With every county in Montana officially under a drought alert, recent cold spring snows and rains carried some hope for relief but not enough to keep FWP fisheries managers from working to initiate water- and fishery-conservation efforts. "We can’t make it rain but we can build on last year’s successes by continuing to work together to reduce some of the problems we may face again this summer," said Larry Peterman, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Park’s fisheries chief. Last year, one of the driest on record, many communities invoked water-use restrictions and irrigators in some watersheds voluntarily cut back on the amount of water they had a right to use on their crops. FWP reminded some junior water-users that, for the first time in six years, the agency would likely make calls for its senior water rights if stream flows continued to drop. FWP will send similar reminders this month. By August last year, FWP had closed some critically dry streams and portions of others to fishing. For FWP, official actions taken during drought are designed to help wild fish survive in low-water streams. "There were pockets of success last year," Peterman said. "The sacrifices made by landowners, fishing outfitters, and anglers on the Big Hole River, for instance, were inspiring. We managed to save some water for crops and some water for fish. Now, once again we’re facing a potentially troublesome situation this summer." Come summer, weather forecasts indicate that Montana’s wild fish will once more be searching for relief, farmers and ranchers will be spending a lot of time at their headgates, power companies will be making demands to turn hydropower turbines, and anglers will be looking for places to spend an enjoyable afternoon. "If the weather patterns don’t change, we’ll all be searching for water," Peterman said. He said FWP’s fisheries staff has been meeting once a month since February to map the agency’s conservation strategies and will likely begin to meet once per week in June. In addition, FWP is a member of the Montana Drought Advisory Committee and meets regularly with agricultural and fishing interest groups to discuss conservation measures. If the drought wears on, Peterman says low stream flows will tax wild-trout populations still in a recovery mode from last year. Low-flowing streams may not kill fish outright but will make them more vulnerable to high water temperatures, fishing pressure, disease and environmental contaminants. "This time of year we like to see deep mountain snow packs and wet prairies but we’re faced with snowpacks that are below normal and bare, dry eastern prairies," Peterman explained. "A long, cool wet spring could work wonders, but two drought years in a row could be devastating to our wild fish populations." Should the need arise for FWP to initiate conservation measures this summer, like last year the actions will come to help spawning-age fish survive the stressful summer heat to naturally replenish the stream during the following fall and spring spawning seasons. Peterman also noted that most of the state’s reservoirs are already below normal levels, and with some Montana streams charting the lowest flows ever recorded for February, March and April, few are holding out hope for reservoirs to fill to normal levels this year. Low-water levels in lakes, ponds and reservoirs will also influence how FWP distributes fish from its nine hatcheries. "We’ll have to respond to shifts in the demands for hatchery fish due to the drought," Peterman said. "Low-water levels in many lakes and reservoirs caused winterkills across the state, so we’re already canceling plants in some waters and reallocating fish to other waters to restore important sport fisheries." For the latest drought information, visit FWP’s website at fwp.state.mt.us. Click on the "Drought Information" link.
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