Project Setting Sample Clauses

Project Setting. Declaration and Objectives

Project Setting. The Shasta River watershed, is located 22 miles south of the California/Oregon border. As shown in Figure 1, Shasta River is located in the Klamath River Basin and is considered an important tributary to the Klamath River. The extent of this project within the Shasta River Watershed, includes the irrigated acreage along the mainstem of the Shasta River from the mouth to ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Reservoir, as well as irrigated acreage along Parks Creek, Big Springs Creek, Little Shasta River, Oregon Slough, and Willow Creek. Pursuant to Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, the Shasta River was listed by the EPA as impaired for organic enrichment/dissolved oxygen in 1992, and as impaired for temperature in 1994. Low dissolved oxygen concentrations and elevated water temperatures in the Shasta River and its tributaries have negatively affected the river’s ability provide adequate spawning, reproduction, and rearing habitat for salmonid species, including ESA listed Coho salmon, along with Steelhead and Chinook. It is believed that elevated temperature and low dissolved oxygen are primary reasons that populations of anadromous salmonoid populations in the Shasta River and throughout the Klamath River watershed have declined dramatically over the last half century. The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board has identified tailwater return flows as one of the five primary factors affecting elevated stream temperatures in the Shasta River watershed. Accordingly, in order to improve habitat conditions in the Shasta Valley watershed, tailwater reduction planning efforts are imperative.