The Upper Tuolumne River Ecosystem Program: Rim Fire

Monday, August 26, 2013

Rim Fire

The Rim Fire, which began on August 17th near Jawbone Ridge, has now burned through a majority of the UTREP study area. Firefighting efforts are ongoing; updates can be obtained from Inciweb and CalFire. Several other resources are available online to track the Rim Fire, including ESRI's Rim Fire map and the KPCC fire tracker, and the Twitter feeds of Yosemite National Park Fire Management and CalFire.

About the Program

The Tuolumne River is located on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada in central California. With headwaters in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne flows westward 150 miles to its confluence with the San Joaquin River in California's Central Valley.

The Upper Tuolumne River Ecosystem Program (UTREP) is a collaborative, long-term, science-based river management program led by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC).

The UTREP monitors river ecosystem conditions and develops recommendations for river management downstream of Hetch Hetchy Project facilities to support broad river ecosystem values, while maintaining water supply reliability for 2.6 million San Francisco Bay Area customers and providing clean hydropower for San Francisco municipal facilities.

Scientific collaborators include Yosemite National Park, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Stanislaus National Forest, consultants, researchers, and academics.

STATUS: UTREP efforts are currently focused on technical review and revision of the O'Shaughnessy Dam Instream Flow Management Plan and routine annual monitoring.