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.
October through the end of the year is one of my favorite times to fish the lower Deschutes River. The crowds are gone and the trout are still there. On Halloween a friend and I had a good day. One of the trout I landed measured at just under 18”. The bonus was this hatchery steelhead which was a thrill to land using trout gear. Nevertheless, the outlook for wild Deschutes steelhead remains bleak.Read More »
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 »
I have written about ocean warming and the dramatic decline in steelhead and salmon populations. Most recently, I posted about commercial salmon fishing belatedly being declared an official disaster. Here’s a related NOAA report and a State of Oregon report on ocean acidification. Scientists have had a clear understanding of global warming for 40 years but we continue to study the problem. I just don’t get it: you don’t study fire while watching your house burn down.Read More »
The Basin Study Work Group was a multiyear study of water issues, primarily centered on the upper Deschutes River, which concluded last week. The Deschutes River Conservancy did an excellent job of shepherding the effort, producing valuable studies that added to our knowledge of how water is managed and strategies that could be used to conserve it, although none of them are required to be implemented. The final meeting ended with participants congratulating each other for a job well done which, for me, crystallized the failures of the process, including the catastrophic draining of Wickiup Reservoir this summer.
Unfortunately, as of the end of September things still look pretty bleak for wild fish this season. The trap at Sherars Falls has captured a total of 44 wild steelhead. Only 3 of these have made it to the the trap at the bottom of the Pelton Round Butte complex (Lake Billy Chinook, etc.). Two of those are actually hatchery steelhead that were released above Lake Billy Chinook but did not have their adipose fins clipped. As I detailed in a series of posts starting here, these fish could be on a path to extinction in the not too distant future.
The US Secretary of Commerce has declared that commercial salmon fishing along the west coast from 2015 through 2017 was a disaster. (It’s no better this year and steelhead are also in critical condition.) The determination provides economic assistance for commercial fishing communities. This recognition is welcome but it seems to me that it would be equally important to fix the root causes. Without this the desired “rebound” will not occur.
Last week I sent an email to the Bend Bulletin pointing out that their coverage of low levels in Wickiup Reservoir was inaccurate when it assigned partial blame to the endangered Oregon Spotted Frog. Flows for the frog out of Wickiup into the upper Deschutes River are in the winter only and Wickiup was completely full when irrigation season began. I was happy the Bulletin published a new article today that correctly identifies last winter’s low snow pack as the culprit for low water levels, but this new article also fails to address another important issue. Why where no mitigating actions taken? There are strategies that could have reduced the draw down. Read More »
Wickiup and Crane Prairie reservoirs on the upper Deschutes River were constructed to hold water for irrigation releases from Bend to Madras. Wickiup is currently at its lowest level since 1952, and it may get lower. As of September 20th Wickiup is only 2% full. Until recently, Wickiup had some of the best kokanee fishing in the state and excellent trout fishing as well. This popular fishery is now gone.Read More »
Today I talked to the ODFW biologist in charge of the lower Deschutes. He said that it was too early to know how many wild steelhead would return this season but if he had to guess it would be similar to last year, which was one of the lowest on record. He was optimistic, however, that the population would recover if conditions improved. As I have discussed on this blog, that’s a very big if and trend is not encouraging. He acknowledged that less angling pressure would benefit wild fish but thought that I went too far to state that it was immoral to target them. While I really want to fish the lower Deschutes, for now I am going to focus on coastal rivers where counts are at or above their 10 year averages. Hopefully, counts on the Deschutes will significantly climb over the next couple of months.
I was wandering around various angling conservation websites and came across “How does catch and release affect steelhead?” on the Wild Steelhead Coalition website. It was a summary of a study done on the Bulkley River in British Columbia. The primary takeaways for me are that I will continue to avoid steelheading on the Deschutes for now and I need to start using a net. Like many fly anglers, I land a steelhead by bringing it close enough to grab by the tail before removing the hook. The study showed that “tailed” fish had higher levels of stress than netted fish.Read More »
The following is a guest column I submitted to the Bend Bulletin a while back but which has not been published. It is a summary of some recent blog posts that I believe are worth further exposure in a timely manner.
