What 3 million kokanee salmon tell us about Colorado’s drought
On a cold April evening, a few dozen people gathered inside the humid Roaring Judy Fish Hatchery north of Gunnison. Adults and kids hovered over the sides of 22 concrete tanks filled to the brim with millions of kokanee salmon fry — 3.1 million to be exact…. For years, the Gunnison hatchery has led the state in the annual harvest of kokanee eggs. But drought and obligation to demands downstream in the Colorado River Basin are drawing down water levels and robbing the kokanee of their habitat.