological Functions ......................................................................................... 8 Hydrology ............................................................................................................... 8 Geomorphology ...................................................................................................... 8 Water Quality.......................................................................................................... 9 Aquatic Biology...................................................................................................... 9 Riparian Biology................................................................................................... 10 SECTION 3. IDEALIZED GENERAL APPROACH TO INSTREAM FLOW RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................... 12 SECTION 4. METHODS FOR DETERMINING INSTREAM FLOWS............................... 14 Base Flow/Minimum Flow Setting Techniques ............................................................... 14 Hydraulic Modeling (Incremental) Techniques................................................................ 14 Spawning Flow Determination Techniques...................................................................... 19 Channel Maintenance and Flushing Flow Determination Techniques............................. 19 Riparian Vegetation Techniques....................................................................................... 23 Hydrologic Variability Assessment Techniques............................................................... 24 SECTION 5. APPROACH TO INSTREAM FLOW RECOMMENDATIONS, LOWER PROVO RIVER................................................................................................. 25 Study Area/Watershed Overview ..................................................................................... 25 Existing Conditions........................................................................................................... 25 Hydrology ............................................................................................................. 25 Geomorphology .................................................................................................... 28 Water Quality........................................................................................................ 29 Riparian Vegetation .............................................................................................. 30 Fisheries ................................................................................................................ 30 June Sucker ........................................................................................................... 31 Macroinvertebrates ............................................................................................... 35 Lower Provo River Instream Flow Recommendations Framework ................................. 36 BIO-WEST, Inc. i Lower Provo River Flow Recommendations September 2008 Final Report SECTION 6. AVAILABLE LOWER PROVO RIVER DATA SETS RELEVANT TO INSTREAM FLOWS .................................................................................. 40 Hydrologic Data................................................................................................................ 40 Geomorphic/Hydraulic Data............................................................................................. 41 Biological/Habitat Data .................................................................................................... 41 Riparian Vegetation Data.................................................................................................. 42 Water Quality Data ........................................................................................................... 42 SECTION 7. INSTREAM FLOW DETERMINATION METHODS/DATA FOR LOWER PROVO RIVER RIVERINE COMPONENTS ......................... 44 SECTION 8. LOWER PROVO RIVER INSTREAM FLOW RECOMMENDATIONS....... 53 Summary of Existing Instream Flow Requirements and Procedures ............................... 53 Base Flow Guidelines ....................................................................................................... 54 Winter Base Flows................................................................................................ 54 Summer Base Flows ............................................................................................. 55 Autumn Base Flows.............................................................................................. 56 A Note Regarding Variability............................................................................... 56 March and July Considerations............................................................................. 56 Spring Runoff Recommendations..................................................................................... 57 Operational Considerations............................................................................................... 60 SECTION 9. REFERENCES...................................................................................................... 64 APPENDIX A: DIMENSIONLESS FLOW-DURATION CURVE ANALYSIS APPENDIX B: ANALYSIS OF NATURAL SPRING HYDROGRAPH CHARACTERISTICS APPENDIX C: FLUSHING FLOW, EFFECTIVE DISCHARGE, AND CHANNEL-CHANGING FLOWS IN THE LOWER PROVO RIVER APPENDIX D: SUMMARY OF HYDRAULIC HABITAT NICHE RESULTS APPENDIX E: SUMMARY OF JUNE SUCKER SPAWNING AND LARVAL-DRIFT MONITORING RESULTS APPENDIX F: WETTED PERIMETER INFLECTION-POINT ANALYSIS APPENDIX G: ANALYSIS OF SUMMERTIME WATER TEMPERATURE AND STREAMFLOW APPENDIX H: PLOTS OF NATURALIZED PROVO RIVER AT HAILSTONE FLOWS VERSUS EXISTING TARGET HYDROGRAPHS APPENDIX I: PLOTS OF ACTUAL LOWER PROVO RIVER FLOWS VERSUS EXISTING TARGET HYDROGRAPHS BIO-WEST, Inc. ii Lower Provo River Flow Recommendations September 2008 Final Report LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1. General types of riverine processes and ecological functions supported by instream flows. ..................................................................................................... 13 Table 4.1. Comparison of techniques for setting base flows/minimum instream flows (based on descriptions in Annear et al. 2004; for complete methodology reference information see Annear et al. 2004). ......................................................... 15 Table 4.2. Comparison of hydraulic-modeling/incremental methods (based on descriptions in Annear et al. 2004)................................................................................................ 17 Table 4.3. Comparison of spawning-flow methods (based on descriptions in Annear et al. 2004).......................................................................................................................... 20 Table 4.4. Comparison of channel-maintenance and flushing-flow methods (based on descriptions in Annear et al. 2004)....................................................................... 21 Table 4.5. Comparison of riparian vegetation flow-determination methods (based partly on descriptions in Annear et al. 2004)....................................................................... 23 Table 4.6. Comparison of hydrologic-variability methods (based partly on descriptions in Annear et al. 2004)................................................................................................ 24 Table 5.1. Summary of annual June sucker stocking efforts. ..................................................... 32 Table 5.2. June sucker life history stages supported by instream flows. ................................... 36 Table 5.3. Ecological functions supported by instream flows and their relative priority on the lower Provo River under existing (2008) conditions. .................................... 37 Table 7.1. Instream flow determination methods