2025 Changes to Environmental Flow

The Trinity River Variable Flow Project Environmental Assessment recommends changes to current environmental flow management including a synchronized flow release and an increase to baseflows during the wet season. Managing environmental flow is important for improving food sources and habitat for Trinity River salmonids, like salmon and steelhead.

The implementation window for the first period of approved changes (the synchronized storm pulse period) begins Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024.

There are two additions to past practiced restoration flow releases

Synchronized Flow Period (Dec. 15 – Feb. 15)

Wet-Season Baseflow Period (Feb. 16 – Apr. 15)

Snow Melt Peak and Recession Period (Apr. 16 – variable)

In April, the Program plans to implement spring snow melt releases with remaining available water based on the California Department of Water Resources April 2025 water year determination.

Ways to Stay Informed

The Trinity River Restoration Program will announce details regarding; flow action changes, ways to stay informed and notification timelines as they develop.

If you have questions, please contact the Trinity River Restoration Program office at 530/623-1800 or by emailing your question to info@trrp.net.

Realtime Flow Chart

Most data shown here are from the USGS via the waterservices site, plus the USBR and CDWR via the California Data Exchange. Data are provisional and may be recalculated before final approval. The TRRP site checks for new sub-daily values every 15 minutes and for new daily values twice per day. Note that “Full Natural Flow” is an automated estimate from CDWR of the flow that would naturally pass the Trinity Dam site if unimpeded – it is very sensitive to small variations in lake level measurements that may result in negative values when flows would naturally be low, but is more useful for storm events, snowmelt, and averages over longer times. The graphic for water released to the Trinity River versus the water diverted to the Central Valley tends to show higher values for the river ​until summer, when water exports ​to the Central Valley ​typically increase. Click here for a summary of Trinity River flow volumes.