Colorado River Storage Project 

Flaming Gorge Working Group 

Meeting Minutes 

March 16, 2023 

Participation

This meeting was held Thursday, March 16, 2023, from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon, at the Uintah 

Conference Center in Vernal, Utah and via Microsoft Teams virtual meeting. Attendees are listed below.

Purpose of Meeting 

The purpose of these working group meetings is to inform the public and other interested parties of 

Reclamation’s current and future operational plans and to gather information from the public regarding 

specific resources associated with Flaming Gorge Reservoir and the river corridor below it. In addition, 

the meetings are used to coordinate activities and exchange information among agencies, water users, and 

other interested parties concerning the Green River. 

General

Dale Hamilton United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m., 

noted that this is the first in-person meeting in three years, thanked everyone for attending, discussed the 

purpose of the Flaming Gorge Working Group meetings, meeting logistics, and introduced the meeting 

agenda and presenters. 

Dale noted that the Flaming Gorge Working Group has been meeting since the 1990s and was formalized 

in the 2005 final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and 2006 Record of Decision (ROD) as the 

public consultation portion of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process to review and 

gather input on ongoing study plans and adaptive management as we learn more about the system and the 

endangered fish. Typical Working Group meetings take place in April and August to present proposed 

(April meeting) and actual (August meeting) operations. These newer March meetings are intended to 

provide operational plans to the group earlier and provide more time for input. The 2023 draft operations 

plan is available for review and comment. Comments are due by the close of business on April 20th

following the April working group meeting to allow time to finalize the plan on or around May 1st. 

Recovery Program 2022 Green River Flow Request: Implementation and Results 

Tildon Jones, Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (Recovery Program)

Tildon presented some background information on the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery 

Program then shared some results of last year’s flow experiments. 

There are four Endangered Species Act listed fish (3 endangered, 1 threatened) in the Colorado River that 

are all native to the basin and found nowhere else: Colorado pikeminnow, razorback sucker, and bonytail 

are all listed as endangered; humpback chub is now listed as threatened after being downlisted from 

endangered to threatened two years ago. They all live up to 40+ years and the Colorado pikeminnow and 

the razorback sucker can be highly migratory. 

The Recovery Program was established in 1988 among several partners with the goal to recover the 

endangered fish while water development proceeds by balancing Endangered Species Act compliance 
with the Law of the River. The Recovery Program provides Endangered Species Act compliance in a 

holistic way instead of individual entities being required to manage recovery efforts in smaller areas; the 

Program covers over 2,000 projects and over 2.8 million acre-feet of water used in Colorado, Utah, and 

Wyoming. There are five recovery elements: Habitat/Flow Management, Habitat Development, Stocking 

Endangered Fish, Managing Nonnative Fish, and Research and Monitoring. Instream flow management 

occurs throughout the Upper Colorado River Basin—Flaming Gorge is one of six points of flow control 

in the basin and is an important area as it impacts 300 to 400 miles of habitat.

The Recovery Program’s 2022 Flow Request priorities for dry to moderately dry conditions were: 1) 

conduct a flow spike experiment to disadvantage smallmouth bass reproduction in Reaches 1 and 2, 2) 

experimental summer base flows to benefit Colorado pikeminnow juveniles in backwaters in this reach 

around Vernal and Ouray, and 3) Larval-triggered spring peak flows to create nursery habitat and get 

razorback sucker into that nursery habitat. 

Drought Response Operations last year offered us more flexibility and volume of water, so we were able 

to use some Drought Response Operations water to implement these experiments while also meeting the 

need to send water downstream to Lake Powell. 

The first experiment in chronological order—the Larval-triggered spring peak—was accomplished. 

Larvae were captured May 21 and the Larval Trigger flows were accomplished May 25-June 4 as the dam 

released full bypass for 7 days and flow at Jensen exceeded 14,000 cfs for 5 days (max 17,000 cfs). The 

spring release connected 5 wetlands (4 managed: Steward Lake, Stirrup, Johnson Bottom, Old Charley; 

and 1 non-managed: Above Brennan). The experiment was successful. 4,577 wild Razorback suckers 

(RZBs) were released from the four managed wetlands and several records were set: most RZBs released 

from Stewart Lake (3,294), largest RZB from Stewart Lake (8-inches), largest RZB from any wetland 

(10.6-inches), and the most RZB from Old Charley (615). These wetland habitats are preferred nursery 

habitat for the RZB because they’re able to grow faster—it’s warmer, and there’s more food for them—in 

their first year of life which helps them survive later into their life cycle. We essentially produced as 

many Razorbacks in 2022 as we had in all the previous years combined; we had about 4600 in the 

previous years (2012-2021) and had just under 4600 last year. This year was a great success, with the 

best results in the roughly 10 years we’ve been attempting the Larval-triggered spring peak.

