News Release
| Release Number: | 03-131 |
| Dated: | 8/7/2003 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -To help prevent an outbreak of a deadly fisheries disease, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will increase its releases from Lost Creek Reservoir (William L. Jess Dam) early on Aug. 11.
The increase – from 1,600 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 1,900 cfs – will hit at the peak of the fall chinook run, providing more water for the migrating adult fish. Increased, cooler flows decrease disease and cause fish to move upriver more quickly, said Mike Posovich, Corps hydrologist.
The Corps will hold the releases at 1,900 cfs until Sept. 10, when it will gradually reduce flows for fall chinook salmon so that by late September only inflows are passed.
Corps projects in the Rogue Basin are operated to serve multiple needs: flood damage reduction, hydropower, irrigation, fisheries, water supply, water quality and lake recreation. The Corps' goal is to effectively balance these competing needs to serve the region and its people.
The Lost Creek Reservoir and William L. Jess Dam are located on the Rogue River, 27 miles northeast of Medford, Ore. The dam was constructed in the 1970s to help reduce flood damages in the Rogue River Basin.