Roaring River hatchery gets upgrades

CASSVILLE, Mo. — The installation of new technology at the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Roaring River Hatchery will help one of Missouri’s oldest trout parks remain a destination for family fishing, state officials said.

Work began Friday on a $1.9 million renovation project at the hatchery near Cassville, Mo. The project involves replacing existing flood control structures with electric, corrosion-proof, stainless-steel gates. The flood control structure at Roaring River Spring will also be replaced and a leak-proof pipeline will replace an existing line that brings cold water to the hatchery.

All water-control valves within the spring pool will be replaced with stainless steel. Water will be drained from the hatchery, which will allow for other maintenance updates.

The highlight of this refurbishing project will be a self-cleaning screen that will automatically clean debris from the water before it reaches the hatchery.

“Corrosion is a big enemy of many of the components used to divert water throughout fish pools at a hatchery,” said Paul Spurgeon, hatchery manager. “Aging aluminum gates at the hatchery were close to the end of their life due to corrosion. Failure of any of the flood-control measures could be catastrophic to the hatchery during a large flood event. Stainless-steel structures will ensure many more years of safe successful hatchery operations.”

The project is scheduled to run from late September through the spring of 2019. The hatchery will be shut down and dried up during construction. Existing fish will be moved to department hatcheries at Shepherd of the Hills, Montauk State Park and Bennett Spring State Park during this period. Trout will start being brought back in March.

Anglers will not see any changes to existing seasons. Fish will still be stocked daily during the remainder of the regular season and the winter catch-and-release season will not be affected.

Up to 500,000 trout are raised from eggs to fingerlings at the hatchery annually, and it stocks 260,000 12.5-inch rainbow trout at Roaring River each season. About 110,000 anglers fish at Roaring River each year.