Swung by the Gracie Creek Pond on the north side of Calamus Reservoir recently. For those of you that might not know, there is a little pond there where highway 96 crosses Gracie Creek. The water from Gracie Creek is cold enough to support trout, so we frequently stock catchable-size, 10-inch rainbow trout into the pond. There is easy access there including an accessible fishing dock and it is a popular fishing spot.
Unfortunately, cold water is not the only thing that comes down Gracie Creek. The creek carries a lot of sand and that is continually deposited in the pond. In addition, high water events like those that occurred in 2019 deposit even more sand and sediment. We have made modifications to the outlet structure, but the sediment needs to be cleaned out of the pond on occasion. That is happening right now. Yes, that means that temporarily there is no fishing opportunity there.
Here is what it looks like right now:
Trucks and equipment were moving when I stopped by. Four thousand cubic yards of sand have been removed so far. The plan is to remove a total of 30,000 cubic yards.
If things go well, there should be some fishing opportunity back by sometime this fall.
Yes, sediment will continue to come down Gracie Creek and yes, it will have to be removed again in the future. I believe part of the project right now is to alter the flow of water into the pond so sediment removal can be done more easily in the future.
One of the big challenges of rehabilitation projects like this is where to put the spoil material? In this case, it is being trucked just over the hill nearby. If you drive by there, you will see.
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