§ 460m-28. — Flow management.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC460m-28]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 1--NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES
SUBCHAPTER LXXI-A--NEW RIVER GORGE NATIONAL RIVER
Sec. 460m-28. Flow management
(a) Findings
The Congress finds that adjustments of flows from Bluestone Lake
project during periods of low flow are necessary to respond to the
congressional mandate contained in section 460m-23 of this title and
that such adjustments could enhance the quality of the recreational
experience in the segments of the river below the lake during those
periods as well as protect the biological resources of the river.
(b) Report to Congress required
The Secretary of the Army, in conjunction with the Secretary of the
Interior, shall conduct a study and prepare a report under this section.
The report shall be submitted to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the United States Senate and the Committee on Interior and
Insular Affairs of the United States House of Representatives not later
than December 31, 1989. Before submission of the report to these
Committees, a draft of the report shall be made available for public
comment. The final report shall include the comments submitted by the
Secretary of the Interior and the public, together with the response of
the Secretary of the Army to those comments.
(c) Contents of study
The study under this section shall examine the feasibility of
adjusting the timing of daily releases from Bluestone Lake project
during periods when flows from the lake are less than three thousand
cubic feet per second. The purpose of such adjustment shall be to
improve recreation (including, but not limited to, fishing and
whitewater recreation) in the New River Gorge National River. Any such
adjustments in the timing of flows which are proposed in such report
shall be consistent with other project purposes and shall not have
significant adverse effects on fishing or on any other form of
recreation in Bluestone Lake or in any segment of the river below
Bluestone Lake. The study shall assess the effects of such flow
adjustments on the quality of recreation on the river in the segments of
the river between Hinton and Thurmond and between Thurmond and the
downstream boundary of the New River Gorge National River, taking into
account the levels of recreational visitation in each of such segments.
(d) Test procedures
As part of the study under this section, the Secretary of the Army
shall conduct test releases from Bluestone Lake project during twenty-
four-hour periods during the summer of 1989 when flows are less than
three thousand cubic feet per second from the project. All such
adjustments shall conform to the criteria specified in subsection (c) of
this section. The tests shall provide adjustments in the timing of daily
flows from Bluestone Lake project which permit flows higher than the
twenty-four-hour average to reach downstream recreational segments of
the river during morning and afternoon hours. The tests shall develop
specific data on the effects of flow adjustments on the speed of the
current and on water surface levels in those segments. No test shall be
conducted when flows from the lake are less than one thousand seven
hundred cubic feet per second and no test shall reduce flows below that
level.
(Pub. L. 95-625, title XI, Sec. 1115, as added Pub. L. 100-534, title I,
Sec. 104, Oct. 26, 1988, 102 Stat. 2701.)
Change of Name
Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of
Representatives changed to Committee on Natural Resources of the House
of Representatives on Jan. 5, 1993, by House Resolution No. 5, One
Hundred Third Congress. Committee on Natural Resources of House of
Representatives treated as referring to Committee on Resources of House
of Representatives by section 1(a) of Pub. L. 104-14, set out as a note
preceding section 21 of Title 2, The Congress.
