Lower Provo River and Hobble Creek Flow Recommendations

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Lower Provo River and Hobble Creek Flow Recommendations

Lower Provo River and Hobble Creek Flow Recommendations

BIO-WEST completed two distinct tasks for the Utah Reclamation, Mitigation and Conservation Commission. Task 1 involved refining a year-round flow regime and providing specific flow recommendations for the lower Provo River and Hobble Creek in Utah County, Utah, to provide habitat for June sucker spawning and recruitment as well as protect the entire riverine ecosystem. Components of Task 1 included:

•   assessing springtime rising limb and peak flow/dual peak occurrences,

•   assessing water temperature data during base-flow conditions,

•   and developing draft and final reports.

Task 2 involved developing a suite of year-round flow-regime recommendations for lower Hobble Creek in Utah County, Utah, to provide habitat for June sucker spawning and recruitment as well as protect that entire riverine ecosystem. These recommendations were of particular importance in light of anticipated future deliveries of imported water to Hobble Creek scheduled to begin in 2011 as part of the Utah Lake System project, a component of the Central Utah Project. Specific components of Task 2 included:

•   determining instream flow-related ecological requirements of lower Hobble Creek with special emphasis on June sucker life history and habitat requirements;

•   applying the framework developed for Provo River instream flow recommendations to lower Hobble Creek;

•   developing recommendations for flows during dry, wet, and average water years;

•   monitoring summertime water temperature;

•   compiling existing hydrological and biological information for lower Hobble Creek;

•   and identifying information gaps.