Walleye. In the Deschutes River?
The fish have spoken. And those fish are walleye. Remarkably, there are now walleye in the lower Deschutes River. As far as anyone is aware, this has never happened before. We wish this was good news. But it’s not.We’ve been getting reports of walleye being hooked and landed as far upriver as Kloan, at River Mile 7. We’d not mentioned it yet as we were waiting for documentation of a landed walleye. Now we have it--the walleye in the photo below was landed at River Mile 4.5.
In addition to walleye, smallmouth bass continue to be been taken in good numbers in the lower river this summer, for the second straight year. Trout and steelhead, not so much.What does this mean for the lower river? As the lower river ecology and habitat changes due to Selective Water Withdrawal operations, so do the species that thrive in the new conditions. Warmer water attracts warm water fish. As insect populations decrease, piscivorous fish (fish that feed on other fish) increase.Further, this is not good news for salmon and steelhead juvenile migration. Juvenile steelhead and salmon are preferred food items for walleye and often for bass, much as they are for northern pikeminnow. Bass and walleye are also capable of feeding on crawdads, worms and insects, and generally are known for being highly predatory feeding machines.
We are repeatedly told by the agencies responsible for Deschutes River management that nothing has changed in the lower Deschutes River since the implementation of surface water withdrawal at Round Butte Dam. But lets consider the list of easily observable changes:
- Bass and walleye incursion
- Increased water temperatures throughout the lower river's 100 miles, from mid-winter through spring and summer
- Black Spot Disease widely spread in trout, steelhead, and bull trout
- Invasive nuisance algae
- Significant change in insect community structure, and decline in adult insect abundance
- Observations of declining bird populations
Clearly, this is no longer the river we knew prior to 2010. But fortunately, we know these problems are not inevitable. A return to cooler, cleaner water discharged from the Pelton Round Butte Project can begin alleviating these discouraging ecological changes in the lower river. It’s time for the responsible agencies, dam operators, and other parties to admit that the Selective Water Withdrawal tower is responsible for some serious unintended consequences, and begin charting a new path forward for lower river management.The Deschutes River Alliance will remain on the front lines of the battle to restore this treasured river. Please join us in our efforts.
Deschutes River Alliance: Cooler, cleaner H2O for the lower Deschutes River. Click here to Donate.Click here to sign up for the Deschutes River Alliance email newsletter.---