A co-worker told me today that when he was driving to our carpool pick-up, he crossed over the Jordan by the Smith's in Lehi. He said the river is raging super high. Apparently they have opened the gates. TubeDude, will this drop the lake level in the next several weeks before runnoff starts? If anyone is planning on fishing the Jordan below the pumps, know that it is a completely different river than it was the other day.
[signature]
[cool][#0000ff]That is a surprise, but not unexpected, I guess. The lake was just about to spill over the control boards at the pumps. There is a big snowpack and a lot of runoff yet to come. I doubt that the lake will be drained. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are likely to be some minor fluctuations in Utah Lake level over the next two or three months, but I am guessing that they are going to be releasing more water from Deer Creek too. It is still at a good level from last year, as is Jordanelle. They probably cannot hold all of the snowmelt that is due to come into them soon, so they have to dump water in advance. Otherwise the dams will spill and really create downstream problems.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Right now, Utah Lake is the highest it has been for several years. It is probably at least three or four feet higher than it was at this time last year, and never did get as high as it is now, even at the peak of runoff last summer. I doubt that it will drop too much, if any, even with the open gates at the pumps.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There are several factors at work in determining the lake level they maintain. First is the rights and needs of the downstream Jordan River water users. That is not an issue at present, because there is no irrigation. Second is the capacity of Utah Lake, which has almost been reached. Third is the DWR concerns for spawning conditions for fish that use the tributaries for their annual runs. The biggest concerns are for walleye and June suckers. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Anglers and other Utah Lake water recreationists don't have much say in the matter. But, it sure does affect us when we have to keep re-learning the lake after every big change.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Thanks for the report. We will all be monitoring the results.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
All I can say is - YAHOOOOO! Every time they open those gates it lets a BUNCHA fish down into the river & after they close them & go to pumping there'll be some prime fishing there below the gates for a good while.
[signature]
This is a good thing. There is only one bad thing about it.
Flooding.
It is definitely going to flood this year. Once Deer Creek reaches full capacity, they are going to have to let out the run-off. Deer creek is almost completely full. Look at the mountains, Look at the surface area of Utah lake.
Even if they keep the gates open all year long, you still won't see much fluctuation.
Look out spring! Here I come!
[signature]
[font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][size 2]I posted this in another thread, but I think you'd find it intersting here, too:
[/size]
Some sites of interest for flow data:
[url "http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ut/nwis/current/?type=flow"]USGS Real-Time Flow Data[/url]
[url "http://www.cuwcd.com/operations/tables/"]CUWCD Flow Data[/url]
There are other real-time flow sites, but these are the most pertinent to the UL/Jordan River System.
lurechucker [/size][/black][/font][/size][/black][/font]
[signature]
If Deer creek and Jordanelle have steady water levels the fish will have a better spawn...
..
[signature]