by NorcalBob » September 15th, 2009, 4:47 pm
Interesting stuff, but.........
Too many scientific inaccuracies to let this one pass. The creeks siltation issue in the riffle is not caused by wading anglers, though they certainly make the issue worse. And siltation is the major issue facing that creek, and is responsible for the decline of the weedbeds which in turn is the food source for all the insect life. There also is a major unidentified silt source dumping into the creek. Some geologic studies indicate an underground lava tube collapsed, pouring tons of sediment into the water, but that has never been verified. While wading anglers are responsible for most of the streamside erosion, effectively widening the stream bed, the burrowing muskrat problem is actually the reason for the many collapsed banks (which in turn widen the streambed more and contribute more silt to the creek). It will be interesting to see if the streambed improvements done at Carbon can reverse the declining trend of this creek over time. Wading anglers are bad, no doubt about it, but are not the only source for the decline of this creek.