What's The Deal?

[Zach Bearden]

Can someone shed some light as to why we've got at least one generator running almost non-stop? I mean, I haven't seen a considerable amount of rain in weeks. I don't think the Upper Illinois has a lot of water coming into it, at least not from what I've seen. The lake is down two foot. I just don't see any reason for the water to be running.

[DaddyO]

Generating Electricity? My guess is when outside temps are Hight or Low, we'll see this kind of generation. When the outside temps aren't too extreme, we'll see longer periods of wadable water.

[Zach Bearden]

But in the past 5 years I've lived here I've never seen them generate like this. They shut off at night, then one generator back on at day. I've seen them blow the place out, not run water for months through the winter, or just run it whenever they'd like.

[Phil Lilley]

We've seen the same kind of generation here on Taney. I would think they would not run as much due to low rainfall but may be they're making room for winter rain? It hasn't been nonstop here -- just more than expected.

[Spiritwolf]

I have been wondering the same thing.I was wanting to get in some fishing during this great fall weather but has not been the case.I can't see how its due to generating for power since during hottest days of summer they were not running like they are now.Most people I know are taking advatage of mild weather and keeping electric bills low.

[DaddyO]

Right now, Tenkiller(TKD) is the "go to" lake. Expect it to get back to normal in the next week or so. Below is the explanation to that statement.

Well, I just called SWPA and talked with a lady there who was very informative. She was very nice and was happy to explain the relationship between SWPA and the COE and how they create the generation schedule. I'll try to explain what she shared with me.

In a nutshell, it's a game of supply and demand, unless there is a flood control situation and that is when the COE dictates their schedule.

From an overall Power Pool standpoint, they have to try and keep a balance, again of supply vs demand. She said that they are required to meet their supply contracts with their customers (small towns, coops and other non-profit (govt) entities). Power that is generated that exceeds demand is offered at a reduced rate to those same entities. They do not have the ability to Store the Power/Electricity, so everything that is generated is sent through the grid.

I asked if they had "go to" lakes that they used to feed the grid. She said that BSD and TRD were two of their "go to" sites and that they would pull from these lakes when they were trying to balance out the other lakes in their system.

I explained to her how we, as fishermen, use their generation schedules to determine our fishing trip plans and asked if they ever considered us when they made their schedules. The "official" answer was, No. However, she said that they have shut down certain sites in the past when organizations like Trout Unlimited had requested for charitable events, but, couldn't promise that they would always be able to do that.

She also said that they layout the generation schedule as best they can, but allowed that the schedule would change if an emergency power condition occurred. i.e. problems with another site would cause an unscheduled event to occur which would change the schedule.

I think that about sums it up.

[Rodgers]

Thanks for the update. I've been wondering this myself. Last Wednesday, I believe, there was a brief afternoon intermission. Since then I've checked everyday hoping I'd get some fishing in.

Her answer is helpful, I guess, but I'm still at a loss for why they need to generate so much right now (given the weather).

[DaddyO]

Her answer is helpful, I guess, but I'm still at a loss for why they need to generate so much right now (given the weather).

According to her, it didn't have to do with the weather. It was more a condition of meeting their contractual requirements (keeping the lights on in the towns that they service) and the fact that TKD is a little higher than the other surrounding lakes in the system.

Because TKD is a little higher, it is the "go to" lake, for now. She said that would change in a week, or so, as long as there wasn't an event (lots of rain/flooding) that caused the COE to dictate their flows.

[Bill Butts]

Hey Zach,

Your question is a good and obvious one, especailly when many area fishermen are looking for opportunites to get on the river to enjoy the awesome fall weather we are having.

Everything I have read in this topic is logical with respect to questioning the water levels, and the Corps' stance with respect to power demand vs available water to produce that power.

However, what I've not seen in this thread is any mention or discussion regarding what every White River tailwater fishery faces every fall with respect to very low dissolved oxygen content in the water that is flowing thru the dams that create these trout fishery opportunities.

If you recall either 2 or 3 years ago on the Lower IL River (LIR), the dissolved oxygen (what allows fish to breath and function normally)rates were so low that few fishermen were even on the river because the trout had either died or were hunkered down in the few deep holes in the river with very little bodily function.

During that period, from sometime in the summer to sometime in November, the ODWC terminated all trout stocking efforts. This was due to the extremely poor water quality (again, low oxygen) in the river. About 1-2 weeks prior to the ODWC re-starting trout stocking, I spent a full day floating/fishing from the dam to MarVal with zero success on Stripers (our intended target), few baitfish of any type, no visible trout despite clear water and visibility, and not one other fisherman met until we were almost to the MarVal takeout.

If someone would inquire with the ODWC, and ask what the DO (dissolved oxygen)rates have been in recent weeks, I would be very surprised if the DO rates have not been an issue.

When it comes to reality of a fishery, I believe that it is pretty obvious that fishery would be better off if they established a slightly stronger minimum water flow (cfs) to keep more consistent temperature flows that could also produce improved DO rates.

If you look at the summer flows on the LIR, the pm flows of limited water were certainly to cool the water temp down to tolerable and more ideal water temps for trout survival, commonly a 10-12 degree temp swing during the heat of the summer, but then cooled back down during the generation period.

One thing that you will most surely find, if the ODWC has continued to stock trout during the past several weeks, is that those fish will not only survive but very possiblly thrive from the increased water flows and abundance of food washing their way. This is very consistently true in all of the White River tailwaters. Over a period of weeks, the fish will develop a more robust and firm physique from the constant availability of food.

I hope this helpful in developing a more broad perspective of the dynamics of tailwater fisheries, good and not so good.

Please report any further findings and information you learn for everyone's benefit and understanding of this fishery.

Good fishing to everyone!

Bill Butts

[Rodgers]

Good points. Over the summer and through October, usually in the morning the CFS would bottom out in the low 40's or upper 30's, and stay there until they began generating in the early afternoon.

For about a week there was a period where they kept a constant 140 CFS flow. I want to say this was early October but I'm too lazy to go check the logs right now. The fishing that week was great. Current was bubbly but not too strong to wade, and water temps were a bit lower. Does anyone have a sense for why they bumped the constant flow up at that time?