Last year was one of the poorest on record for steelhead in the Deschutes. After some initial optimism for a modest rebound, the forecast for returns this season has been lowered to be even worse. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has now closed the entire Columbia River and lower John Day River to steelhead retention. ODFW went further and asked anglers to avoid steelhead fishing altogether for the remainder of the year. Wild steelhead are currently on a path to extinction in the Deschutes and entire Columbia Basin.Read More »
After 10 years of effort it is clear that the current approach to reintroducing anadromous fish into the upper Deschutes Basin above the Pelton Round Butte project is not producing acceptable results. Fisheries managers acknowledge this but often state that it will take more time. They reply that it has been over 50 years since these fish were cut off from their traditional spawning grounds and reintroduction is a complex problem. This is true, but I believe the current dire state of steelhead returns to the Deschutes River should provide impetus to take bolder action. This is a long post, but worth reading if you care about the future of steelhead in the Deschutes River.Read More »
Long time fisheries activist Jim Myron, now working with The Conservation Angler, wrote to inform me of an Oregon state law that is relevant to my most recent post about the immorality of fishing for steelhead on the Deschutes at this point in time.
He states:
ORS 496.012 requires the state to “prevent serious depletion of any indigenous species…” This has gone way beyond serious depletion and we are looking at extinction on the horizon.
As local anglers know, the 2017/2018 steelhead season was bleak, adult returns were one of the lowest on record. After some initial optimism for at least a modest rebound, this season now looks to be even worse. A few days ago Oregon and Washington lowered their forecast for returns and closed the Columbia River and parts of some tributaries to steelhead fishing for the rest of the year. We anglers are now faced with a moral issue: even if most of the Deschutes remains open, can we afford to further stress and potentially kill the small numbers of wild fish that do return? See below to make your own informed decision.Read More »
I got back from my latest fishing excursion (that’s a measured 27” wild, native rainbow trout) and saw The Bulletin published an editorial last Friday about the Deschutes River Alliance’s lawsuit being dismissed. What bothered me in their editorial was the use of the DRA’s tagline of cooler, cleaner water for the Deschutes. The facts on this topic are well established. The quantity of water in Lake Billy Chinook is not sufficient to keep the lower Deschutes “cooler” for the entire summer and “cleaner” is largely a function of agricultural and urban water runoff. Read More »
The Deschutes River Alliance has argued for years that PGE/CTWS’s attempt to reintroduce anadromous fish into the upper Deschutes Basin has harmed the Deschutes River below the Pelton Round Butte complex of dams. As part of their advocacy the DRA brought a lawsuit against PGE/CTWS claiming that the project violated the Clean Water Act. On Monday the suit was dismissed for lacking “material fact”. Read More »
Fires on the lower Deschutes this year are the worst in memory. I have been told that it looks like this from Mack’s Canyon almost to the mouth as well as in many places above Mack’s. The main campgrounds above Mack’s along the dirt road have been saved but most of the campgrounds below are burned to the ground, including many of the outhouses. It’s going to be tough camping for floaters for a while. The good news is that early summer steelhead numbers are reasonable although the river temps in the lower most stretches are too hot in the afternoon to safely land fish. The sick joke is that it’s time to get out your single hand rods again as there is plenty of room to back cast.