The smallmouth bass flow spike was accomplished. It occurred June 21-24 as the dam released full 

powerplant for 3 days with the SWS lowered to decrease water temperature about 3 degrees Celsius. 

Preliminary 2022 electrofishing data indicate that 2022 saw a roughly 54% reduction in smallmouth bass

produced in the year compared to the long-term mean, and a roughly 85% reduction in bass compared to 

warm years similar to 2022. The flow spike appears to be very successful at reducing numbers of bass in 

the reach affected by Flaming Gorge releases. Data is still being analyzed to determine if captured 

smallmouth bass hatched before, during, or after the flow spike. 

The base flows to benefit the Colorado pikeminnow targeted just below 2,100 cfs at Jensen and were 

accomplished. Colorado pikeminnow were observed on July 2. Juvenile pikeminnow were collected in 

backwaters but the data is still being analyzed.

2022 was the first time that all three requested experiments were accomplished in a single year. Thanks 

was expressed to Reclamation for adjusting the timing of DRO releases to help accomplish these 

experiments.
Hydrology & Forecasted Flaming Gorge Operations 

Nathaniel Todea, Hydraulic Engineer, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Nathaniel presented information on Flaming Gorge and the 2023 forecasted hydrology and operations 

plan. 

The 1956 Colorado River Storage Project authorized construction of Flaming Gorge Dam and other 

projects for: allowing Upper Basin States to utilize their 1922 Colorado River Compact apportionments, 

regulating Colorado River (and main tributaries) flow, storing water for beneficial consumptive use, 

reclamation of arid and semiarid lands, flood control, and hydroelectric power generation.

For operations, the Green River below Flaming Gorge is divided into three reaches: Reach 1 from 

Flaming Gorge Dam to the Yampa River confluence, Reach 2 from the Yampa River confluence to the 

White River confluence, and Reach 3 from the White River confluence to the confluence with the 

Colorado River. Flaming Gorge Releases are correlated to reach 1, and if reach 2 operational targets are 

met, reach 3 targets are assumed to be met.

Flaming Gorge operations follow a 4-step process. Step 1 is getting an official flow request from the 

Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program and an initial draft Flaming Gorge Operation 

Plan (FG Ops Plan) developed and sent to the Flaming Gorge Technical Working Group. Step 2 is to 

develop and finalize a Flaming Gorge Technical Working Group proposal. Step 3 (the step we’re 

currently on for this year) is to share the proposal with and get comments from the Flaming Gorge 

Working Group. Step 4 is to finalize the Flaming Gorge Operation Plan. 

Snowpack above Flaming Gorge is at 116% of median snow water equivalent as of March 15th and 

Flaming Gorge is at 65% of capacity. The Colorado Basin River Forecast Center (CBRFC) March 1st

runoff forecast for Flaming Gorge was at 880,000 acre-feet—but the model is indicating that the midmonth forecast will be higher, ~1,100,000 acre-feet—which would put Flaming Gorge in the Average 

Above Median hydrologic classification. Snowpack in the Yampa and White River basins is at 137% of 

median which is a little better than the Upper Green. The March 1st forecast for the Yampa River 

(Maybell plus Lily) is 1,700,000 acre-feet, which is in a Moderately Wet condition. The CBRFC also 

forecasts potential river flows in the Yampa at Deerlodge based on current conditions; the current 

forecasts indicate that statistically, the Yampa is likely to see a number of days above 15,000 cfs in late 

May with 7 days above 18,000 cfs. 

The 2023 Recovery Program request provided 3 priorities for each of three sets of hydrologic 

classifications: average (below median) or drier, average (above median), and moderately wet or wet. 

Our current hydrology indicates we’ll likely have average (above median) conditions this year which 

would align with the average (above median) request for (priority 1) spring releases consistent with the 

Larval Trigger Study Plan (LTSP), (priority 2) experimental base flows, and (priority 3) smallmouth bass 

flow spike. Nathaniel noted that the spring peak flow targets have been refined slightly by LaGory 2019. 

