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NGPC warns of low-water stress, recent fish kills and ongoing monitoring in Southeast Nebraska
Summary
NGPC Southeast District staff reported low water levels across Salt Valley lakes, recounted fish kills at several reservoirs, and described monitoring plans; staff also discussed ongoing investigations at Portal Lake and management shifts at Lake Wanahoo.
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Southeast District staff reported widespread low-water conditions in the area south and west of Lincoln and outlined monitoring, stocking and management responses to recent fish kills.
Biologist Jake Werner said many Salt Valley lakes have fallen to levels that make launching difficult. "You might not be able to launch a boat in right now are all of Clear Creek and Yankee Hill. They're down fairly significantly," Werner said. He pointed meeting participants to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water-level data to check current reservoir elevations.
Werner recounted significant fish-kill events last year at Big Indian and Killdeer and said NGPC has restocked Big Indian with saugeye and plans further stockings at Big Indian and Redtail when water returns. "We do plan on moving some fish into both Big Indian and Killdeer, or Big Indian and Redtail this spring," he said, adding that some reservoirs remain inaccessible for sampling because of low water.
Aaron Blank addressed concerns about Portal Lake in Papillion, where water levels rose and later fell again. Blank said engineers are investigating and think groundwater (a "water mound") and insufficient consistent rain may be contributing, but weekly monitoring shows the stream bed below the dam remained dry while the reservoir dropped. "We're not engineers, we're not hydrologists... we're kinda relying on the expertise from some of the other people and we've got discussions in house," he said, adding the agency is working with the Papio NRD and the build's engineering firm.
Blank also described a shift at Lake Wanahoo from a crappie-centered fishery to increased walleye/wiper stocking after prior gizzard shad introductions and flood events. He said a spring stocking of wiper fry produced unexpectedly strong year classes despite a large flood soon after stocking; fall gill-netting found good wiper numbers and sizes. "In the fall, our gill nets, we had 15 wipers per gill net and actually some really good growth on those," Blank said. He also noted crappie densities declined after the flood but that size structure had increased for some angler-caught crappie.
The district said it will continue monitoring vulnerable reservoirs for low oxygen and fish-kill risk and will move fish into impacted lakes when water and conditions allow.