Most anadromous smolts outmigrate in the spring. While a few stragglers may still move through the system over the remainder of the year, at this point we have a pretty complete count of this year’s totals for fish moving from the Crooked, Metolius, and upper Deschutes rivers to the Selective Water Withdrawal tower in Lake Billy Chinook where they are captured and then released into the lower Deschutes.
|
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|
| CHS |
21,261 |
19,071 |
15,418 |
16,997 |
29,785 |
19,965 |
| STS |
2,733 |
2,127 |
3,702 |
4,024 |
10,708 |
8,881 |
| SOC |
25,265 |
155,031 |
38,702 |
49,497 |
439,458 |
47,392 |
CHS are chinook, STS are steelhead, and SOC are sockeye. There’s some good news and some bad news in these figures.Read More »
Not long ago I was one of the volunteers who helped ODFW with their annual trout survey on the Crooked River. As reported in The Bulletin, it appears that trout numbers have rebounded from their recent record lows and are now up to 3,500 a mile. This is welcome news, but it is only part of the story.Read More »
The Deschutes River Alliance recently released their 2017 lower Deschutes water quality study. I admire their continued efforts to be stewards of the lower Deschutes. I also remain critical of their work and have a simple question: if the water quality of the lower Deschutes is so bad then why are the fish so healthy and abundant? As an angler, that’s what I really care about. Perhaps the DRA should spend more time studying the fish and less time speculating about what may or may not happen to them based on their views of water quality.Read More »
(I stole the photo of Camp Polk Meadow Preserve and Whychus Creek from the Deschutes Land Trust website. Photo credit: Russ McMillan.)
When the reintroduction effort began a major focus was the restoration of Whychus Creek, a tributary of the middle Deschutes. The thought was that steelhead in particular would target Whychus as they are not native to the Metolius and the Crooked River is blocked by Opal Springs Dam. Restoring Whychus Creek would also provide dramatically improved habitat for wild, native species, in particular redband trout. This restoration effort was spearheaded by the Deschutes Partnership who purchased sections of the creek for restoration, worked on restoring flows, and performed habitat improvement, along with state and federal agencies. It was and continues to be a long-term, expensive effort. Some progress has been made but there’s still a long way to go.Read More »
I had a request to post the bull trout redd survey data. As you can see, there has not been a significant drop recently. There is also hydroacoustic data that shows a continued steady population of bull trout in Lake Billy Chinook. The big drop in 2006 is correlated with a drop in the kokanee population, the bull’s primary food source, after the bulls became too numerous to be supported by the ecosystem. Note that the redd count has stayed fairly constant since then and at a level above pre-SWW levels.
At last week’s fisheries workshop, ODFW gave their annual report of fisheries population and health for the lower Deschutes. Since the 1970s they have been electrofishing the same stretches from Warm Springs to Jones Creek. As reported in past years, trout continue to be in excellent health. Condition factors were good before operation of the SWW and they are at least as good now. If anything, the fish appear to be growing faster and are larger.Read More »
Slightly off topic for this blog, but I was frustrated with multiple fly fishing trips for bull trout at LBC this spring. The photo is of one of my sons from last spring when big fish like this were common. This spring they were nonexistent. I contacted the fisheries biologists at PGE and they said they had no evidence of a population drop and shared a chart of redd spawning surveys in Metolius tributaries which continued to show a robust population.Read More »
Last week was the annual Pelton Round Butte Fisheries Workshop. Once again, it was an information filled conference with presentations covering a wide range of fisheries issues encompassing the entire Deschutes Basin. I am going to spend a few weeks digging into some of the presentations, I have many follow up questions for some of the presenters, but there were a few topics that are quick and easy to report on, like Opal Springs fish passage.Read More »