The Larval Trigger Study Plan spring peak flows for the average (above median) dry scenario would have 

a peak flow at Jensen above 18,600 cfs in 1 of 2 average years and 8,300 cfs in other average years. The 

smallmouth bass flow spike would be at full powerplant capacity for 72 hours with a 2000 cfs per day 

ramp down. The Colorado Pikeminnow base flows for the average scenario would target 2,000-2,600 cfs.

The Flaming Gorge Operation Plan for May 2023 through April 2024 is in draft form and will be 

finalized in early May after considering and incorporating comments. The Average (below median), 

scenario in the draft plan would have a spring release up to 4600 cfs; a smallmouth bass flow (with a 1-

day ramp up to 4600 cfs, a 72-hour hold at 4600 cfs, and a 2000 cfs per day ramp down); and a Colorado 
Pikeminnow base flow release of ~1,650 cfs to get ~2,000 cfs in Reach 2. Slides showing releases for 

Average (above median), Moderately Wet, and Wet hydrologic classifications were also presented. Five 

scenarios are presented in the draft Flaming Gorge Operation Plan. In response to a question, it was 

stated that the lower bound for releases under the Average (below median) condition is 800 cfs. 

Nathaniel shared a possible Drought Response Operations release scenario for an Average (below 

median) hydrologic classification where winter base flows would be reduced to ~800 cfs to recover some 

storage in Flaming Gorge (to elevation 6025 feet by the end of February). 

The current Flaming Gorge release is 925 cfs. The bypass will be used March 27-31 due to 

turbine/penstocks testing; the 800 cfs release will be shifted from the penstocks/powerplant to the bypass. 

April daily average releases will be 800 cfs. There will be a fishery assessment (electro fishing) in late 

April.

The shifting of 800 cfs from power generation to the bypass for five days is for planned maintenance on 

all three units and would be a loss of about 600 MW per day or about 20 MWh for the full test. 

Drought Response Operations Planning 

Dale Hamilton, Division Manager, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Dale presented an overview of the Drought Response Operations Agreement (DROA), the 2021 and 2022 

DROA actions, Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP) reservoir status, 24-month study results, and 

options for the 2023 DRO Plan. 

The Drought Contingency Plan Authorization Act, passed in 2019 included specific agreements on steps 

to address declining reservoir elevations at Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Attachment A1 is the Drought 

Response Operations Agreement for the Upper Basin to minimize the risk of Lake Powell dropping below 

elevation 3525 feet (a buffer above the 3490 minimum power pool elevation). One aspect of the plan that 

will likely come into play this year is Recovery of prior Drought Response releases by 1) accounting 

(recovering the released volume) or 2) reaching the May 1st target elevation (6023-6027 feet) for the 

current hydrologic condition.

In July 2021, the 24-month study indicated that Lake Powell would likely drop below elevation 3525 feet 

by April 2022. Consequently, 181,000 acre-feet was planned to be released from initial unit reservoirs to 

Lake Powell. The actual water-year 2021 DRO release was later reduced to 161,000 acre-feet (125,000 

acre-feet from Flaming Gorge). 

In 2022, Lake Powell did drop below elevation 3525 feet on March 14th and 24-month study continued to 

project elevations below 3525 feet prompting plans to release an additional 500,000 acre-feet from 

Flaming Gorge Reservoir and reduce releases from Lake Powell by 480,000 acre-feet (from 7.48 maf to 

7.0 maf) in hopes of increasing the elevation of Lake Powell by nearly 16 feet. Also, monthly release 

volumes from Lake Powell were adjusted to maintain higher water levels during the typical low months. 

As a result, Lake Powell spent less time below elevation 3525 feet and the probability of dropping below 

elevation 3490 feet was reduced. Since December 2022, our hydrology has improved—to wet in the 

Yampa and at least average (below median) above Flaming Gorge—and 24-month study projections no 

longer show Lake Powell dropping below elevation 3525 feet. On March 7th DROA parties agreed to halt 

the remaining planned DRO releases from Flaming Gorge. The actual water-year 2022 DRO release was 

463,267 acre-feet (all from Flaming Gorge). Flaming Gorge has released a total of 588,267 acre-feet in 

