9/13/08 In from Madison River Fishing Company, Ennis Montana
One of the best fly shops in Montana:
From the sounds of things it seems we?ve mobilized the world. Word is definitely out about the situation here in the Madison Valley. We?re satisfied that there are now enough eyes and ears pointed our direction that it will keep PP&L honest and on top of the problem as much as they can possibly be. With that said, I need to reassure some folks out there who may not have gotten the gist of the reports I?ve been writing about the CURRENT state of the issue.
At this point PP&L has NO PLANS TO DRAIN THE RESERVOIR COMPLETELY. This would be, in their minds as well as ours, a worst-case scenario. No one wants to see that happen. It?s not completely out of the question yet but they are working frantically at the moment to prevent that situation from becoming inevitable.
PP&L has successfully produced some sonar images of the exterior face of the intake tower and now has a clearer picture of what the main problem is at the moment. Basically there is a horizontal stack of huge logs covering the inflow ports of the tower structure. There are 17 of these logs missing from the faulty side of the tower creating a 150 square foot hole allowing the 3200 cfs flow through the dam. They don?t know yet what caused the logs to fail but they do now have some better options for stopgap measures to be put into place to stem the flow. They?re prepping right now to replace the logs over the next couple days. Best-case scenario, if everything goes well, they regain control over the flow by Sunday or Monday and can then divert it to the two ?good? gates. They?ll then be able to drop it to more seasonable levels. They?ll still need to figure out how to deal with the broken hydraulic gates but at least Hebgen won?t bleed to death.
WE HAVE JUST RECEIVED NEWS FROM PP&L THAT THEY HAVE THE FIRST 12 NEW STOPLOGS IN PLACE AND SO FAR THE PLAN IS WORKING. BARRING ANY UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THEY PLAN ON HAVING THE FLOW DOWN TO 2500 cfs BY MORNING! Keep an eye on the USGS MT Streamflow site!
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv/?site_no=06038500&PARAmeter_cd=00060,00065,00010
As they place the new logs (at least 17 and potentially 30 of them) they will simultaneously open the intake gates that are still functional, maintaining the flow at 2500 cfs. They will then work with MT FWP to come up with a drawdown plan which could take place over several more days. They cannot draw the river down all at once or they?d strand fish as the water level dropped. They?ll need to drop the flow slowly. They also do not have a target level yet but we?ll let you know as soon as that information becomes available.
WE?RE HOLDING OUR BREATH.
AS OF NOON ON SATURDAY CREWS ARE STILL WORKING TO REPLACE STOPLOGS. WORK IS PROGRESSING SLOWLY BUT THEY ARE STILL CONFIDENT THEY WILL REGAIN CONTROL OF THE OUTFLOW BY LATER TODAY OR TOMORROW. STAY TUNED!
AS OF TODAY (9/13/2008) PPL IS STILL WORKING ON PLACING THE STOPLOGS. THE WORK IS GOING VERY SLOWLY AT THE MOMENT BECAUSE OF, OF COURSE, SOME UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES. IN THIS CASE ONE IN PARTICULAR. THEY ARE HAVING TROUBLE POUNDING THE NEW LOGS INTO PLACE BECAUSE OF THE ?SQUISHY? NATURE OF THE OLD LOGS. FOR EVERY 6 INCHES THEY POUND THE NEW ONES DOWN THEY REBOUND 2. THEY HOPE TO POUND HARD ENOUGH IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS TO BASICALLY DESTROY THE OLD LOGS OR BARRING THAT THEY?LL BRING IN SOME EQUIPMENT TO CUT THEM OUT TOMORROW. PP&L FIGURED THEY?D BE DONE BY NOW AND HAVE THE FLOWS UNDER CONTROL. THEY STILL BELIEVE THEY?LL GET IT DONE BY TOMORROW OR MONDAY. STAY TUNED!
The present and short-term implications for the river and the fishery really aren?t bad. I know it?s a bit daunting to think about fishing this river they way it looks at the moment. Keep in mind though that if you usually come out here any time from mid-July on, you?ve just never seen it like this. This is really just springtime condition and we fish the river every year when it looks like this. In fact we HOPE it looks like this during runoff because we know it makes the larger fish more comfortable on bright, sunny days and also puts more large prey items like sculpins and stonefly nymphs in the flow.
High water (within reason, such as is the case now) really does nothing but good for a river. It will flush out accumulated detritus, move and add structure and provide the fish added safety and comfort. The flows we are seeing now could actually improve the long-term health of the river and the fishery. They just need to get them under control before we lose too much water from the reservoir.
The possible long-term implications are clear. PP&L needs to do absolutely everything in their power to keep enough water in that lake so they can maintain appropriate flows at critical times throughout the season as well as ensure they can successfully fill it in the spring.
The fishing, by the way, has remained at least decent and in some cases quite good. From about Palisades down we?ve been doing well with streamers and larger stonefly type patterns. We?re not putting big numbers of fish in the boat but the ones we?ve been landing have been quite large. We?re also now seeing some sporadic dry fly activity. There are some hoppers getting onto the water and we?ve had a good ant hatch here over the past week. You?ll, of course, need to get your fly in the quiet water seams and eddies but the water is green enough that the fish stacked in those spots will have no problem seeing them.
The Slide area is a different story. All those fish that remain generally untouchable for most of the summer out there in the middle have now gravitated to the banks and quieter water. They are stacked in what little slack water there is behind boulders and bankside depressions. Girdle Bugs, San Juans and assorted bead heads will trick them. They are hungry.
The other plus for anyone coming out here now is the river is virtually deserted. News of this situation has definitely scared folks away. Outside of the Slide area you?ll have the water virtually to yourself. If you?re proficient at dead drifting nymphs and big sculpin patterns and are after some large trout there might not be a better time to be here.
The campgrounds on the upper river are now open for overnight use again as well. You can come up and park your camper or pitch your tent and watch the craziness unfold.
Here is a copy of an e-mail sent to us by our FWP regional fisheries manager. Like I said, the right folks have their eyes on the situation.
Hello,
I just thought I’d send a quick message out to you, as I know you have an interest in the current situation with Hebgen Lake and the Madison River. This is certainly an extraordinary situation with some uncertainty and anxiety for all involved.
What I want to let you know is this: We at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) have been, and continue to be, on top of this situation in order to see that our fishery resources are protected to the fullest extent possible.
Since the event of increased flows on the afternoon of 8/31, we have been in daily communication with PPL Montana (PPL) and are also coordinating closely with other agencies involved. While efforts to stem the flow from the dam have been unsuccessful so far, PPL is working very diligently to remedy the situation, and we are hopeful that a remedy will be in place soon that will allow them to accurately diagnose the problem and then repair the outlet structure as needed. In the meantime we do not feel that there have been significant fishery impacts to this point. We have made a number of requests/recommendations to PPL on how fishery resource values in the Madison River and associated lakes/reservoirs can be best protected by their operations during this difficult time. We are also continuously considering the potential effects of various scenarios that could play out so that we can continue to protect these very important fisheries as best possible, whatever the short and long-term outcomes end up being.
Thank you for your continued concern about our fishery resources,
Steve Molcsan