OLYMPIA, Wash.- The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will use drones to monitor the effects of low water levels on bull trout in Yakima and Kittitas Counties starting August 1.
According to the WDFW water levels drop during the hot summer months, creating barriers to fish passage. The drone flights will alert biologists when fish rescue efforts are necessary.
Each drone flight will last between two and four hours and will follow tributary streams to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs in the Yakima and Naches river basins.
The WDFW has not set dates for the flights, but they will be conducted according to water level, weather, and site-specific conditions between August 1 and the end of November.
