Friday, July 29, 2011

Spray River water breach threatens trout population

Debris plug the Spray River near the junction with the Bow River in Banff, July 26, 2011.
Photograph by: Grant Black, Calgary Herald

Spray River water breach threatens trout population

Generator fails, water breaches spillway

By Cathy Ellis, For The Calgary Herald July 29, 2011

The cutthroat trout population in the Spray River could be wiped out due to dirty and unnaturally high water flows, in part the result of mechanical problems at a TransAlta hydroelectric facility near Canmore.

"Fish have evolved genetically for spring runoff, but as the (high stream flow) persists into mid-and late summer, this becomes an unnatural occurrence which fish are less able to tolerate," said Bill Hunt, resource conservation manager for Banff National Park.

"Obviously, the longer this goes on, the worse those odds are."

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