All This Wet Weather Yet Columbia River Basin Water Supply Forecast For Salmon Migrating Season Still Below Normal
March 9th, 2023
For the third straight month of forecasts, water supplies in the Columbia River basin are predicted to be far below normal. That could indicate low streamflows this summer, impacting juvenile and adult salmon and steelhead passage.
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Science Panel Gives Thumbs-Up On Fish Response Models Corps Used To Develop Draft Willamette River Basin EIS
March 9th, 2023
A panel of scientists put their stamp of approval on four fish response models the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used when developing a draft environmental impact statement to assess the effects of operating its Willamette Valley System of 13 dams on threatened Chinook salmon and winter steelhead.
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Low Water, Low Flows Force Columbia River Hydro Managers To Drop Bonneville Dam Tailwater Levels Aimed At Protecting ESA-Listed Chum Salmon
March 2nd, 2023
There is so little water available from the upper reaches of the Columbia and Snake rivers that dam operators are dropping the tailwater elevation at Bonneville Dam to 10.2 feet above sea level. That’s a drop of more than 1.5 feet from the minimum tailwater elevation of 11.8 feet required to protect chum salmon nests, or redds, downstream of the dam.
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Concerning Drop In White Sturgeon Abundance Prompts Fisheries Managers To Recommend No Retention Fishing Below Bonneville Dam
February 8th, 2023
Oregon and Washington fishery agencies announced they will not propose commercial or recreational white sturgeon fishing this year downstream of Bonneville Dam due to a projected low abundance of legal-sized fish, according to a joint status report released this week by the states.
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Draft Report Documents 2022 Sea Lion Fish Predation Numbers At Bonneville Dam; Notes Huge Take Of Struggling White Sturgeon
February 8th, 2023
Sea lions continue taking a big bite out of spring fish runs at Bonneville Dam. More than 8 percent of winter steelhead and more than 3 percent of spring Chinook salmon were picked off by Steller and California sea lions that prey on the fish below the dam, according to a draft report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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BPA Urged To Distribute More Excess Revenue To Salmon Recovery, 70 Percent Going To Keep Rates Down, 10 Percent Fish
January 13th, 2023
Bonneville Power Administration will divvy up $500 million of excess revenue from its 2022 fiscal year, giving 70 percent to its customers to keep power rates down, 20 percent to pay down debt or for revenue financing and just 10 percent to its fish and wildlife program, mostly to help pay upkeep for hatcheries and fish screens, not directly for recovery of salmon and steelhead.
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Despite Recent Rains, Snow, Forecasts For Now Show Below Average Water Supply For Columbia River Basin During Spring, Summer
January 13th, 2023
Despite recent rains and a strong mountain snowpack, Columbia River basin January water supply forecasts are painting a dismal picture for stream flows this spring and summer.
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Dredging Of Lower Snake River Channel, Ports, Begins This Month, First Time Since 2015
January 6th, 2023
Dredging will begin in areas of the lower Snake River this month that will solve an issue raised in recent years by federal, state and tribal fisheries managers – how to drop the Lower Granite Dam pool to improve summer conditions for salmon and steelhead that are at risk at the same time the Port of Clarkston needs more depth in the river to unload barges.
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Successful Salmon Reintroduction: Sockeye Salmon Repopulating Okanagan Basin In Big Numbers
December 16th, 2022
By anyone’s measure, sockeye salmon runs have skyrocketed since 1997 in the Okanogan River basin when a transboundary workgroup decided to begin efforts to reintroduce the fish into Okanogan Lake in British Columbia, according to tribal biologists speaking at this week’s Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting.