05-16-2012, 04:18 AM
Thanks to FSBO_SLAYER, I went to the USGS streamflow website at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ut/nwis/current/?type=flow and found the following information for 05/15 20:45 MDT :
PROVO RIVER NEAR WOODLAND, UT 4.55 878 758 -- --
PROVO RIVER NEAR HAILSTONE, UT 8.01 866 1,019 --
PROVO RIV AT RIV ROAD BRIDGE NR HEBER CITY, UT 0.85 151 294
PROVO RIVER NEAR CHARLESTON, UT 3.74 173 474 --
PROVO RIVER AT PROVO, UT 5.68 490 328
In each case, the first number is the gauge height, the second number is the discharge, and the third number is the long-term mean flow, which I interpret to mean the long-term average flow.
What all the numbers boil down to is don't fish the lower Provo (including Provo Canyon) unless you like high water. Above Deer Creek, however, the flows seem to be lower than usual.
That raises another question in my mind. A week or two ago, the water in the lower Provo was quite low and perfect for my kind of fly fishing. When I checked late last week, however, it was much higher. Since the flow in this part of the river depends on how wide they open the floodgates at Deer Creek dam, I'm wondering why they are letting so much down the lower Provo right now (way above average) when the flows into Deer Creek (at Charleston and Heber) are below average. Does it have to do with providing water for the June Sucker spawn, or is it related to crops and irrigation? Most important, is there any way of predicting what the lower Provo River flow will be next week, or the week after that?
I just posted this same message on the general Utah Fishing board, but I thought that it might be more interesting or productive to post it here with the fly fishers. Please forgive the duplication.
[signature]
PROVO RIVER NEAR WOODLAND, UT 4.55 878 758 -- --
PROVO RIVER NEAR HAILSTONE, UT 8.01 866 1,019 --
PROVO RIV AT RIV ROAD BRIDGE NR HEBER CITY, UT 0.85 151 294
PROVO RIVER NEAR CHARLESTON, UT 3.74 173 474 --
PROVO RIVER AT PROVO, UT 5.68 490 328
In each case, the first number is the gauge height, the second number is the discharge, and the third number is the long-term mean flow, which I interpret to mean the long-term average flow.
What all the numbers boil down to is don't fish the lower Provo (including Provo Canyon) unless you like high water. Above Deer Creek, however, the flows seem to be lower than usual.
That raises another question in my mind. A week or two ago, the water in the lower Provo was quite low and perfect for my kind of fly fishing. When I checked late last week, however, it was much higher. Since the flow in this part of the river depends on how wide they open the floodgates at Deer Creek dam, I'm wondering why they are letting so much down the lower Provo right now (way above average) when the flows into Deer Creek (at Charleston and Heber) are below average. Does it have to do with providing water for the June Sucker spawn, or is it related to crops and irrigation? Most important, is there any way of predicting what the lower Provo River flow will be next week, or the week after that?
I just posted this same message on the general Utah Fishing board, but I thought that it might be more interesting or productive to post it here with the fly fishers. Please forgive the duplication.
[signature]