JACKSON, Wyo. — The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) began reducing the water flow out of Jackson Lake Dam on May 10, but the state of Wyoming has stepped in and is using its storage account to maintain flows at 280 cubic feet per second (cfs), the absolute minimum flow to sustain the area’s native fish and aquatic ecosystem.
The plans to reduce flows to 50 cfs for six-eight weeks, roughly until the end of June, were made public within recent days. The BOR says the reduction is “necessary to prevent water from leaving the system and spilling over Milner Dam downstream in Idaho due to the above-average snowpack.”
If flows are to drop below 280 cfs, the 4.5-mile stretch of river below the dam will be the most severely impacted. This section is critical habitat for Snake River cutthroat trout, shore birds, wildlife and the bluehead sucker — a species of greatest conservation need. Not to mention the economic impact the drawdown will have on the industries that rely on the watershed.
“My thought would be that it would take, two to three days, for that section of river to drain and for populations of fish to be severely impacted,” Taylor Phillips, owner of Jackson Hole EcoTour Adventures, said.
According to the Jackson Hole Chapter of Trout Unlimited, in the early 1980s and 90s, Wyoming purchased 33,000 acre-feet of Palisades Reservoir storage, providing the state with water rights. This storage is currently being used to augment the flow and maintain the 280 cfs but experts believe this won’t be enough to maintain flows for the six-eight week planned draw down by the BOR.
The minimum 280 cfs was determined by Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s (WGFD) 1987 study by Tom Annear.
A common way to conceptualize cfs amongst river users is the basketball analogy. One cfs can be equated to one basketball. “Imagine 50 basketballs going past a certain point over a second, and then imagine 280,” Phillips said.
Economic impacts
Trout Unlimited estimates that the Snake River watershed generates $20 million in fishing-based revenue annually.
“Wildlife is the top driver of tourism in the state,” Phillips said.
Phillips started a petition, which will be sent to the Secretary of the Interior Deb Halland next week. The letter urges the Department of the Interior to maintain flows at 280 cfs through the spring and into the future.
Phillips cited in the letter that the water belongs to the American people, “Over 3.5 million people visit Grand Teton National Park to experience a part of one of the largest intact temperate ecosystems left on Earth.”
He also noted that the local economy would be severely impacted, and with the impacts of climate change expected to increase in the coming years, water management issues will rise to the forefront. “We refuse to fight this same battle year after year to protect one of the most intact native trout fisheries in the Lower 48,” Phillips wrote.
Within three days, the petition has received nearly 1,500 signatures.
As of May 10, Jackson Lake is 32 percent full, Palisades is 53 percent full and Milner is 69 percent full, according to the BOR.
Negotiations are reportedly happening at the highest level at the Department of the Interior but if a deal can’t be struck, Wyoming’s water “in the bank” will only last a matter of weeks.
“What happens when water goes back in the system is that things won’t come back to normal overnight,” Phillips said.
