Update on Fresno and its fishery presented

Area recreators attended a public meeting Thursday evening where representatives from Montana Bureau of Reclamation and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks shared a status update on Fresno Reservoir the St. Mary Diversion and the various projects going on in the area.

At the meeting, Havre-Area Fisheries Biologist Cody Nagel provided update on the Fresno Rservoir Fisheries' 10-year management plan which will run from 2022 through 2031 with the goal of managing the reservoir as, primarily, a habitat for walleye.

The plan includes stocking, habitat creation and other methods for managing the various fish species in the reservoir, including yellow perch and black crappie.

He said between 2010 and 2020 the reservoir saw consistently high pool elevation due to an abundance of high-water events, but the drop structure failure at the St. Mary Diversion in 2020 and the ongoing drought conditions have made the last couple of years less than ideal.

In 2021, he said, for the first time in a long time, the reservoir never hit full pool.

Despite these difficulties, he said lower pools do have some upsides, particularly the creation of shoreline habitats which provide great spawning ground for fish.

Nagel said reproductive success for fish in Fresno is highly variable, but walleye tend to do well even in less-than-ideal conditions.

In the past year, he said, they saw an abundance of small and thin walleye and larger, fatter ones with very few in the middle and the reason for this is still being looked into.

As for abundance, he said, the 10-year plan calls for between 18 and 21 walleye per net and the past two years have seen 22.25, higher than the average of 19.

The fish are however, a bill smaller this year than the three-year average he said.

Nagel said the age distribution among the population is a good indicator of its overall health, and the last five or six years of data show that the walleye population seems to be pretty healthy.

As for the more immediate future, he said, some stocking will take place in June and they will continue to work with the Fresno Chapter of Walleyes Unlimited to keep the fisheries as healthy as possible.

BOR Civil Engineer Clayton Jordan also spoke at the meeting and said carryover at Fresno this winter was better than it was in the aftermath of 2020's drop failure at the St. Mary Diversion.

Jordan said the canal of the diversion will be opened next week and they will get it up to capacity to get some of St. Mary's water into Fresno as soon a possible, likely by the end of the month.

Despite the water coming in from St. Mary, he said, Milk River runoff will likely be below average this year, and he doesn't anticipate the reservoir will be filled this year, though the coming months may change that should more precipitation come.

Jordan and the other speakers also fielded complaints from the audience regarding how Fresno is managed, with a lack of focus on recreation.

Speakers said Fresno's designated use is primarily for irrigation, and while BOR can contribute in limited ways to improving recreation, they have no congressional funding for it and are obligated to manage it for irrigation first.

Members of Walleyes Unlimited in attendance offered to maybe work on something with BOR, and speakers said they hope to continue their partnership with the organization and its members.

Fresno Safety of Dams Project Manager Steve Darlinton also spoke at the meeting, primarily about the project he's managing and ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the St. Mary Diversion Dam.

Darlinton said the Fresno Dam, which has settled significantly since its construction, is in need of updates and repairs to keep the structure safe.

He has said in the past that there is no immediate danger posed by the dam, but these updates are still badly needed given that 3,300 people live in the flood area if it were to fail.

He said the design for the dam project is done and includes a new sand layer, gravel layer and geomembrane built.

Darlinton said the effects on irrigators from the project should be fairly minimal but because of the amount of material the project requires they will need to close one of the fishing areas on the river and make an approaching road one lane, or perhaps close it.

He said the north side of the river would remain open, but the closures needed for the project would likely last until the project is completed.

He said more information on the project would be provided at next week's public meeting including about repayment, 85 percent of which would come from the federal government and 15 percent of which would come from area irrigators and municipalities.

As for the St. Mary Diversion Dam, he said the recent bipartisan infrastructure package has provided $100 million for the rehabilitation of the entire system, which will be a huge help to improvements and updates there including a system to protect the bull trout in the area, a threatened species.

He said this project would require nothing from irrigators.

During the meeting Havre Resident Josh Parrow announced to attendees that he's trying to get a summer fishing program for children set up in the area.

Parrow said the program, which is still in the works, would allow parents to call in and set up fishing trips to Fresno for their children that they can't take them for.

He said he's setting up contacts for the program's signup sheet, and if anyone would like to get involved he'd welcome their help.