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Bureau sets gradual cut for Snake
Compromise will allow scenic floaters to run trips through Monday.

By Jim Stanford

River outfitters in Grand Teton National Park will have five more days of floating the Snake River this season, after the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation agreed Tuesday to hold off reducing dam releases.

The bureau will keep the release from Jackson Lake Dam steady at 2,500 cubic feet per second until Monday afternoon, at which time it will begin the process of cutting back the flow to store water for next summer. The cuts will be graduated, and by Oct. 1 the release will be down to the winter minimum of 280 cfs.

The decision was a compromise, as the agency had pledged in May to provide sufficient releases for scenic float operators through Sept. 30. But with the Jackson Lake reservoir drained to nearly its lowest level in 43 years, some in the bureau had pushed for a cutback starting today to store as much water as possible.

Dick Barker, owner of Barker-Ewing Scenic Trips, applauded bureau officials for making a reasonable call. "They're managing [the river] as fairly as they can for the greatest number of users," Barker said.

Bureau representatives settled on a policy during a meeting in Jackson with biologists from Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Teton park staff, river outfitters and the public.

The decision came after an outcry from several lake boaters who wondered why river trips were being given preference over other uses. Don Sarno of Jackson interrupted the otherwise placid meeting with several loud objections.

"Why don't we start [cutting back] tomorrow?" Sarno asked bureau water managers Mike Beus and Jerry Gregg. "Why are we worried about floaters?"

Sarno, 65, argued that the agency should try to store as much water behind the dam as possible. Jackson Lake had a short boating season this year after being drawn down by four years of drought. Sarno said he wanted to see the dam release cut back right away.

"The later we start, the less we have next year," he said.

Beus and Gregg explained that the bureau is trying to balance the interests of all water users, from irrigators and farmers in Idaho to wildlife, government agencies, anglers, outfitters and private boaters.

"I think we ought to leave a little water in there for snowplanes this year," Sarno interjected.

Gregg invited the lake boaters to attend the bureau's water management meeting in Jackson next May and said he would welcome their input.

Game and Fish biologist Ralph Hudelson asked the bureau to scale back the release from Jackson Lake Dam in graduated steps, particularly at the tail end of the cutback. Initially dropping the river volume by 1,000 or 1,500 cfs won't hurt fish, Hudelson said, but later cuts have to be minute so trout are not trapped as the water drops.

Graduated cuts avoid "isolating pocket pools in side channels," Hudelson said. "You can trap a whole bunch of big fish, which tend to be in there."

Beus said the bureau likely will begin with a cut of 600 to 800 cfs on Monday afternoon. After that, the flow will be reduced in equal increments of 300 to 400 cfs once or twice a day for three or four days. Beus said he will prepare a more detailed schedule Thursday.

Later in the meeting, Dick Bauman, the bureau's natural resource specialist in Jackson, asked Beus the million-dollar question: How much snow will it take to fill the reservoir next spring?

Beus and Gregg conceded the chances of the reservoir filling next year are slim. "Timing is everything," Beus said. Even with an average snowpack, a wet spring followed by rapid melting could cause high flows, he cautioned.

Forecasters are calling for the return of an El Nino pattern this winter, which could mean just about anything, Beus said.

The amount of water that could be stored next year depends not only on snow this winter but on soil moisture this fall and rain and wind next spring, he said.

Reciting what has become a mantra for those who follow water management, Beus warned, "Nothing is for certain."