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Irrigator's errors drain portion of Snake River
By Chuck Oxley
Associated Press — April 23, 2004
State fisheries managers don't know how much damage was done to aquatic life in the Snake River near Blackfoot after irrigators made one of the Idaho's largest rivers run nearly dry.
Average flow for the Snake River about 10 miles south of Blackfoot had been running at about 2,000 cubic feet per second last week. The flow started plunging sometime Sunday and had dropped to just 200 cfs late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
"This shouldn't happen to a river," Idaho Fish and Game Department Regional Fisheries Manager Dick Scully said. "The damage is done. Most of that river bottom would be exposed for several hours."
The drain affected a 14-mile stretch of the Snake River downstream from Blackfoot. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation hydrologist Tim Miller downplayed the incident, which he called a "mistake" made by Upper Snake River irrigators who did not inform water managers that they intended to open their head gates. About 150 large and small canals take water from the river between Palisades Reservoir and American Falls.
"This occurred late in the evening and at night, and it had been raining all day. It could have been worse," Miller said. "It's just a crunch time, when we're making a transition from low flows to delivery to irrigators. It was a low flow, but it didn't go dry."
The water level was rising rapidly during the day Wednesday, and Miller said he expected it to reach 1,500 cfs by Thursday.
"Now the levels are racing back up, but it's like someone says to you, `Don't worry, I'll give you your oxygen tomorrow," Scully said.
It is impossible to tell what kind of damage was done to aquatic life, Scully said. Birds consume the fish, so there are no carcasses left to help estimate the deaths.
Scully said a similar incident happened to the river in 1992. It was difficult to tell then how much life was lost in the river, he said, but there were a lot of birds standing on the river bottom, gorging on the exposed smorgasbord.
http://espn.go.com/outdoors/conservation/news/2004/0423/1788511.html
By Chuck Oxley
Associated Press — April 23, 2004
State fisheries managers don't know how much damage was done to aquatic life in the Snake River near Blackfoot after irrigators made one of the Idaho's largest rivers run nearly dry.
Average flow for the Snake River about 10 miles south of Blackfoot had been running at about 2,000 cubic feet per second last week. The flow started plunging sometime Sunday and had dropped to just 200 cfs late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
"This shouldn't happen to a river," Idaho Fish and Game Department Regional Fisheries Manager Dick Scully said. "The damage is done. Most of that river bottom would be exposed for several hours."
The drain affected a 14-mile stretch of the Snake River downstream from Blackfoot. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation hydrologist Tim Miller downplayed the incident, which he called a "mistake" made by Upper Snake River irrigators who did not inform water managers that they intended to open their head gates. About 150 large and small canals take water from the river between Palisades Reservoir and American Falls.
"This occurred late in the evening and at night, and it had been raining all day. It could have been worse," Miller said. "It's just a crunch time, when we're making a transition from low flows to delivery to irrigators. It was a low flow, but it didn't go dry."
The water level was rising rapidly during the day Wednesday, and Miller said he expected it to reach 1,500 cfs by Thursday.
"Now the levels are racing back up, but it's like someone says to you, `Don't worry, I'll give you your oxygen tomorrow," Scully said.
It is impossible to tell what kind of damage was done to aquatic life, Scully said. Birds consume the fish, so there are no carcasses left to help estimate the deaths.
Scully said a similar incident happened to the river in 1992. It was difficult to tell then how much life was lost in the river, he said, but there were a lot of birds standing on the river bottom, gorging on the exposed smorgasbord.
http://espn.go.com/outdoors/conservation/news/2004/0423/1788511.html
