Elk River cutthroat trout radiotelemetry $30,000

The Elk River originates from the glacier-fed Elk Lakes in Elk Lakes Provincial Park and flow south to drain into Lake Koocanusa. The river valley narrows as it approaches Elko where it enters the Rocky Mountain Trench. BC Hydro operates a dam at Elko which was built on a natural barrier. This dam isolates the upper Elk River from the lower Elk and Kootenay rivers.
The Elk River above Elko has a drainage area of 21,920 km2 with a mean annual discharge of 57 m3/sec. Levels of dissolved solids and nutrients suggest the river is moderately productive. The river contains ideal sportfishing water, composed of numerous pools, runs and riffle areas. The Elk River Valley is readily accessible from Highway 3 which follows the Elk River from Elko to Sparwood. North of Sparwood, the river is paralleled by a paved road to Elkford, while north of Elkford to the Elk Lakes, access to the river is by gravel logging road. The Elk River supports three major species of sport fish (westslope cutthroat trout, bull trout and mountain whitefish). Westslope cutthroat trout live their adult life in the mainstem of the Elk River and spawn in the smaller tributary streams. Many of these tributary streams are located in areas that are either being actively logged and/or mined.

This is the first year of a 2 year radio telemetry project to identify westslope cutthroat trout spawning streams tributary to the Elk River. In addition, the project will assist in determining the status and life history characteristics of this resident population of westslope cutthroat trout and identify critical (summer, overwintering and spawning) habitats for protection and enhancement. The Elk River is considered one of the best stream fisheries in the east Kootenays and it's popularity among anglers has increased dramatically in recent years. It has received international exposure on television, in fishing magazines, at fly fishing symposia and appears regularly on the internet. The number of licensed angling guides operating on the Elk River increased from five in 1994 to 18 in 1997. In 1997, guided anglers reportedly caught and released over 10,000 cutthroat trout in the Elk River.

In order to manage, protect and possibly enhance westslope cutthroat trout in the Elk River in the face of increasing angler effort, industrial (linear developments, logging, mining) and urban development (including dyking), life history information is required to characterise this resident population of trout. Implications to BC Hydro include acquisition of baseline data on potential fish entrainment through Elko GS as well as related movement data.

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