River Guides Seek Relief From High Water

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.

They don’t know what the governor can do, but will send Batt a letter soon outlining concerns, and hoping for changes in the way river flows are managed in the future.

“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 river was measured at 22,400 cubic feet per second at Heise Friday, almost twice as high as normal, eliminating fishing and boating activity.

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

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

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