Expect stream closures this summer

[smitty9]

Well, with an already the dry spring with stream flows in the bottom 10th percentile, and no forseeable relief, and based on a recent presentation from someone in the AEP dep't, I would expect stream closures this summer.

And if it's worse than last year, you can expect them sooner and on a more widespread basis.

Just an (almost educated) guess at this point, circumstances can change of course. I say this in light about the other thread in the Fishing section about getting your licks before the algae comes on the lakes.

Well, smaller streams open June 16th. Might be lucky to get a month in before closures. I suppose that counts as a prediction. Hope I am wrong.

Smitty

[Darren N]

I hope you are wrong too. Rain already damn it.

[smitty9]

Picture worth a 1000 words, unfortunately:

[jgib01]

Got high stream advisories for Athabasca area on my smartphone earlier today. I'm not too familiar with the waters north, but seems to me that May 18 is a little early for them to getting peaks up there, no? Hopefully this is from new precipitation and not all runoff.

[RavYak]

Yep with the low waters and what has been high temperatures it won't take long for them to slap closures on this year. Probably end up with stream closures all over the province this year, not just down south like last year.

Hopefully they handle things differently then last year and do things by areas instead of just river by river. It was way to confusing last year with new streams/rivers being added every day.

[smitty9]

I agree Rav, but to add to that, in the world of 2016, I think there is a 2 fold responsibility. One, the government has to expend FAR more time, energy, effort, and money into educating the public. Two, on the other hand, in this day and age of the globally connected sportsmen and women, it's really not hard for anglers to keep themselves updated. Anglers need to accept responsibility for keeping themselves apprised of changes. Ignorance is no excuse.

Its not that hard to get the word out, and its not that hard to keep up with changes. But it does start with government communicating with the users. Up to date websites and apps is a good start.

Smitty

[SNAPFisher]

I think it is a bit too early to speculate. 50-100 mm of rain coming to central is a good start. Some streams there can really use it. Hope it continues.

[Darren N]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

I think it is a bit too early to speculate. 50-100 mm of rain coming to central is a good start. Some streams there can really use it. Hope it continues.

I agree - if that much rain is predicted that will smarten a lot of things up in that area. wouldn't it be nice to talk about flooding and overflow again - (don't think that will happen but even to get back to standard is a possibility)

[FishingForLife]

I remember last year's outlandish government were a huge part in the closures, thinking the morning dew would flood a city, so they drained the reservoirs, without looking at the mountains first! Luckily, there's a bit more snow pack this year. So assuming we get some moisture, and they don't hit the panic button again, the rivers and streams should maintain.

[Dragless]

Should be good around here for awhile been raining/snowing for three days just what the cricks ordered

[Darren N]

Awesome news.

How about further south near the Pincher creek area - anyone hear how that area is doing for moisture?

[CNP]

Originally Posted by Darren N

Awesome news.

How about further south near the Pincher creek area - anyone hear how that area is doing for moisture?

Been raining for 3 days straight in CNP area. Forecast is for more rain tomorrow. Creeks and rivers are doing well. Spring started off drier than usual but lots of moisture here now.

[StenneS]

It started with rain on Wednesday in Fox Creek which turned to a few days of snow and it's been raining steadily since yesterday and through all of today too, melting all that snow. Like a lot of areas this one needed it bad. This should help things out a lot out here.

[Darren N]

Thanks for the update guys - Good to hear some good news, and maybe we wont get any closures this year.

[smitty9]

Well this graph looks better.

Snapfisher, my original post was based on the graph, a cupful of intuition, a tablespoon of gut feeling, and a heaping teaspoon of outright guessing.

I hope you're right and I am wrong.

Nevertheless, I posted the topic because I just wanted some awareness brought to light in a public manner well in advance in case we see closures this summer. A discussion of the issue is appropriate, imho.

Let's hope the precipitation continues in a reasonable amount.

Cheers,
Mike

[FishingForLife]

Was out at Barrier Lake, in Kananaskis, and it looked pretty damn empty to me. At least the lowest I've seen in a long while....
Not sure if there is enough snow out there to fill it. Upper K & Lower K are at the normal for this time of year, so I don't know what will happen.


Barrier Lake, Kananaskis - 05.23.2016

[Pikebreath]

Originally Posted by FishingForLife

Was out at Barrier Lake, in Kananaskis, and it looked pretty damn empty to me. At least the lowest I've seen in a long while....
Not sure if there is enough snow out there to fill it. Upper K & Lower K are at the normal for this time of year, so I don't know what will happen.


Barrier Lake, Kananaskis - 05.23.2016

That's why Barrier has never been known for its fishing,,,, pretty hard to hard for a trout to make a living in that kind of environment.

[SNAPFisher]

On the way back from Jasper, all little creeks, including the lobstick were at the top edge or over their banks. A lot of precip. Forecast calls for more and lower temps. It's Alberta, it always changes.

[lannie]

Originally Posted by Pikebreath

That's why Barrier has never been known for its fishing,,,, pretty hard to hard for a trout to make a living in that kind of environment.

