Category: Crooked River

Crooked River Flows

Yancy Lind

Prineville Res Level

Yesterday, Jeff Perin of The Fly Fishers Place in Sisters had a Facebook post about flows out of Prineville Reservoir into the Crooked River being too high. They are certainly too high for any fishing. The flows into the reservoir are 1,625 cfs but the flows out are 2,662 cfs.  So, what gives?  I have not talked to anyone at the Bureau of Reclamation (BoR) about this, and am loathe to defend them given their record of almost never adequately considering fish and wildlife in their release decisions, but I don’t think that the current release level into the Crooked is too high for the current conditions – although it certainly reached what could be disastrous levels for trout just a few days ago.Read More »

Crooked River Flows Going Up Fast

Yancy Lind

Today the US Bureau of Reclamation is increasing flows out of Prineville Reservoir into the Crooked River from 93 to 250 cfs and to 500 cfs tomorrow. Flows will likely be raised higher in the coming days and stay that way for some time. There is a large snowpack in the Ochoco Mountains and it is raining. Flows into the reservoir are now at 2,500 cfs and the BOR is switching to flood control mode.

Upper Basin Anadromous Fry Stocking

Yancy Lind

 

Crooked River Canyon
Lower Crooked River Canyon

This spring marks the last stocking of fry as part of the upper Deschutes Basin salmon and steelhead reintroduction effort. Yesterday I was part of the crew helping with the final chinook salmon fry stocking and backpacked fry into the lower Crooked River canyon as well as where Alder Springs meets Whychus Creek not far from the middle Deschutes. As I wrote about here, the reintroduction effort has been a disappointment for many reasons one of which is the unsuccessful fry stocking effort and a new approach is needed.Read More »

Crooked River Water Outlook

Yancy Lind

Here is a recent report from the Bureau of Reclamation on the water outlook for Prineville Reservoir.  As you can see on page 3, a few days ago the reservoir was 35% full and flows into the Crooked River were only 49 cfs (47 cfs today), which is below the target set by ODFW for fish needs and the 80 cfs target in the Crooked River legislation.  In summary, the BOR presentation implies that the outlook is not promising for the reservoir to fill which means flows into the Crooked River next winter after irrigation season ends will also likely be low.  Keep reading for some commentary on the presentation prepared by BOR.Read More »

Bend Bulletin Article on Crooked River Flows

Yancy Lind

A reporter at the Bend Bulletin saw my post on the potential for a fish kill on the Crooked River this winter and wrote this article.  If you’ve ever been quoted for an article you know how it can be a frustrating experience.  So it almost goes without saying that I would have written the story differently but I think the reporter did a good job overall of capturing the big picture of what is currently happening on the Crooked River and the challenges it faces this winter.

 

 

Another fish kill coming to the Crooked?

Yancy Lind

Crooked in winter

As Central Oregon anglers know, fish populations in the Crooked River can wildly fluctuate.  When there is adequate flow for a few years the fishing can be excellent.  On the other hand, a variety of factors including low flows combined with freezing temperatures can create massive fish kills.  The last of these events happened in the winter of 2015-2016 when trout populations dropped from 1,383/km to 185/km, the lowest ever recorded.  Based on current water management plans, such a kill could happen again this winter.Read More »