Fish-friendly irrigation: flood or sprinkler?

By Brian Hodge In Trout Unlimited’s work with ranchers and farmers of the Upper Colorado River Basin, we often hear arguments about the relative benefits of flood and sprinkler irrigation for stream flows and fish.

Proponents of flood irrigation note that it requires a producer to divert more water from a stream than the crop can consume, and that unused irrigation water provides a benefit to fish because it returns to the stream when flows are otherwise low.

Meanwhile, proponents of sprinkler irrigation note that it requires a producer to divert little more from a stream than the crop demands, and that water left instream provides a benefit to fish because it maintains flows when water would otherwise be diverted.

But which is correct—in other words, does flood or sprinkler irrigation provide a greater benefit to fish in the Upper Colorado River Basin?

The short answer is, it depends.

In some cases, return flows from flood irrigation provide delayed benefits to streams and fish.  A research group from the University of Wyoming recently concluded, for example, that late-summer return flows from flood irrigation are critical to the brown trout fishery in the New Fork of the Green River (Blevins et al. 2016).  Moreover, the authors posited that if ranchers in the watershed improve efficiency by converting from flood to sprinkler irrigation, late-season streams flows will drop, and with them, the density (pounds/mile) of brown trout.  The authors also suggested that perpetuating flood irrigation in the Upper Green River Basin might be an effective way to maintain its healthy trout streams.

Although flood irrigation return flow can provide delayed benefits to fish, not all return flows reach streams at a time and in an amount necessary to confer a benefit.  An important assumption in the New Fork study was that water diverted in early-summer returned to streams later that season.  Our own analyses suggest that lag time on the western slope of Colorado can range from as little as days or weeks to as much as months or more.  Lag time on surface return flow (e.g., water flowing across a saturated field) is typically very short, whereas lag time on sub-surface return flow is highly variable and largely dependent upon the groundwater flow rate and distance between field and stream.  In some cases, return flows are intercepted and used by other irrigators.

In our thinking, fish- and flow-related benefits are intimately tied and dependent on a number of variables.  A 25% boost to flows in August, for instance, when flows are typically low and temperatures warm, could be quite meaningful for fish.  In contrast, a 5% increase in discharge in mid-fall or early-spring, when flows are low to moderate and temperatures cool but not cold, could go undetected by fish.  In short, the fish-related benefits of return flow (or lack thereof) depend on a number of factors, including the timing and amount of return flow, stream conditions, and the biology of the fishes in the stream.

Irrigation efficiency improvements, such as conversions from flood to sprinkler irrigation, can provide fish-related benefits where the short-term effects of leaving water instream outweigh the long-term benefits of taking it out.  Consider an example where the current regime is flood irrigation and the lag time on return flows is on the order of days or weeks.  In this case, there is little if any delayed benefit: water leaves from and returns to the stream in relatively short order.  In the meantime, more water is diverted from the stream than is required to meet crop demand, and consequently, stream flows and fish habitat are reduced between the point of diversion and point of return.  Also, return flow water—especially that on the surface—is likely to be warmer and more nutrient-rich than the source stream.  Here, a simple efficiency improvement could improve flows and water quality below the point of diversion.

Because each agricultural operation and watershed is different, TU tends to avoid generalizations about flood and sprinkler irrigation. The truth is, fish-related goals might be attained with flood irrigation in one watershed, and with center pivot sprinklers in another.  At the end of the day, the best solution is the one that works for both agricultural producers and fish.

Brian Hodge is a fisheries biologist and restoration coordinator for Trout Unlimited in the Upper Colorado River Basin.

Going Home to Public Lands

By Randy Scholfield Communications director for the Southwest region.

A couple weeks ago, my son and I decided on a last-minute camping outing and picked a popular area of high-country lakes in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, a short 30-minute drive above Boulder. He’s going to China soon to teach for a year, and this was a chance to get away, catch our breath and compare notes on life.

Want to know if America’s public lands are valued? Just try camping in them during a summer weekend in Colorado. The Indian Peaks, just south of Rocky Mountain National Park, is one of the most heavily used backcountry areas in the lower 48 because of its proximity to a large urban population.

I grew up in Kansas, which has one of the lowest percentages of public lands in the nation—only 1.9 percent of the state’s lands. My family was lucky to have access to some private places to hunt and fish, but for many people, their options were limited. They were locked out of the larger landscape.

