Cavan Lake

[CowboyAl]

I appreciate the opportunity to bring an important issue to light. This site was forwarded to me by one of your members.

In the future I look forward to checking out your site and sharing ideas and swapping fish tales...

Thanks,

Scott Johnson

President

Medicine Hat Fish and Game Association

 

 

First off some background:

Cavan Lake is a small lake located 20 min South/East of Medicine Hat and at one time it was a first class trout fishery. That is until water levels were too low to sustain fish and subsequent stocking was stopped.

 

We, the Medicine Hat Fish and Game feel it could return to its former first class status. Cavan Lake gets its water from spring runoff through a diversion in the Gros Ventre Coulee. The Gros Ventre Creek is a very small tributary of the Ross Creek watershed.

Here's where it gets interesting -downstream water users (spring flood irrigation) have first water rights. They fill their diked fields out of the flow from both Gros Ventre Creek (which flows first) and Ross Creek which flows second and has a longer and more sustained flow, but it flows days/weeks after the Gros Ventre ceases to flow. By the time Ross Creeks downstream license holders are done, the Gros Ventre coulee is dry and the now full Ross Creek runs unused into the South Saskatchewan River. There is no way Cavan Lake can get water from Ross Creek and subsequently gets little runoff. The situation would be easily rectified if the lake was able to be filled first from the flow of the Gros Ventre Creek. The downstream users would still get their water from the much larger Ross Creek.

We just need a Government with the political will to do the right thing. In the south east part of the province fishing opportunities' are limited - this seems a no-brainer. Cavan Lake was originally created as an irrigation reservoir. Six water users presently irrigate out of the lake and are collectively called "Ross Creek Irrigation". Do not confuse Ross Creek Irrigation with the spring flood license holders mentioned previously. Ross Creek Irrigation and the recreational users share the same problem - an empty lake benefits no one! Oh yeah .... one other thing - the Department of Environment has spent millions of taxpayers’ dollars to upgrade and maintain Cavan Lake's irrigation system, but not one cent to get a secure source of water into the lake. Note that Steve from MHFGA is not an only concerned member of the MHFGA, but at one time was a member of Ross Creek Irrigation, so he is intimately familiar with how the system works.

 

If you are so inclined please take a moment to email the parties involved. Let them know you would like to see a water level maintained and subsequent viable fishery at Cavan Lake.

 

Here are the email addresses:

 

Hon. Mel Knight, Minister SRD

grandprairie.smoky@assembly.ab.ca

 

Hon. Rob Renner, MLA Medicine Hat

rob.renner@assembly.ab.ca

 

Hon. Len Mitzel, MLA Cypress-MedicineHat

cypress.medicinehat@assembly.ab.ca

 

Terry Clayton, P.Biol. Senior Fisheries Biologist

Terry.Clayton@gov.ab.ca

 

Please cc me with any emails you send:

Scott Johnson

President

MHFGA

oldscoot_76@hotmail.com

 

Here’s the email correspondence we’ve had with the government biologist’s and MLA’s

__________________________________________________ __________

 

Cavan Lake plans?

Terry, with the runoff we had from the melt in mid January Cavan lake has a good water level in it. A couple of questions:

Will that water that's already in the lake be spared from the downstream irrigation users?

Is / Will there be any plans to stock it?I know it was dropped from the stocking list but I wasn't sure if that was contingent on the water level or not.

If there are no plans to stock it on a government level would it be possible to have the "stocking" authority signed over to the Medicine Hat Fish and Game? A few of us were brainstorming the other day and were wondering about the possibility of the club taking over stewardship of the lake. Our thoughts included the club possibly buying a couple of windmills to sustain it in low water times and using club funds to also stock the lake with trout. I haven't brought this idea forward at a general meeting yet as I wanted your thoughts first.

Thanks,

Scott D Johnson

President

MHFGA

__________________________________________________ _______________

 

Hi Scott: The answer to the question of "are there any plans to stock it" is no, the fish would have to already be in the hatchery system for us to stock it this year. Otherwise, we would be "robbing Peter to pay Paul". Will the water that's there be spared? No, chances are that the downstream irrigators will suck it all out again this year.Yes, there is the possibility of Medicine Hat F&G paying to have it stocked. There are private fish growers in the province. You can apply for a Fish Stocking License to me... the license is free.If you decide to pursue this further, you can email me, which is usually better than the phone.

 

Regards,Terry Clayton, P.Biol. Senior Fisheries Biologist,

Lethbridge and Medicine Hat Fish and Wildlife Division Alberta Sustainable Resource Development

_____________________________________________

Dear Mr. Knight:

As members of the Medicine Hat Fish and Game Association and Redcliff Anglers we are writing this letter to you in hope that you can help rectify a situation which has been ongoing to the recreational users, irrigation users and the Alberta government for the past forty years.

Cavan Lake which is located approximately twelve miles east of Medicine Hat has traditionally been a valuable fishing and recreational resource. As well it is the water source for Ross Creek Irrigation. The Department of Environment took control of the lake in the early 90's, bought the land surrounding the lake and replaced the head gates. Our dilemma is that although millions of tax payers’ dollars have been spent to date; absolutely nothing has been done to secure a consistent supply of water for the lake. Irrigation and recreational use of the lake is limited due to the often extremely low water levels. Sadly, we often have to watch water which could be used to fill the lake run by and eventually get lost in our river system.

