Flash floods this August swept mud, debris, and ash through north-central Washington. All that gunk has created an unusual problem for farmers and migratory fish.
Farmers usually install screens on the end of irrigation pipes to prevent clogs. Those screens also keep fish from being sucked out of the water and into farmers’ fields. But fish screens do little good when they get inundated with debris and mud.
Danny Didricksen is with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He says crews have been working non-stop to help unclog fish screens.
Didricksen: “If most of it’s clogged but not all of it, and we get into a situation where there’s extra draw going at a point of the screen, the fish may not be able to avoid it.”
That extra suction could pull migrating fish into irrigation pipes.
Didricksen says completely clogged fish screens block water to farmers’ crops, like alfalfa this time of year. He expects more flooding and debris to wash through the Methow Valley with spring snow melts.
copyright, 2014 KLCC