High Water Hurts

Fishing

Fishing guides say extremely high flows on the Snake River in eastern Idaho are wiping out their business, and they want Gov. Phil Batt to do something about it.

“There has got to be a change in procedure here,” said Joe Bressler, chairman of the eastern Idaho chapter of the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association. “I don’t know what (Batt) can do, but I do know we’ve got to file something somewhere or people are going to think that everything is all right.”

The Snake at Heise was measured at 22,400 cubic feet per second last week, almost twice as high as normal, eliminating fishing and boating.

The flows have washed away nearly all of Spence Warner’s business.

Earlier, all 11 rooms at South Fork Lodge were booked for Friday night. But because of the high flows, all reservations were canceled, and only one of his 12 guide boats will be out on the river Saturday.

“It’s devastating,” Warner said.

The problem is Palisades Reservoir - it’s full and there is nowhere to store snowmelt that continues to gush out of mountain streams.

Bressler and Warner contend that the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates Palisades Dam, could have done a better job at preventing the reservoir from filling so early.

The agency’s Mark Croghan said his agency has little flexibility. He said his first responsibility is to use Palisades Reservoir to control flood waters. Once that’s done, then the agency must manage the water for irrigators.