Most Central Oregon anglers are familiar with the Wild & Scenic section of the Crooked River below Bowman Dam. Of course, the Crooked flows into Prineville Reservoir as well but based on my experience few outside of Crook County have spent much time there. The North Fork of the Crooked does not provide the same abundance of fishing as the Wild & Scenic section, but it flows through a beautiful area of the Ochoco Mountains. Prior to the construction of all the dams below (Bowman, Opal Springs, and the PRB complex), this section of the river was prime spawning habitat for anadromous fish. Big Summit Prairie is also nearby, worthy of a visit on its own. The last time I visited the North Fork my wife and I saw one of the biggest bears I have seen in Oregon, it was a brownish red color and seemed undisturbed by us as we watched it for some time. The North Fork provides habitat for an important strain of wild, native redband trout. ODFW is planning a electrofishing survey of the North Fork and could use some volunteers, this would be a great opportunity to help and see some beautiful country that is not very far away.Read More »
I was recently sent a link to an interesting article about climate change’s impact on fly fishing in Montana and the continued denial of the science by so many, even the local Trout Unlimited chapter. The article is part of a series by Inside Climate News. It was worthwhile reading and also reminded me of anglers venting about PGE causing changes on the lower Deschutes and not considering the undeniable changes we have seen in our local climate over the past few years. Clearly, the SWW has made an impact on the river, but so has a series of droughts, low water years, and year after year of record hot summers. Next week is the annual 2-day Deschutes fisheries workshop and I look forward to hearing the latest science on the lower D. Read More »
I’m back from the latest ODFW Restoration & Enhancement board meeting, this time held in Klamath Falls. We had two great days of touring past, current, and future fisheries projects. I have always been surprised by how few Central Oregon anglers venture to the Klamath Basin. It is only 2-3 hours away, depending on where you go, and the fishing is both spectacular and uncrowded.Read More »
As I discussed in this post, Tumalo Irrigaion District is asking taxpayers to pay the full $42M+ cost of piping their irrigation canals. They claim in their Draft Environmental Assessment that piping will conserve about 48 cfs (page xxvii) which they will return in-stream. BUT, page D-20 of the appendix contains a table showing increased water deliveries to irrigators after piping is complete. Where does this water come from? Why is it not being returned to the river? Why is on-farm conservation not being pursued to REDUCE usage? You have until May 22 to submit your comments.
Once again, I was criticized for making statements that readers believed to be erroneous, this time in my post on Tumalo Irrigation District’s piping plans. I did provide footnotes and links to source material but I guess that was not enough. Today, a slightly shorter version of the post was published in The Bend Bulletin after being independently fact checked by them. I did have to add the word “most” to one sentence, but otherwise the only changes were for brevity to fit their 650 word limit. We can all have our own opinions, but we can’t have our own facts.
ODFW is looking for volunteers to stock steelhead fry in the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers on Monday, May 21st. This is part of the reintroduction of steelhead above Lake Billy Chinook. Read More »
Central Oregon Irrigation Districts have spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars piping their canals. They plan to request hundreds of millions more [1]. A current example is Tumalo Irrigation District’s application for funding [2] their next piping phase which will cover 68.8 miles, take 11 years to implement, and is expected to cost $42,689,000, all paid by taxpayers [3]. You can comment on TID’s plan until May 22 by visiting www.oregonwatershedplans.org.
I was recently made aware of this informative website from the Center for American Progress. The section on rivers and the interactive mapping they provide is excellent. Zoom in on Central Oregon to see just how bad things look. The report also underlines the “economic powerhouse” that river-based recreation creates. It’s a worthwhile read.
Every year ODFW counts fish in the Crooked River below Bowman Dam. This year they are sampling June 18-22 and are looking for help. Volunteers walk down the bank of the river while ODFW biologists float and shock the river. Fish near the boat are temporally stunned by the electric current and float to the surface where they are captured, counted, and measured. I first helped with this years ago and it made me a far better angler on the Crooked and elsewhere. Even after decades of fishing experience and “reading the water”, I was amazed to see where fish were holding and in what numbers. If you are interested in helping, contact Tim Porter, Assistant District Fish Biologist in Prineville, at Timothy.K.Porter@state.or.us or (541) 447-5111 ext. 24. Let him know which day(s) you can help and he will get back to you with more detailed info. You need to be able to carry buckets of stunned fish back upstream to release them near where they were captured. The day usually lasts from 8:30 am until 2 pm.
