Record of Decision on Final Environmental Impact Statement for Fish Passage Improvement Project at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam, Central Valley Project, California Mid-Pacific Region. Managing Water in the West

摘要

The Red Bluff Diversion Dam (RBDD) is part ofthe Central Valley Project's Sacramento Canals Unit, authorized in 1950. In addition to the RBDD, unit facilities include Funks Dam, the Coming pumping plant, the Tehama-Colusa (TC) Canal, and the Coming Canal. Completed in 1964, the RBDD is a concrete gated weir structure 5,985 feet in length, including the earth wings. The dam enables the diversion of up to 2,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water by gravity into the TC and Coming Canals for potential delivery to the Sacramento Valley National Wildlife Refuge and to approximately 140,000 acres of irrigable lands along the Interstate 5 corridor between Red Bluff and Dunnigan, California. Diversions are made possible by closing 11 slide gates (referred to as the 'gates-in' configuration) located between piers spanning the length of the dam, impeding flow and causing Lake Red Bluff to form. As the lake water surface elevation rises to the canal elevation, water diversions can occur. For the first 20 years, the dam was operated to provide for year-round diversions. Not long after its construction, as the efficacy of the associated fish ladders were questioned, concerns were raised about the possible impacts of dam operations on salmon migration. This situation was acknowledged in the Central Valley Project Improvement Act of 1992 - Public Law 102-575, Title 32 (CVPIA). Specifically, Section 3406(b)(10) authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop and implement measures to minimize fish passage problems for adult and juvenile anadromous fish at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam. The Fish Passage Improvement Project at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam was developed to respond effectively to this CVPIA direction.