Today’s Fly Fishing:  Guides reported wading has become more successful.  Starting 11-1-08 new flows will begin at Lees Ferry, we will keep you updated on the changes.  We still recommend using a double nymph rig with two bead headed midges tied on or even drop a midge off a San Juan worm.  For the drifting, drift the edge of the riffles, as well as the channel, reports were they have been hittin pretty well.  The size and numbers are up a little, that’s a good thing.  Also reported, were a few midge hatches, some very thick.

Check this out!!!

I would also like to inform all of you folks out there that starting November 10th 2008 thru February 19th 2009 lodging at Cliff Dwellers will be $55.00 plus tax for one or two people, 10.00 extra for each additional person with a maximum of four to a room.  We are also offering our three bedroom house for $200 plus tax. The house can accommodate up to 6 people.  Call 1-800-962-9755 to make reservations.                 T

Glen Canyon Dam Operations

The monthly release volume for October 2008 is scheduled to be 743,000 acre-feet.  During the months of September and October, releases from Glen Canyon Dam will be steady as described in the Final Environmental Assessment for Experimental Releases from Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona, 2008 through 2012 (EA). The corresponding release rate for the scheduled release volume for October is about 12,083 cfs.  Beginning on November 1, 2008 releases from Glen Canyon Dam will likely resume daily fluctuations as described under the 1996 Glen Canyon Dam Record of Decision.  The release volume scheduled for November is 600,000 acre-feet which translates to an average daily release of 10,000 cfs. Daily fluctuations about this average will likely be from about 6,500 cfs during the early morning hours to about 12,500 cfs during the afternoon and evening hours.  The water year release volume from Glen Canyon Dam during water year 2008 was 8.978 maf. This volume was based on actual and forecasted inflow and reservoir operation conditions for Lake Powell and Lake Mead under the Equalization Tier of the Interim Guidelines. The 2008 water year ending elevation and storage for Lake Powell was 3626.90 feet above sea level and 14.51 maf respectively. This was a 2.58 maf increase in storage year over year. Lake Powell begins water year 2009 at 59.6% of full capacity.  Under the Interim Guidelines, the August 24-month study projected the end of December 2008, elevation of Lake Powell to be 3625.75 feet above sea level which set the operational guideline to be the Upper Elevation Balancing Tier for water year 2009.

Under the Upper Elevation Balancing Tier, the end of December elevation of Lake Mead was projected in the August 24-month study to be 1110.4 feet above sea level. This condition set the water year 2009 release from Glen Canyon Dam to be 8.23 maf as described in section 6.B.1. However, with this release volume, the August 24-month study projected the 2009 end of water year elevation of Lake Powell to be greater than 3639 feet above sea level, the condition that triggers section 6.B.3 of the Interim

Guidelines.  Under section 6.B.3, if the April 24-month study projects the end of water year elevation of Lake Powell to be above the equalization elevation for the current year, then the Equalization Tier should govern for the remainder of the water year. For this reason, the August 24-month study projected 2009 water year release from Lake Powell reflected Equalization Tier objectives. Forecast conditions for the October 24-month study also project that the end of water year conditions will trigger section 6.B.3 of the Interim Guidelines and the Equalization Tier is projected to govern during water year 2009. The

actual water year release volume will only be greater than 8.23 maf if the April 2009 24-month study projects the end of water year elevation of Lake Powell above 3639 feet above sea level.

Upper Colorado River Basin Hydrology

Precipitation in the basin above Lake Powell was below average during the summer months and has continued through September. Precipitation during June, July and August 2008 was 70%, 65% and 90% of average respectively with precipitation in September measured at 70% of average. The overall precipitation in the Upper Colorado River Basin for water year 2008 will likely be near average (about 101% of normal).  The unregulated inflow to Lake Powell during the April through July 2008 was 8.906 maf (112% of average). The long range outlook for unregulated inflow to Lake Powell for water year 2009 is projected to be 10.8 maf (90% of the 1971-2000 average).

Upper Colorado River Basin Drought

The Upper Colorado River Basin is experiencing a protracted multi-year drought. Since 1999, inflow to Lake Powell has been below average in every year except water year 2005 and 2008.  In the summer of 1999, Lake Powell was essentially full with reservoir storage at 23.5 million acre-feet, or 97 percent of capacity. Inflow to Lake Powell in 1999 was 109 percent of average. The manifestation of drought conditions in the Upper Colorado River Basin began in the fall months of 1999. A five year period of extreme drought occurred in water years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 with unregulated inflow to Lake Powell only 62, 59, 25, 51, and 49 percent of average, respectively. Lake Powell storage decreased through this five-year period, with reservoir storage reaching a low of 8.0 million acre-feet (33 percent of capacity) on April 8, 2005.

