Fish Ladder At Watson Lake State Wildlife Area Proves Successful
BELLVUE, Colo. (CBS4) -- A two-year review of the Watson Lake fish ladder indicates it has been a success. Colorado Parks and Wildlife have been monitoring the effects of the fish ladder installed on the Cache la Poudre River at the Watson Lake State Wildlife Area two years ago.
The fishway was designed to allow passage around a diversion structure in the river for multiple species of fish.
"Overall, we are happy with the project and have documented fish moving upstream and downstream in the structure," said CPW Aquatic Biologist Kyle Battige. "The fish ladder has improved conditions on the river and reconnected over two miles of river habitat by providing upstream movement opportunities for fish that had not existed at the Watson Lake Diversion Structure location since it was built in the 1960s."
CPW tagged 71 fish on April 26, 2019. The detection data indicates that 41 of them successfully ascended the entire structure. That's a little over 50%.