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thermally stratified in the summer (220 C surface, 40 bottom). Thus, summer <br />discharges from Hungry Horse Dam essentially dilute the pollutants entering from the <br />urban and argricultural areas in the Kalispell Valley. Moreover, these cold waters and <br />the nutrient load immediately sink to the lake bottom (underflow) upon entry into <br />Flathead Lake. Since the lake is maintained at full pool during the summer for ease of <br />access by boaters, Kerr Dam must discharge water volumes equal -to the inflowing <br />volumes. But, Kerr Dam releases water from the surface layers of the lake, owing to its <br />location below the natural outlet sill. The net effect on the limnology of the lake <br />appears to be 1) a significant reduction in the heat budget, 2) cooler surface <br />temperatures during the plant growing season, 3) stripping of plankton and nutrients <br />from the surface by the Kerr withdrawal current and 4) deposition of a large portion of <br />the summer and fall nutrient load far below the upper portion of the water column that is <br />penetrated by sunlight. Therefore, conditions favorable for sustained algal biomass, <br />especially forms like Anabaena, in the epilimnion of the lake may have been <br />compromised by hydropower operations. <br />Third, food web shifts caused by the collapse of the kokanee fishery may have <br />influenced grazing rates on the algae. Owing to intense predation by Mysis, <br />zooplankton biomass decreased almost an order of magnitude in the peak Mysis years, <br />1987-1988, compared to pre-Mysis measures. During 1988-1990, Mysis numbers <br />decreased from 125 m-2 in 1987 to 30 m-2 in 1989 (Spencer et al. 1991) and 35 m-2 in <br />1990 (Spencer 1991), owing to predation by bottom-oriented fishes (whitefishes <br />(Coregonus spp.), lake trout, and bull charr). Phytoplankton primary production was <br />the highest on record in 1988 and decreased during 1989-1991 in concert with <br />declining Mysis numbers. At the same time, cladoceran zooplankton have recovered <br />during periods of thermal stratification. Apparently, large numbers of Mysis do not <br />penetrate the thermocline and enter the epilimnion during summer. This thermal <br />refugia from Mysis and the lack of kokanee or other surface-dwelling planktivores <br />apparently has allowed Daphnia thorata to increase and the inference is that grazing <br />on phytoplankton has also increased (Stanford et al. 1990). These interpretations are <br />based on preliminary analyses of long-term trends in the various data bases for <br />Flathead Lake. Our main point here is simply to reinforce by example the idea that food <br />web dynamics in lakes can be strongly interactive in response to both bottom-up <br />(nutrient supply) and top-down (Mysis introduction) effects (see also Carpenter 1988). <br />Interactions between dam operations, natural circulation patterns and shoreline <br />erosion in Flathead Lake are also noteworthy. It is exceedingly difficult to move large <br />water masses through Flathead Lake while also maintaining it at full pool elevation. <br />17