As you know, the state of Oregon works on a 2-year (“biennium”) cycle. State agencies are now preparing their 2019-2021 budget requests which will be sent to the governor and then to the legislature for final approval. ODFW voluntarily gathers public feedback on their budget through what they call the External Budget Advisory Committee, of which I am a member. Last week was the final EBAC meeting and I am happy to report that ODFW appears to be in reasonable shape. They are far from flush with cash but they are not cutting personnel and services like they have in the recent past. They are also gearing up to work on what they state is potentially the largest anadromous fish reintroduction in the nation in the Klamath Basin.Read More »
I was recently criticized for not sufficiently valuing the economic contribution of agriculture to the Central Oregon economy. Some readers felt that the value provided by farmers justified the damage to our local rivers caused by irrigation withdrawals. I am reminded of an old quote that goes something like “we can have our own opinions but we can’t have our own facts”, so here are some facts. You can form your own opinion. I again want to stress that I am not advocating for the forced elimination of water deliveries to any water right holder. As I have written about on this blog there are affordable and relatively quick solutions that allocate water to irrigators while also partially restoring rivers. I believe it is time to implement water policies that ensure our economic vitality for the next 100 years, not that reflect the past 100.Read More »
This afternoon I was able to tour the Deschutes Land Trust’s new Ochoco Preserve. The preserve is currently farmland just outside Prineville that will be converted to wetlands over the next decade or so. It is where McKay and Ochoco Creeks meet the Crooked River. The potential for new, high quality habitat for native redband trout is very exciting. These creeks were also important spawning areas for anadromous Chinook salmon and steelhead and may be again once the fish ladder at Opal Springs Dam is complete. I encourage you to visit the DLT’s site, learn more, and become a member if you are able.
Irrigation season has started and once again the middle Deschutes is suffering. As you can see on the Bureau of Reclamation website, the Deschutes River below North Dam (just upstream from the Mt. Washington bridge) is now reduced to 62 cfs. As I argued in this post, recent levels are least as damaging as what happens in the upper Deschutes below Wickiup Reservoir in the winter. The flows should come back up a little later in the spring as the irrigators allow some additional flows but by that time the damage will have been done. The exposed river bottom will kill fish eggs, the aquatic insects that fish eat, and the plants that the insects need. In spite of all the time, effort, and money put into restoration the Deschutes continues to be no more than an irrigation ditch for the benefit of a few irrigators to the detriment of the rest of us.
UPDATE: a reader pointed out to me that my graph only covers the past 2 weeks. If you go to the BoR site (link above) and run the graph for a longer period you will see that the middle Deschutes was running around 800 cfs for most of the winter. 800 cfs to 62 cfs is a better illustration of just how environmentally damaging the beginning of irrigation season is.
The southeastern part of Oregon has amazing fishing. Last summer I spent 10 days driving around that part of the state in my camper with one of my sons, we caught hundreds of trout from a few inches to over 20 inches, and we only came across one other angler the whole time. If you too love that area, or native fish, you should know ODFW is currently working on a conservation plan for the Malheur Basin and could use your help.
Today the Bulletin published a column I wrote about some of the hindrances faced by landowners who would like to forgo their allocation of irrigation water and help restore the Deschutes. In short, the irrigation districts would rather keep the water in their systems. There can also be tax penalties for not irrigating in some cases. Of course, we taxpayers continue to subsidize the irrigation districts. It does not seem right to me. See below for the full column.Read More »
The Deschutes steelhead season officially ranges from April 1 until March 31. Below is a table with the final returns of adult fish to the trap at the base of PGE/CTWS’s Pelton Round Butte complex of dams. There’s no way to sugar coat the news, it’s simply bleak. There were record low returns of steelhead across all categories (see the table below). Read More »
I was recently contacted about potentially participating on a panel discussing rivers in Deschutes County. Others would cover wildlife and habitat issues but they were looking for someone who would address economics. To the best of my knowledge there have been no comprehensive studies done on this topic but it did get me thinking.
