You might think that since Bighorn River trout fishing brings many millions of dollars of revenue to Montana residents, there would be a almost flawless oversight of the water flows there. But on Tuesday, the resource was once again put at risk, and the river plummeted to 800 cfs in just a few hours, this time apparently as the result of poor human control (the July problems, which dropped flows to around 1,500 cfs, were mechanical).
Brett French reports on the event for the Billings Gazette: "'There were lots of young-of-year rainbow and brown trout in little puddles,' said Ken Frazer, fisheries manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in Billings after visiting the river on Wednesday. 'A couple of the big puddles had big fish stranded in them.'"
In response to the event, Montana Senator Max Baucus called on the federal government to get involved in the river's dewatering problems.
Thanks to Patrick Straub for the link and accompanying photo.
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