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Scott River: Flows Approaching Minimum Flow Requirement
The State Water Resource Control Board’s Emergency Regulation provides authority to curtail water rights to meet minimum instream flow requirements. In the Scott River watershed, the minimum flow requirement is 50 cubic feet per second (cfs) at the Fort Jones United States Geologic Survey (Fort Jones USGS gage) in July and 30 cfs in August.
Since June 4, 2024, flows at the Fort Jones gage have been on a steady decline dropping from 1,170 cfs to 129 cfs as of 10:30 am today (July 3rd). With no forecasted precipitation in the Scott River watershed and temperatures forecast to increase, flows are expected to continue an overall decreasing trend and are anticipated to approach or fall below the minimum flow requirement in July.
Diverters are encouraged to coordinate and reduce diversions in the near term as flows decrease. Such concerted efforts may allow flows to remain above the minimum flow requirement or may limit the depth or duration of curtailment.
The State Water Board is monitoring the hydrology in Scott River watershed and is hopeful that concerted local coordination in the watershed to address water demands and meet the flow requirement can impact the timing of curtailments. You can track the current flow at the Fort Jones USGS gage by visiting the Fort Jones USGS gage’s webpage here (note: click the “Discharge, cubic feet per second” option under the “Select data to graph” section near the bottom of the page to see the flow in cfs).
If flows are anticipated to drop below the 50 cfs at the Fort Jones USGS gage in the month of July or 30 cfs in the month of August, the State Water Board will issue Curtailment Orders for the Scott River watershed requiring the curtailments to meet and maintain the minimum flow requirement.
If you would like to receive email updates about the emergency regulation for the Scott River and Shasta River watersheds, please sign up for the State Water Board’s “Scott-Shasta Drought” email subscription list under “Water Rights” at: California Water Boards (govdelivery.com).
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