04-11-2005, 02:34 AM
[black]Here's something I found on the F&G website that I thought some of you would find interesting[/black]
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[black]Even after six years of drought, Idaho trout have taken back a piece of river left dry for almost a century. [/black]
[black]More than four miles of dry river bed near Grace are receiving regulated flows of water for the first time since 1908 as result of the settlement agreement between PacifiCorp, settlement agreement between PacifiCorp, the company that produces electrical power in Southeast Idaho, and the natural resource agencies and recreational organizations. [/black]
[black]The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that provides licenses to operate hydropower facilities on rivers such as the Bear River requires that the needs for fish, wildlife and recreation be considered as well as the interests of hydropower. [/black]
[black]Conservationists, anglers and recreationists are delighted that water will again flow in these previously dewatered river sections. [/black]
[black]Idaho Fish and Game regional fisheries manager Dick Scully said "Restoring several miles of a river fishery in the midst of a six-year drought is pretty amazing." The agreement restores to previously dry river beds four and one-half miles of river below Grace Dam and one and one-half miles below Cove Dam if Cove decommissioning becomes a reality. It will restore aquatic life, recreate a fishery and provide water for fish, wildlife, plants, shore birds and more."
One of the stipulations in the new 30-year license that PacifiCorp received in December 2003 is that a minimum flow of 80 cfs be left in the Bear River at Grace. From 1908 until this new license was signed, PacifiCorp diverted all the Bear River's flow except when flow exceeded 960 cubic feet per second, the capacity of their hydropower flume. [/black]
[black]PacifiCorp could decommission the Cove Dam restoring another 1.3 miles of river. Cove Dam, built in 1917, diverted the entire Bear River flow from this 1.3-mile reach about six miles below the Grace Dam. The Cove project has not operated since 2003 because of flume maintenance problems and all the Bear River flow has stayed in the river channel. [/black]
[black]If the Cove project is decommissioned, this section of the river would continue to have abundant flow. Additionally, by removing the Cove Dam, native Bonneville cutthroat trout would be able to migrate freely between Oneida Reservoir near Preston, all the way up to Grace Dam. [/black]
[black]When hundreds of rainbow trout raised at Idaho Fish and Game's Grace Hatchery were stocked into the "new" river it marked a new era for the Department and for area anglers. [/black]
[black]"It is kind of amazing to think that fish will once again swim in river sections where they had been for thousands of years, but not for the last century," Scully said. "We will just have to wait to see how the fish do and how many anglers fish here." [/black]
[black]Fish and Game will regularly plant rainbow trout into these newly re-watered river sections so anglers can enjoy the benefits of the new PacifiCorp Bear River license. The stocked rainbows are sterile to prevent interbreeding with native Bonneville cutthroat trout which should repopulate this stretch of river over time. [/black]
[black]State, federal and private conservation organizations met with PacifiCorp for nearly 10 years to work out the agreement which contains several measures designed to help fish and wildlife along the Bear River. Under current federal guidelines for relicensing of hydropower facilities, fish, wildlife and recreation must also be considered. [/black]
[black]Scully recently visited the Grace and Cove Bear River projects where he checked water flows, water clarity and visited with half a dozen anglers. All the Idaho anglers were fishing in areas of the canyon that were spring-water fed or below Cove Dam diversion. He wondered if any trout had re entered a stretch of water between Cove Dam and the second part of the flume system that had water in it last year and this year. [/black]
[black]Checking the area, Scully encountered a family of fishermen from Utah. Using small beadhead flies they caught numerous rainbows. Their catch confirmed Scully's theory that rainbows planted below Cove Dam would move upstream using the newly created waters. [/black]
[black]Creation of a new fishery and restoration of aquatic habitat could not have come at a better time. Southeast Idaho waters are hard hit by drought. Chesterfield Reservoir, once a mainstay fishery, is dry. Blackfoot Reservoir is so low that native cutthroat trout and rainbow trout fisheries are severely limited. The enormous American Falls Reservoir has drained to under five percent the last four years by the end of summer. Other irrigation-controlled reservoirs in the region have fluctuated with several being drained. Migrating cutthroat trout numbers on the Upper Blackfoot River have dropped dramatically from nearly 5000 adult migrants headed up river in 2001 to a low of 120 last year.[/black]
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[black]Even after six years of drought, Idaho trout have taken back a piece of river left dry for almost a century. [/black]
[black]More than four miles of dry river bed near Grace are receiving regulated flows of water for the first time since 1908 as result of the settlement agreement between PacifiCorp, settlement agreement between PacifiCorp, the company that produces electrical power in Southeast Idaho, and the natural resource agencies and recreational organizations. [/black]
[black]The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that provides licenses to operate hydropower facilities on rivers such as the Bear River requires that the needs for fish, wildlife and recreation be considered as well as the interests of hydropower. [/black]
[black]Conservationists, anglers and recreationists are delighted that water will again flow in these previously dewatered river sections. [/black]
[black]Idaho Fish and Game regional fisheries manager Dick Scully said "Restoring several miles of a river fishery in the midst of a six-year drought is pretty amazing." The agreement restores to previously dry river beds four and one-half miles of river below Grace Dam and one and one-half miles below Cove Dam if Cove decommissioning becomes a reality. It will restore aquatic life, recreate a fishery and provide water for fish, wildlife, plants, shore birds and more."
