Fish Populations, Following a Drought, in the Neosho and Marais Des Cygnes Rivers of Kansas

Volume 13, No. 9, Pp. 359-427, Pls. 26-30, 3 Figs.

August 11, 1961

Fish Populations, Following a Drought, In the Neosho and Marais des Cygnes Rivers of Kansas

JAMES EVERETT DEACON

(Joint Contribution from the State Biological Survey and the Forestry, Fish, and Game Commission)

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE 1961

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch, Robert W. Wilson

Volume 13, No. 9, Pp. 359-427, Pls. 26-30, 3 Figs.

Published August 11, 1961

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas

PRINTED IN THE STATE PRINTING PLANT TOPEKA, KANSAS 1961

28-7576

Fish Populations, Following a Drought, In the Neosho and Marais des Cygnes Rivers of Kansas

JAMES EVERETT DEACON

CONTENTS

PAGE INTRODUCTION 363

DESCRIPTION OF NEOSHO RIVER 366

DESCRIPTION OF MARAIS DES CYGNES RIVER 367

METHODS 368 Electrical Fishing Gear 368 Seines 369 Gill Nets 370 Sodium Cyanide 370 Rotenone 370 Dyes 370 Determination of Abundance 371 Names of Fishes 371

ANNOTATED LIST OF SPECIES 371

FISH-FAUNA OF THE UPPER NEOSHO RIVER 405 Description of Study-areas 405 Methods 406 Changes in the Fauna at the Upper Neosho Station, 1957 through 1959 407 Local Variability of the Fauna in Different Areas at the Upper Neosho Station, 1959 409 Temporal Variability of Fauna in the Same Areas 411 Population-Estimation 412 Movement of Marked Fish 416 Similarity of the Fauna at the Upper Neosho Station to the Faunas of Nearby Streams 418

COMPARISON OF THE FISH-FAUNAS OF THE NEOSHO AND MARAIS DES CYGNES RIVERS 419

FAUNAL CHANGES, 1957 THROUGH 1959 420

CONCLUSIONS 423

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 425

LITERATURE CITED 425

TABLES

PAGE 1. Stream-flow in Cubic Feet per Second (C. F. S.), Neosho River near Council Grove, Kansas 364

2. Stream-flow in Cubic Feet per Second, Neosho River near Parsons, Kansas 364

3. Stream-flow in Cubic Feet per Second, Marais des Cygnes River near Ottawa, Kansas 364

4. Stream-flow in Cubic Feet per Second, Marais des Cygnes River at Trading Post, Kansas 365

5. Numbers and sizes of long-nosed gar 372

6. Numbers and sizes of short-nosed gar 374

7. Length-frequency of channel catfish from the Neosho River 388

8. Length-frequency of freshwater drum 402

9. Average number of individuals captured per hour 402

10. Numbers of fish seen or captured per hour 403

11. Numbers of occurrences and numbers counted 404

12. Percentage composition of the fish fauna at the Upper Neosho station in 1957, 1958 and 1959, as computed from results of rotenone collections 408

13. Relative abundance of fish 410

14. Changes in numbers of individuals 411

15. Data used in making direct proportion population-estimations 414

16. Data on movement of marked fish 416

INTRODUCTION

This report concerns the ability of fish-populations in the Neosho and Marais des Cygnes rivers in Kansas to readjust to continuous stream-flow following intermittent conditions resulting from the severest drought in the history of the State.

The variable weather in Kansas (and in other areas of the Great Plains) markedly affects its flora and fauna. Weaver and Albertson (1936) reported as much as 91 per cent loss in the basal prairie vegetative cover in Kansas near the close of the drought of the 1930's. The average annual cost (in 1951 prices) of floods in Kansas from 1926 to 1953 was $35,000,000. In the same period the average annual loss from the droughts of the 1930's and 1950's was $75,000,000 (in 1951 prices), excluding losses from wind- and soil-erosion. Thus, over a period of 28 years, the average annual flood-losses were less than one-half the average annual drought-losses (Foley, Smrha, and Metzler, 1955:9; Anonymous, 1958:15).

Weather conditions in Kansas from 1951 to 1957 were especially noteworthy: 1951 produced a bumper crop of climatological events significant to the economy of the State. Notable among these were: Wettest year since beginning of the state-wide weather records in 1887; highest river stages since settlement of the State on the Kansas River and on most of its tributaries, as well as on the Marais des Cygnes and on the Neosho and Cottonwood. The upper Arkansas and a number of smaller streams in western Kansas also experienced unprecedented flooding (Garrett, 1951:147). This period of damaging floods was immediately followed by the driest five-year period on record, culminating in the driest year in 1956 (Garrett, 1958:56). Water shortage became serious for many communities. The Neosho River usually furnishes adequate quantities of water for present demands, but in some years of drought all flow ceases for several consecutive months. In 1956-'57, the city of Chanute, on an emergency basis, recirculated treated sewage for potable supply (Metzler et al., 1958). The water shortage in many communities along the Neosho River became so serious that a joint project to pump water from the Smoky Hill River into the upper Neosho was considered, and preliminary investigations were made. If the drought had continued through 1957, this program might have been vigorously promoted. Data on stream-flow in the Neosho and Marais des Cygnes (1951-'59) are presented in Tables 1-4.

