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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Rogue Valley pair hope supporters will breathe life into 'Don't Die' ... Mail Tribune 100: Oct. 19, 1915 ... RCC lands $14.6 million job-training grant for low-income students ... Rogue Valley pair hope supporters will breathe life into 'Don't Die' ... Mail Tribune 100: Oct. 19, 1915 ... RCC lands $14.6 million job-training grant for low-income students ... ENVIRONMENT Why is Bear Creek so muddy? Blame Emigrant silt and winter storm Emigrant Lake silt and winter storm are to blame Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted May. 18, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted May. 18, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Bear Creek is rolling through Medford even dirtier than its normal spring self, thanks to the remnants of a February storm and a fistful of other factors that might keep the creek this way indefinitely. The Feb. 7 storm that hammered southeastern Jackson County with winds and rain sent a torrent of water into the parched reservoir southeast of Ashland, stirring up massive amounts of silt exposed by the low water levels, authorities said. The silt has yet to settle out, so releases from the reservoir that eventually make their way into Bear Creek are a caramel-colored froth that is overpowering clean tributary flow and threatening to harm water quality in the urban creek grappling with the early effects of drought. "We have a big pool of very dirty water in that reservoir, and I don't think it's going to go away any time soon and it's nobody's fault," says Dan VanDyke, the Rogue District fish biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Nowhere is this dirty water more prevalent than at the confluence of Emigrant and Walker creeks, the origin of Bear Creek as it flows below Dead Indian Memorial Road near the Ashland airport. About 20 cubic feet per second of Emigrant Lake water released into Emigrant Creek for irrigators roils with mud as it meets the clear but trickling Walker Creek, whose flows are down because of the low runoff. Bill Meyers, the Rogue Basin coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Quality, discovered that watery paradox there while investigating the source of the creek's excessive turbidity despite no recent rains at the time. "There's not much you can do about it, except not to add to the problem," Meyers said. "We certainly don't want to add to that from stormwater input." And while it's an eyesore to downtown Medford commuters, it's also a little tough on the gills of young salmon and steelhead trying to eke out a living in this major Rogue River urban tributary. VanDyke says the young salmon and steelhead can have trouble feeding and even breathing in the dirty water, so they likely will seek refuge in cleaner tributaries of Bear Creek until the silt settles in Emigrant Lake. "It certainly isn't helping fish in Bear Creek this year," VanDyke says. During the Feb. 7 storm, water cascaded down the upper stretches of Emigrant Creek and tributaries such as Tyler Creek, adding mud to the flows as it washed out lower portions of Tyler Creek Road. Flows peaked into Emigrant Lake at nearly 6,000 cubic feet per second, or 10 times what the maximum outflow can be, says Jim Pendleton, manager of the Talent Irrigation District. The lake rose 11 feet over four days as water churned up silt from the exposed mudflats, turning the lake the chocolate-brown color it has remained. As the sediment persisted, Pendleton and other TID employees walked the reservoir banks in search of potential sources of undue levels of sediment, but discovered none. While other reservoirs that grappled with high turbidity during the storm since have cleared, Emigrant Lake's problem is exacerbated by its design. Though the lake has a maximum depth of 110 feet, most of its roughly 900 acres of surface area is significantly more shallow. It doesn't provide much deep water for silt to settle, unlike other reservoirs such as Lost Creek Lake on the upper Rogue River. "Now, every time it gets windy, it stirs everything up again," Pendleton says. Also, the dam's water intake tower has one port that sucks water near the reservoir's bottom — where silt levels can be highest. It differs from intake towers such as the one at Lost Creek Lake, which has multiple portals to siphon water from several different strata of water at any given time. For much of the late winter and spring, Emigrant Lake's muddy contribution to the Bear Creek system was minimal. But that changed in recent weeks as water releases from Emigrant have been increased to seven times their previous flows for irrigation deliveries, making the Medford stretch worthy of the "Mr. Yuck" signs that warned of poor creek water quality in the 1980s. "It's been really noticeable in Ashland and now it's being noticed in the Medford area," VanDyke says. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or by email at [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted May. 18, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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