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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 31, 2005 Full reservoirs are good news for salmon April and May showers will likely stave off a predicted die-off in the Rogue By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Southern Oregon’s unusually wet spring has left the Rogue Valley’s two main reservoirs full heading into June, providing enough stored water to stave off fears of a major salmon die-off in the Rogue River this summer, biologists say. Despite a snowpack that remains half of average, releases from Lost Creek and Applegate reservoirs into the Rogue should be enough that less than 10 percent of this year’s returning chinook salmon will die from natural warm-water diseases. Prior to the April showers, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife projected a die-off of 26 percent of the spring chinook and 36 percent of the fall chinook from disease. "These spring storms made all the difference in the world," said Tom Satterthwaite, an ODFW biologist who has studied the Rogue for more than two decades. "It filled the reservoirs and, basically, turned the year around. "From a fish-management standpoint, it’s huge." Advertisement But the National Weather Service is predicting a hotter than normal summer, which could put salmon in jeopardy while they migrate through the Lower Rogue Canyon and into the Rogue Valley. If hot weather persists, the ODFW plans to ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to spill an extra 20,000 acre-feet of Lost Creek water to curb an outbreak of the deadly columnaris disease among fall chinook, Satterthwaite said. If the extra water is not needed the lake will drop to elevation 1,812 — its normal fall low — by Sept. 30. If the extra water is needed, the lake will drop about 7 feet farther by the end of September. The extra water also means good news for Lost Creek Lake boaters who likely will have full use of the boat ramps at Stewart State Park through the summer, said Jim Buck, the Corps’ Lost Creek project manager. Earlier Corps estimates had the lake dropping enough that the ramp would not reach the water by mid-August, Buck said. The summer water-release strategy is currently in draft form and up for public comment. The plan is drafted annually by the Corps, along with the ODFW and other state and federal agencies based on summer fishery needs, which along with winter flood control are the primary purposes for operating the two dams. The Corps plans to present the drafts during a meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Rogue Regency Inn, 2300 Biddle Road, Medford. Another meeting is planned for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Gold Beach City Council Chambers in Gold Beach. Each year hydrologists and biologists craft a plan to release 180,000 acre-feet of stored Lost Creek water to best help the Rogue’s anadromous fish, with wild spring chinook top priority. In many years, some of that stored water would have been released in May to combat a columnaris outbreak in the canyon near Agness in eastern Curry County. However, rains created enough natural runoff that the flows at Agness were high and cool enough that May flows were not supplemented for salmon protection, Satterthwaite said. The resulting extra stored water helped keep the two reservoirs full heading into June and will allow the use of that water later. The ODFW now estimates the loss of 5 percent of spring chinook and 10 percent of fall chinook to columnaris, based on average air temperatures. "We’re going to be relying on stored water pretty significantly because the flows from the tributaries are going to be meager," Buck said. The plan also calls for the annual "spike" of water from Aug. 10 through Sept. 10 as a tool to draw fall chinook out of the hot canyon waters and into the middle Rogue and Applegate rivers. Enough water will be released at that time to keep Rogue flows at Agness somewhere between 1,900 cubic feet per second to 2,000 cfs, according to the draft. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s