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El Dorado Irrigation District — serving people, agriculture, businesses, and the environment in El Dorado County since 1925

For immediate release
August 12, 2008

Fish rescue and fishery restocking highlight update on
emergency repair work at Caples Lake main dam outlet

August 11, 2008. -- Placerville, CA -- During their August 11 meeting, El Dorado Irrigation District (District) Board members heard a staff update on the emergency repairs needed to ensure safe operation of the main dam at Caples Lake reservoir. Staff reported that the California Department of Fish and Game will conduct a fish rescue consisting of netting the fish and placing them in hatchery trucks for transport to nearby Silver Lake.

“This is good news and the first part of a multi-phase attempt to save as many fish as possible during the critical work we are doing to ensure pubic health and safety,” said George Osborne, the District’s Board president. “We must replace the slide gates at the dam and fix other problems that were discovered in mid- June during an underwater investigation.” “That means we have to draw down the reservoir so the repair crews are not endangered,”

Osborne continued. “As soon as Fish and Game determined the drawdown will have impacts on the reservoir fishery, we began working with Fish and Game, the Forest Service, the California Division of Safety of Dams, and the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as well as our local advisory committee and many other stakeholders in the region, to make the best of this emergency.”

Osborne also said that the District has applied to the State Water Resources Control Board for permission to divert some of the water from the drawdown to Jenkinson Lake, the District’s largest water storage reservoir, as a hedge in case 2009 turns out to be another dry year. Due to dry conditions, Jenkinson Lake has not filled completely since 2007.

District staff informed the Board that the plan also encompasses construction of a temporary bladder dam behind the main dam to protect the safety of the repair crews, store water for reservoir fish, and provide flows for downstream fisheries during the winter. The third step in the plan is short and long-term restocking efforts following recommendations from the Department of Fish and Game, who successfully implemented a similar plan at Lake Davis in 2006.

“We are extremely appreciative of the technical support that Fish and Game has provided in developing a comprehensive plan to rescue the existing fishery and reestablish a trophy fishery at Caples Lake,” said Dan
Corcoran, the District’s environmental review manager. “We are working aggressively to ensure that anglers will have a trophy fishery returned immediately after the ice melts and the lake can be accessed next spring.
Meanwhile, Caples Lake will continue to provide angling opportunities throughout this season”