John Johnson Photo/Gila Herald: Clough Pond #3 is scheduled to begin backfilling on Friday. This process takes about 3 months.

Sportfishing could resume by late summer

by John Johnson

jonjohnsonnews@gmail.com

Clough Pond – After more than two years of renovation work, Clough Pond #3 is scheduled to begin filling in on Friday, April 28th. The process is expected to take about three months to complete, according to Clough Ranch Wildlife Area Manager Matt Pelt. He said work would begin on Friday to begin flushing the pond.

During replenishment, the pond will be replenished with sportfish as quickly as water quality permits. The Arizona Department of Game and Fish plans to reopen the pond to the public later this summer or early fall.

In addition to being the fishing and recreational hub of the area, Pond 3 is also the primary reservoir that supplies water to Pond 1 and the rest of the area’s wildlife wetland areas and ponds.

However, several years passed, and the valve that drained the water from Pond No. 3 stopped working. This, combined with the loss of water from Ash Creek, the source of Pond 3, caused the pond to dry up.

Recent History of Clough Pond #3

Arizona Game & Fish has been active in the area since summer 2017 fly fires burned the Ash Creek drainage and subsequent flooding damaged the water system. A temporary diversion of Ash Creek downstream of the creek was used while the drainage was rehabilitated over the next few years, but with less water than before.

Then, the drought of 2020 stopped the flow of Ash Creek, and the water level in Pond 3 was very low. At that point the decision was made to drain the pond and replace the valve, Pelt said. Unfortunately, when the drain began, workers found enough sediment to build up to fill the valve. Dredging was proposed as a solution, which required an additional environmental assessment.

Game & Fish said the dredging work will be completed in the spring of 2022 and additional soil structures have been created to improve the aquatic habitat. In addition, a large dirt pad was created to the northwest of the pond to serve as a future campsite.

The replacement valve arrived in July 2022, but was found to be missing parts that had to be custom-made, and took another 20 weeks to build and arrive.

While waiting for the valve to open, workers installed a new aquatic habitat structure in the pond, completing a major cleanup. In addition, the 760-foot pipeline that brings water from Ash Creek to Pond #3 was replaced, a temporary diversion was rebuilt, and Pond #3’s water distribution system was restored to function.