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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 18, 2006 Draft plans pay off for Rogue River This summer likely to be most salmon-friendly since 1999 Outdoor Journal By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune A strong snowpack and full reservoirs mean the Rogue River likely will be its most salmon-friendly this summer than any year since 1999, authorities say. A draft plan for summer and fall water releases from Lost Creek and Applegate lakes appears to grant enough water to keep the Rogue high and cool enough to keep deadly salmon-disease outbreaks at bay. In low- and warm-water years, disease explosions can kill up to two-thirds of a chinook run as it moves through the Lower Rogue River Canyon upstream, as it did there during the drought of 1992. Based on the draft flow plan, mortality rates for both spring and fall chinook this year are projected to be less than 1 percent, said ODFW research scientist Tom Satterthwaite, who has worked on the Rogue water and salmon issues for more than 30 years. The draft flow schedule represents a request to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from Oregon’s natural-resources agencies. Advertisement The Corps is taking public comment on the draft at 7 p.m. Monday in Medford to lay out the draft and to take comments on it, said Steve Watkins, the Corps’ assistant operations manager at Lost Creek dam. During the meeting, the Corps also will reveal the expected reservoir levels for various times in the upcoming summer recreation season at Lost Creek and Applegate lakes, Watkins says. The meeting will be held at the Rogue Regency Inn, 2345 Crater Lake Highway. The Corps later will review public comments the draft and an inter-agency team will consider any updated Rogue Basin runoff forecast before the final schedule is adopted in June, Watkins said. The Lost Creek Lake plan focuses on spilling as much water for migrating salmon early in the season for spring chinook, then keep enough for a comfortable migration for the fall chinook and summer steelhead later in the season. The draft plan for Lost Creek Lake is to hold releases at 3,100 cubic feet per second from June 1 through July 10, to help migrating spring chinook salmon reach the upper Rogue. The flows would then drop to 2,700 cfs from July 11 through Aug. 10, and then drop to 2,400 cfs from Aug. 11 through Aug. 31. Those targets, Satterthwaite says, mirror those crafted for the 1999 summer water year. At Applegate Lake, the draft plan is to spill water to help spring chinook and fall chinook migration in the Rogue, then draw fall chinook from the Rogue into the Applegate River and provide stable flows for fall spawning. Applegate Lake’s target in the draft is to pass inflow, but not dip below 380 cfs through June. The plan then sets a minimum release of 380 cfs through Sept. 20. On Sept. 21, the flows would be dropped to 330 cfs, then lowered again to 280 cfs from Oct. 1 through Oct. 20. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail Draft plans pay off for Rogue River ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers Southern Oregon Loans California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s