Feb. 1, 2024

From the Archives: A New Channel Around Windy Gap Reservoir

Twenty-five years ago, readers of the print version of Waternews saw a new idea appear in its pages: The proposal for a new channel to divert water around Windy Gap Reservoir from a diversion upstream of the reservoir to a point below the Windy Gap Dam.

Now called the Colorado River Connectivity Channel, that new diversion will be dedicated later this year. In late 2023, engineers started moving water through the key component of the channel. They found that in addition to conveying water around the on-channel reservoir, the channel also was being used by fish small and large. The evidence: special tags embedded in the fish activated sensors that had been built into the new river channel, providing hard data verifying the migration of fish both upstream and downstream.

Work planned in 2024 includes completion of the diversion structure upstream of the reservoir to ensure water can be moved into Windy Gap Reservoir when needed, as well as continued placement of riparian plants along the banks of the new channel. It will likely take a few years for the seedlings to become fully established, which will then allow limited public access for fishing.

In 1999, such a project seemed to be a distant dream; this year, it becomes a reality.

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CRCC First Flows