Overview of South Yuba River Hydrology

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• Overview of South Yuba River Hydrology
• Bob Center
• Presented to FERC Academy on December 10, 2005

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South Yuba River, Edwards Crossing, May 20, 2005,
14,000 cfs
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Introduction

• The FERC re-licensing process has as a primary
  concern some re-allocation of South Yuba River
  watershed runoff. At the heart of any new
  license will be a specification of how much water
  is to be returned to the rivers and creeks, water
  temperature, and how the water is to be
  distributed through time.
• An understanding of the runoff that is to be the
  object of this re-allocation will improve
  understanding of possibilities and constraints,
  and can assist in articulating interests in
  discussions with other stakeholders
• This presentation will provide an overview of
  runoff in the South Yuba watershed in basic
  terms
• How much runoff there is, where it comes from,
  and when, and where it goes
• The great variability of precipitation and runoff
  on all time scales
• How dams and diversions impact the rivers and
  creeks in terms of reduction in volume,
  continuity and variability
• First is an overview of runoff in the watershed
  as a whole, including the over-all effects of
  dams and diversions
• Next is a look at the impact that dams and
  diversions have on
• Middle Yuba River
• Canyon Creek
• Fordyce Creek
• South Yuba above Spaulding Reservoir
• South Yuba below Spaulding Reservoir

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Major Streams, Reservoirs and Conduits in the
South Yuba Watershed
South Yuba Watershed
Milton Res
M. Yuba
Jackson Meadows Res
Milton - Bowman Canal
Weber Peak 8092

Bowman L
Poor Man
Canyon
Black Buttes 8030

Bowman - Spaulding Canal
Fordyce L
Castle Peak 9103
Spring
Humbug
Fordyce

Washington
S. Yuba
Scotchman
Shady
Jefferson
L Spaulding
S. Yuba Canal
S. Yuba
Rock
Mt Lincoln 8382

Englebright Res
Rush
Kentucky
Drum Canal
Owl
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Pre-Development South Yuba River Basin Hydrology
vs Current Hydrology (Data from USGS 1999
Hydrological Data Report)
Todays Flow
Additional flow were there no diversions
Average Recorded Yearly Flow (000s of acre feet)
282
Yearly flow estimate (000s of acre feet)
200
Flow Scale ¼ 100,000 acre feet / year
Canyon Creek
Poorman Creek
97
Creek
96
Fordyce
50
57
96
S Yuba River
200
93
343
720
279
172
97
279
S Yuba River
Note that many creeks enter the river below
Poorman Creek, adding about 140,000 af, mostly
from rain.
Jones Bar (Hwy 49)
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Lake Spaulding Stores and Distributes Upper South
Yuba River Water (Data from USGS 1999
Hydrological Data Report)
Runoff above Lake Spaulding 530,000 af /
yr (Includes 158,000 af from Bowman-Spaulding
canal, which include 62,000 af from the Middle
Yuba)
Late Spring Spill 85,000 af /yr
Lake Spaulding
Release to River
South Yuba River 93,000 af / yr
South Yuba Canal 62,000 af / yr
Drum Canal 375,000 af / yr
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Middle Yuba River and Milton Bowman Canal
Milton Res
M. Yuba
Jackson Meadows Res
Milton - Bowman Canal
Weber Peak 8092

Bowman Res
Poor Man Cr
Canyon Cr
Black Buttes 8030

Bowman - Spaulding Canal
Fordyce L
Castle Peak 9103
Fordyce Cr

S. Yuba
L Spaulding
S. Yuba
Mt Lincoln 8382
S. Yuba Canal

Hwy 49 (Jones Bar)
Drum Canal
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Impact of Jackson Meadows Reservoir, Milton Dam
and Milton-Bowman Canal on Flow Volume on the
Middle Yuba River
Note Pre Dev means that the data represents
the flow before the construction of the dams and
diversions immediately upstream (calculated
using the equation Input Output Change in
Storage). The date range 71-04 gives the time
period covered by the data used in the
continuity calculation. Where a date range
appears by itself, such as 88-04, the data
represents post-development gauge readings, in
this case below Milton Dam.
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Impact of Jackson Meadows Reservoir, Milton Dam
and Milton-Bowman Diversion on Flow Volume and
Variability in the Middle Yuba River
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Bowman Reservoir, Bowman-Spaulding Canal, and
Canyon Creek
Milton Res
M. Yuba
Jackson Meadows Res
Milton - Bowman Canal
Weber Peak 8092

Bowman Res
Poor Man Cr
Canyon Cr
Black Buttes 8030

Bowman - Spaulding Canal
Fordyce L
Castle Peak 9103
Fordyce Cr

S. Yuba
L Spaulding
S. Yuba
Mt Lincoln 8382
S. Yuba Canal

Hwy 49 (Jones Bar)
Drum Canal
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Impact of Bowman Reservoir and the
Bowman-Spaulding Canal on Flow Volume In Canyon
Creek
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Impact of Bowman Reservoir and Bowman-Spaulding
Canal on Flow Volume and Variability In Canyon
Creek
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Fordyce Lake and Fordyce Creek
Milton Res
M. Yuba
Jackson Meadows Res
Milton - Bowman Canal
Weber Peak 8092

Bowman Res
Poor Man Cr
Canyon Cr
Black Buttes 8030

Bowman - Spaulding Canal
Fordyce L
Castle Peak 9103
Fordyce Cr

S. Yuba
L Spaulding
S. Yuba
Mt Lincoln 8382
S. Yuba Canal

Hwy 49 (Jones Bar)
Drum Canal
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Impact of Fordyce Lake on Flow Timing In Fordyce
Creek
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Impact of Fordyce Lake on Variability In Fordyce
Creek
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South Yuba River above Lake Spaulding
Milton Res
M. Yuba
Jackson Meadows Res
Milton - Bowman Canal
Weber Peak 8092

Bowman Res
Poor Man Cr
Canyon Cr
Black Buttes 8030

Bowman - Spaulding Canal
Fordyce L
Castle Peak 9103
Fordyce Cr

S. Yuba
L Spaulding
S. Yuba
Mt Lincoln 8382
S. Yuba Canal

Hwy 49 (Jones Bar)
Drum Canal
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The South Yuba above Lake Spaulding
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Lake Spaulding, the Drum Canal,the South Yuba
Canal and the South Yuba River
Milton Res
M. Yuba
Jackson Meadows Res
Milton - Bowman Canal
Weber Peak 8092

Bowman Res
Poor Man Cr
Canyon Cr
Black Buttes 8030

Bowman - Spaulding Canal
Fordyce L
Castle Peak 9103
Fordyce Cr

S. Yuba
L Spaulding
S. Yuba
Mt Lincoln 8382

Hwy 49 (Jones Bar)
S. Yuba Canal
Drum Canal
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Lake Spaulding, the Drum Canal,the South Yuba
Canal and the South Yuba River
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The South Yuba canyon between Fordyce Lake and
Englebright Lake produces a large volume of
unimpaired runoff. Accretion from 44 miles of the
South Yuba, 9 miles of Canyon Creek below Bowman
L, 12 miles of Poorman Creek and numerous smaller
creeks creates a new river with substantial
natural flow and significant natural variability
at all scales.
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In this late season rain and rain-on-snow event,
dams on the Yuba attenuate the rivers response
when compared to the North American, a similar
river (View at 200 to see labels)
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Spring snowmelt causes daily variation in flow.
Enough snowmelt escapes dams to provide some
daily variation on the South Yuba (View at 200
to see labels)