Wildlife News recently posted an article titled “Deschutes River–Irrigation Canal or Wild River?” written by Bend resident George Wuerthner. I believe his post is worth a thoughtful read. He makes an argument that I have been making for years about who owns public water and who should pay for it. Further, he echoes a criticism I have made of the Deschutes River Conservancy and he extends that criticism to newcomer Coalition for the Deschutes. While I am deeply sympathetic to the thrust of the article, my own views have become more nuanced. Like with so many complex issues, the elegant and morally correct solution currently looks unattainable and compromise can make for strange bedfellows. Read more below. I will soon be making more posts about the political/policy side of restoring flows in the Deschutes.Read More »
The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife is a lightning rod for criticism by some. Having worked for years with many caring department employees I find that disapproval often misplaced. ODFW would like to do much more for the citizens of Oregon but they are hamstrung by a very tight budget. Not long ago they literally ended one month with $1.67 in the bank! After cutting personnel and facilities, and raising fees, they are now in better shape but things remain tight. They are currently planning their 2019-2021 budget and you have a chance to weigh in.Read More »
In case you missed the BSWG presentation, or just wanted to take another look, here are the posters they had scattered around the room. There’s lots of data in here, the summary is that there is plenty of water in the Deschutes Basin to meet the demands of irrigators and cities along with fish & wildlife. The problem is how can it be reallocated from the irrigators (who have 90% of all available water) to other needs without harming agriculture? The issues are financial and cultural but they can be overcome if the public demands it.
Beautiful day to count redds on the Metolius with ODFW. Great excuse to take a day off work. It is amazing how little spawning habit supports the entire redband trout population on this river. The fish migrate up close to the headwaters, spawn, and quickly move back downstream.
The Deschutes River Alliance has recently released a new video titled “A River Worth Fighting For” touching on their suit against Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs alleging violations of the Clean Water Act. They spend more time illustrating economic hardship in Maupin which they attribute to those violations. While I am completely in favor of the Clean Water Act being enforced, and sympathetic to businesses who rely on tourism, I believe this video is misleading in many respects.Read More »
ODFW & PGE are looking for volunteers in March and April to help with the reintroduction of salmon and steelhead into the upper Deschutes Basin. I have helped multiple times with these activities and always find it worthwhile.
The Basin Study Work Group is coming to the end of their multi-year study of water needs and availability in the upper Deschutes Basin and holding public meetings to discuss the results. This is an important event for local anglers and I encourage you to attend. BWSG shows what is possible in terms of restoring flows in the upper Deschutes River but it does not require any actions be taken. Public pressure can change that.Read More »
For over 20 years Portland General Electric and now the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have been hosting the Pelton Round Butte Fisheries Workshop. This is an annual gathering of state and federal agencies, NGOs, and the curious to review and discuss the latest science on the Deschutes and its tributaries. I have been going for a few years and find it fascinating. This year should have the usual updates on reintroduction and fisheries health, the final results of the macroinvertebrate study, and the results of the water quality study. It will be very interesting.
This year the workshop will be June 13 & 14 at Tetherow Resort in Bend. Everyone is welcome and I encourage you to attend. To get on the email list, contact Jessica Graeber (Jessica.Graeber@pgn.com).
At last year’s conference, I took over 7 pages of notes. Below are the highlights from those notes.Read More »
The Deschutes River 2017/2018 summer steelhead season still has a few weeks left but returns have been bleak. As of the end of January 2018 only 13 upper basin origin steelhead have been captured in the Pelton trap a little upstream from the Warm Springs Bridge, and none in December. This will likely be the lowest return year since upper basin returns began in 2011.Read More »
While the upper Deschutes has been the focus of late, the middle Deschutes also needs additional flows. Unfortunately, there are no real plans for this. The middle Deschutes is generally defined as the segment from Benham Falls to Lake Billy Chinook and flows in this section are complex. Read More »
As reported in the NY Times, today NASA stated that 2017 was the second hottest year on record, trailing only 2016. Unfortunately, “this is the new normal”. While the Pacific is currently a little cooler than normal due to a weak La Niña condition, it is not expected to last. “It doesn’t seem like there’s any evidence things are cooling down.” This is not welcome news for Central Oregon steelhead anglers.
