River Changing - Chistochina Low and Slow

Observation: The Chistchina River is running clear much earlier then it once did. Usually it is silty in the spring and by October it is finally clear. Now the water is running clear starting in mid September. This is because the waters are low and running slow, allowing the sediments to settle out. Glaciers near the headwaters of the river near Paxon area have been reduced to a fraction of their size in the 1990's. The Chistochina River does not maintain the volume it used to when it was fed by adequate glacier and snow melt. It is now shallow and warmer - a large creek rather then a river. River changes like this tend to cause the lose of good fish wheel locations. To maintain a good fish wheel site, you need to have a good volume of fast water. Lose that and your fish wheel is no longer effective.