Lake Sakakawea
Low water at Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota is being blamed for a massive fish kill of trout at a fish hatchery there.
The lake on the Missouri River is the source of cold water for the Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery's salmon and trout. The lake's low level is the result of years of drought in the Missouri River basin. Water released from the shallow lake is too warm for some hatchery fish to survive.
The recent dam releases also dropped the oxygen content. Many trout were lost when the water went from about 58 degrees to 65 degrees within one hour.
Lake Sakakawea is one of five major lakes created on the Missouri River by the federal government in an effort to eliminate the annual flooding of river lowlands. Lake Sakakawea is located in west-central North Dakota stretching from the Garrison Dam nearly 150 miles to the Montana border.
Lake Sakakawea covers over 365,000 surface acres and has an extended shoreline of over 1,500 miles. The width of Sakakawea ranges from one to 14 miles wide with the Van Hook Arm the widest area of the lake. The lake depth in main channel ranges from 70 to 175 feet with the deepest portion off the face of Garrison Dam.
September 12, 2006 2:59 PM | Category: Drought, Global Warming, Lake