2021 and 2022 DRO releases. Adding in Blue Mesa, a total of 624,267 acre-feet of DRO releases has 

been made in 2021 and 2022. 
Currently, Flaming Gorge is 67% full and rising, Fontenelle is 40% full, Lake Powell is 23% full at 

elevation 3520.54 feet (below elevation 3525 feet) and is the lowest it has been since first fill, Blue Mesa 

is 36% full, and Navajo is 51% full. The March 24-month study projects that Lake Mead will not drop 

into Level 3 Shortage Condition until 2024, Lake Powell is not likely to go below 3525 feet in the next 

two years, Flaming Gorge is projected to come up to elevation 6017.22 by the end of April 2024 (and if 

recovery of DRO releases is planned it could potentially fully recover to elevation ~6022-6025 feet by the 

end of April 2024), and Blue Mesa is projected to reach elevation 7490.84 feet by the end of December 

2023 which would be a full recovery of its 36,000 acre-feet DRO release.

The 2023 DRO Plan is in the early stages of development but could include: 1) additional DRO releases 

of up to 500,000 acre-feet from Flaming Gorge, 2) no DRO release and no DRO recovery maintaining the 

588,000 acre-feet hole in Flaming Gorge, and 3) DRO recovery of some or all of the released DRO water 

or water surface elevation. The DRO Plan is scheduled to be finalized on May 1st along with the Flaming 

Gorge Operation Plan. 

In June 2022, Reclamation Commissioner requested the Colorado River Basin States take additional 

actions to provide an additional 2-4 million acre-feet of water in 2023 to protect critical elevations in 

Lake Powell and Lake Mead. In July 2022, the Upper Division States responded with a 5-point plan. 

The Lower Division States took shortages in 2022 and 2023. In January 2023, there were 2 additional 

proposals (one from 6 of the basin states, one from California). 

The Department of Interior and Reclamation have also initiated a 2023 Supplemental Environmental 

Impact Statement (SEIS) which will include alternatives to revise the 2007 Interim Guidelines to give 

more flexibility to conserve Lake Powell elevations and adjust the minimum annual release volume from 

Lake Powell while maintaining the 1922 Compact requirement to deliver at least 75 maf in any 10-year 

period. 

Reclamation has also initiated the Update to the 2007 Interim Guidelines which are set to expire at the 

end of 2025—the Post-2026 Colorado River Operational Strategies for Lake Powell and Lake Mead—

which will incorporate the Drought Contingency Plan and other efforts to address drought impacts. 

Dale closed by showing a slide of Flaming Gorge storage divided into 500,000 acre-feet increments with 

boat ramp elevations.

In response to a request for clarification on changes in Flaming Gorge elevations shown in the 24-month 

study, it was stated that the projected elevations in the 24-month study do not include additional DRO 

releases or efforts to recover DRO releases, but normal operations within the lower end of the ROD 

release range. If DRO recovery is approved, it would be incorporated into future 24-month study 

projections. 

A comment noted that the Upper Basin tribes are included as participants in the DROA working group 

and are consulted about any operations. 

Roundtable General Discussion/Q&A

Dale noted that Reclamation is mandated by law to assist in the recovery of the listed fish and each of the 

operations plans incorporates efforts to assist in recovery of the fish as well as incorporating input from 

stakeholders where possible—Reclamation at times isn’t able to meet the desires of all stakeholders but

does consider all comments—then opened the meeting for any discussion, comments, or questions group 

by group. 
In response to a question, Brenda noted that the snowpack in the Yampa is extremely high. Often the 

Yampa River has multiple peaks which will depend on Spring weather. High flows from the Yampa may 

provide a good foundation for experiments, which may reduce the water needed from Flaming Gorge to 

fulfill them. 

Dale asked various groups and individuals if they had input, comments, or questions. Many had no 

comment. Leslie James (CREDA) made a general comment/request that all decisionmakers in 

Reclamation coordinate together in making bypass decisions; decisions that take water from power 

generation make an impact on WAPA, the Basin Fund, and customers. Chris Brown (Wyoming) stated 

that Wyoming is interested in recovering as much of the previous releases from Flaming Gorge as 

possible. Amy Haas (Colorado River Auth. of Utah) stated that Utah’s priority is recovery of Flaming 

Gorge water as quickly as possible. Michelle Garrison (Colorado) stated that the focus for Colorado is 

also recovery. Colleen Cunningham (New Mexico) stated their focus is also on recovery. Matt Lucas 

