Take Action - Deschutes Fish Kill
Friday, October 18, 2013 at 12:04AM Based on the following images and eyewitness report, there is something seriously wrong with the flows on the Deschutes.
I've been watching the Deschutes River levels drop drastically over the last couple weeks, tonight during my trail run a healthy side channel along the Deschutes River Trail was completely drained of water. There were in just one small section probably 1000 or more dead trout ( Browns, native Red Sided, and Rainbows, some White Fish, lots of sculpin still gasping for breath, crawfish, stone fly nymphs wondering around). It was astonishing to me that such a precious waterway couldd be managed in such a way for this to happen. I came upon one pool that is full of trout that gathered together as the water in there pool looked to just a few weeks ago nearly 8 feet higher. The large fish in the pool have already succumbed, but it's still teaming with life maybe 200 or more 4-6" trout and countless tiny guys.
Please forward a link to this post to the ODFW @ odfw.info@state.or.us and demand an explanation.
Reader Comments (4)
If this is on the middle Deschutes, maybe this was the problem. A shame.
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&period=&begin_date=2013-10-01&end_date=2013-10-18&site_no=14076500
Done, but it would be helpful if a location were included.
http://www.ktvz.com/news/odfw-weighing-emergency-closure/-/413192/22500836/-/whg7fs/-/index.html Deschutes possible closure.... ya think!!! The combination of climate change, on going drought, and refusal to consider how this impacts dam operations and in stream flows is insane. Make the guy that regulates that gate on the dam, go down and rescue those fish.
We live on the river. I am not a biologist or even an angler. About four days ago I said to my husband, " How can fish live in this." The water is so low, it looks like a ditch. This is appalling and whether we see this section of the river every day or not, we need to speak out to those responsible and demand some consequences. Let us not forget how the fisheries in the Klamath River were dessimated in 2002 because of demands by agriculture. We can all thank Dick Cheney for that. Pamela Roberts