Here on Colorado’s Front Range, there’s an embarrassment of public land riches in your backyard: Rocky Mountain National Park, Indian Peaks Wilderness, Arapahoe and Roosevelt national forests, and on and on. You couldn’t explore it all in a lifetime. It gives a sense of infinite possibilities.

More than a century ago, John Muir extolled the virtues of wild nature as a place of renewal for city folk: “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”

Most Americans these days are urban or suburban dwellers. We need these places more than ever—as the summer crowds in public lands attest. When we arrived, we had to sit in a line of cars at the entrance for 10 minutes. Grouchiness ensued, and I nursed dark thoughts about how our public lands were being loved to death. We did manage to find a good tent site, in a developed campground near some hiking trails that led to a string of high-altitude lakes we wanted to explore and fish.

After setting up camp, we grabbed our rods and hit the trail and, for the first half-mile, walked bumper to bumper with a phalanx of chattering hikers. Again, I felt annoyed by the interlopers infesting our trail. But as we put trail behind us and the landscape opened up, my crabbiness gave way to fellow feeling.

These adventurers, with their daypacks, floppy hats and kids in tow, were there, like us, in search of their share of respite and adventure. In truth, this amazing place was big enough for all of us. Overhearing foreign accents, I even had a flash of patriotic pride: They had travelled far to experience this place that Americans enjoy as our common playground and birthright.

How lucky are we?

As the afternoon clouds built, we fished bracingly cold, sky-hued lakes and held small jewelled brookies in our hands before a late-afternoon squall jumped the jagged peaks and drove us back to camp.

That night, my son and I sat in camp amid the enclosing dark pines—a glittering canopy of stars overhead—and talked and laughed and connected in a way we hadn’t for a long time.

When he’s half-way around the world, I’ll remember this.

Gold King Mine Added to Superfund List

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed the Gold King Mine and 47 other nearby sites on the Superfund cleanup list. These sites, all within the Bonita Peak Mining District, deposit an estimated 5.4 million gallons a day of heavy metal drainage into creeks within the Animas and San Juan river basins. The Superfund cleanup is a federal program that would allocate funds for the investigation and cleanup of some of America's "ticking time bombs" that would hinder human health and the environment.

"The Bonita Peak Mining District site consists of 48 historic mines or mining-related sources where ongoing releases of metal-laden water and sediments are occurring within Mineral Creek, Cement Creek and the Upper Animas. Near Silverton, Colorado, these drainages join to form the Animas River, which is used for drinking water, recreation and agricultural purposes," according to the EPA listing. "Contaminants found in these sources and in the surface water include arsenic, cadmium, copper, manganese, zinc, lead and aluminum. These contaminants impact fisheries that are harvested for human consumption, as well as wetlands and habitat for the threatened Canada lynx."

The Bonita Peak Mining District being added to the Superfund list is a step in the right direction that would help protect headwaters from mine drainage. Currently 40 percent of headwaters in the Western United States are affected by hard rock mining drainage. The TU-led San Juan Water Coalition has been fighting to address this issue by pushing for Good Samaritan legislation that would help clean up even more abandoned mines not addressed by the Superfund.

“Anglers and sportsmen strongly support this process,” said Trout Unlimited San Juan Mountains coordinator Ty Churchwell in a Denver Post article. “We’ll monitor the progress in the months and years to come to ensure the cleanup is done right and supports a high-quality fishery in the Animas. It’s our hope that Congress appropriates adequate funding to begin the cleanup soon." The town of Silverton, previously opposed to the Superfund program, now supports the listing along with local communities and law makers. “I’m hopeful that with this designation the EPA will continue to collaborate with local, tribal and state officials and work to protect the local economy, maximizing local employment opportunities where possible, and providing adequate funding to ensure the cleanup begins as quickly as possible,” said US Rep. Scott Tipton.

“Listing the Bonita Peak Mining District on the National Priorities List is an important step that enables EPA to secure the necessary resources to investigate and address contamination concerns of San Juan and La Plata Counties, as well as other downstream communities in New Mexico, Utah, and the Navajo Nation,” EPA regional administrator Shaun McGrath said in a statement.

“We look forward to continuing our efforts with the state of Colorado, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S Forest Service, tribal governments and our community partners to address the impacts of acid mine drainage on the Animas River.”

