Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation

ONGOING PROJECTS

These are projects which we support and help fund annually

   WHITLOCK VIBERT BOX PROJECT

Tony Kirk - Project Team Leader

On 11/20/09 The Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation planted 13 Whitlock Vibert Boxes with 5485 Brown Trout eggs in the Lower Mountain Fork River.    In spite of the cool damp conditions, 16 volunteers from the Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation and other like minded fly fishing organizations, sorted and counted the eggs, loaded the boxes, brought the eggs from their shipping temperature of 38 degrees to the river temperature of 58 degrees.   The eggs were then transported to the river and buried 2 to 4 inches below the river bed surface.   The boxes were planted from below the "Cold Hole" to the Day Use Area.    At the current river temperature we expect the eggs to hatch into Brown Trout fry in 4 to 6 weeks.   At that point the fry will work their way up through the gravel and enter the river system.   Being the first attempt at this, it is our intention to analyze the results, make whatever adjustment are deemed necessary and with the State of Oklahoma's permission, make this an annual event. 

The team consisted of Tony Kirk, Mike Scott, Sandy Maris, Bill Sargent, Mark Cavanaugh, Lewis Barringer, Jim Crump, Jud Stamper, Chad Martin, Jimmy Durham, Main Hutcheson, Mike Emerson, Rick Wolf, Dick Waldrep, Jim Kelly and Jesse King.

     RE-REGULATION DAM CLEAN-OUT 

Patrick Waters, Project Team Leader

10/20/2009 UPDATE  

As of this date, and as of the October 18th meeting of the LMFRF, the Clean-out project is slowly moving forward.  However, due to a misunderstanding between myself and the ODWC the project will not happen until sometime in 2010.   This is due to a number of reasons:  

1. For the LMFRF to obtain matching funds from the National Sportfish Restoration Fund, the project must go through the ODWC. 
    

2. Since this project will cost well above a preset state government limit, there must be proposals sent to companies who wish to bid on this project.  We cannot just hire the first company that wants the job.  I have collected this information and am waiting for the ODWC to ask for it. 
    

3. This project must then be put into an agenda to be discussed at the next big ODWC commission meeting.  If it is approved at that meeting it will be put into the agenda for the following month.  Ah, the wheels of government do indeed turn very slowly. 

On a positive note:  Members of the LMFRF have volunteered to take our project to various other fly fishing groups in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma and ask for help in funding this project.  This is going to be the most ambitious undertaking that the LMFRF has attempted to date.  Due to coordinating between various Government agencies, the size of the project itself, and the cost involved, this is not a job that we feel is worthy of lightly going into.  I believe that our patience will pay off in the long run.
 

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GRANTS

      TEMPERATURE IMPROVEMENT

            IN THE LMFR TROUT FISHERY

The lower Mountain Fork River (LMFR) is home to the most successful trout fishery in Oklahoma. Even so, this fishery is limited from reaching its full potential by seasonally high water temperatures.

This is due, in part, to warm water being released during summer hydropower generation at Broken Bow Reservoir (BBR).  ODWC seeks to improve thermal characteristics in the LMFR and subsequently enhance trout fishing opportunities in this scenic stream for Oklahoma anglers. 

A model designed to determine potential temperature improvement options in the LMFR was recently completed. Results from the model indicated that improved access to and subsequent release of cold water in the Broken Bow Reservoir (BBR) is the most tractable solution for enhancing stream temperature. Studies show that a considerable volume of cold water exists below the intake structures at BBR. The problem is that this cold water, which is the lifeblood of the LMFR trout fishery, is inaccessible during turbine or sluice operation in the present state of these intake structures.

Selective withdrawal techniques can be used to gain access to cooler water in reservoirs with cold water access problems. Solutions being considered to achieve releases of cooler water in the BBR include:

1) Flexible curtains in the forebay to force withdrawal of deeper water by the turbines;

2) Deploying air diffusers in the forebay to entrain and bring cold water up to the intake levels and;

3) Attaching extensions to intake structures that penetrate the cold water layer.

Before these solutions can be implemented, a detailed evaluation of the water quality issues in BBR is required.  A reservoir water quality model is the most dependable and defensible method of accomplishing these endeavors.

A preemptive reservoir water quality model of the BBR is ongoing. The study includes evaluation of seasonal and long-term effects of the selective withdrawal on temperature and water quality in the reservoir and the tailwater.  For example, dissolved oxygen (DO) levels are currently quite good at lower elevations in the Broken Bow Reservoir. However, deep warming due to cold water withdrawal ma impact DO at these depths. Laminar hypolimnetic movement may also pull undesirable constituents from the upper reaches of Broken Bow Reservoir downstream towards the dam. The ability of the reservoir to sustain a cold water supply throughout each year’s access period will also be assessed.

If the reservoir and tailwater impacts are acceptable and the options appear to have potential, a subsequent engineering feasibility evaluation of options for providing cold-water access will follow. The feasibility evaluation is necessary to determine engineering of and operation and maintenance protocols necessary to facilitate the most tractable solution identified during reservoir modeling. Finally, an implementation phase will complete the project and benchmark the final step in water temperature improvement and that is paramount to enhanced fishing opportunities.

Cold Water Project (UPDATE)

The ODWC is preparing to do $10,000 of further computer modeling of the bubble diffusers.  They will be using data from last year and extrapolating it out to check the feasibility of further testing this summer. The funds for this were not from the LMFRF. The ODWC worked on a warm water stream restoration project in NE Oklahoma which actually made money.  Some of this excess money went to fund this new modeling. LMFRF funds were earmarked for the Cold Water Project several years ago and last year we funded the initial phase involving the bubble diffusers.  Once we get conclusive reports from the ODWC that the diffusers have worked, then we will be vote to approve the next step
 

     TROUT REARING STATIONS

(Taken out in 2009 because they were not as effective as originally hoped.)  ........Rearing Pen Update & Pictures

Over 10,000 additional trout are removed from the rearing pens and released in Zone II twice a year.  This improves fishing and opportunities for all of us.

The rearing stations are important to the fishermen who fish in the trophy water (Zone II).  Almost 40,000 trout ranging in size from 7-11 inches are placed in the pens throughout the year. The trout are allowed to grow larger giving them a better chance of survival. The LMFRF pays for 25% of this cost per year.

Three to four months later, or after they have reached adequate size, the trout are released into Zone II.

We should be getting 15,000 brown trout in the spring (March). These will go into the east side of the rearing pens. The rainbows that are in there now will be gone by then. There are also an additional 8,000 rainbows that will be added to the west side pen around the same time.

The ODWC will be reinforcing pen panels when pens are pulled this summer. Even after the pens were repaired last year by the Foundation, they did not hold up as anticipated. This goes to show the power of the water on those pens. The ODWC is still very appreciative of the work that was done to restore the pens from the shape they were in.  The LMFRF funds food for the trout that are put into the pens each year.

We thank the ODWC for managing this project.  The Lower Mountain Fork River Foundation is committed to financially supporting the project each year. The Foundation is responsible for the new pens that were manufactured in 2004 and for the purchase of the feed that is used to grow the fish large enough to have a good chance of survival.