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Rogue will rise and fall to stop salmon disease Lost Creek water releases will fluctuate through June By MARK FREEMAN Water releases from Lost Creek Lake into the Rogue River will rise almost 50 percent Sunday, then fluctuate almost daily, under plans to stave off a salmon-killing disease outbreak that plagues the Rogue in drought years like this one. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will use a rolling-flow type of reservoir release strategy through June to protect as much of this year's spring chinook salmon run as possible from the deadly columnaris disease. The disease, which occurs naturally in the Rogue and is spread in low and warm water, has killed two of every three migrating spring chinook during drought years similar to this one. The plan, crafted by state fish biologists, calls for releasing just enough reservoir water daily to keep lower Rogue water temperatures below disease thresholds. Release levels will rise and fall based on warming and cooling weather conditions, allowing hydrologists to play out Lost Creek Lake's stored water as long as possible for chinook protection. "In a water-tight year, this is how we are attempting to conserve water while protecting spring chinook," said Russ Davidson, a Corps hydraulic engineer for the Rogue Basin. The first change comes Sunday, when releases will be increased from 700 cubic feet per second to 1,000 cfs. That level should hold for the first part of next week as the current cool-weather pattern continues, then increase later if the weather warms. Releases could then rise or fall daily, running as high as 3,200 cfs during extreme hot spells. Regardless of weather conditions, flows will not dip below 1,000 cfs through May 15 or 1,300 cfs May 16-31. Minimum flows will be 1,500 cfs during the first 10 days of June, then 1,800 cfs for the rest of the month. The variable flows could cause headaches for riverside dwellers who may have to move irrigation pumps, boat docks and lawn furniture as water levels ebb and flow. It also likely will hurt fishing for spring chinook, which historically prove to be tougher to catch amid changing flows. "Obviously, we're asking a lot of folks," said Tom Satterthwaite, an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist who helped craft the flow plan. "I hope everybody understands we're in extreme drought and the spring chinook salmon are in great peril." Columnaris blooms and spreads naturally in warm Rogue waters, attacking the chinook's gills and eventually suffocating them. It has no effect on people or other mammals. Historically, the disease strikes mainly in the lower Rogue Canyon when water temperatures eclipse 65 degrees, Satterthwaite said. Canyon water temperatures measured 64 degrees late Thursday and Friday, causing some nervousness among biologists, Satterthwaite said. Once chinook cross Gold Ray Dam, water temperatures tend to be cool enough that uninfected fish survive. The run over Gold Ray Dam was projected at 25,000-35,000 adult fish without a columnaris outbreak. Biologists expect to claim 10 to 30 percent of the run depending upon how the outbreak is delayed by the rolling water releases. Changes to water releases on the Rogue will be made gradually each evening, Davidson said. The Corps will record daily release averages on its toll-free phone line at 800-472-2434. The data is available at www.nwd-wc.usace.army.mil/nwp/ on the Web. Once there, click on "Reports" and then "Lost Creek." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.