Dropping Reservoir Prompts Fishy Relocation

A two-year drought and the region's relentless demand for fresh water will mean a boon for anglers as tons of game fish have been evicted from a shrinking reservoir and put in nearby ponds.

For three years, bass, panfish and channel cats in the region's 15-billion gallon reservoir in southeast Hillsborough County have happily been doing what fish do - mainly making more fish.

But the reservoir will likely be all but empty by the end of this month, leaving little room for the finny denizens and creating the potential for a massive mess of dead fish.

And there were a lot of fish, said Chuck Carden, operations director for Tampa Bay Water, the regional utility that owns the reservoir.

"It was a very productive fishery. It was thriving," he said.

Starting in late January, a contractor hired by the utility spent 15 days capturing boatloads of fish, mainly using cast nets.

The fish were separated by species and put into tanks. Some went to seven ponds on reservoir property; others went to the nearby Alafia River State Park, much to the delight of anglers.

"They were happy to see us," Carden said.

There were plenty of fish to go around.

The contractor netted 19,587 pounds of largemouth bass and 9,936 pounds of channel catfish. There also were 89 pounds of bluegill.

Some of those bass were in the lunker class.

"I saw some that were 8 or 9 pounds. Beautiful," Carden said.

The water supply in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco also benefitted from the fish eviction. Tampa Bay Water provides wholesale water to public utilities in those three counties as well as Tampa, St. Petersburg and New Port Richey.

Removing most of the fish will allow Tampa Bay Water to lower the reservoir five feet, translating into 450 million more gallons going to residents' faucets.

If all the fish were still there, the utility would have been forced to leave 10 feet of water in the reservoir to avoid tons of dead fish. With the fish gone, the reservoir can be dropped to five feet.

Tampa Bay Water paid the contractor $88,000.

"We thought it was a good investment," Carden said.

The reservoir is filled during the summer rainy season with water pumped from the Hillsborough and Alafia rivers as well as the Tampa Bypass Canal. Fish eggs and small hatchlings come along with that water.

In the reservoir they found friendly conditions - few predators, no fishing and, until this year, plenty of water.

The lack of rainfall, plus cracks in the sides of the reservoir, forced Tampa Bay Water to start the dry season with the reservoir only partly full. This is the first time water in the reservoir did not last until rains in June ease demand.

Biologists believe enough fish have been removed for the remaining ones to survive, although scientists will keep an eye on oxygen levels in the water and the temperature. If the oxygen drops too low or the temperature gets too high, more fish will have to go.

"The contractor can be back at a moment's notice," Carden said.