As recent posts have noted, the past several days have brought higher water, some rain and decreased water clarity to the section of the Henry's Fork downstream of Island Park Dam. Water clarity and sediment content started to change in the afternoon last Thursday, 8/7, which coincided with greater discharge from the dam. Since the beginning of the month flows have come up from an average of 960 cfs - the maximum that can be used for hydropower generation - to a maximum of almost 1500 cfs yesterday.
With the increased flows the fishing quality has declined recently, as has the amount of use the river is getting. This has been due in part to the sediment that appears to be entering the river through Island Park Dam. Water managers are in the process of lowering the flows back down to address this issue.
The picture was taken yesterday afternoon from the top of the dam looking downstream - notice the difference in water clarity on river left and river right. Also, you can check current flows by flowing the link to the USGS gaging station site in the sidebar.
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