Normal temperature fluctuations in the Middle Provo are associated with the seasonal ambient temperature and the available water discharged from the Jordanelle. There is only one continuous temperature measurement on this entire section of the river and it is located near the dam outlet. Other temperature data is taken at other locations on a monthly basis. That data shows temperature in the lower section of the river to be approaching 70F during last year. If the western states' drought continues and worsens, the river temperatures will potentially increase to levels that might affect the health of the fishery. This project will provide data to better understand the response of the river to the drought conditions.

The High Country Fly Fishers chapter of Trout Unlimited has begun a conservation program in conjunction with the Center for Advanced Professional Studies at Wasatch High School in Heber City, Utah, to monitor stream temperatures in the Middle Provo River between Jordanelle and Deer Creek reservoirs. The project, in which students collect macroinvertebrate samples and data from in-stream temperature dataloggers will run for 3 years and was initiated in response to concerns about the health of the fishery if the extreme drought conditions experienced in 2021 persist. The project will monitor temperature changes along the river's 12-mile length, tributary temperatures, diurnal temperature oscillations, and temperature differences between sunny and shaded river substrates. An added benefit of these measurements is to determine seasonal changes in temperature progression up the river as it affects insect hatches. The involvement of the high school students offers additional education benefits to future potential young scientists. Supervised data analyses will be conducted by the high school students as an educational project in which measured spatial and temporal temperature variations will be related to the rate and temperature of discharge from the Jordanelle dam and ambient atmospheric temperatures. Additionally, a publicly accessible web page will be developed to introduce fishermen to the Middle Provo, including information on the history of the dam and Middle Provo restoration projects, angling access points, hydrology, fishery, and the macroinvertebrates. The initial funding for this project has been provided by HCFF so the project could be initiated in the Spring of 2022. The funding requested for this project from the Blue Ribbon Program is for the replacement of the HOBO monitors as required. Experience from others indicates a loss of 50% might be anticipated due to theft, failure, or loss due to unplanned large flow fluctuations.

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Wasatch High School, DWR

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