(WRF Guides) stated he would like to see as much recovery in Flaming Gorge as possible. Tim Gaylord 

(Rafting) reiterated that the Yampa will cause very high flows in the lower reaches so it is a good year for 

recovery, that said low flows below 860 cfs cause issues and higher baseflows would be helpful. Dale 

requested Tim provide comments on public safety concerns at low base flows. Jerry Taylor (Lucerne 

Valley Marina) expressed thanks for answering questions and interest in knowing reservoir elevation 

forecasts as soon as possible to adjust the marina as needed. Jack Lytle (Daggett County) expressed 

gratitude for DROA releases being stopped for now and interest in recovery. In response to a question 

Jack posed about fixing the selective withdrawal structure, Jared Marquis stated that he is currently 

working with the Technical Service Center to determine what needs to be done to fix the selective 

withdrawal structure, so still very early on in the process, there is currently no target date, we’re 

anticipating BIL funding for the fix. 

Next Meeting

• Tuesday, April 20, 2023, at 10:00 am in Price at the fairgrounds (and Teams virtual meeting)

• Tuesday, August 15th, 2023, at 10:00 am in Vernal (and Teams virtual meeting) (tentative)

Attendees

Jack Weimer 

Jeanie Weimer 

Hattie Johnson American Whitewater

Tim Gaylord Holiday River Expeditions 

Jen Callantine Dinosaur River Expeditions 

John Rauch Cedar Springs Marina

Matt Lucas WRF Guides 

Bruce Lavoie OARS

Seth Davis OARS

Laura Belanger Western Resource Adv.

Grizz Oleen Caerus Oil and Gas LLC

Ted Rampton 

Kevin Bestgen Colorado State University 

Joel Brown Senator Lee

Jack Lytle Daggett Co., CRA Utah Cent. 

Randy Asay Dagget County 

Matt Cazier Uintah County 

Cody Wilkins Uintah County Farm Bureau 

Jason Palmer City of Green River 

Sarah Bargsten Cheyenne Brd. of Pub. Util. 

Amy Haas Colorado River Auth. of Utah 

Bart Leeflang Colorado River Auth. of Utah 

Tracy Killian Duchesne Co.

Bryan Seppie Joint Powers Water Board

Colleen Cunningham New Mexico ISC

Christina Noftsker New Mexico ISC

Darrell Gillman Utah Dept. Ag. And Food 

Ryan Jones Utah Dept. Ag. And Food 

Chris Keleher Utah Div. Wildlife Resrc.

Jordon Detlor Utah Div. Wildlife Resrc.

Trina Hedrick Utah Div. Wildlife Resrc.

Chris Brown State of Wyoming

Mel Fegler Wyo. State Engineer's Office

Leslie James Col. Riv. Energy Dist Assoc 

Tildon Jones Recovery Program 

Kevin McAbee Recovery Program 
Julie Stahli Recovery Program

David Graf Recovery Program 

Morgan Brizendine U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service 

Derek Fryer Western Area Power Admin.

Shane Capron Western Area Power Admin.

Tony Henriquez Western Area Power Admin.

Brenda Alcorn Col. Basin Riv. Forecast Ctr. 

Dennis Phillips Nat. Weather Service

Erin Walter Nat. Weather Service

Will Pedro Nat. Park Service, Dinosaur 

Rob Billerbeck Nat. Park Service 

Melissa Trammell Nat. Park Service 

Jessica Farmer Bureau of Land Management 

Jo Foster Bureau of Land Management 

Kevin Clegg U. S. Forest Service

Brett Heath U. S. Forest Service

Cody Muir U. S. Forest Service

Jayden Guymon U. S. Forest Service

Aaron Selig U. S. Forest Service

Cherette Bonomo U. S. Forest Service

Tara Despain U. S. Forest Service

Andrew Volkmer U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Chris Cutler U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Chris Watt U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Dale Hamilton U. S. Bureau of Reclamation

Dave Speas U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Gary Henrie U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Jared Marquis U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Kent Kofford U. S. Bureau of Reclamation

Mike Callahan U. S. Bureau of Reclamation

Nathaniel Todea U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Peter Crookston U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Shane Mower U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Susan Behery U. S. Bureau of Reclamation 

Valerie Deppe U. S. Bureau of Reclamation

Zackary Leady U. S. Bureau of Reclamation