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LITTLE ROCK – With the approach of the millennium comes a major and long-sought change for fishing in Arkansas’s renowned White River.
A recent act of Congress will give a year-round fish-sustaining flow of water downstream from dams on the White River system. These include Beaver, Table Rock, Bull Shoals, Norfork and Greers Ferry.
Forty years of intense efforts to improve the river’s water flows finally paid off in passage of the act by both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives that should help trout fishing. At the same time it gives some aid to low-water barge traffic further downstream and maintains the traditional power generation and flood control functions of the dams built from 1943 to 1965.
Sponsored by Arkansas Senator Tim Hutchinson and supported by all the Arkansas delegation, Section 374 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers "to provide minimum flows necessary to sustain tailwater trout fisheries" by reallocating water storage at the five White River system lakes.
The legislation specifies there won’t be any detrimental effects on electrical power generation and flood control, designated purposes for the dams built from 1943 to 1965.
Minimum flow levels would keep more water in the streambeds below these Corps of Engineers-operated dams during times when there are no hydropower or flood control water releases. It^s something that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and many other agencies and organizations have attempted to establish since the 1950s.
"The end result would be greater fish carrying capacity in these tailwaters, and the phenomenal growth rate found here now would become even better," said AGFC trout biologist John Stark.
If the legislation becomes law, as expected, the Corps would begin a study to determine the impacts of modifying the current operational plan, which emphasizes flood control, hydropower and recreation. A July 30, 2000, deadline is set for the report. The quickest timetable for minimum flow would be fall of 2000, and spring 2001 is more likely, said Stark.
"Basically, we^re just asking the Corps to let the water reach levels higher than the top of the conservation pool during the spring rains," said Stark. "The way the dams are operated now the Corps immediately starts to pull the water levels down when they rise above the conservation pool level." When the rains stop, pool levels would gradually fall as water would be released for minimum flow needs.
Black bass and some other sportfish in the lakes may also benefit from minimum flow. A slower release of floodwaters in the spring could have a positive impact on the spawn, according to AGFC fisheries biologists.
In addition to the study required from the Corps, the AGFC has teamed with the U.S. Geological Survey on a modeling study of Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes. By entering data from water temperature and dissolved oxygen readings into a computer program, the AGFC hopes to answer any concerns it has about minimum flow, both in the lakes and the tailwaters.
For example, the study will show the best way to use the available cold water under various weather, water storage and minimum flow alternatives, according to Allen Carter, AGFC’s chief of fisheries.
Trout can^t survive water temperatures over 72 degrees. Water releases from Bull Shoals Lake vary from lows in the 40s during the winter to highs in the 60s during the summer. Obviously, the AGFC doesn^t want to create a situation where, because of cold water depletion, water release temperatures become higher.
AGFC biologists said another benefit from the minimum flows would be slightly increased water levels further down the White River. This could help commercial barges carrying agricultural products during low-water periods.
Between the AGFC-USGS study and the one required from the Corps in the next year, an attempt will be made to answer accurately all questions about the impacts of minimum flow. But based on initial studies and the results from other projects around the country, the AGFC believes it has a win-win proposition in minimum flow -- a dramatic improvement in world class trout waters without compromising the other purposes of the Corps operated dams
Uploaded: 8/19/1999
Uploaded: 8/19/1999