Caney Fork Water Control Manual Update
To our friends, fellow anglers, and conservationists, I am writing about an urgent situation. WE NEED YOUR HELP.
The Music City TU chapter does not officially claim any local fisheries as “home waters”, but I am sure many of you fish the Caney Fork River. Some of you undoubtedly have fond memories of incredible fishing on the Caney in years past. However, over the last few years the increase in water temps and decrease in dissolved oxygen levels have had an adverse effect on fish habitat. We have seen a decrease in catch rates and an increase in fish mortality in later summer months.
The challenge for us is focused on the cooperation of the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) who operate the Center Hill Dam, and their operating procedure. The current policy for minimum flows is simply insufficient for proper trout habitat.
However, as of May 4th, the USACE is revising their operating procedures for the first time since 1998. We are currently in the 30 day Public Comment period of that revision. The local community is asked to weigh-in on any possible changes. This window will last for 30 days and is accompanied by a public meeting on Thursday, May 26.
Trout Unlimited and the TWRA are pushing for changes to the USACE operating manual specifically aimed to address water quality and a continuous minimum flow. This will not only allow trout to survive, but to THRIVE. But we need your support!
This is EXACTLY why Trout Unlimited was created—to repair rivers like the Caney Fork. We need your help in two ways:
We need people to show up in-person at the public meeting as a show of support, and make your voice heard. That meeting will be on Thursday, May 26, from 5:00pm - 7:30pm at this address:
Smith County Agricultural Center
159 Ag Center Ln.,
South Carthage, TN, 37030
We are also in need of members to write letters and emails to the USACE showing your desire for these changes. Please send emails to Cody.A.Flatt@usace.army.mil and physical letters to the following address:
Cody A. Flatt
Biologist, Environmental Section
Project Planning Branch
US Army Corps of Engineers
110 9th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
Now this part is VERY IMPORTANT. While all your letters should be in your own words, we would like to coalesce around a unified message that is consistent and CLEAR. Below is a bullet point list of specific criteria, put forward by the TWRA that we ask you include in your letters:
Maintain State Dissolved Oxygen standards of 6.0 mg/L during all operations.
Maintain a CONTINUOUS minimum flow between 200 to 500 cfs utilizing the orifice equipped sluice gate during periods of no generation.
Reduce rate of temperature change to less than 3.6°F per hour.
Maintain water temperatures below 68°F at the Stonewall Boat Ramp.
Limit changes in hydropower discharges to one unit per hour, up or down.
This is truly an all-hands-on-deck situation. The operational changes will affect habitat on the Caney for DECADES. If you can, please help us all out and write a letter. And if you can, show up to the meeting on the 26th.
If you have any additional questions, please email musiccitytu@gmail.com!
Thank you in advance for your help,
Arthur Smith
President
Music City Trout Unlimited
For more information on the proposed changes from the TWRA, visit this link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gs47ow1zoaf2yg6/TWRA_USACE_Center%20Hill%20Tailwater%20Operation%20Manual%20Comments.pdf?dl=0
For more information regarding the USACE public meeting and comment period, visit this link:
https://www.lrd.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Releases/Article/3018981/nr-22-12-public-meeting-set-to-revise-center-hill-water-control-manual/a