[deefly]

I have noticed over the past 2 weeks unusually high algae growth (and its only June?)in the lower Kilchis river. Upon closer inspection, I see the landowners in the lower section (just above the river road bridge)have started intensive agriculture right along the river. I hope this is not a sign of things to come! This could severely impact the river life in the years to come.....or maybe Im just an alarmist.
Any comments? :shocked:

 

[[email protected]]

Yeah! We have noticed this, also...Plus, we were wondering if they have water rights.

I stopped by there last year, and was impressed with the way they fertilize. They have a large bin that takes refuse and boils it down to make fertilizer, so they say it's all natural...

But where the heck is this coming from?

It's really bad!!! I've never SEEN so much growth!

Jen

 

[[email protected]]

Come to think of it, the problem is much further upstream than your observation...

I live above the ag operation, and we have similarly extreme weed and algae growth. We have never seen this much weed growth, which is shocking, particularly considering the time of year.

We have no idea what is causing it.

Anyone notice it on the other river systems?

 

[drhall99]

When you say algae, are you talking about the microscopic kind that makes the water cloudy or the rock coating, plant-like, kind?
Jennie, I don't know if you live upriver from all of the agriculture but if you do, then maybe the weed and algae growth are symptoms of a larger wild salmon run and possibly even hatchery carcass plantings? The added nutrient load may be showing up as weed growth. I'm trying to be an optimist. Is there a watershed expert out there that can answer this question?

D.

 

[drhall99]

I found an interesting tool that shows different sample stations on the rivers and if you click on the station location and then click again on "more information" it shows you when the last water quality test was run. Click on one of the parameters (like ammonia) and it will pull up the actual data. I'm going to try it on a few other rivers. Here is the link for it - EviroMapper - Kilchis river . The data is quite old, but maybe a phone call (or two) could convince the appropriate people to come out to do some testing?

 

[rob allen]

Is there a nutrient enhancment project on the Kilchis? More alge means more bugs more bugs means bigger and healthier smolts which means better survival in the ocean and therefore more returning fish.. or am I just being optomistic and someone just dumped a bunch or crap in the river (literally)

 

[Thumper]

This may be an area-wide issue. The North Fork Lewis normally has a bloom that we see during the early coho run (Sept/Oct). We have more algae in the river right now than we normally see as a peak during those months. I doubt that the Kilchis is alone in having more algae this year. What do others see on their rivers?

 

[Fish_N_Russ]

kinda reminds me of a cheezy 60s sci-fi movie called 'Green Slime' :shocked:

 

[FISHFINDER]

I have noticed the Hood River being ahead of schedule as well this year as far as moss goes. I was thinking that because we had a fairly mild spring with low runoff that the water was clearer and not flowing as high. Consequently, the sun made the moss grow earlier and the low flows kept from washing it away. :shrug:

 

[BUGLEMAN]

Reportedly the Clackamas is a month early on the moss schedual.

 

[hookem]

I live on the Willimatte and woke up this morning with my face covered in green. No No, just kidding on that. But I do notice that my anchor rope is picking up a lot of green for this time of year out in the ore. city area.