Boulder City, Nev. - On Thursday, Sept. 10, the Bureau of Reclamation will again reduce releases from Davis Dam in an attempt to decrease the local caddisfly population - following a recent request from the cities of Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona.
Reclamation agreed to reduce flows from the dam as part a pest abatement study being conducted by these communities to combat this nuisance species that typically emerges in its adult life-form in late-summer along the lower Colorado River, plaguing riverside businesses and visitors to the area.
Reclamation will reduce hourly releases at Davis Dam, to approximately 2,000 cubic feet per second beginning overnight and continuing through the early-evening hours on September 10. During this time, the water levels below Davis Dam will drop, drying out the banks of the river channel in hopes of desiccating caddisfly larvae and pupae.
Riverfront residents and businesses are urged to take this opportunity to conduct dock and property maintenance. Recommended maintenance activities include scrubbing the hulls of boats, under docks, and portions of seawalls or other structures typically submerged under the one-unit water release line.
The decision to conduct these experiments was based on input and recommendations from a collaborative team of scientists, federal reservoir operators and the business community in Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona. The experiments are designed to maximize benefits to Colorado River communities, while taking into consideration water delivery requirements and impacts to hydropower production and local recreation.
Access to the Colorado River below Davis Dam will be limited and extra caution should be exercised while using the river during this time. All river users should be aware that these lower than normal river flows may expose or create natural hazards such as sandbars, gravel bars, unstable riverbanks, floating or submerged debris or other unfamiliar obstacles.
Planned operations may change depending on operational or environmental conditions. Daily and hourly information on releases from Reclamation's Colorado River dams is available on Reclamation's web site, at https://www.usbr.gov/lc/riverops.html. Davis Dam and Parker Dam projected water release schedules can be found at https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/hourly/DavisParkerSchedules.pdf.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
