Fish and Wildlife Encourages Irrigators to Reach Out Before Irrigation Shut Down

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) requests that farmers and other irrigators contact the department two to four weeks in advance before irrigation systems are shut down for the season. This is an effort to rescue fish in irrigation canals and place them back to their stream.

Fish can enter irrigation canals and when irrigation season ends, the canals empty and fish species such as chinook salmon and steelhead can become stranded.

"There are instances where the canals do not dewater appropriately," said Danny Didricksen, WDFW fish screening manager.

WDFW sends out a 'shut down' letter to irrigators the department knows about with instructions on how to shut down irrigation systems in a way that allows fish to escape. Fish and Wildlife suggests for people to slowly decrease diversion flows over the course of several days to help the fish migrate and head back to the stream on their own.

"It's a slower process, it's a several day process that allows the fish to sense the water levels are decreasing and they should seek better habitat," said Didricksen.

If any folks notice fish stranded, Didricksen urges them to give WDFW a call. Typically, a crew of biologists will visit, use equipment to check the ditch and ensure there are no fish stranded as water levels get low. This is a free service.

"We would be happy to come out and chat with you and make a plan to rescue some fish," said Didricksen. "Often times people are scared to call us because they think we're just the regulators, but this is a fish first thing."