Tippets: Shoshone River Sediment Spill, Colorado River Humpback Chubs, Upper Columbia River Fall Closure, Jewell Backs Klamath River Dam Removal

November 2, 2016 By: Erin Block

  • The Shoshone River east of Cody, Wyoming has filled with sediment and is causing widespread fish kills. The cause is thought to have been when Willwood Irrigation workers flushed water from the Willwood Dam between Cody and Powell. Via Wyoming Public Media.
  • Humpback chubs, native to the Colorado River system, have faced an uphill battle for recovery due to their competition with more desirable species such as non-native brown and rainbow trout. Ted Williams writes about the work being done to save these unique fish, via The Nature Conservancy.
  • Tributaries of the Upper Columbia River will remain closed to fishing for the fall season. “The latest forecast is 6,300 steelhead at Priest Rapids Dam, which falls below the minimum 9,550 fish to open the fishery,” reports Mark Yuasa in The Seattle Times.
  • The United States Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, has written in support of the removal of the four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. “Dam removal can re-write a painful chapter in our history,” says Jewell, “and it can be done in a manner that protects the many interests in the Basin.” Via Herald and News.