Boulder City, Nev. - Beginning next week, the Bureau of Reclamation plans to reduce overnight releases from Davis Dam on selected dates in an attempt to decrease the local caddisfly population - following a request from the cities of Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona. The reduced flows along the river reach below Davis Dam will help with an ongoing pest abatement study being conducted by the downstream communities to combat this nuisance species that negatively impacts businesses and visitors to the area.
On the dates listed below, Reclamation will reduce overnight releases at Davis Dam to approximately 1,800 cubic feet per second, beginning at midnight MST for an approximate 4-hour duration. During this time, the water levels below Davis Dam will drop, exposing the banks of the river channel where caddisfly pupae and larvae live, allowing the local bird and bat population to assist with pest abatement by feeding heavily on the exposed insects.
The current dates being targeted for this study are Monday, May 24, Thursday, May 27, Wednesday, June 2, Thursday, June 3, Tuesday, June 8, Wednesday, June 9, and Thursday, June 10.
Additionally, on June 3rd, low flows will be sustained until 8:00 a.m. MST, in a coordinated effort with the local communities to clean the river front area after the Memorial Day holiday. Riverfront residents and businesses are encouraged 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 if overnight use of the river is planned during these times. 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, and it takes a few hours of higher releases until they return to their pre-low flow release levels.
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
