One of Nampa’s most popular fishing locations, Wilson Springs, will soon be receiving a major makeover. Three of the area’s four fishing ponds will be dredged to improve fish habitat and fishing conditions.
When complete, the two-and-one-half month project will have removed more than 13,000 cubic yards of sediment and increased the depth of Wilson’s North Pond, South Pond and Trophy Pond by more than three feet each.
Anglers will be inconvenienced during the dredging effort which begins November 28th. “We will be monitoring the suspended sediment levels in each of the impacted ponds during the dredging effort,” Fish and Game fisheries manager Joe Kozfkay noted. “If these sediment levels are deemed too extreme, we won’t be stocking rainbow trout.”
During the dredging effort, temporary closure signs will be posted along Wilson’s walking paths and visitors are asked to heed these closures for safety reasons. A portion of the parking area will also be blocked off to accommodate dredging equipment.
Wilson Springs was constructed between 1990 and 1993, and remains one of Idaho’s most visited fishing areas, as evidenced by the 630,000 rainbow trout that have been stocked there since 1991. Sediment deposition began shortly after construction, and sediment levels have now reached chronic levels leading to the dredging effort.
For more information regarding the sediment dredging project at Wilson Springs, please call Fish and Game’s Nampa office at 208-465-8465. Updates will be provided as the project continues.
- IDFG -