Publication

RiverEyes Observations in the Middle Rio Grande for the 2013 Irrigation Season

URL: https://webapps.usgs.gov/mrgescp/documents/Hatch-et-al_2013_RiverEyes-Observations-for-2013.pdf

Date: 2013/12/01

Author(s): Hatch M.D., Dodge P., Pargas G.

Publication: Prepared for U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Prepared by SWCA Environmental Consultants, 40 p.

Abstract:

Reconnaissance of portions of the Middle Rio Grande is mandated by Reasonable and Prudent Alternative Element C of the 2003 Biological Opinion (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2003). Such reconnaissance is conducted under the project commonly referred to as “RiverEyes.” RiverEyes monitoring must be performed when flows are less than 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) at San Acacia Diversion Dam. RiverEyes provides current information on river flows that allow action agencies to react quickly to rapidly changing conditions on the river, facilitate coordination among the agencies to prevent unexpected drying, and prepare for Rio Grande silvery minnow (Hybognathus amarus) rescues.

Hydrologic conditions were monitored daily from May 7 (i.e., the date of receipt of the fully enacted contract) to September 30, 2013, and from October 17 through October 31, 2013, to document spatial and temporal effects of low flow regimes. There was a 16-day hiatus in observations from October 1 through October 16, 2013, as a consequence of a shutdown of functions of the federal government deemed nonessential. Channel drying was restricted to the Isleta and San Acacia reaches over the period of monitoring. The location and extent of channel drying varied over the period of monitoring in response to the magnitude and variance of instream flow, including flow dynamics linked to localized and regional storm events, as well as out-of-channel diversion of water. The location and extent of channel drying also appears to vary with macrotopographic features of the river and its adjacent corridor. Notable among these features is the elevation of the streambed relative to that of adjacent segments of drain canals that parallel the river (e.g., the river is more likely to remain wetted where the elevation of the river is equal or lower than that of adjacent drain canals).