Drought conditions eased in water year 2005 in the Upper Colorado River Basin.  Precipitation was above average in 2005 and unregulated inflow to Lake Powell was 105 percent of average. Lake Powell increased by 2.77 million acre-feet (31 feet in elevation) during water year 2005. But as is often the case, one favorable year does not necessarily end a protracted drought. In 2006, there was a return to drier conditions in the Colorado

River Basin. Unregulated inflow to Lake Powell in water year 2006 was only 71 percent of average.  Water year 2007 was another year of below average inflow with unregulated inflow into Lake Powell at 68 percent of average. Over the past 9 years (2000 through 2008, inclusive), inflow to Lake Powell has been below average in all but two years (2005 and 2008).  Drought conditions have eased in water year 2008 with above average inflows to the main stem Colorado River reservoirs (with the exception of Flaming Gorge and Fontenelle Reservoirs). Reservoir storage in the Colorado River Basin, however, is still below desired levels with the overall Colorado River system storage at the beginning of water year 2009 of 34.0 maf which is 59.3% of capacity.

Higher water flows always provide better health and growth rates for trout at Lees Ferry. Due to the projected run-off and the desire to equalize Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the planned release volume from April to October is being increased from 8.23 million acre feet of water to 8.88 million acre feet, which is an increase of more than 600,000 acre feet of water. This is the first time since 1997 that there has been a release larger than the minimum of 8.23 million acre feet. Lake Powell began rising early March and the final inflow increased the by 43-ft. So, why is this important for Lees Ferry? The streams that flow into Lake Powell (Colorado River, San Juan, and Green River) have been raging and stirring up all the accumulated sediment at the stream entrance. This sediment is nutrient laden and the suspended nutrients will be distributed throughout Lake Powell. All these nutrients will be transported and arrive in the river below the dam in a few months and the river will explode with algal growth and there will be lots of food for the fish. The last time this happened was 2005 and this set the stage for the dramatic increase in the health of the Lees Ferry fishery and aquatic food base.

For those of you that remember what the fishing was like in 1999 and 2000…you should be as excited as I am about what this higher water and increased nutrient load should do to the fishing at Lees Ferry.

The high flow experiment was basically a non event as far as the fishery is concerned. It came and went with few visible changes to the river or the fishery. For more details and to see my complete comments go here: http://coloradoriverconservancy.org/

For details on Lake Powell conditions and snow-pack, go here: http://lakepowell.water-data.com/

For a real time graphic view of water releases and ramp rates go here: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/az/nwis/uv?09380000

New guides at Lees Ferry Anglers. The last couple of years we have had several long time guide staff move on to bigger and hopefully better things. This year I’m proud to introduce 4 new guides, though new to our organization they are not new to guiding. Luke Blaser, Nick Gibb, Tom Jones, and JD Miller have joined our team. They bring with them a couple of decades of combined guiding experience on various waters around the world, college degrees, and an enthusiasm for guiding that is contagious. I’m proud to introduce these fellows and I’m sure that you will agree that they are a great addition to our team.

The AZ Game and Fish Department recently detected whirling disease in a small percentage of Lees Ferry trout that were collected for a random sampling. A recent sampling turned up no sign of the disease, which may mean that it was a “one time” exposure, where the disease was not established or that the disease is present but at a very low prevalence.  Anglers should still use caution in cleaning their equipment both before and after they have fished here or in other waters. For more information visit: http://www.whirling-disease.org

I have had some people that are fishing on their own (unguided) tell me that they are having a difficult time catching fish. The fishing has changed from the peak of 2000 and many people are not adapting to the new conditions. The current fish population is lower than it was in 2000 and there are not fish “everywhere” in the river like there were several years back (this is probably the reason that we are seeing better conditioned and larger fish today). Just because you might have been successful in one spot on the river in the past does not mean that particular spot is always good. There are many times of the year that the water flows, or conditions are not right to hold fish at “famous” spots such as 4 mile or Dam Island. It is often challenging, even for a good guide, to stay on top of where the fish are and what they are eating; but we do have the advantage of spending a lot of time on the water.   

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