Flaws must be fixed before true impact on coast is known
There’s still a whole lot of work left to be done on the Davis Pond Diversion Project before people in the area will see the kinds of results the project was supposed to create.
“With the data we’ve worked up so far, I haven’t seen a whole lot of impact in the fishing industry due to design problems with the structure,” Chuck Villarrubia, coastal resource scientist and project manager said.
“Davis Pond was supposed to be able to divert up to 10,650 cubic feet per second (cfs) of fresh water,” he said. “Diversions through the structure occur under regulated conditions determined by monitoring basin salinities and fish and wildlife resources.”
Villarrubia says that’s not what’s happening.
“Last week we opened up at 7,000 to 8,000 (cfs) and that’s good and at least fairly close to the target mark of 10,000 (cfs),” he said. “This increased flow amount is due to some cuts we opened up in the ponding area, but it’s not enough.”
Villarubbia says that fishing in Lake Cataouchie has increased, and believes it is due to several cuts or holes the Army Corps of Engineers drilled in the wall near the ponding area last year.
“Now that we’ve got that up to speed, we know that work still needs to be done and it’s ongoing,” he said. “The project isn’t fully operational and we won’t know exactly how much of an impact the project will make to the fishing industry until the flaws are fixed in the project’s design.”
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