Main Stem Upper D @ Lordville

[timmyt]

Been watching the temps at Lordville, seems like pretty soon they are gonna be flirting with 80 degrees. And it hasnt even been that hot this week. Whats going to happen next week when it gets really steamy again?

I am fairly new and inexperienced with the upper D, is this normal? I thought i read that with the new flow agreement plan they came up with last year there was an agreement to release more water during thermal issues. The flow is really light, around 800. I'm sure the temp would come down if they released more water. What gives?

 

[timmyt]

Mods,

I meant to put this in the general forum, can it please be moved there?

 

[dryflyguy]

Usually happens every year that far downstream.
I've even seen the east branch that warm where it joins the main stem at Hancock

 

[krayfish2]

If I'm not mistaken, 2 things were promised with the new flow plan.....
#1. More water in the system
#2. Better management of thermal refuge using the Lordville temp gauge

So far, it looks like the release and overall flows have been a fair bit lower than normal. Lakes are still above normal storage so I'm not sure what they are waiting for. Maybe they have inside info on a really dry and hot 8 weeks in the near future and are saving it. You will never guess correctly or understand the folks at the dam. Fish manage to somehow survive in the 15 miles below lordville every year. My only concern is prolonged periods of hot water is going to have some impact on the fish numbers. There will be mortality numbers higher than usual.

 

[timmyt]

Well below the 25th percentile and approaching the minimum ever, seems like less water than ever based on my brief experience

 

[timmyt]

Barely dipped below 70 last night. Prolonged periods now (days on end with no break at night even) of lethal temps cant be good

Plenty of water in the ressies just sitting up there. Wouldnt take much to make a big difference

 

[krayfish2]

That's just what they do to me. Sometimes it's kind of amazing that there's even a fishery there

 

[timmyt]

Yeah its a shame. The lehigh has been doing a much better job keeping the temps down surprisingly

 

[krayfish2]

The one thing you have to remember is there's a distinct difference between the two. The Lehigh is based off of a dam for flood control and the Delaware is based off of a damn for water supply. I'll agree with you that they have plenty of water for this time of year. I just have an eerie feeling that they are going to run it below normal flows until mid October and then dump it at 3000 CFS for 2 months