This is a question for Cowlitz River regulars.

I noticed the water flow on the Cowlitz dropped from almost 14K cfs to less than 10K cfs between Friday and Saturday last weekend. It stayed at this level throughout the weekend then bounced back up by Monday. Is this standard operating procedure on the river? I swapped emails with a hydrologist at the USGS who mentioned some effort to manage river flows for increased recreational opportunities on weekends. Does anyone know anything about this or have additional information?

I was talking with Don at Barrier DAm campground and he told me that the lake that the water comes out of is still 43 feet lower then normal. He also told me that they will be changing the levels for weekends and weekdays. That is what he told me, just to pass on.

You listened to Donnie? LOL j/k :p

Ditto on plug puller's reply.

sincerely
Kid Cowlitz

Another reason for the decreased weekend water flow is the decreased need for electricity on the weekend. Demand and therefore the price of electricity is much lower on Saturday and Sunday. They "save" water on Saturday and Sunday so they can make more money with it during the week.

It's all about money! It's all about money, and yes, it's all about money!!!

Tacoma doesn't give a damn about recreation, or fish recovery. All they have ever cared about in over 35 years of operation is how much the City of Tacoma can make off the Cowlitz River Project. Years ago, Tacoma also made a recreational flow agreement with WDFW. What a joke that was! Worse yet, the new settlement agreement that Tacoma, TU, WDFW, NMFS, WDOE and American Rivers signed onto is almost a carbon copy of what you are seeing now. Friends of the Cowlitz and CPR-Fish have filed a motion to WDOE to deny Tacoma their 401 Clean water Permit. WE will soon find out if WDOE has the guts to take on Tacoma and deny them their 401 Permit. I will let this board know what the results are as soon as we get an answer back from WDOE.

Cowlitzfisherman

Is the taste of the bait worth the sting of the hook????