Madison River between the lakes

[WiFlyFisher]

This is terrible...

NorthWestern Energy is trying to restore flows to the Madison River today after the water level dropped dramatically on the river downstream of Hebgen Dam.

According to the United States Geological Survey, the Madison River just below the dam dropped from a discharge of about 650 CFS (cubic feet per second) to about 195 CFS.

The Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana reports fish being stranded along that part of the river due to the sudden drop.

https://www.kbzk.com/news/montana-news/ ... after-drop

John

[creakycane]

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv/? ... 0065,00010

Here’s hoping it’s headed back to normal.

[jhuskey]

I read no explanation of why this would have happened in the first place - did I miss something?

[tabrods406]

There is a problem with the dam and they are working 24/7 to find and fix problem but calling for volunteers to rescue fish tomorrow.


From MT TU:Upper Madison Update: First, our apologies for the changing messages. This is a crisis situation and we are trying to work with the best information we have. We now know that a dam malfunction is the cause of the rapid reduction in flows. Crews are working 24/7 to remedy the situation, but it appears the water will not be restored in the near future. Unless flows are restored tonight, a large scale fish rescue operation will take place tomorrow. Volunteers are encouraged to walk the banks and rescue fish. If you have the opportunity, bring a net and a bucket and practice safe fish handling. The entire upper river from Hebgen to Valley Garden will be affected. Please be cautious of trampling redds especially those still underwater. Some fry could still survive. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will be on hand at FAS locations tomorrow to help organize. We will be postponing our Wrappin' & Rappin' fly tying Instagram event scheduled for tomorrow evening so we can hit the road early to assist the recovery effort. We'll share more when we can.
#wildtrout #hebgendamcrisis #wildtroutmanagemnt #conserveprotectrestore

Tom

[jhuskey]

Thanks Tom!

[adrien schnee]

John and Tom that hurts to read, really. But thanks for sharing the info.

[Hellmtflies]

The dam was repaired a few years back. Perhaps that repair has failed. We'll see. I'm curious as to how long it will be before the water will start to come over the top of the dam then at least offering some reprieve to the trouts. Also, how long before the low water stops the flow over the Quake Lake project and reduce water flow to Ennis and beyond. And, all of this depends on how much snow pack we get in the meantime. Currently our snow pack is way down. Fingers crossed.

[BigTJ]

Thankful it didn’t happen in the dog days of summer.

[Hellmtflies]

Thankful it didn’t happen in the dog days of summer.

Agreed. Mostly for the trouts but also for the financial impact on the communities depending on the tourist dollars. That's huge.

[WiFlyFisher]

If you have an Instagram account, Kelly Galloup has video from today with his report along the Madison River. It is not looking good.

Video report on the river...
https://www.instagram.com/p/CW8iE0ivS-R/

https://www.instagram.com/galloupsslideinn/

John

[Hellmtflies]

FYI, according to the news in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle the Madison River is currently closed from the dam down to Ennis, Mt.

[Bucktrout]

A friend sent me the article earlier today from a Helena newspaper. I assumed the crew here would be on top of it

What does it mean that they will rescue the fish? Where do they move the fish?

Eric

[tabrods406]

From MT TU : Once again thank you to everyone who came out today and all those supporting from afar. We saved a lot of fish today! At this point there is no formal call for further fish rescue. We need to protect what redds remain so if you do walk the banks be extra cautious of clean gravel areas. NW Energy continues to work on the dam malfunction and a team of divers is on site. As always we will keep you up to date if anything changes. Follow @mgtroutunlimited for info from our local chapter.
#madisonfishrescue #thankyou #madisonriver #wildtrout #tuvolunteer #conserveprotectrestore

They basically moved fish from the side channels to the main channel and it was very successful. The emphasis now is to protect the remaining redds from farther harm. Big shoutout to the many, many, volunteers who showed up today to help.

Tom

[jhuskey]

Kudos to you and all your Brothers and Sisters there Tom!

[PYochim]

Hats off and sincere thanks to all who participated.

[BGreer]

As of this morning (12/2/21), it looks like the flow is back:

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv/? ... 0065,00010

Thank you for the great effort by everyone to save the fish. Remarkable job.

Brian

[tabrods406]

As of this morning (12/2/21), it looks like the flow is back:

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/uv/? ... 0065,00010

Thank you for the great effort by everyone to save the fish. Remarkable job.

Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the update. We take our fish seriously out here

See you at Bamboo Bash this year? Alexis and I have a cabin reserved.

Tom

[BGreer]

Tom,

You bet brother, I plan on being there!

[j2t]

Kelly Galloup posted the following this AM:

Northwestern Energy and their crews were able to repair Hebgen Dam just before midnight and we are now back to 640 cfs. out of the gate. The river has already started to rise at the Kirby Gauge, and we may have dodged a bullet in terms of keeping the majority of our spawning beds wet in the main river below Quake Lake. The vast majority of the major spawning areas between Three Dollar Bridge and Pine Butte were still underwater as of 4:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon and the river between Lyon’s Bridge and Valley Garden did not encounter much in the way of dry river bottom. The areas that were hit the worst during this event were the Madison Between the Lakes, the channels around Slide Area down to Raynolds, and the channels around the West Fork area. There were a few areas just above Pine Butte that also suffered, but again, the vast majority of the spawning redds in the main river were underwater through it all which is great news. Thank you to everyone that came out to help over the last two days, as an untold amount of trout, whitefish, sculpin, and invertebrates were saved as a result. It will take a few years to see what kind of impact the last 48 hours has had on this fishery, but at least we can all breath a little easier this morning. The most important thing we can do now is to make sure this situation never happens again… @northwesternenergy

[Hellmtflies]

Boy, we dodged a bullet there.