These severe conditions provided a unique opportunity to gain insight into the ability of several species of fish to adjust to marked changes in their environment. For this reason, and because of a paucity of information concerning stream-fish populations in Kansas, the study here reported on was undertaken.

TABLE 1. STREAM-FLOW IN CUBIC FEET PER SECOND, NEOSHO RIVER NEAR COUNCIL GROVE, KANSAS. DRAINAGE AREA: 250 SQUARE MILES.

========================================================= WATER-YEAR | Average flow | Maximum | Minimum | ---------------+--------------+------------+------------+ 1951 | 498.0 | 121,000 | 3.0 | 1952 | 82.1 | 4,850 | .7 | 1953 | 5.37 | 202 | .1 | 1954 | 8.53 | 2,720 | .1 | 1955 | 31.2 | 6,480 | 0 | 1956 | 10.1 | 5,250 | 0 | 1957 | 68.5 | 12,300 | 0 | 1958 | 131.0 | 5,360 | .8 | 1959 | 114.0 | 7,250 | 8.5 | ---------------+--------------+------------+------------+

TABLE 2. STREAM-FLOW IN CUBIC FEET PER SECOND, NEOSHO RIVER NEAR PARSONS, KANSAS. DRAINAGE AREA: 4905 SQUARE MILES.

========================================================= WATER-YEAR | Average flow | Maximum | Minimum | ---------------+--------------+------------+------------+ 1951 | 8,290 | 410,000 | 124.0 | 1952 | 2,021 | 20,500 | 20.0 | 1953 | 173 | 4,110 | .3 | 1954 | 430 | 27,900 | .1 | 1955 | 645 | 18,600 | 0 | 1956 | 180 | 6,170 | 0 | 1957 | 1,774 | 25,000 | 0 | 1958 | 3,092 | 27,200 | 78.0 | 1959 | 1,609 | 22,600 | 139.0 | ---------------+--------------+------------+------------+

TABLE 3. STREAM-FLOW IN CUBIC FEET PER SECOND, MARAIS DES CYGNES RIVER NEAR OTTAWA, KANSAS. DRAINAGE AREA: 1,250 SQUARE MILES.

========================================================= WATER-YEAR | Average flow | Maximum | Minimum | ---------------+--------------+------------+------------+ 1951 | 2,113 | 142,000 | 25.0 | 1952 | 542 | 12,000 | .2 | 1953 | 36.5 | 2,690 | .2 | 1954 | 73.6 | 5,660 | .5 | 1955 | 75.7 | 5,240 | .7 | 1956 | 26 | 1,590 | .7 | 1957 | 442 | 11,200 | .7 | 1958 | 775 | 9,130 | 5.6 | ---------------+--------------+------------+------------+

TABLE 4. STREAM-FLOW IN CUBIC FEET PER SECOND, MARAIS DES CYGNES RIVER AT TRADING POST, KANSAS. DRAINAGE AREA: 2,880 SQUARE MILES.

========================================================= WATER-YEAR | Average flow | Maximum | Minimum | ---------------+--------------+------------+------------+ 1951 | 5,489 | 148,000 | 36.0 | 1952 | 1,750 | 20,400 | 3.0 | 1953 | 261 | 7,590 | 0 | 1954 | 334 | 12,500 | 0 | 1955 | 786 | 16,100 | .2 | 1956 | 202 | 10,000 | 0 | 1957 | 871 | 14,700 | 0 | 1958 | 2,453 | 20,400 | 120.0 | 1959 | 750 | 10,900 | 3.4 | ---------------+--------------+------------+------------+

(Oct. 1-Sept. 30, inclusive)

(Oct. 1-Sept. 30, inclusive)

The gaging station was moved a short distance downstream to the Kansas-Missouri state line.

DESCRIPTION OF NEOSHO RIVER

The Neosho River, a tributary of Arkansas River, rises in the Flint Hills of Morris and southwestern Wabaunsee counties and flows southeast for 281 miles in Kansas, leaving the state in the extreme southeast corner (Fig. 1). With its tributaries (including Cottonwood and Spring rivers) the Neosho drains 6,285 square miles in Kansas and enters the Arkansas River near Muskogee, Oklahoma (Schoewe, 1951:299). Upstream from its confluence with Cottonwood River, the Neosho River has an average gradient of 15 feet per mile. The gradient lessens rapidly below the mouth of the Cottonwood, averaging 1.35 feet per mile downstream to the State line (Anonymous, 1947:12). The banks of the meandering, well-defined channel vary from 15 to 50 feet in height and support a deciduous fringe-forest. The spelling of the name originally was "Neozho," an Osage Indian word signifying "clear water" (Mead, 1903:216).

Neosho River, Upper Station.--Two miles north and two miles west of Council Grove, Morris County, Kansas (Sec. 32 and 33, T. 15 S., R. 8 E.) (Pl. 28, Fig. 2, and Pl. 29, Fig. 1). Width 20 to 40 feet, depth to six feet, length of study-area one-half mile (one large pool plus many small pools connected by riffles), bottom of mud, gravel, and rubble. Muddy banks 20 to 30 feet high.

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