Whitewater Boating Flow Study for Slab Creek Reach Technical Report

Whitewater Boating Flow Study for Slab Creek Reach Technical Report

SACRAMENTO MUNICIPAL UTILITY DISTRICT UPPER AMERICAN RIVER PROJECT (FERC NO. 2101) WHITEWATER BOATING FLOW STUDY FOR SLAB CREEK REACH TECHNICAL REPORT Prepared by: Devine Tarbell & Associates, Inc. The Louis Berger Group Sacramento, California Oakhurst, California Prepared for: Sacramento Municipal Utility District Sacramento, California OCTOBER 2004 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project FERC Project No. 2101 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section & Description Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 2 2.0 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Whitewater Boating Flow Study Plan for Slab Creek Reach ................................. 3 2.1.1 Whitewater Boating Flow Ecological Study Plan for Slab Creek Reach ... 4 2.2 Water Year Types................................................................................................... 5 2.3 Recreation TWG Determination of Adequacy ..................................................... 10 3.0 METHODS ....................................................................................................................... 10 3.1 Target Flows and Schedule................................................................................... 11 3.2 Boating Participants.............................................................................................. 11 3.3 Project Operations During the Study .................................................................... 11 3.4 Data Collection..................................................................................................... 13 3.5 Ecological Studies................................................................................................. 14 4.0 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................... 14 4.1 Study Participants................................................................................................. 14 4.2 Timetable on Test Flow Days............................................................................... 15 4.3 Reach Description................................................................................................. 16 4.4 Boater Evaluations................................................................................................ 16 4.4.1 Boatability................................................................................................. 17 4.4.2 Access ....................................................................................................... 18 4.4.3 Reach Characteristics................................................................................ 23 4.4.4 Acceptable Flows for Boating .................................................................. 25 4.4.5 Range of Optimum Flows......................................................................... 28 4.4.6 Comparison to Other Runs in California .................................................. 30 4.4.7 Nearby Population Centers ....................................................................... 30 4.4.8 Whitewater Boating Opportunities in the American River Watershed .... 31 4.5 Hydrology ............................................................................................................. 32 4.6 Videotape .............................................................................................................. 33 4.7 Ecological Studies................................................................................................. 33 5.0 ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................... 33 5.1 Minimum Acceptable Flows................................................................................. 33 5.2 Optimal Range of Flows ....................................................................................... 35 5.3 Hydrology Analysis.............................................................................................. 35 5.4 Commercial Use....................................................................................................39 UARP License Application Whitewater Boating Flow Study For Slab Creek Reach Technical Report 10/11/2004 Copyright © 2004 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Page TOC i Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project FERC Project No. 2101 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section & Description Page 5.5 Carrying Capacity................................................................................................. 39 6.0 FINDINGS........................................................................................................................ 40 7.0 LITERATURE CITED..................................................................................................... 42 Whitewater Boating Flow Study For Slab Creek Reach Technical Report UARP License Application 10/11/2004 Page TOC ii Copyright © 2004 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project FERC Project No. 2101 LIST OF TABLES Table No. & Description Page Table 2.2-1. Application of UARP Relicensing Plenary Group water year types for the period from Calendar Year 1975 through 2001. ...........................................9 Table 2.3-1. Response to Recreation TWG comments on Whitewater Boating Flow Study for Slab Creek Reach Technical Report dated February 2004. ..............10 Table 4.2-1. Test flow timetable of events, Oct. 31, Nov. 1-2, 2003 ....................................15 Table 4.4-1. Distance and driving time to Slab Creek Reach from nearby population centers. ..............................................................................................................30 Table 4.4-2. Whitewater boating opportunities in the American River watershed. ..............31 UARP License Application Whitewater Boating Flow Study For Slab Creek Reach Technical Report 10/11/2004 Copyright © 2004 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Page TOC iii Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project FERC Project No. 2101 LIST OF FIGURES Figures No. & Description Page Figure 2.1-1 Whitewater Boating Flow Study for Slab Creek Reach......................................7 Figure 3.3-1 Slab Creek Dam Spilling during flow study. ....................................................12 Figure 4.1-1 Study Participants on the Slab Creek Reach.....................................................15 Figure 4.4-1. Turnaround area at end of Slab Creek Adit Access Road.................................19 Figure 4.4-2. Mosquito Road Bridge crossing of the SFAR. .................................................20 Figure 4.4-3. Parking area at White Rock Powerhouse..........................................................21 Figure 4.4-4. Parking area at Rock Creek Powerhouse. .........................................................22 Figure 4.4-5. Parking area at the SFAR Access Road from the Rock Creek Road................23 Figure 4.4-6. Boater responses (averaged) regarding the whitewater characteristics of the Slab Creek Run at 616 cfs. Note: the responses for the raft category are from respondents who boated the reach in a 2-person raft (11’). (Source: Data from the Single Flow Evaluation Form at 616 cfs.)...................24 Figure 4.4-7. Boater responses (averaged) regarding the whitewater characteristics of the Slab Creek Run at 1,068 cfs. (Source: Data from the Single Flow Evaluation Form at 1,068 cfs.)..........................................................................24 Figure 4.4-8. Boater responses (averaged) regarding the whitewater characteristics of the Slab Creek Run at 1,597 cfs. (Source: Data from the Single Flow Evaluation Form at 1,597 cfs.)..........................................................................25 Figure 4.4-9. Average Boater Acceptability of Flow-Kayakers. (Scale: 1=Totally Unacceptable, 2=Unacceptable, 3=Marginal, 4=Acceptable, 5=Totally Acceptable) (Source: Data from the Comparative Evaluation Form)...............26 Figure 4.4-10. Average Boater Acceptability of Flow-Rafters. (Scale: 1=Totally Unacceptable, 2=Unacceptable, 3=Marginal, 4=Acceptable, 5=Totally Acceptable) (Source: Data from the Comparative Evaluation Form)...............26 Figure 4.4-11. Average Boater Acceptability of Flow-Overall. (Scale: 1=Totally Unacceptable, 2=Unacceptable, 3=Marginal, 4=Acceptable, 5=Totally Acceptable) (Source: Data from the Comparative Evaluation Form)...............27 UARP License Application Whitewater Boating Flow Study For Slab Creek Reach Technical Report 10/11/2004 Copyright © 2004 Sacramento Municipal Utility District Page TOC v Sacramento Municipal Utility District Upper American River Project FERC Project No. 2101 LIST OF FIGURES Figures No. & Description Page Figure 4.4-12. Average Boater Acceptability of Flow-Comparison by Craft. (Scale: 1=Totally Unacceptable, 2=Unacceptable, 3=Marginal, 4=Acceptable, 5=Totally Acceptable) (Source: Data from the Comparative Evaluation Form).........................................................................27 Figure 4.4-13. Average optimal range of flows presented for all craft and sorted by type of craft. (Source: Data from the Comparative Evaluation Form) ....................28 Figure 4.4-14. Average optimal range of flows presented for all craft and sorted by skill level.

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