Oroville and New Bullards Bar reservoirs flood operation assessment

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=185 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="David Ford Consulting Engineers"><U><B><IMG SRC="0d058960.png" border=0 width="88" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div>    <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" > </FONT></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="4" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="156" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#FFFFFF" BORDERCOLORDARK="#FFFFFF" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 WIDTH="146"><div> David Ford Consulting Engineers, Inc.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 ><NOBR><div> 2015 J Street, Suite 200</div> <div> Sacramento, CA 95811</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 WIDTH="146"><div> tel: 916.447.8779</div> <div> fax: 916.447.8780</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 WIDTH="146"><div> <A HREF="mailto:support@ford-consulting.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:support@ford-consulting.com"><U>support@ford-consulting.com</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div>    </div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="David Ford Consulting Engineers"><U>Home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id461.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About us"><U>About us</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="news.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News"><U>News</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="hydrologic_engineering.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hydrologic engineering"><U>Hydrologic engineering</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="water_resource_planning.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Water resource planning"><U>Water resource planning</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="flood_economic_and_risk_analyses.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flood economic and risk analyses"><U>Flood economic/risk analyses</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="flood_warning.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flood warning"><U>Flood warning</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="decision_support_system_development.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Decision support system development"><U>Decision support systems</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=40 BGCOLOR="#3366CC" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="14400980ezthpx.png"> <div> <B>Oroville and New Bullards Bar reservoirs flood operation assessment</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=440 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="06c00962egerdp.png"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="547" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 BGCOLOR=#CC0000 HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="537"><div> <B>Situation</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 HEIGHT= 172 WIDTH="537"><div> New Bullards Bar and Oroville reservoirs control flows in the Yuba and Feather rivers of northern California, respectively. These rivers join near Marysville. Both multi-purpose reservoirs provide significant flood protection to Yuba City, Marysville, and other downstream points, including Sacramento. The flood control operating rules, stipulated by the US Army Corps of Engineers, specify the maximum controlled releases that can be made from these reservoirs. However, the release rules offer some flexibility, depending on interpretation of these rules. The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and Yuba County Water Agency (YCWA), operators of Oroville and New Bullards Bar, sought clarification.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 BGCOLOR=#339933 HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="537"><div> <B>Action</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 HEIGHT= 668 WIDTH="537"><div> We developed a reservoir model of the existing system and evaluated alternative interpretations of the rules under various hydrologic conditions.</div> <div> Based on the modeling results, we found that a system operation approach was the most efficient at meeting downstream flow objectives at Yuba City, Marysville, and downstream. This operating policy utilizes the current flow objectives and facilities most efficiently by coordinating the timing of flows at the confluence. We found also that release rate-of-change constraints, flood wave travel times, operating contingency factors, unregulated downstream flows, and headwater reservoir starting conditions influence system performance. Specifically, we found that (1) improved forecasting yields improvements in the operation of the system; (2) increased rate-of-change parameters may yield improvements in reservoir operations; (3) detailed hydraulic studies of channel capacities may yield improvements in the operation of the system as studies may show that currently-used objective flows can be increased.</div> <div> With the findings of this study, decision makers have information with which to make better-informed decisions regarding the coordinated operation of the New Bullards Bar and Oroville reservoirs for flood protection.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="24ab0560.jpg" border=0 width="432" height="342" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="10" VSPACE="10"></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <div>  </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>