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Committee asks consultant to evaluate drawdown feasibility but flags public works constraints
Summary
Members asked the consultant to evaluate drawdown as a mitigation option, but flagged regulatory impacts on wildlife and the uncertain condition of hoisting equipment and gate valves; public works may not have capacity to operate drawdown without further assessment.
Committee members discussed drawdown as a mitigation alternative and whether it should remain on the table for the adaptive management consultant to evaluate.
Dan (speaker 7) and Delia (speaker 4) noted that drawdown greater than about three feet could trigger regulatory review and require wildlife or habitat evaluations. Delia also cautioned that public works had not recently operated the gate valve and that attempting to use it without inspection could risk breakage: "They have not operated that gate valve, which means at this point in time, we probably don't even wanna touch it because it could create a whole problem if it breaks."
Members agreed to ask the consultant to assess the practicality and cost of drawdown as part of the RFP, but several emphasized that consultant evaluation time (estimated tens of hours) could increase the cost and that the committee should be clear about whether drawdown is on or off the table from the outset.
