SUCCESSFUL Reclamation of Diamond Lake. A Look Back CHAPTER 2

In our next chapter we will take a look at what treatments were tried. Plus a much closer look as to why such a small fish had such a negative impact on Diamond Lake.

Chapter 2:

Treating a lake such as Diamond Lake is multi faceted according to ODFW Officials. It was quite evident the chub were there, now how do we get rid of them? The first step was to develop an environmental impact statement. That was completed and made public in about 2001.

As time lapsed the chub population grew exponentially. Several years of public outreach and awareness commenced. Plus meetings were held discussing alternatives to eradicating the Chub other than the use of rotenone. One we uncovered was the use of dynamite. A less dangerous alternative was to plant a more predator species of fish that would feed on the Chub. That option seemed best at the time and thus a multitude of cold water fish were introduced into Diamond Lake, The Williamson River strain of trout, Eagle Lake Trout and Chinook Salmon. The hope at that time was for these fish to feed and grow thus providing the public a great opportunity to fish for them. As it turned out in 2004 a lake record 18.25 lb. Williamson River Trout was caught, as for the Eagle Lake Trout no report of one being caught yet. The introduction of Chinook was also inclusive and now believed that those fish migrated out to sea as mother nature intended.

Mean while the Tui Chub populating is getting way out of control to the point of starving out all the trout including the Williamson River fish. The chub population was devastating to insects, aquatic plants and even aquatic micro organisms.

But that's not all… Around about 1995 large blooms of Blue Green algae appeared. According to Dave Loomis, now retired from ODFW, the algae have always been in Diamond Lake as well as other high Cascade lakes. Per his series of public awareness seminars dating back to the late 1990s, studies concluded that Chub hatchlings fed upon Zooplankton. Zooplankton in turn feeds upon the Blue Green Algae. It was also shared with us that the secretions from the chub excelled the algae bloom further. So here we have an eco system that's totally out of balance starting with a little fish that reproduces rapidly and to such numbers that changed the food chain starting with the smallest of organisms, the zooplankton. With the absence of zooplankton the algae grew to such a point that caused public health officials to post warnings not to swim or have any body contact with the water of Diamond Lake to prevent toxic effects to your health. The chub ate up every little thing they could including mosquito larva and fresh water shrimp. Summer Trips to the lake during that time period I was amazed not being bit by "SKEETERS". Now I know why!

In our next chapter we will re-cap the process of eradicating the Tui Chub.

Associated with this story is a photograph of an adult Tui Chub. It is this reporter's hope you share this with others and help educate our neighbors to prevent this from occurring again. If you feel the need to fish with a minnow that resembles a Chub there are many fine replicas available at your favorite sporting goods dealer. Ask for brand names of Rapala, Rebel Yozuri, Lucky Craft and more.