These are just my thoughts but after a trip to the Brazos below PK dam yesterday I am convinced the drought is killing this fishery. 15 years ago when I first found the Brazos river below PK dam it was a beautiful & clear water river. NOW 15 years later due to upstream pollution and the drought it has become a dingy, dirty algae & silt polluted MESS! the water is no longer crystal clear, due to the stagnate water the amount of algae growing in the river even in the dead of winter is astonishing! The rocks in the river bed due to lack of water flow are now covered with a 1/4" of silt! The lack of rain and the pollution from PK lake is in effect suffocating this river. This is not the fishery it was 15 years ago and No matter what we do to try and save it nothing will work with out the help of mother nature. This river is in desperate need of a cleansing FLOOD it needs to be washed out to remove the silt and the algae but with little to no rain forecast I doubt this will happen in time to save what little fish are left.....

Thanks for the report. It's a shame to see this. We surely do need a big old rain.

When you say algae, do you mean periphyton ("green slime" on rocks), or do you mean planktonic algae? I ask because I have a professor that works with planktonic algae in PK (golden algae) and I'm sure he'd be interested to hear what's going on up there.

-Tom

It's all part of the natural cycle (except the man-made pollution part) but the drought and current conditions appear to be of a very long cycle and of the type that drastically changes the landscape forever. When whole forests die erosion becomes a great problem until grasslands take over but mankind will do everything possible to prevent and abate a natural cycle from occurring. When we learn how to work with mother nature in harmony things will get better and for the long term too. We are too short-sighted and it really shows when it comes to water and other natural resources. Just my two cents worth

I just heard from a friend that the Brazos is running hard under the bridge on I-20. C'mon, rain!

check out these lake level rises. great news!!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=313853918651228&set=a.313750875328199.64622.138923789477576&type=3&theater

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv/?site_no=08089000&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

10k cfs yesterday below pk! Please post a similar rant next week, it appears to be more reliable than my rain dance!

He might take a look at West Texas lakes-most cold sure use some help.

hell brazos is running really hard down at the flood gates next to freeport and it looks like chocolate milk

Down from 10k now, but still higher than before the rains...

Having seen your post I went and looked at the map for the river gauge you got your info from and compared that to the gauge 1/2 mile down stream from the PK dam. Well you need to pay attention to the gauge and it location. YES the flow rate on the Brazos in PALO PINTO was 10,000 cfs on the 26th of January BUT that is 18 miles down stream from the gauge at the hwy 16 bridge! That is a COMPLETELY different water shed from the dam area I was referring to. The CFS for the Gauge at the hwy 16 bridge went from 20 CFS YES THAT'S RIGHT 20 cubic feet per second to 200 CFS on the same date. Having looked at past data for this river gauge the average CFS in 2010 was 822cfs, the average in 2011 was 170cfs that is a HUGE difference! Just to compare it to the LMF river in Oklahoma, they release an average of over 700 CFS from the dam site on a daily consistent basis. Any river biologist will tell you that a CFS rate below 100 cfs for extended periods of time will CHOKE a river and deplete the oxygen levels to the point of harming the native fish populations....

Gotcha, we got some high water just not out of the gates. PK is still running 20cfs. Have you checked with brazos river authority? Maybe they will share some insight on planned releases/generation?




bringing umbrella tomorrow just in case....