This problem could be easily rectified - it just requires the political will to do so. The interested parties of Medicine Hat Fish and Game and Redcliff Anglers await your response; we would then explain all aspects of this situation. We would appreciate the opportunity to send one member from each the Medicine Hat Fish and Game and Redcliff Anglers to any further related water meetings as the representatives of recreational users.

Sincerely; Steve Phaff Medicine Hat Fish and Game member and former irrigation user

Scott Johnson President Medicine Hat Fish and Game

Steve Stiff President Redcliff Anglers

_____________________________________________

April 21, 2010Mr. Steve Phaff, MHFGAMr. Scott Johnson, MHFGAMr. Steve Stiff, Redcliff Anglers

Dear Mr. Phaff, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Stiff:

My colleague, the Honorable Mel Knight, Minister of Sustainable Resource Development has forwarded a copy of your email dated March 23, 2010, regarding water levels in Cavan Lake.Cavan Lake is an off stream irrigation reservoir used to supply water for irrigation and rural farmsteads. Water is diverted from Gros Ventre Creek to the reservoir after senior licenses downstream have been fulfilled. Water Availability is entirely dependent on snow pack and snow melt, which is highly variable in the area. Alberta Sustainable Resource Development’s draft Fisheries Management Strategy states that existing water licenses for irrigation and domestic water consumption take precedence over any other uses. The Government of Alberta is aware that lakes throughout the province have been experiencing decreased water levels in recent years. To improve water efficiency and protect water levels in Cavan Lake, Alberta partially funded a rehabilitation project in the 1990’s. We invested another million dollars to convert Ross Creek Irrigation District’s conveyance system from Cavan Lake to a highly efficient pipeline system. The Government of Alberta is also looking at options to rehabilitate the Gros Ventre Diversion Canal and improve the ability to capture water run off.

Rob Renner, MLA Cypress - Medicine Hat

_____________________________________________

Dear Mr. Renner:

Thank you for your response to my e-mail.

I know full well the complications involved in securing water for Cavan Lake as I was involved in the process with Ross Creek Irrigation for nearly 30 years. I do however disagree with your statement of snowpack being the main reason the lake sits empty of water. In this year of average snowpack we allowed one or two full lakes of water to run by to satisfy downstream users before being allowed to run the remaining trickle of water into the lake.

Thank goodness for the late snowfall - and after everyone else’s' needs were satisfied we could finally get Cavan Lakes users needs met. I live about 100 yards from Ross Creek and drive across it twice per day. Ever since downstream user needs were satisfied I have watched water which could fill 10 or 20 Cavan Lakes run by and end up in the South Saskatchewan River. This no longer does us any good as our small tributary used to fill the lake has all but dried up. Is it just me or does this not make sense to anyone else?

It is our intention as discussed at our meetings to cooperate and fully support Ross Creek Irrigation and the Department of Environment in their efforts to secure a more consistent supply of water for Cavan Lake. An empty lake benefits no one.

 

Sincerely,

Steve Phaff

MHFGA

_____________________________________________

Dear Mr. Knight:

 

I am forwarding emails between myself and Rob Renner - Minister of Environment. Through reading this correspondence I am sure we have tweaked your curiosity to a problem occurring a full 10 hour drive south of Grande Prairie. I would truly appreciate the opportunity to explain in detail the situation by phone at your convenience.

As I write this, our second spring storm is in progress. It seems now that everyone else has had their needs met and Cavan Lake will likely fill this spring. We now find out from Terry Clayton, our fisheries biologist out of Brooks that no fish have been allocated for Cavan Lake this year. Therefore it will not be stocked. In past years anytime the lake filled fish were always made available.

We realize Cavan Lake water levels fluctuate, but now have a viable fishery for at least three years - even if no more water were to enter the lake. Medicine Hat Fish and Game has discussed and I believe would be willing to erect aeration equipment when lower lake levels persist. Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

 

All correspondence with government officials will be posted on fishing related websites.

 

Sincerely,

Steve Phaff

MHFGA

---End Quote---

__________________

 

http://mhfishandgame.com/index.html

Medicine Hat Fish & Game Website

 

[Harps]

Water going through Ross creek and supporting ecological function isn't wasted water.

Not everything has to go into a dam.

 

And besides that, Cavan is a put and take fishery, small fished stocked to go to peoples freezers. While it is important that there are such fisheries in the province, why should Ross Creek suffer for it, and what gives it (the dam) the right to take water for a man made fishery over the environment, drinking water users, and priority irrigators (what registrations and licences are downstream on Gros Ventre that would be affected or on Ross, not everybody could be supplied by switching to Ross Creek and how much would that cost individual water users)?

 

Doesn't seem like a well thought out or at least explained benefit, with the exception to a few folks downstream of Cavan and some anglers.

Current licences and registrations (with priorities) can be viewed here: http://ssrb.environment.alberta.ca/

 

 

Could you elaborate on the issue and explain where the pros and cons are, plus explain how this wouldn't affect people with prior rights?