South Platte River Revival

The South Platte River once supported the growth of an entire region. Cities and civilization all along the river’s shoreline sprang up, igniting the West’s development. Now, everything from shopping malls to fields of corn relies on the water in the South Platte River. Today, the South Platte Basin is tasked to support over 2.8 million people in a three-state area—and roughly 95 percent of those people live in Colorado. This is largest population density in the Rocky Mountain region and has led to the overuse of the crucial South Platte water supply.

But the communities that have used, and at times severely depleted, the resource are now working to restore it and bring the river back to health.

It was announced last week  that Denver Water, with help from Colorado Parks and Wildlife has obtained the rights to an additional 2,100 acre-feet of water that will be stored in Chatfield Reservoir and will be released downstream during times of low flow. The additional water will address the river's fishery and the populations of trout.

With the additional flows during low water periods, the water temperature will remain lower and deeper pools will be created, allowing a more hospitable environment for rainbow trout.

Increasing water flows is just one step of many that has been done to help revive the river. The Denver Trout Unlimited Chapter has been working on restoring the South Platte for many years. The chapter has recently installed water temperature sensors from Chatfield Reservoir upstream through Downtown Denver and all the way to Commerce City. These monitors will allow the chapter and agencies to see how the sometimes unreliable flows affect the temperature of the South Platte and influence the fishery.

The river also benefits from the CarpSlam- an annual fundraiser that focuses on anglers catching carp through Denver. The funds raised by the CarpSlam go directly towards the South Platte and restoring the health of the river. Over the years, the CarpSlam has resulted in anglers catching Carp, Walleye, Bass, and Trout in a river that some believe isn't able to hold a healthy population of fish.

Projects like Stream Explorers have also helped the South Platte by teaching students about the river and how it is used for both human and aquatic needs. Learning how a city can impact the health of a river and how the river plays such a vital role to our way of life is important to teach to the next generation of river stewards.

Through all of these initiatives by Denver TU, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and Denver Water, the South Platte River is returning to a healthy river. One that not only provides water for municipal uses but one that offers enough cool, clean water for a healthy population of trout and other fish species.

CTU Helps Clip Fins for Ongoing Study

Colorado Trout Unlimited, it's chapters, and volunteers helped Colorado Parks and Wildlife clip fins of Cutbow Trout as part of CPW's ongoing study of diploid vs triploid trout in Eleven Mile Reservoir. Volunteers, along with staff from CPW helped clip over 26,000 fish in just the first day at the Mt. Shavano Fish Hatchery in Salida. Over the last two years, 97 volunteers helped clip over 148,00 fish in a six day period.

The study focuses on the size comparisons of the diploid and triploid trout. Diploid trout are the typical with only two chromosomes. In comparison, triploid trout have three chromosomes, making them sterile. The third chromosome is added during egg development through a pressure shock treatment method.

The triploid, or sterile trout, are believed to grow bigger in length and girth due to the assumption that they will use more energy for growth while the diploid trout will use up much needed energy for reproduction.

The fish used in this study are Rainbow X Cutthroat hybrid trout. Or commonly known as Cutbow trout.

Volunteers would clip the left pectoral fin on all of the diploid trout and the right fin for all triploid trout. These fish will be stocked into Eleven Mile Reservoir in February by CPW fish biologists, led by Jeff Spohn.

Due to the weak current in Eleven Mile Reservoir, these fish will be able to survive and adapt perfectly fine without a fin. According to Spohn, if the fish were placed in a river, it may hinder their ability to swim.

CTU helped with this event last year and over the course of three days, 70 volunteers clipped over 68,000 fish that were then stocked for the study.

Bear Creek Porter for Greenbacks

Story telling has long been accompanied by beer, just as flyfishing has long been accompanied by storytelling. What would a fishing story told around the campfire be without beer? The fish would be smaller, the fights shorter, and the flies more nymph like. Naturally the story book relationship between beer and flyfishng is used to make money, think Busch Light’s cutthroat cans, but some brewers use it to raise awareness. Think Pikes Peak Brewing Company’s Bear Creek Porter. Bear Creek Porter is brewed with water taken directly from Bear Creek, home of the greenback cutthroat trout. A porter by request, the dark, coco, fan favorite is served seasonally to create conversation about greenbacks through beer. This is a cooperative mission spearheaded by Cheyenne Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited and Pikes Peak Brewing Company.

