San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP) Flow Rates "Subway" Diagram

Introduction

The San Joaquin River Restoration Program (SJRRP) aims to restore a Chinook Salmon fishery to the 152 miles of river channel between Friant Dam and the confluence with the Merced River (Restoration Area). Flow rates are depicted in the Flow Rate "Subway" Diagram, with SJRRP Restoration Flow rates depicted at key gauging locations (shown in green). These Restoration Flows are protected in-stream for fish and wildlife and should not be diverted except for recapture authorized by Reclamation.

Methods

Above Merced Calculation

The "Above Merced Confluence" uses flow rates from multiple sites to estimate the flow. The multi-site flow estimate is defined as the lesser of:

1. SMN or
2. Combination Sites calculation, which is the greater of:
   1. NEW - MST,
   2. FFB + MSG(1 day prior), and
   3. SJS(1 day prior) + SSH(1 day prior) + MSG(1 day prior).

When a value is missing for combination sites calculations 2b or 2c, the missing value for an individual site is ignored (i.e., treated as 0).

Reach Balance Calculations

Reach Balance calculations use daily average flow (cfs) from multiple sites to estimate the loss or gain in each reach.

Reach 1: Friant Dam to Gravelly Ford

Reach 1 daily balance is equal the daily average flow (cfs) at GRF (downstream location) for the day minus the daily average flow (cfs) at MIL (upstream location) 3 days prior. Thus, water travel time is estimated across a 3-day moving window for this reach.

Reach 2A: Gravelly Ford to Bifurcation

Reach 2A daily balance is equal to the daily average flow (cfs) at SJB (downstream location) for the day minus the daily average flow (cfs) at GRF (upstream location) 1 day prior. Thus, water travel time is estimated across a 1-day moving window for this reach.

Reach 2B+3: Bifurcation to Sack Dam

Combined Reach 2B and Reach 3 daily balance is equal to the daily average flow (cfs) at SDP (downstream location) for the day minus the daily average flow (cfs) at SJB (upstream location) 1 day prior. Thus, water travel time is estimated across a 1-day moving window for this reach.

Reach 4A: Sack Dam to Head of 4B/ Sand Slough Bypss

Reach 4A daily balance is equal to the daily average flow (cfs) at SWA (downstream location) for the day minus the daily average flow (cfs) at SDP (upstream location) 1 day prior. Thus, water travel time is estimated across a 1-day moving window for this reach.

Eastside Bypass: Sand Slough Bypass to Stevinson

Eastside Bypass daily balance is equal to the lesser of the daily average flow (cfs), at SJS (downstream location) for the day or at EBM (mid-reach location) one day prior, minus the daily average flow (cfs) at SWA (upstream location) 3 days prior. Thus, water travel time is estimated across a 3-day moving window for this reach.

Reach 5: Stevinson to Merced River Confluence

Reach 5 daily balance is equal to the daily average flow (cfs) multi-site calculation for "Above Merced Confluence" (downstream estimate) for the day minus the lesser of daily average flow (cfs), at SJS (upstream location) 1 day prior or at EMB 2 days prior.

Flow Sites Table

Flow Data Sites used in Reach and Above Merced Calculations

Location Name	Site Code with Metadata link	Reach Balance	Source	County	Operator
San Joaquin R, Friant Dam (Millerton) (MIL)	MIL	Reach 1	CDEC	Fresno	US Bureau of Reclamation
San Joaquin R at Gravelly Ford (GRF)	GRF	Reach 1, Reach 2A	CDEC	Fresno	US Bureau of Reclamation
San Joaquin R, blw Bifurcation (SJB)	SJB	Reach 2A, Reach 3	CDEC	Madera	US Bureau of Reclamation
San Joaquin R, near Dos Palos (SDP)	SDP	Reach 3, Reach 4A	CDEC	Fresno	CA Dept of Water Resources/South Central Region Office
San Joaquin R, Washington Road (SWA)	SWA	Reach 4A, Eastside	CDEC	Merced	CA Dept of Water Resources/South Central Region Office
San Joaquin R, Eastside Bypass blw Mariposa (EBM)	EBM	Eastside, Reach 5	CDEC	Merced	CA Dept of Water Resources/South Central Region Office
San Joaquin R, Stevinson (SJS)	SJS	Eastside, Reach 5	CDEC	Merced	CA Dept of Water Resources/South Central Region Office
San Joaquin R, Salt Slough (SSH)	SSH	Reach 5, Above Merced Confluence multi-site estimate	CDEC	Merced	US Geological Survey
San Joaquin R, Fremont Ford (FFB)	FFB	Reach 5, Above Merced Confluence multi-site estimate	CDEC	Merced	US Geological Survey
San Joaquin R, Mud Slough (MSG)	MSG	Reach 5, Above Merced Confluence multi-site estimate	CDEC	Merced	US Geological Survey
San Joaquin R, near Newman abv Merced R (SMN)	SMN	Reach 5, Above Merced Confluence multi-site estimate	CDEC	Stanislaus	US Geological Survey
Merced R near Stevinson (MST)	MST	Reach 5, Above Merced Confluence multi-site estimate	CDEC	Merced	CA Dept of Water Resources/South Central Region Office
San Joaquin R, near Newman (NEW)	NEW	Reach 5, Above Merced Confluence multi-site estimate	CDEC	Merced	US Geological Survey

Data Notes

• San Joaquin River Restoration Program website.
• Restoration Year is from March 1 through end of February the following year.
• Data extracted from SJRRP Operations spreadsheet provided by USBR.
• Where available, data courtesy of CDEC between the most recent SJRRP Operations spreadsheet data and yesterday are used.