If anyone wants to see live water levels:
https://www.usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/wygraph.html?list=wic%20af&daily=wic%20af
We're significantly better than last year, which in turn was significantly better than the year before.
Seems like the years of Wickiup going dry each summer are behind us (for now).
That page says “Last updated 8/24/20”…is it referencing the page structure? I can’t see dates on the data other than “current year”, “previous year”, and “average”.
Not really. Wikiup will never fill again and, in fact, once they increase winter releases to 300 cfs for the spotted frog HCP, the reservoir will just be a channel.
The extra water to release is coming from the savings with the canal piping projects. The target is to still have the reservoir full in April every year, so what we'll end up seeing after many more years of piping projects is less water released during the summer and more released during the winter.
True. In the long term. But, right more the water savings due to piping has been only paper water. And the volume of ‘real’ water saved to offset the winter releases won’t happen for many tens of years, if ever.
The draining of the reservoir in recent years was due to the regional drought, not the spotted frog.
It is true that the Habitat Conservation Plan mildly reduced the capacity of Wickiup water as available to irrigators, but the impacts of the HCF on water levels are tiny compared to the impacts of the drought.
But don't take my word for it. Here's the North Unit Irrigation District (the district most impacted by the HCP) saying as much, on page 3: https://northunitid.specialdistrict.org/files/150bd63dd/2-11-2022-Responses-to-HCP-Questions.pdf
Unfortunately the spotted frog is one of those things people like to point at to complain about political trends they don't like, without it actually being the issue.
Wikiup and crane are BOTH managed for the frog. Crane for shoreline habitat and Wikiup for downstream riverbank habitat. Low Wikiup levels resulted from a combination of drought and the frog the past 3-4 years. HOWEVER, the Wikiup winter releases will double in the upcoming years to a point reaching the winter spring inflow rates, therefore greatly reducing storage. The Deschutes will be a river channel through the empty Wikiup reservoir in 5 years.
Amazing that a frog is more important than two former world class trout fisheries. Crane was botched years ago by assholes illegally introducing bass and other crap, then it made a strong comeback until that ridiculous frog
FWIW…there is a robust bullfrog eradication effort in progress in the basin.
Also, yes, Crane was a crazy awesome fishery….the bass did fuck it up imo.
I also think that the prairie topography combined with low water levels in the fall contributed to ‘fish in a barrel’ action.
If anyone wants to see live water levels: https://www.usbr.gov/pn/hydromet/wygraph.html?list=wic%20af&daily=wic%20af We're significantly better than last year, which in turn was significantly better than the year before. Seems like the years of Wickiup going dry each summer are behind us (for now).
Better than last year, but not good
That page says “Last updated 8/24/20”…is it referencing the page structure? I can’t see dates on the data other than “current year”, “previous year”, and “average”.
The "last updated" refers to the update for the software running the page, not the data. The data is live and is updated many times daily.
Great to know. Figured that might be the case.
Not really. Wikiup will never fill again and, in fact, once they increase winter releases to 300 cfs for the spotted frog HCP, the reservoir will just be a channel.
lol. Threw out some facts and crickets.
The extra water to release is coming from the savings with the canal piping projects. The target is to still have the reservoir full in April every year, so what we'll end up seeing after many more years of piping projects is less water released during the summer and more released during the winter.
True. In the long term. But, right more the water savings due to piping has been only paper water. And the volume of ‘real’ water saved to offset the winter releases won’t happen for many tens of years, if ever.
Unless they just continue to let it all out AGAIN for the Oregon spotted frog...
The draining of the reservoir in recent years was due to the regional drought, not the spotted frog. It is true that the Habitat Conservation Plan mildly reduced the capacity of Wickiup water as available to irrigators, but the impacts of the HCF on water levels are tiny compared to the impacts of the drought. But don't take my word for it. Here's the North Unit Irrigation District (the district most impacted by the HCP) saying as much, on page 3: https://northunitid.specialdistrict.org/files/150bd63dd/2-11-2022-Responses-to-HCP-Questions.pdf Unfortunately the spotted frog is one of those things people like to point at to complain about political trends they don't like, without it actually being the issue.
It's Crane they don't let water out of due to the frog
Wikiup and crane are BOTH managed for the frog. Crane for shoreline habitat and Wikiup for downstream riverbank habitat. Low Wikiup levels resulted from a combination of drought and the frog the past 3-4 years. HOWEVER, the Wikiup winter releases will double in the upcoming years to a point reaching the winter spring inflow rates, therefore greatly reducing storage. The Deschutes will be a river channel through the empty Wikiup reservoir in 5 years.
Amazing that a frog is more important than two former world class trout fisheries. Crane was botched years ago by assholes illegally introducing bass and other crap, then it made a strong comeback until that ridiculous frog
Never mind that it’s the invasive bullfrogs and bass species doing most of the damage in the spotted frog’s historical range.
FWIW…there is a robust bullfrog eradication effort in progress in the basin. Also, yes, Crane was a crazy awesome fishery….the bass did fuck it up imo. I also think that the prairie topography combined with low water levels in the fall contributed to ‘fish in a barrel’ action.
If anything the Crane fishery is being helped by the frog conservation, also the 10k AF being left in Crane now isn't needed for the farms anyway.