Friends of Bighorn Lake - Home
Urgent! Action Needed!
Recently there has been added pressure on the Bureau of Reclamation to manage the water coming into Bighorn Lake in a way that shows preference for the river fishery below the Yellowtail Dam. If BOR continues to cave into this pressure to provide "optimum" river flows for the fishery, our lake levels will suffer to the point that recreation on the lake will be halted for longer periods than need be.
Please join us in insisting that BOR follow their legally mandated priorities and protect the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.
The below petition will go directly to Steve Davies (sdavies@usbr.gov) of the Bureau of Reclamation. You can edit the email by clicking the "eye" below. Please keep your comments kind and civil.
Full Text of Letter
Mr. Davies,
I am writing you today to ask the Bureau of Reclamation to manage the Yellowtail Reservoir / Bighorn Lake according to its legally mandated priorities. I am concerned that your current operating criteria is drafting the lake levels too low for the purpose of maintaining river releases at less than half of what the Yellowtail Unit was designed to release and still maintain "flood control".
By drafting the lake below the National Park Service's requested level of 3620', you are creating an undependable recreation season which in turns inhibits current and potential business activities and greatly affects Northern WY's economy.
I understand that the lake must be drafted during high inflow spring runoff, but it is your responsibility to fill it back up as quick as possible while keeping river releases below the designed 20,000 cfs.
I understand that the BOR has no legal mandate to maintain "optimum" River releases of between 3,000 cfs and 8,000 cfs while drafting the lake below 3620' which completely shuts off all South end lake recreation. Nor does the BOR have any legally mandated responsibility to protect any private property that has been developed and encroached on the flood plane. This is not "Fair and Balanced" management.
I strongly encourage you to use the Yellowtail Dam for its intended flood control purpose, and to have better coordination on releases, lake elevations and flows from the upstream dams, so that the lake levels will meet the National Park Services' elevation recommendations and all visitors and businesses can rely on a consistent recreation season.
I am asking you to do your job, follow your legally mandated priorities and protect our National Park as required by law.
Respectfully,