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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 1983)
Spilyay Tymoo Page 8 September 13,1983 Warm Springs River tributaries evaluated 1/llM/v //<•<««/ v j SLOWED DOWN— Shocking fish to make them inactive fo r a short p eriod o f tim e allows U.S. Fish and Game researchers Brian Cates (left) and Gary Heckman (right) to count fish populations. by Marsha Shewczyk WEIGHING IN— Bio-technician Louis P itt, Jr. takes weight o f collected fish during evaluation o f Warm Springs tributaries. Water board accepting applications A three year term on the Board is open for Tribal member applicants. The Water Control Board is responsible for the administration of water on the Reservation according to the W ater Code and Implementing Provision to that Code. This three-member Board acts to protect the water quality and quantity on the Reserva tion by approving uses of water, activities inside the R eservation of im p o rtan t watersheds and recommending measure which will reduce impacts to water. This Boaxjl does not become directly involved in Tribal water rights policy which is the responsibi lity of the Tribal Council and BIA. Persons applying for the vacant position should become knowledgeable about water characteristics and how these are affected by actions of humans, animals and nature. Interested Tribal members please send your application to the Tribal Council office; be sure to include your phone number and address. With the Warm Springs River and its tributaries being crucial to spring chinook and native steelhead production, utilizing these streams to their fullest is a way of preserving a valuable resource. Columbia River fishermen along with fishermen at Sherar’s Bridge will benefit. The capacity of streams for rearing fish varies. Overstock ing or understocking a stream may be either harmful for production or wasteful. Evaluation of streams to discover productive capacity can provide critical informa tion. With man’s activities often located near streams where fish stocks are viable clues to the condition of a fishery can provide informa tion for avoiding impact to sensitive areas. A h a b ita t e v a lu a tio n d escrib es c o n d itio n s and features of habitat, ability of a stream to produce fish and data against which future habitat alteration can be judged. Such an evaluation called Habitat Quality Index is being conducted on Warm Springs streams by U.S. Fish and Game personnel. The evaluation, c o o rd in a te d by fisheries biologist Gary Heckman, is funded by Bonneville Power Administration with fisheries enhancement monies allocated in mitigation of Columbia River dams. Developed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the Habitat Quality Index is a means to predict salmonid standing crop and, secondarily, to assess the effects of habitat alterations. Nine parameters are used in analysis of the streams in the Habitat Quality Index. They include: w idth, m axim um summer temperature, dissolved nitrates, eroding banks, fish cover, velocity, invertebrates, peak flow to low flow ratio and average critical period flow in ratio to average annual flow. Requiring several persons, the study is conducted in streams with fish collecting equipm ent and m easuring instruments. Numerical values a re given to m e a su re d parameters and compared to fish populations enabling researchers to give values to stream segments. Potential re a rin g c a p a c ity o f the stream is predicted. This information can be utilized in Warm Springs N a tio n a l Fish H atch ery management, to program a more successful juvenile fish stocking program. According to “Heckman, this would allow the wild habitat to produce the maximum number of fish. More adult salmon would be available for the fisheries and spawning in the wild. Along with basic data, those working on the study have learned that juvenile chinook are higher in streams than previously thought. In Mill Creek many juvenile chinook have been seen due to stocking last year, indicated Heckman. This will likely show an increase in the return of adult fish in 1986, he says. Those actively working on the study include coordinator Gary Heckman, Jake Schlep- fer, Louie Pitt and Brian Cates. Shitike Creek headworks removed Since use of the new Warm S p rin g s d o m e s tic w a te r treatment plant began in 1982 the old domestic water intake system has become a white elephant. It has been more bothersome than beneficial. Removal of the dam in August of this; ; year pleased, many who wish to see Shitike Creek return to a more natural state. At first there was discussion th a t the in ta k e a t th é headworks on Shitike Creek could be used as a backup should the new system fail. It was estimated, however, that the time spent cleaning silt and gravel from the dam would equal the time necessary to locate and alleviate any problems in the new domestic water system. Another negative aspect of BARRIER REMOVED— Headworks on Shitike Creek were rem oved recently allowing the the concrete obstruction was its migration o f spring chinook an d steelhead further u p th e cre ek . failure to allow, the migration of fish upstream. The ladder on the dam was constructed too far down stream for the fish to find it once they arrived at the dam itself. Natural Resource workers spent much time at the dam site raising and lowering a make shift? gate to allow these migrating fish to make it over the dam once they did find the ladder. W ith re m o v a l o f th e headworks fish do not have to surmount obstacles any longer. They merely have to swim upstream. Spring chinook have already been discovered five miles above this point. A gabion will be constructed downstream from the previous dam site for stabalization of the stream bed. The gabion will hold the gravel and at the same tim e allow fish passage . upstream.
