Friends of the Bighorn River

Graph updated by Bob Gibson

Our good friend Bob Gibson over at FWP sent along this excellent graph he modified from USGS data. The blue line indicates the flows as they occurred last week.  Bob overlayed the red line which indicates the planned releases that were developed by FWP and Reclamation.  There's lots to marvel and speculate about, that's for sure. That measured discharge at just under 300cfs is scary.  While I'm sure there's no connection, didn't this happen about the same time those Northwest pilots were overflying Minneapolis?

The word is that Reclamation has formed an investigative team and will release a preliminary report soon.

Starting at 2pm this afternoon, river releases will be decreased from 3,300cfs to 3,000cfs.

BAUCUS DEMANDS INVESTIGATION OVER BIGHORN RIVER MISMANAGEMENT

Senator Wants Answers for Bureau of Reclamations Continual Failings

 (Washington, D.C.) – Citing a “pattern of disregard,” Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus today demanded a high-level investigation into Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) management of the Bighorn River and Yellowtail Dam.

 In a firmly worded letter to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for Department of the Interior, Baucus laid out case after case of major blunders by the Bureau, including two recent incidents that severely damaged fish numbers in the Bighorn River. The OIG is an independent, investigative arm of the federal government.

 “It is clear that better coordination on the entire length of the system would have prevented many of the impacts of these damaging events. I would like your office to conduct an investigation into the overall management of the Bighorn River System, specifically investigating the operation of the Yellowtail Dam in coordination with all the dams on the river,” Baucus wrote to Mary Kendall, the acting OIG for the Department of Interior.

 Baucus warned further bungled operations could permanently damage the river.

 “The Bighorn is a prize for Montana; and for inept bureaucrats to put it at risk is unacceptable at best and downright reckless at worst,” Baucus said. “Montanans demand answers for these continual failings and we are going to get them. We cannot afford another big mistake.”

 Baucus has been a stalwart ally of the Bighorn River, continually fighting to make sure it’s protected. He has been an outspoken critic of the BOR’s management of Yellowtail Dam and has led the charge to increase flows in the river.

 According to the Department of the Interior, The Office of the Inspector General is designed to “promote excellence, integrity and accountability in the programs, operations, and management of the Department of the Interior.”

Click here for the full text of Senator Baucus letter to OIG.

Here are some additional photos from our friend Pat Straub:

Photo by Pat Straub

Photo by Pat Straub


Photo my Pat Straub

Photo by Nick Pentas


Photo by Doug Haacke

The first photo speaks for itself. This was a common occurence down the entire river. Most fish had been stranded by the inexplicable bump to 4,400cfs.

The second photo is particularly interesting. It was taken at the top of the first island. That large white object in the background is a buoy from the Afterbay lake. I'm no detective, but I believe for that buoy to have gotten to its resting place, it would've had to have been sucked through the sluice gate. The fact its resting at a much higher elevation tells me it happened during some seriously high flows.

Sadly, our premonition that a pattern of disregard is emerging has come true. Enough is enough.

Stay tuned.

followed by

River releases to the Bighorn River suddenly and unexpectedly jumped this afternoon, surprising local and regional anglers, guides and outfitters. Just two days ago, the Bureau of Reclamation had initiated a plan to gradually lower the Afterbay lake elevation and decrease river releases to perform some routine maintenance. Reclamation carefully planned the drawdown with Fish, Wildlife and Parks to minimize the impact on the river fishery, which had it tough this year with low flows prior to spring, extremely high flows during runoff, and an equipment malfunction which suddenly dropped flow to almost 1,000cfs. Regardless, this planning seems to be all in vain, as flows shot up from 2,000cfs to well over 4,200cfs this afternoon.

Initially, Fish, Wildlife and Parks recommended discontinuing plans to complete the Afterbay maintenance, as dropping flows from 4,400cfs to 400cfs over the course of 12 to 15 hours would severely hurt the fishery. This matter was settled when dam operators suddenly dropped flows from 4,400cfs to under 800cfs. At that point, any damage to the fishery had been done.

Latest word is that maintenance will proceed as scheduled.

Photo by Zoe Opie
 

Updated flow reduction schedule:

Oct 19 1600: 2,500cfs to 2,250cfs
Oct 20 0700: 2,250cfs to 2,000cfs
Oct 20 1900: 2,000cfs to 1,750cfs
Oct 20 2000: 1,750cfs to 1,500cfs
Oct 20 2100: -100cfs per hour to 400cfs

Oct 21 0700: 400cfs

Oct 21 ~1100: Back to 3,300cfs over 6 hours

Here's the latest flow reduction schedule:

Oct 17 0700: 3,300cfs to 2,900cfs
Oct 18 0700: 2,900cfs to 2,500cfs
Oct 19 0700: 2,500cfs to 2,250cfs
Oct 20 0700: 2,250cfs to 2,000cfs
Oct 20 1900: 2,000cfs to 1,750cfs
Oct 20 2000: 1,750cfs to 1,500cfs
Oct 20 2100: -100cfs per hour to 400cfs

Oct 21 0700: 400cfs

Oct 21 ~1100: Back to 3,300cfs over 3 hours

This came in late today from Reclamation:

Due to the cooler weather and shorter days, the heavy algae growth in the Bighorn River is beginning to decrease significantly. Power generation indicates actual releases to the Bighorn River are higher than anticipated. To adjust for the variation of flows, the following operation change is required at Yellowtail Dam and Powerplant applying a new shift of -1.47 to the river gage height.

Starting tomorrow at 2pm, releases will be increased from 2,800cfs to 3,300cfs.

Here is the flow reduction schedule required for routine inspection of the accretions in to the Afterbay.

Please keep in mind these values are subject to change. For example, flows have already been reduced to 2,800cfs.

Just prior to the event, an updated schedule will be published.

As expected, this arrived from Reclamation:

To slow the evacuation rate of storage in Bighorn Lake, the following operation change is required at Yellowtail Dam and Powerplant.

Starting Monday, flows will be reduced from 2,950cfs to 2,800cfs.