Greenback cutthroat trout need every bit of help they can get. The current state of affairs is hopeful but management agencies like Colorado Parks and Wildlife, need Colorado Trout Unlimited (CTU) to make partnerships they cannot. By engaging locals in the places they frequent, CTU chapters throughout the state can grab the attention of their constituents through a universal talking piece.

The Bear Creek Porter is a conversation starter. Imagine this. A local, regular walks into Pike Peak Brewing Company, notices Bear Creek Porter is the seasonal beer, orders it and enjoys it. They ask the bartender about the beer and come to find that the Bear Creek the water for the brew comes from, is the same Bear Creek they take their children hiking most weekends. The patron then tells their family and friends about the beer and the trout.

This ripple effect is the start of a grass roots movement. To protect and restore greenbacks it will take a public who understands that engaging in conversation is the most important thing we can do to spread ideas. What better way to start a conversation than with a beer.

Happy Birthday, National Parks Service

On August 25th 1916, Woodrow Wilson signed a bill that would create an agency to look over the already established National Parks. With the bill becoming law, the National Parks Service was born. Trout Unlimited has named September the month of public lands, but just 7 days before the calendar turns, there's reason to start the celebration early!

The National Parks Service is dedicated to "preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment." These places include all 412 national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and even the White House.

John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt were some of the founders of the National Parks system. Muir's writing from the Yosemite Valley helped convince Roosevelt and Congress that the land needed to be protected. Muir also helped get areas like Sequoia, Grand Canyon and Mt. Rainier listed as National Parks.

When the bill was signed into law 100 years ago, the NPS needed a leader and the first leader was Stephen Tyng Mather- a wealthy Chicago business man who ended up using a lot of his own fortune to advance the Park System. Mather worked to promote park access and development. During his tenure the service's domain expanded with the addition of Shenandoah, Great Smoky Mountains, and Mammoth Cave national parks.

Following Muir, Roosevelt, and Mather there were a plethora of leaders stepping up to the plate. In the last 100 years, the Parks Service has expanded and continues to protect public lands for sportsmen and women to use freely.

In Colorado there are four national parks: Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mese Verde, and Great Sand Dunes. Along with the parks, there are 12 other protected areas- including the newest National Monument: Browns Canyon.

In honor of the 100th anniversary, the National Parks Service is offering free entrance to all National Parks on August 25th-28th.

Parasitic Disease Causes Yellowstone River Closure

In response to a parasitic disease that caused an unprecedented fish kill, on August 19, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) closed 183 miles of the Yellowstone River and all its tributaries. The closure stretches from Yellowstone National Park's North Boundary to Laurel, Montana. "This action is necessary to protect the fishery and the economy it sustain," said Montana FWP in a press release. "The closure will also help limit the spread of the parasite to adjacent rivers through boats, tubes, waders and other human contact and minimize further mortality in all fish species.

"In the past week, FWP has documented over 2,000 dead Mountain Whitefish on some affected stretches of the Yellowstone. With that, FWP estimates the total impact to Mountain Whitefish in the Yellowstone to be in the tens of thousands. FWP has also recently received reports of the kill beginning to affect some Rainbow and Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout."

In order to help the Yellowstone rebound and keep other fisheries throughout the west healthy, it's important to remind anglers to effectively clean their gear. Colorado anglers know all to well with Whirling Disease how these parasites can affect a fishery, economy and community so it's worth the time to clean gear properly. "Few of us want to spend time cleaning rafts and fishing gear at the end of a long day on the river. But, this outbreak is a great reminder that those efforts are the least we can do to protect the resources we love," said Brooks.

It is believed that the parasite causing the fish kill was introduced to the river by people and FWP along with Montana TU and its chapters are urging people to keep their gear cleaned. "Now that the parasite (Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae) is in the Yellowstone and infecting fish, the main priority is eliminating additional stressors on those fish and preventing it from spreading to other rivers," said David Brooks, Montana TU Associate Director of Conservation. "Our MTU chapters in the Yellowstone area are coordinating volunteers to be stationed at river access points to let folks know that the river is closed and to educate people about the reason. More importantly we are using those encounters and all of our social media presence to talk about cleaning and drying boats and gear properly."

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has an Angler Cleaning card to remind everyone of the safest and most efficient ways to clean gear. These options include:

• Clean gear with a mixture of ammonia based cleaner and water
• Spray or soak gear with water of at least 140 degrees
• Dry waders and gear for a minimum of 10 days.
• Place boots and waders in a freezer overnight.

