Alternative Condition No. 31
Middle Fork American River Project (FERC Project No. 2079)
Placer County Water Agency
Middle Fork American River Project
(FERC Project No. 2079)
STREAMFLOW AND RESERVOIR ELEVATION
GAGING PLAN
Placer County Water Agency
P.O. Box 6570
Auburn, CA 95604
August 2011
August 2011
Alternative Condition No. 31
Middle Fork American River Project (FERC Project No. 2079)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1
SREGP Objective ................................................................................................... 1
Instream Flow and Reservoir Elevation Gages ....................................................... 1
Operations and Maintenance of Gages .................................................................. 1
Reporting ................................................................................................................ 1
Literature Cited ....................................................................................................... 2
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Alternative Condition No. 31
Middle Fork American River Project (FERC Project No. 2079)
List of Tables
SREGP Table 1.
SREGP Table 2.
Project Gages. .
Project Gage Descriptions.
List of Maps
SREGP Map 1.
Gage Locations.
List of Appendices
Appendix A.
Surface Water Quality Assurance Plan for the California District of
the U.S. Geological Survey. USGS Open-File Report 96-618.
List of Acronyms
CDFG
Commission
FERC
SREGP
MFP
OFR
PCWA
Project
QA/QC
Rec Plan
SCADA
State Water Board
USDA-FS
USGS
August 2011
California Department of Fish and Game
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Flow and Reservoir Monitoring Plan
Middle Fork American River Project
Open-File Report
Placer County Water Agency
Middle Fork American River Project
Quality Assurance/Quality Control
Recreation Plan
supervisory control and data acquisition
State Water Resources Control Board
United States Department of Agriculture-Forest Service
United States Geological Survey
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Alternative Condition No. 31
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Middle Fork American River Project (FERC Project No. 2079)
INTRODUCTION
This Streamflow and Reservoir Elevation Gage Plan (SREGP) was developed for the
Placer County Water Agency’s (PCWA) Middle Fork American River Project (MFP)
located on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada range primarily in Placer County,
California. The plan describes the following:

Gages that will be used to document compliance with instream flow and reservoir
level requirements and dissemination of real-time flow information to the public;

Operation and maintenance of the gages; and

Reporting of compliance with instream flow and reservoir elevation requirements.
2.0
SREGP OBJECTIVE
The objective of the SREGP is to identify and describe the gages and define the
monitoring approach for documenting compliance with instream flow and reservoir
minimum pool requirements. This plan also describes gages used for real-time flow
information dissemination to the public.
3.0
INSTREAM FLOW AND RESERVOIR ELEVATION GAGES
The gages used to document compliance with instream flow and reservoir elevation
requirements are identified in SREGP Table 1. This table also identifies the gages that
will be used for the dissemination of real-time flow information to the public.
Descriptions of each of the gages are provided in SREGP Table 2. The locations of the
compliance gages and real-time flow information gages are depicted on SREGP Map 1.
4.0
OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE OF GAGES
All the gages will record 15-minute flow data. Data will be downloaded manually and all
gages will be equipped with supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) back up.
All gages will be maintained and operated by PCWA consistent with the United States
Geological Survey (USGS) protocols provided in Appendix A (USGS Open-File Report
[OFR] 96-618 - Surface Water Quality Assurance Plan for the California District of the
U.S. Geological Survey) or any successor USGS protocols. The type and frequency of
maintenance activity and the methods and frequency used to calibrate the flow
measuring devices depends on the type of flow monitoring equipment. These quality
assurance requirements are identified in the USGS protocols (USGS 1996).
5.0
REPORTING
PCWA will prepare a brief annual report to document compliance with instream flow and
reservoir elevation requirements for each calendar year. The report will also summarize
the dissemination of real-time flow information to the public. The annual report will be
filed with the FERC within the first quarter of each year and distributed to the USDA-FS,
State Water Board, and CDFG. Upon completion of the QA/QC process and upon
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Alternative Condition No. 31
Middle Fork American River Project (FERC Project No. 2079)
request, 15-minute data will be provided to FERC, USDA-FS, State Water Board, and
CDFG. The instream flow releases and reservoir water surface elevations data will be
available in readily accessible formats (e.g., Microsoft Excel or .txt).
6.0
LITERATURE CITED
United States Geological Society (USGS). 1996. Surface Water Quality Assurance
Plan for the California District of the U.S. Geological Survey. USGS Open-File
Report (OFR) 96-618.
Available at: http://ca.water.usgs.gov.archive.reports/ofr96618/).
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Alternative Condition No. 31
Middle Fork American River Project (FERC Project No. 2079)
TABLES
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Alternative Condition No. 31
Middle Fork American River Project (FERC Project No. 2079)
MAPS
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Alternative Condition No. 31
Middle Fork American River Project (FERC Project No. 2079)
APPENDIX A
Surface Water Quality Assurance Plan for the California District of the U.S.
Geological Survey. USGS Open-File Report 96-618.
August 2011