Scott Aust and Kevin Woster, Journal staff | Posted: Saturday, May 24, 2008 11:00 pm
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It's like turning
the sprinklers on in the front yard during a heavy rain storm, Dave
Fisher says.
As the owner of
the Pactola Pines Marina, Fisher thinks the increase in water
releases this week from Pactola Reservoir are as senseless as
watering your grass during a rain. With the reservoir at 57 percent
of capacity and coming up because of runoff from earlier snows and
Thursday's rain, Fisher wants as much water as possible kept in the
lake.
Water levels are
essential to boating on the reservoir, which is essential to
Fisher's livelihood.
"My concern is
that on Thursday, when I checked the Bureau of Reclamation Web
site, they had gone from a winter release of 15 cubic feet per
second up to 20 cfs," Fisher said Friday. "We're at 57 percent in
the reservoir. We don't have that water to spare, especially when
it's raining."
Fisher said he was
especially concerned about the flows because the decision was made
to increase flows with rain in the forecast.
"To me, it just
doesn't make any sense to bump the flows at a time like this," he
said. "If we were sitting at 101 percent instead of 57 percent, it
would be different."
Curt Anderson,
civil engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation, said Rapid City and
Rapid Valley irrigators, who hold senior water rights, requested
water earlier this week, which resulted in a small increase in flow
out of Pactola.
Anderson said
Pactola has a normal minimum release during the winter of 15 cubic
feet per second through a bypass pipe. To accommodate water orders,
the bureau switches to the regulating gauge in the reservoir,
resulting in an increase of about 6 to 8 cfs.
"Both the
irrigators and the city have been working very hard to maintain
storage in Pactola, particularly during this drought. It's amazing
that we have as much water as we do with this drought that has
taken place," Anderson said.
Anderson said the
amount of water released is minimal compared to the total amount of
water in the reservoir. He doesn't think people understand how
minimal a change it is over the course of a week.
"Yeah, you're
moving more water, but there's a water need below," he said.
"Everybody understands the need for storing water. But it's a
balancing act."
The flow rate has
returned to its previous state, but Anderson indicated there likely
will be more requests for water downstream over the
summer.
"We need to go to
the gates here very soon because we've got irrigators in the valley
and the city. When you come into the summer, they're going to have
water needs that need to be met, and you can't continue to run a
minimal release to the creek," he said.
Hans Stephenson, a
fishing guide and owner of Dakota Angler & Outfitter, is
conflicted. On one hand, a higher rate of water flow is good for
fishing. On the other hand, allowing the lake to fill up now has
benefits later on in the year.
"I'm in a pickle,"
he said.
Stephenson said
the creek flow was at 20 cfs earlier this week and is currently at
about 17 cfs. He would like to see the flow fairly low right now to
allow the lake to fill up as much as it can before summer
releases.
Ideally, if water
supply was no object, Stephenson would like to see a flow of 35 to
50 cfs. But he understands the reality of balancing water
needs.
"I think 20 is a
nice compromise, because right now, we've got about 117 coming into
the lake because of the rain," he said. "I would like to see
Pactola fill up a bit, because that will mean we'll have more water
for the fishery later this summer when it gets warm
again."
Fisher said it
would make sense to save as much water in the lake for the hot
weather, when irrigation is in full swing and fish downstream
really need the flows.
"If we were 90
degrees out and burning up, it would be a whole different deal," he
said. "But the fish don't need that water today. They need it in
July."