The parasite in the Yellowstone is believed to cause prolific kidney disease in trout. It does not pose any issues to humans or pets. According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the parasite was first discovered in 2011 has been seen and related to fish kills in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Canada and Europe.

The parasite is picked up through the gills and travels to the kidneys. "The sudden and large death toll in whitefish indicates that they have not been exposed to the parasite before," said Brooks. "The good news is that surviving fish that have been exposed - whitefish and trout - will develop pretty robust immunity. The bad news is, this incident shows that the parasite travels with people and our stuff."

It only takes one person to transmit a parasite similar to the one found in Yellowstone. Maybe one day the angling community will have a "Smokey Bear" figure that tells people "Only YOU can prevent the transmitting of parasitic diseases" but until that day, it's up to the angling community to share among ourselves.

Victory for Native Trout

The Western Native Trout Initiative (WNTI) has granted Colorado Trout Unlimited and the Cheyanne Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited $6000. Two $3,000 grants will be used to help bring public awareness to native trout and help further greenback genetic studies at Mt. Shavano Fish Hatchery. Western Native Trout Initiative is an organization dedicated to protecting native trout. They offer many different grant opportunities that provide conservation organizations with a means to realize their native trout projects.

Colorado Trout Unlimited (CTU), The Greenbacks and Trout Unlimited Chapters throughout the state have been propagating the good news story of greenback cutthroat trout. Throughout past months and years chapters across the state have thrown their time and energy into false greenbacks. No more. Chapter and state level advocates at CTU are working with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), Western Native Trout Initiative, and Cities to ensure greenbacks forever have a home on the Front Range.

Part of the state level involvement will be to create new signage to replace old signage marked with the wrong greenbacks. Signs will be erected at sights of greenback reintroduction to educate unknowing recreationists about the greenback. CPW is helping design and install signs. CTU and The Greenbacks will also be buying more 50 gallon tanks to be installed at the Mt. Shavano Fish Hatchery. Tanks will serve as brooding pens for the newly hatched greenback fry from Zimmerman Lake. Fry with like genetic crosses (WildXWild, WildXHatchery, HatcheryXHatchery) will be assigned to the same tank for research purposes.

At the chapter level the Cheyenne Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited (CMCTU) will be installing an exhibit: “Trout on Tejon”. The exhibit will feature sculpted greenbacks complete with educational plaque and possibly QRC code, strategically placed throughout Colorado Springs. Patrons of the Springs will soon never be far from the greenbacks. Look for instalments in the coming year.

Funding for these projects is coming from a freshly awarded WINTI Grant (Western Native Trout Initiative). The Greenbacks and CTU, along with CMCTU both received 3,000 dollars to complete their projects. These three organizations and many others across the state collaborating to bring greenbacks to the forefront of public attention is beginning to be recognized as a ground breaking effort.

North St. Vrain Creek Restoration

Almost three years ago in September of 2013, floods all over the front range swept through usually tame creeks and wiped out stream banks, structures, and anything else in their way. The North St Vrain Creek in the Button Rock Preserve area in Longmont was one of the hardest impacted streams from the flooding. The St Vrain Chapter of TU along with local stakeholders have teamed up to restore and improve the creek to prevent future damage.

The Phase 1 project area spanned a section from the box culvert downstream of Longmont Reservoir to the downstream limit of the Preserve. The work included excavation and moving material to create or protect riffle, pool, and run habitat, placing large rock structures to provide better habitat stability and creek resilience, and revegetation of riparian areas.

But more funds are needed to help initiate phase 2 of the project, and with help from the St. Vrain Chapter of TU, the City of Longmont was rewarded a Fishing is Fun grant of $84,000 to help complete more projects along the North St. Vrain in Button Rock Preserve- specifically an ADA accessible fishing pier along the river and restoration work.

The St. Vrain Chapter will continue to raise funds for Phase 2 of the project, that has been in the design for the last two month. Phase 2 will continue to address the river between Longmont Reservoir upstream to the Ralph Price Reservoir spillway. "The contractor has just completed the preliminary designs and construction costs for stakeholder review," said Barbara Luneau of the St. Vrain Chapter. "The first priorities in Phase 2 are to address the extensive flood damage at the inlet to Longmont Reservoir and at the spillway from Ralph Price."