Water release issue?

[Quillback]

Stopped to get some boat gas yesterday at the Shortstop in Garfield.  Guide pulled in with his boat on the other side of the pumps and we talked fishing for a bit.  He's a trout guide on the river below the Beaver dam.  

He told me they are having issues with the turbines so they can't release water, except for a minimum amount.  As a consequence, water temps in the tail water are in the upper 60's and if it gets much warmer could cause issues for trout survival.

Without water releases, Beaver lake is rising too, up 2 feet in the last week.

Anyone heard anything about this issue?  I can't find anything on it.

[tjm]

It's generally accepted that trout start being stressed at about 68F, but rainbow trout have survived up to 77F. Somewhere in the 68-70F area would be a don't fish cutoff for catch and release, because the released fish would be dangerously stressed. 

It doesn't seem that Beaver has been scheduled to generate, but has maintained the minimum 20CFS flow. It does not appear that they are scheduled to generate in the coming week either. I don't know why they aren't generating, but as you say they aren't reporting any problems. And I find the lake temperature reported as 59.9F which is still within trout comfort zone of <65F, if they dumped water over the top. 

Strangely, no one seems to track and report on the tailwater conditions. 

[Quillback]

Lake surface temps are 67 or so, may have come down a bit with the cool nights.  I poked around and can't find anything about why they are minimally generating.

A couple of years ago the COE stated that the goal was to keep Beaver at 1120 or lower.  With this no release situation, it has risen a few feet and is now at 1121.

[Devan S.]

This winter the water got super low, like can't get above 62 bridge low. Thats probably good for the trout that survived the lower pressure winter with the lack of stocking. Now with the lack of generation(it's not minimal....its none, for weeks on end) and with the low water it's heating up below in the shallow clear water fast. Of course its the redheaded step child so no chance of them opening gates over the top(even just a crack would probably help). No chance at ever getting a minimum flow or siphon. 

No word on what the cause of the shutdown is.