James O’Brien, Deschutes River Conservancy project manager, points out areas on Oct. 2 where fish rescue efforts will occur, in the Lava Island side channel of the Deschutes River.

A project to recover fish stranded in a section of the Deschutes River due to dam control operations, originally scheduled for Monday to Oct. 18, will now be done from Friday to Monday. 

The Deschutes River Conservancy, which organizes the fish rescue, has alerted volunteers of the new dates and is asking people to re-register.

The dates of the annual fish recovery project tend to move each year due to variable conditions in the Upper Deschutes Basin and the climate. 

Marisa Hossick, a spokesperson for the conservancy, said drought conditions in Central Oregon have reduced the flow of springs that feed into the Deschutes River below Wickiup Dam, which lowers the level of the river.

Reduced natural flow in the river causes the channel at Lava Island Falls to get cut off sooner than in a non-drought year.

“The flows in the river are dropping faster than anticipated and that usually means that the springs that recharge the river are low,” said Hossick. “So there is less water coming into the river from recharge.” 

Volunteers who want to sign up for the fish rescue project are advised to go to the Deschutes River Conservancy website: deschutesriver.org

In addition to springs that feed the river, conditions in the Deschutes River in October can also change based on the needs of irrigators. The Wickiup Dam ramp down, which occurs in mid-October to start saving water for next year’s irrigation season, can begin earlier or later in the month depending on irrigation demand.

The flow out of Wickiup at the start of this month was 847 cubic feet per second. As of Wednesday, the flow had dropped to 660 cfs. Typically when the flow drops below 300 cfs out of Wickiup water can no longer filter into the side channel at Lava Island Falls, stranding any fish that happen to be swimming in that stretch of the river. Some years the channel can stay filled at flow rates under 300 cfs, depending on the condition of springs that feed the river.