05-03-2004, 03:11 PM
[font "Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"][#000000][size 2]BLACKFOOT, ID—Idaho state fisheries managers say they don't know how much damage was done to aquatic life in one section of the Snake River after irrigators made one of the nation's best-known fisheries run nearly dry.[/size][/#000000][/font]
[font "Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"][#000000][size 2]The drain affected a 14-mile stretch of the Snake, downstream from Blackfoot, Idaho, and was reportedly caused by Upper Snake River irrigators who did not inform water managers before they opened head gates. Average flow for the Snake had been running at about 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) last week. That flow rate recently started plunging and dropped to just 200 cfs.Officials expect water levels will soon be back to normal.[/size][/#000000][/font]
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[font "Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"][#000000][size 2]The drain affected a 14-mile stretch of the Snake, downstream from Blackfoot, Idaho, and was reportedly caused by Upper Snake River irrigators who did not inform water managers before they opened head gates. Average flow for the Snake had been running at about 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) last week. That flow rate recently started plunging and dropped to just 200 cfs.Officials expect water levels will soon be back to normal.[/size][/#000000][/font]
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