One of the stipulations in the new 30-year license that PacifiCorp received in December 2003 is that a minimum flow of 80 cfs be left in the Bear River at Grace. From 1908 until this new license was signed, PacifiCorp diverted all the Bear River's flow except when flow exceeded 960 cubic feet per second, the capacity of their hydropower flume. [/black]
[black]PacifiCorp could decommission the Cove Dam restoring another 1.3 miles of river. Cove Dam, built in 1917, diverted the entire Bear River flow from this 1.3-mile reach about six miles below the Grace Dam. The Cove project has not operated since 2003 because of flume maintenance problems and all the Bear River flow has stayed in the river channel. [/black]
[black]If the Cove project is decommissioned, this section of the river would continue to have abundant flow. Additionally, by removing the Cove Dam, native Bonneville cutthroat trout would be able to migrate freely between Oneida Reservoir near Preston, all the way up to Grace Dam. [/black]
[black]When hundreds of rainbow trout raised at Idaho Fish and Game's Grace Hatchery were stocked into the "new" river it marked a new era for the Department and for area anglers. [/black]
[black]"It is kind of amazing to think that fish will once again swim in river sections where they had been for thousands of years, but not for the last century," Scully said. "We will just have to wait to see how the fish do and how many anglers fish here." [/black]
[black]Fish and Game will regularly plant rainbow trout into these newly re-watered river sections so anglers can enjoy the benefits of the new PacifiCorp Bear River license. The stocked rainbows are sterile to prevent interbreeding with native Bonneville cutthroat trout which should repopulate this stretch of river over time. [/black]
[black]State, federal and private conservation organizations met with PacifiCorp for nearly 10 years to work out the agreement which contains several measures designed to help fish and wildlife along the Bear River. Under current federal guidelines for relicensing of hydropower facilities, fish, wildlife and recreation must also be considered. [/black]
[black]Scully recently visited the Grace and Cove Bear River projects where he checked water flows, water clarity and visited with half a dozen anglers. All the Idaho anglers were fishing in areas of the canyon that were spring-water fed or below Cove Dam diversion. He wondered if any trout had re entered a stretch of water between Cove Dam and the second part of the flume system that had water in it last year and this year. [/black]
[black]Checking the area, Scully encountered a family of fishermen from Utah. Using small beadhead flies they caught numerous rainbows. Their catch confirmed Scully's theory that rainbows planted below Cove Dam would move upstream using the newly created waters. [/black]
[black]Creation of a new fishery and restoration of aquatic habitat could not have come at a better time. Southeast Idaho waters are hard hit by drought. Chesterfield Reservoir, once a mainstay fishery, is dry. Blackfoot Reservoir is so low that native cutthroat trout and rainbow trout fisheries are severely limited. The enormous American Falls Reservoir has drained to under five percent the last four years by the end of summer. Other irrigation-controlled reservoirs in the region have fluctuated with several being drained. Migrating cutthroat trout numbers on the Upper Blackfoot River have dropped dramatically from nearly 5000 adult migrants headed up river in 2001 to a low of 120 last year.[/black]
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