Potential Chub Flush?

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Lake Bum

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Workers at the Dam are prepping tube's 2 & 3 for a solid two months of full release to cool the waters impacting the Humpback Chub fish. Cooling the water is supposed to slow the smallmouth population down.
That is the word at the Dam, I'm not sure how factual it is yet. Regardless......it would drop current lake levels quite a bit. For a fish that was doomed the second we built the Dam!
 
Speaking of Chubs... We were on a Grand Canyon trip June 8 - 21. The water at Lees Ferry is a brisk 46 degrees. A few days later we were at the confluence of the Little Colorado River/Colorado River. That is the really nice, warm light blue water that hosts the breeding population of Chubs. There's a camp just down from the Confluence we've been to twice now. Both times we've seen Chubs there. The fish in the Canyon have become accustomed to rafters, as they know that there's always "handouts" available--they tend to cluster up when they see rafts come ashore.

Our first trip down the Grand was in 2005, 19 years ago. And back then, that camp was the only place we saw Chubs. Fast forward to this year, the Chub population is doing fine. We saw SO MANY, and also many juvenile Chubs. In fact, we saw Chubs at each camp site we had from the Confluence, and down past Lava Falls. They are river-wide now. With juveniles! We also saw flannelmouth suckers, carp, and a few rainbow trout. Never saw any smallmouth bass. Not one.

Here's a few pics. Chubs are doing great. No need to flush. That water's cold enough as it is.

Tiff

* There's a lot going on in that last pic... Yes, that's a Chub. Caught and released.
 

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Not mentioned here through July.

Glen Canyon Dam | Water Operations | UC Region | Bureau of Reclamation

"June release volume will be 628,000 acre-feet and hourly releases are anticipated to fluctuate from a low of approximately 7,255 cubic feet per second (cfs) during the early morning hours to a high of 13,535 cfs during the afternoon and evening hours on all days in June except for the first and last weekend, which will fluctuate with a low of 6,000 cfs during the early morning hours to a high of 12,280 cfs during the afternoon and evening hours.
"The anticipated monthly release volume for July is anticipated to be 709,000 acre-feet and hourly releases are anticipated to fluctuate from a low of approximately 6,817 cubic feet per second (cfs) during the early morning hours to a high of 13,907 cfs during the afternoon and evening hours. The pattern and volume for July will be confirmed at the end of June and is anticipated to vary from the current estimated pattern.
Workers at the Dam are prepping tube's 2 & 3 for a solid two months of full release to cool the waters impacting the Humpback Chub fish. Cooling the water is supposed to slow the smallmouth population down.
That is the word at the Dam, I'm not sure how factual it is yet. Regardless......it would drop current lake levels quite a bit. For a fish that was doomed the second we built the Dam!
 
All I know is, that workers are prepping those tubes as we speak. That is what they are being told will happen. I'm just relaying information. This is most definitely NOT what I want to happen. I personally have zero beef with the Chub, but I can't stand how the water gets so controlled to save it.
 
I thought the tube's were in catastrophic disrepair????????? According to the alarmist!! That four tube flush last year if I remember right only dropped the water level a few inches.
Last years flush was 4/24 to 4/27 with outflows of just under 39,000cfs for 2 days plus ramp up and down, the lake level dropped 1.51’ from 3525.31 to 3523.80. Inflows were just under 23,000cfs.

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According to an article at the AzCentral.com news site, it's not a flush in the sense we are used to. It's an attempt to lower the temperature of the existing amount of water being released. They will lessen the amount of water drawn for power generation, and instead draw that same amount from lower tubes, resulting in cooler water released, and less power generated.
 
According to an article at the AzCentral.com news site, it's not a flush in the sense we are used to. It's an attempt to lower the temperature of the existing amount of water being released. They will lessen the amount of water drawn for power generation, and instead draw that same amount from lower tubes, resulting in cooler water released, and less power generated.
Something doesn’t add up.

Pre-dam the Colorado River was MUCH warmer than the 46° that Tiff Mapel said it was just a week ago when she ran the rivier.

And now they’re trying to make it even colder??!! To benefit the chub?
 
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Tubes 3 & 4 right now. It started this morning. Crap!
View attachment 28643
Again, it's been a huge panic in the news and doomsday people, about how those tube's were damaged almost beyond repair and well never be able to get all the water from Lake Powell. And yet here's two of the said tube's running at full throttle!!! Friggin media,,, makes me wanna puke!!
 
So far it looks like the rumors that this does not represent an increase in outflows but instead is replacing power generation outflows is true. Normally there is a very regular "heartbeat" pattern with outflows peaking at around 14,000 CFS at 10 PM local time, and dropping down to around 8,000 CFS at 7AM local time. This morning it didn't drop down to 8,000 CFS, however it also is not rising back up to 14,000 CFS. At least so far they're holding at around 10,000 CFS. Water temperatures are dropping, but average discharge hasn't increased.
 
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