Drought, low level of Lake Powell threaten to facilitate transfer of smallmouth bass to stretch of Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam
6/14/2022 12:47:58 PM
CATEGORIES:
Plants & Wildlife
Tourism & Recreation
Water Supply & Quality
AFFECTED AREAS:
Coconino County, AZ
Colorado
Utah
Kane County, UT
San Juan County, UT
Start Date: 6/13/2022
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As drought continues to drive the level of Lake Powell lower, the likelihood of invasive smallmouth bass crossing the Glen Canyon Dam increases, where the bass would be a threat to endangered fish in the Grand Canyon. Smallmouth bass prefer warm water and stay in the upper part of the water column, which is coming increasingly nearer to the intakes, which would transfer them to the river below.
The problem with the bass becoming established below the dam is that the fish are thought to have decimated the humpback chub populations in the upper basin and would likely do the same with endangered fish below Glen Canyon Dam. Biologists are considering different ways of keeping the bass above the dam, but do not have any easy way of doing so.
The Aspen Times (Colo.), June 13, 2022
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