Found this picture on the net. What a difference.
"Alberta Green Forest Photography"

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by smitty9

Well this graph looks better.

Snapfisher, my original post was based on the graph, a cupful of intuition, a tablespoon of gut feeling, and a heaping teaspoon of outright guessing.

I hope you're right and I am wrong.

Nevertheless, I posted the topic because I just wanted some awareness brought to light in a public manner well in advance in case we see closures this summer. A discussion of the issue is appropriate, imho.

Let's hope the precipitation continues in a reasonable amount.

Cheers,
Mike

Yeah, no problem here. Previous weekend we had a forest fire 1 km from the house and were 20 minutes away from having to evacuate. Good thing it was called in right away but still took 4 counties, 10 trucks to stop it...just in time.

The grass went brown and started to rub off with any activity. Usually it holds up better so this was a new dry I've not seen before.

Heading to Calgary after that weekend I witnessed what I thought was another fire but turned out to be a 400 foot tall dust devil. I've never seen one that big around here. Made a real mess. Next field, another normal sized dust devil, etc, etc. It was critical until this rain. Doesn't mean were out of the woods but I hope this colder run and rain sticks around for a bit cause it was getting a bit scary.

[Dragless]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

On the way back from Jasper, all little creeks, including the lobstick were at the top edge or over their banks. A lot of precip. Forecast calls for more and lower temps. It's Alberta, it always changes.

What's so special about lob stick lol.... Cause feeds chip?

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Dragless

What's so special about lob stick lol.... Cause feeds chip?

Nothing. Just one that came to mind which is normally trickle but looked a bit more impressive. Everything South and Central is up. Maybe a better example is the McLeod River which looks like it will exceed 80 m/sec flow rate. Then there is the new snow that fell that is still melting, then the winter snow pack which has yet to melt much...and more rain.

[Jadham]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

Nothing. Just one that came to mind which is normally trickle but looked a bit more impressive. Everything South and Central is up. Maybe a better example is the McLeod River which looks like it will exceed 80 m/sec flow rate. Then there is the new snow that fell that is still melting, then the winter snow pack which has yet to melt much...and more rain.

Winter snowpack in K country was way down this spring. I was hiking stuff in April I normally can't do until mid-late May. Still looking very dry, despite last weekend's rain & snow. Upper Elbow is often blown out this time of year, but this year looks like early July. Usually there are large ponds/flooding in the fields west of Calgary this time of year... none of it so far.

I think the critical factor for southern Alberta (ES1) will the amount of June/summer rain, which is quite variable and unpredictable (below normal last year but who knows about this year?).

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Jadham

Winter snowpack in K country was way down this spring. I was hiking stuff in April I normally can't do until mid-late May. Still looking very dry, despite last weekend's rain & snow. Upper Elbow is often blown out this time of year, but this year looks like early July. Usually there are large ponds/flooding in the fields west of Calgary this time of year... none of it so far.

I think the critical factor for southern Alberta (ES1) will the amount of June/summer rain, which is quite variable and unpredictable (below normal last year but who knows about this year?).

Yeah, take South out of my post. I'm not as familiar but even the Bow seems way lower to me. And no wonder with pretty much no snow all winter in the southern area. They did say that they snow fall in the mountains was "normal". I think you are finding otherwise in K-Country.

Meanwhile, Central and Northern are looking much better. And no wonder with a lot of wide spread moisture and snow (mountains). Around Edmonton it rained 70 mm over this past weekend and much more in other areas.

Fingers crossed for more for Calgary. The forecast looks promising but it will really need to deliver more than expected.

[ecsuplander]

Mountain snowpack numbers are greater this year than last in most places. Down from traditional amounts but up from last year according to recorded and published data.

[Jadham]

Originally Posted by ecsuplander

Mountain snowpack numbers are greater this year than last in most places. Down from traditional amounts but up from last year according to recorded and published data.

Certainly snowpack varies throughout the province, and it is a dynamic thing.

I only know the area west of Calgary, K-country and Rockies (so Elbow/Bow/Sheep watershed) and it is definitely way down this spring. Great for hiking, bad for spring touring, and possibly bad for summer fishing, depending on the rain.

As for the dynamic nature of the snowpack, take a look at historical data from Sunshine:

http://www.onthesnow.ca/alberta/suns...-snowfall.html

For 2016, at one point, it was looking good w/ solid base of 189cm ... better than average. However, due to a warm, dry second part of winter, the total recorded snowfall for the winter was only 359cm. Compare this to 528cm, 695cm, 491cm & 596cm from 2015-2012... its no wonder spring hiking is 4-6 weeks ahead of schedule! So yeah in the first half of the winter, snowfall was at or above average, but it was scarce in the second half, with net effect of less than average snowpack.

[SNAPFisher]

Yep, what Smitty said, big closures coming this year.

This early and hot weather along with the lower water ... not good.

[FishingForLife]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...skis-1.3621478

The heats first victim?

[chucky]

Ouch, already...

[Taco]

I was fishing at a small lake in SE Ab that hit 21c surface temp Monday afternoon