NOAA Fisheries released a report yesterday stating that sea lion populations have rebounded to new highs and are now at their “optimum sustainable population”. As discussed in a prior post, sea lions have become a significant threat to some anadromous fish populations. Hopefully this finding will allow some action to protect threatened steelhead and salmon populations.Read More »
Yesterday I had a productive meeting with the US Fish & Wildlife Service who wanted to discuss some of my posts. They suggested we meet again soon to explore additional topics in more detail, but they did want to go into my recent Crooked River post.Read More »
I’m back from the most recent ODFW Restoration & Enhancement Board meeting. A discussion of interest to Central Oregon anglers who pursue steelhead and salmon was around current ocean conditions and predation on these anadromous fish by pinnipeds, primarily sea lions. Read More »
The proposed Deschutes Basin Habitat Conservation Plan includes a section on the Crooked River (see pages 34 to 37). While I have heard some in the angling and conservation communities speak favorably about the proposal for the Crooked, I am not in agreement.
In summary, my concerns are:
As Central Oregonians know, the City of Bend is expanding and incorporating land into its urban growth boundary, land that may have irrigation water rights. This land will primarily be used for housing or commercial purposes and, with perhaps the exception of the Park District, will no longer need irrigation water. Water from one of the three existing municipal water systems will be used instead. Unfortunately, the irrigators are not returning the now unneeded water back to the Deschutes. Read More »
The US Forest Service is currently seeking public comment on two project proposals on the upper Deschutes River, both are designed restore degraded riparian areas along the river.Read More »
The lower Deschutes is an emotional subject for many with claims and counter claims often made by the many parties studying the issues affecting the river. A current example of this is Black Spot Disease. Technically an infection and not a disease, the black spots are caused by a parasite that exists across North America including many rivers in Oregon.Read More »
One of the most important issues for anglers and river lovers in the Deschutes Basin is restoring flows in the upper Deschutes River. This is a complex topic where I will spend significant time posting with explanations and analysis, but last week the eight Central Oregon irrigation districts and the City of Prineville presented the outline of their proposed Habitat Conservation Plan for the upper Deschutes Basin. There were a few reasonable ideas presented but overall it was bad news for the upper Deschutes. Read More »
Last week Merrill Lynch Research released a “Climate Change Primer” outlining the challenges and potential investment opportunities climate change provides. Of course, climate change impacts our fisheries as well. The Merrill Lynch report begins with the statement that climate change is the top global risk we face. Read More »
One of the most important issues for local anglers and river lovers is the dismal state of the upper Deschutes River (above Bend). This is a complex topic that I will cover in depth over time, but for those of you who have some familiarity with it, my Upper Deschutes Backgrounder could be of interest.
In response to the Oregon Spotted Frog being listed as an endangered species, more water is being released into the upper Deschutes in the winter in order to provide improved overwintering habitat. At the same time, levels in Crane Prairie Reservoir are being more stably managed for consistent habitat. As a result, levels in Wickiup Reservoir should see larger draw downs in the winter which in turn will likely negatively impact its fish population. As a result, ODFW is changing the regulations for Wickiup to reduce the number of kokanee that may be harvested.Read More »
After years of effort the final funding for a volitional fish ladder at Opal Springs Dam was obtained earlier this month. There are some regulatory hurdles remaining but construction should begin in the spring and be complete within two years. Opal Springs is a small hydroelectric facility owned by Deschutes Valley Water District about a quarter mile up the Crooked River from where it enters Lake Billy Chinook. Downstream fish passage has been available, mostly through the turbines, but not upstream passage.Read More »
Central Oregon Informed Angler 