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Meeting Notes for February 22, 2001 Meeting of the San Joaquin River Group Authority Management & Technical Committee (MTC) Modesto, CA

Attached is a copy of the meeting agenda. The meeting was attended by the following individuals:

The following items were discussed at the meeting:

1. 2001 Forecast Report

Tom Morstein-Marx provided an information packet from the VAMP Hydrology Group Meeting #1 along with some recent snow survey data. The Hydrology Group met on February 13. As of February 21, the Central Sierra snow water equivalent was at 62% of normal for that date and 50% of normal through April 1. Mike Archer described a graphic titled "San Joaquin Valley Water Year Type Index Comparison of Water Year 2000 and 2001 Forecasts" for the 10%, 50% and 90% probabilities of exceedence (this has been subsequently updated through February 20 and emailed to the MTC). The 50% and 90% forecasts are below the double-step threshold for 2001 at this time. Also, Mike had prepared two graphs titled "SJRA Impacts Tuolumne River Operation New Don Pedro Reservoir Storage" and "SJRA Impacts Merced River Operation Lake McClure Storage" for the period 1/1/99 through 4/20/01. Chet Bowling will place a presentation of the VAMP operations forecast on the agenda for the March 28 CalFed Ops Group meeting. The next Hydrology Group Meeting has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 14, same time.

2. Operations Plan

Tracy Pettit reported that the Operations Plan should be ready for circulation during the week of February 26.

3. Spring Head of Old River Barrier.

Kathy Kelly reported that good progress had been made to prepare the barrier for the 2001 VAMP. If the Target Flow is 5,700 cfs or less the barrier will be similar (with some improvements) to the 2000 version. If the Target Flow is 7,000 cfs, the barrier would be built 1-foot higher than the 2000 version with additional improvements to protect the surrounding lands. There are still a number of outstanding details, i.e., Section 404 permit, Biological Opinion’s. etc., to complete before the barrier is approved for installation. Tom Morstein-Marx will take another look at the Emergency Operations Plan.

The schedule for installation of the permanent barrier has been reviewed by DWR and CalFed and it looks like the current schedule is on the fastest track possible.

4. 2001 Fish Monitoring Plan.
   
   
5. Pat Brandes reported that the Final 2001 VAMP Fish Monitoring Plan was complete.

The plan is similar to the 2000 program. Pat described the release and recovery locations for 2001. The CDFG has initially allocated 250,000 salmon smolts for 2001 and if things go well at the Merced River Hatchery, 350,000 fish will be allocated. The Fish Group has been coordinating its efforts with other studies within the geographic area of the VAMP. Also, a statistical review is being undertaken to ensure the data and analysis are sound.

Chet Bowling reported that he had transmitted the 2001 Fish Monitoring Plan to the State Board. Bill Johnston reported that road gravel will be added to the Durham Ferry ramp to make unloading the fish safer and more efficient.

6. 2000 SJRA/VAMP Technical Report
   
   
7. The technical report is at the printer’s.

Copies will be distributed as soon as it is received from the printer.

8. Section 7 permits from NMFS and FWS.

The Endangered Species Act Biological Opinions (BO’s) for the special fish monitoring that is conducted for the VAMP by Chuck Hanson need to be completed before monitoring begins. Dennis Hood reported that Chuck has been working with NMFS and FWS and the BO’s were nearly complete. Dennis reported that once the BO’s were complete, a request for concurrence by DFG under the State ESA would be sought.

9. Supplemental EIS/EIR (SEIS/EIR)

Dan Meier reported on the status of the SEIS/EIR. The proposed project is the additional water referred to in the SJRA whereby up to 47,000 acre-feet annually may be needed depending of hydrological conditions through 2010. A public draft was released for a 45-day review period on December 29. A Public Hearing was held on February 1, 2001. The public comment period ended on February 12, 2001. The Final EIS/EIR and ROD are scheduled for completion in time for the 2001 spring pulse flow.

10. Wrap-up.

Information concerning the SJRA can be found on the Web at www.sjrg.org. A tentative time and date of 10:00 to 11:00 am on March 29 was set for a conference call of the MTC in case decisions are needed.

Attachment