Some alt text Lake Marie, Snowy Mountains Wyoming Wind River Range picture

Bear River Basin Advisory Group
Meeting Record
Kemmerer, WY
November 18, 2002

Welcome
Facilitator Sherri Gregory-Schreiner welcomed the group and the meeting was called to order at 6:02 p.m. All attendees introduced themselves, followed by a review of the overall meeting agenda. A sign-in sheet was passed around to record attendance. The next meeting is scheduled for March 24 in Cokeville.

Water Development Commission Report
Barry Lawrence updated the BAG on the status of the plans for the other basins. The BAGs for the Wind/Bighorn and the Snake/Salt Basins will be meeting December 17 in Powell and December 18 in Jackson; whereas the BAGS for the Green, Powder/Tongue and Northeast Wyoming Basins will be meeting November 19 in Green River, November 20 in Sheridan and November 21 in Moorcroft. Barry discussed the status of all basin studies, including the Platte River Basin, and schedule for future meetings.

Jodie Pavlica provided details on the proposed Smiths Fork Flume installation and the Cokeville Reservoir projects.

Storage Restrictions from Low Bear Lake Levels
Don Shoemaker of the State Engineer.s Office discussed the anticipated problems with filling the reservoirs in the basin during 2003. He reviewed pre- 1955, 1955, and amended compact water rights and how they are related to Bear Lake levels, and more specifically, the trigger at surface elevation 5911.

PacifiCorp Settlement Agreement
Jim Mende, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, discussed the agreement among 13 parties for the FERC relicensing of the Bear River hydroelectric projects. The Soda, Grace/Cove and Oneida facilities are the 3 components of the Bear River project. He addressed the Protection, Mitigation and Enhancement portion of the settlement agreement, which included the Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, implementation of minimum flows in the Grace bypassed section, and the formation of an Environmental Coordination Committee.

Bear River Basin Water Quality Study Update
Eric Duffin and Scott Evans, Cirrus Ecological Solutions, reviewed the scope of work for the TMDL study, and summarized the approved, pending, and in- process TMDL plans in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. They discussed the pollutants of concern in the three states as well as the dollars spent toward water quality improvements. The final report is due March 2003. A demonstration of the TMDL listing/GIS database was presented.

Drought in Wyoming
Jan Curtis, Wyoming State Climatologist, discussed the current drought. The Palmer Drought severity index indicates that this area experiences drought 20% of the time. He summarized current projections, the drought triggers, and cloud seeding activities in Utah.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.