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.