As a newbie to the Putah, I undersatnd that the creek flows are subject to the upstream dam, however why are there such large fluctuations and why is the flow down all the time in the winter? Is it always low in the winter?
Flows out of the dam are controlled by the Solano Irrigation District. Why they raise and lower flows is anybody's guess. Even during Winter when you would think that irrigation needs are minimal they still raise and lower the flows quite often.
I copied this from a Napa Valley Flyfisher club email sent out buy President Michael McKeowen.
Flows on Putah have been shut down 45 fps. for the yearly canal cleaning. The Solano County Water Authority does the work. For about six weeks they clean 33 miles of canal from the Diversion Dam to Cordelia. They clean as much as 2-5 miles/day. They are cleaning in the area of Olive School Road today, should anyone wish to take a drive to see what the cleaning looks like. During that time, as the water level in Berryessa dam increases, the flow may be increased as much as 20 fps/day until it reaches 200 fps at which point cleaning of the canal has to stop. 45 fps is the legally mandated minimum, but certainly it occurred to me that if they can clean the canal all the way up to 200 fps, 100 or 150 oughta be comfortable. Apparently, there is increasing pressure being brought to bear for this to occur. It took ten years to accomplish the 45 fps minimum, and there is a lot of resistance to reviewing the flow rate again, but if damage to the fish population through loss of habitat and diminished aquatic insect populations can be demonstrated, the argument will gain further traction. I'd like to know why they can't slow the flow down in the canal at the diversion dam rather than slow down the flow in the entire Putah creek just so they can clean the canal.
Good point, Frechie. Make sure you take pictures. Also, write down the details: date, time of day, location, and flows. You can contact Bono once you get this info. His contact information is here on this site.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Thanks JT,yes please take pictures and log in the info because we are currently working with SCWA which calls the shots for Soloano Irrigation Dist.We are having a meeting at Putah on Friday with a representative from SCWA to survey spawning areas that may be affected by the low flows,hopefully we can come to a happy medium that will sustain the fish and insect population but will not draw the lake level down to levels that may detrimental to farmers and municipalities during low precip years.As things develop I will keep everyone informed. Bono