1 / 11

POTOMAC RIVER FLOWBY WORKSHOP: Introduction

POTOMAC RIVER FLOWBY WORKSHOP: Introduction. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION. Background Review of 1981 flow-by study Objectives of new flowby study Objectives of workshop. BACKGROUND. Current agreement: 100 mgd below Little Falls Dam 300 mgd recommendation below Great Falls to Little Falls Dam.

adelio
Download Presentation

POTOMAC RIVER FLOWBY WORKSHOP: Introduction

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. POTOMAC RIVER FLOWBY WORKSHOP: Introduction

  2. OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION • Background • Review of 1981 flow-by study • Objectives of new flowby study • Objectives of workshop

  3. BACKGROUND • Current agreement: 100 mgd below Little Falls Dam • 300 mgd recommendation below Great Falls to Little Falls Dam

  4. Study Required by Low-Flow Allocation Agreement (LFAA) • Signatories: COE-WAD, MD, VA, DC, FCWA, WSSC • Augmentation releases determined and requested by ICPRB

  5. REVIEW OF 1981 STUDY • 1981 study itself and others identified shortcomings • 100/300 mgd flow-by not environmentally based (or if so, not documented) • “ A daily average flow below Little Falls Dam of 100 mgd is nearly the limit of what the current system can provide during extreme drought conditions...” • Lowest measured flow for the 1981 study was 900 mgd (1400 cfs)

  6. REVIEW OF 1981 STUDY, cont. • 1999 drought prompted reconsideration of the flow-by issues • Habitat Assessment Subcommittee (HAS), subset of the Potomac River Flow-By Evaluation Committee organized to revisit 1981 study dueto shortcomings and new information

  7. CURRENT OBJECTIVES SHORT-TERM • Estimate the amount and quality of biotic habitat available at different flow levels, particularly as it relates to the current minimum flow-by requirement,

  8. CURRENT OBJECTIVES LONG-TERM • Determine what instream flows are required to provide adequate aquatic habitat and to prevent a reduction of any representative important species beyond levels from which it cannot recover and re-colonize the area following a drought event.

  9. WORKSHOP STRUCTURE • Assemble experts in riverine habitat assessment to advise the Subcommittee on the best means of achieving the Potomac Flow-by Study objectives. • Experts to present and discuss their views on the best means of addressing the objectives. • Experts to recommend the best analysis techniques and related data collection considerations for our specific situation: • Extreme & infrequent drought conditions

  10. WORKSHOP PURPOSE • Assess methodologies to evaluate flow-by requirements of the Potomac River to provide the following recommendations to the Habitat Assessment Committee: • The most favorable methodology, given current financial resource limitations, to address the Potomac River Flow-by Study objectives; and • An alternative long-term methodology that could better accomplish those objectives, yet might exceed current resources or available data, and recommended guidelines for achieving the objectives in a longer time-frame.

  11. FUTURE DIRECTIONS • Workshop summary report including panel recommendations • Report distributed for comment • Final report to Habitat Assessment Subcommittee (HAS) • HAS recommendation to full Potomac Flow-by Committee for further action

More Related