FWP May 23, 2008
Reclamation to Increase Releases from Yellowtail Dam
The Bureau of Reclamation will be increasing releases to the Bighorn River from Yellowtail Dam beginning late Friday, May 23. Releases will be stepped-up from the current rate of 1,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) to approximately 4,500 cfs over a three day period. The increases are necessary to help control the rate-of-fill of Yellowtail Reservoir (Bighorn Lake). Inflows to Yellowtail were averaging approximately 8,000 cfs on Friday and based on the National Weather Service streamflow forecast, similar or higher inflows can be expected over the next few days. Further adjustments to releases during the next few weeks are likely depending on inflow conditions. Bighorn River recreationists are cautioned to be aware of changing flow conditions during this time.
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Like we've said before, this is lunacy. We have to continue to lobby BOR for an operating plan that allows us to have more consistent flows, stops killing trout, and provides for concessions from BOTH ends of the lake in drought periods. Thanks to our friends at FWP, we've discovered that Hungry Horse and Koocanusa reservoirs manage their water based on a sliding scale model, where target lake elevations are variables instead of must-meet, die-hard, carved in stone, absolutes. With corresponding increases in draw-down levels to provide winter storage and make the lake easier to fill in the spring, the lake can be managed to provide adequate downstream flows year-round, while also maintaining lake elevations that satisfy all stakeholders. Friends of the Bighorn River, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, our Montana Senatorial delegation, and Montana Trout Unlimited have asked or will ask BOR to take a hard look at this model, and BOR has agreed. Better yet, a few of the folks in Lovell whom we've spoken to are receptive provided the science is there to back it up, and now it is.
