Flooding closes 3 Arizona fish hatcheries to public, causes significant damage to others

The heavy rainfall and flooding across Arizona caused significant damage to fish hatcheries this past weekend, including three that have been closed to the public.

The Tonto Creek Hatchery, which is located northeast of Payson, got the worst of it, with rushing water slamming into its feed room and bunkhouse, and the roads surrounding the hatchery getting washed out.

The Tonto Creek area was hit with more than 2 inches of rain over the weekend, and the creek’s water levels rose 14 feet from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon.

“Tonto Creek Hatchery was hit hard by floodwaters,” Wayne Jones, the Arizona Game and Fish Department statewide hatchery program administrator, said in a news release. “Our team used sand and salt bags to try to manage the rushing waters, but they couldn’t prevent damage to roads and buildings. The hatchery is closed to the public.”

Though the hatchery is closed with significant damage, the raceways holding thousands of fish were not affected, the release said.

The flooding closed two more fish hatcheries and significantly damaged two others. They include:

• Canyon Creek Hatchery: Closed to the public
• Silver Creek Hatchery: Closed to the public
• Bubbling Ponds Hatchery: Oak Creek floodwaters inundated the facility
• Sterling Spring Hatchery: Power is out at the facility

There are six fish hatcheries in Arizona that the AZGFD operates. Those hatcheries produce an average of 400,000 pounds of fish per year, which is about three million fish stocked across 118 locations throughout the state.

Water levels at all hatcheries are being monitored closely, with the coordination of response efforts as conditions change.

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