Water Levels

[cdock]

I've been out to a couple of smaller water sheds and noticed the water level now is not much higher than it was late fall of last year. I've also noticed the streams haven't really blown out like they do in previous years, that is they didn't really "muddy" up and are quickly dropping in levels. Does this mean runoff is just really slow and steady rather than one big rush or there simply wasn't enough precipitation (snow and rain) for runoff to occur like previous years? Now these are just some streams I have observed, does anybody have amy other observations? I'm just concerned if levels are already low and runoff is done rather than slow and steady I shudder to think what will happen to some of the smaller creeks.

[darrinhurst]

I am by no means a "scientist", but I will go by what I have observed as a human being living in Calgary. Granted, I have only been in Calgary for 8 years, but this winter had to be the worst I have seen so far as snow is concerned. Spring didn't really come until June and the weather was on/off for weeks on end. Having no real history for me to personally go on, other than the big floods of 2005, I just think that the snow melt was a little more gradual. We had warm days, followed by cold ones, even more snow, going late into May and early June. This likley caused the "run off" to be gradual over time as opposed to getting a big flood all at once because the warmer weather was inconsitent until the snow was already all gone. In the city anyway.

 

I have no idea what the mountain streams were like last year as this is my first full season of fly fishing, and I only made it out side the city to fish twice last year, so I have nothing to go on. But if the weather was like this in Calgary, the higher altitudes in the mountains likley kept it cooler than normal and fluctuated the temperatures there as well. No real heat waves this year yet, so the snow didn't really melt all that quick. What run off and debris we did have was due to FINALLY getting some consistently warmer weather. The snow was mostly gone by that point anyway, so it could explain why the water level changes are so insignificant, because the "run off" was more gradual.

 

Again, I'm no scientist, but that's what I think might be going on.

[headscan]

Granted, I have only been in Calgary for 8 years, but this winter had to be the worst I have seen so far as snow is concerned. Spring didn't really come until June and the weather was on/off for weeks on end.

Two quick points - snow in the city doesn't equate to snow in the mountains (snowpack) and we didn't actually get a ton of snow, but rather the colder temps kept what we did get around longer.

 

http://environment.alberta.ca/forecasting/...9/overview.html

 

Mountain snowpack

Bow River basin: below to much below average except slightly below average in the Highwood River basin. At 3 out of 5 locations upstream of Banff, snow accumulations rank from third to fifth lowest in generally 25 to 30 years of record.

[darrinhurst]

Two quick points - snow in the city doesn't equate to snow in the mountains (snowpack) and we didn't actually get a ton of snow, but rather the colder temps kept what we did get around longer.

 

http://environment.alberta.ca/forecasting/...9/overview.html

 

Mountain snowpack

Bow River basin: below to much below average except slightly below average in the Highwood River basin. At 3 out of 5 locations upstream of Banff, snow accumulations rank from third to fifth lowest in generally 25 to 30 years of record.

Fair enough.

 

As I said, I'm no scientist. lol

 

[Harps]

There some talk about low levels here.

http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?...ic=8534&hl=

 

 

Most of the water that should be in the Oldman at Lethbridge has gone to fill reservoirs for irrigators.

There is a week long survey about the Oldman River Watershed here: http://www.oldmanbasin.org/IWMPSurvey.html

You guys are users of the water... if you want beter instream flows for fisheries management, now's your chance to have a say.

Maybe the dams should be operated as the gov't said they would in these reports.

 

Upstream of all dams, well its gonna be a hard year... how do you balance what fish need with what residents "need" to use, with what irrigators think they deserve.

[cdock]

http://environment.alberta.ca/forecasting/...9/overview.html[/url]

 

Mountain snowpack

Bow River basin: below to much below average except slightly below average in the Highwood River basin. At 3 out of 5 locations upstream of Banff, snow accumulations rank from third to fifth lowest in generally 25 to 30 years of record.

 

Thanks headscan for the info. I was hoping it was just a slow and steady runoff rather than lack of snowpack. I can't remember the year but something similar happened like this year in the year I'm thinking of and put some pressure on the streams. As a result the fishing the following year was a bit slower due to the higher temps and lower levels. Fish were stressed and easily found the year of the lack of runoff, not to mention being over caught. I guess I'll have to be more aware of the levels and water temp this year and try to give the fish a break where necessary.

[Castuserraticus]

The big spring floods are invariably related to early June rains that coincide with snow melt. Just because we didn't get the June monsoons and chocolate milk flows doesn't mean we're in for unusually low water. Much of the summer flow for most streams is due to influx of springs. As long as there is a reasonable amount of summer rainfall to soak into the ground and keep the springs flowing the rivers will be fine.

 

People tend to focus on the visible portions of the hydrological cycle (surface water flow) because the massive amount of groundwater flow is not visible.

[maxwell]

i think castus and harps nailed it! im not too worried yet.. might be a different story come late august if we get no rain but time will tell! until then get out and feesh!!!!!!

[cowtownscribe]

Thanks for the links Harps. I took a few minutes to add some meaningful (at least hopefully so) comments about the Oldman River - specifically below the dam. I now what I suggested won't help the flows upstream, but at least I had a chance to unload about the incomplete mitigation below the dam.

 

Tight Lines!

 

Frank.

[cdock]

The big spring floods are invariably related to early June rains that coincide with snow melt. Just because we didn't get the June monsoons and chocolate milk flows doesn't mean we're in for unusually low water. Much of the summer flow for most streams is due to influx of springs. As long as there is a reasonable amount of summer rainfall to soak into the ground and keep the springs flowing the rivers will be fine.

 

People tend to focus on the visible portions of the hydrological cycle (surface water flow) because the massive amount of groundwater flow is not visible.

 

Agreed. But the low levels I've already seen are what worries me. As I said though it was only a couple of streams. It looks like the Bow water sheds are looking alright. The streams I have seen that are lower than usual were on the Red Deer water shed now that I think about it.

[cdock]

i think castus and harps nailed it! im not too worried yet.. might be a different story come late august if we get no rain but time will tell! until then get out and feesh!!!!!!

 

Rain would be nice, not just for the rivers but the farmers too. I work in agriculture and man it's been a tough go so far. Time will tell.