Going, going, almost gone.
By sometime early next week, Colorado’s second-largest reservoir almost certainly will have been drained to a mudhole, leaving the Colorado Division of Wildlife scrambling to salvage what’s left of a once-abundant fish population.
If projections hold true, John Martin Reservoir, a giant impoundment on the Arkansas River near Las Animas, will be reduced to only 300 surface acres, less than 2 percent of its maximum storage.
What once ranked as the region’s premier fishery effectively will be devoid of fish. Southeast Colorado’s only state park will be missing its main attraction.
“At 300 surface acres, it will be a shallow pool with a couple of spots around the dam 3-4 feet deep and the rest only a few inches deep,” said Jim Ramsay, area biologist with the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
In a related development, Jumbo, also called Julesburg Reservoir, will be drained and a salvage operation will be begun. The DOW salvage order for the impoundment near Sedgwick becomes effective Monday, although the precise time for the project hasn’t been set.
While drought-related problems have been a fairly common event at Jumbo, the John Martin drawdown would mark the first time the big impoundment has been drained since 1980. Wildlife officials long feared such a development in the wake of a court decision awarding Kansas a greater share of water under the Arkansas River Compact.
“Kansas is legally entitled to the water on whatever timetable it chooses,” said Russ George, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. “It’s part of the whole water-management system in this sort of dry year. Fish and recreation are too low on the list of priorities. That’s just the way it is.”
In addition to drought, Arkansas River woes in southeast Colorado have been compounded through an accelerated acquisition of water rights by fast-growing municipalities such as Aurora and Colorado Springs, which increasingly divert water from the upper river.
This water pinch has severely impacted irrigation storage in various southeast reservoirs that supported warmwater fisheries, some now gone dry.
In the wake of the court decision, Colorado fish managers have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. The thud comes with a continuing dearth of water in the Arkansas system since general drought conditions began in 2001, punctuated by this final drawdown of John Martin.
Greg Gerlich, acting state fish manager, said muddy conditions won’t permit access to the remaining pool of water to salvage game fish. The only recourse might be to capture whatever remains in pools below the dam, either from the stilling basin or farther downstream through arrangement with landowners.
Any captured fish would be transported to Nee Gronda Reservoir near Eads, one of the few area impoundments with significant depth.
Ramsay said John Martin contains large numbers of white bass, a good population of largemouth and smallmouth bass and a fair number of crappie. He believes most of the saugeye and wiper already left the lake. The biologist expects many catfish to linger, with some chance for survival should additional rainfall arrive soon.
Anglers have an opportunity to catch fish from the public-access stilling basin below the dam, where liberal catch regulations are in effect.
Ramsay is bracing for an extended period of 100-degree temperatures in the area, a condition certain to continue the deadly evaporation process.
Nee Gronda retains approximately 1,900 surface acres with a maximum depth of 25 feet. Nearby Nee Noshe has shrunk to 500 surface acres with a 17-foot maximum. Both contain good fish populations.
At Jumbo, size and method restrictions will be removed when the public salvage order is activated. Bag limits still will apply.
Area wildlife manager Larry Budde said the reservoir contains a good population of saugeye from 12 to 14 inches, with a few larger ones. Fish captured by DOW will be taken to North Sterling Reservoir, which maintains a substantial depth.
Two other northeast reservoirs soon will be drained to their conservation pools, but with no anticipated loss of fish. Crews have salvaged nearly 1,500 wiper, saugeye and walleye from the outlet canal to Jackson, and work will continue as long as conditions permit.
Prewitt Reservoir also will reach dead pool, but with enough remaining water to sustain fish.
Charlie Meyers can be reached at 303-820-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com.
