This news from the Trinity River Restoration Program:

The official water year designation for the Trinity River is “wet.” The water allocation for restoration related flow releases associated with a wet water year is 701,000 acre-feet.

The high flow release schedule for the Trinity River as recommended by the Trinity Management Council (TMC) is as follows: the flow releases will begin increasing on April 22, 2011, reaching a peak release of 11,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) on May 4. These peak flows will be held for a period of 3 days, and then decreased to 4,500 cfs by May 9. After that date, releases will be gradually decreased to a 450 cfs summer base-flow by August 1. A daily flow schedule is attached.

The Bureau of Reclamation, who has final authority over the flow releases, is currently considering the TMC recommended releases and is expected to make a determination early next week. The public should take appropriate safety precautions whenever river flows are high. Landowners are advised to clear personal items and debris from the floodplain prior to the releases.

Andreas Krause
Trinity River Restoration Program
Phone: 530-623-1800
Email: akrause@usbr.gov
Website: www.trrp.net