FISHERIES -- While most anglers are thinking of the spring chinook heading upstream in the Columbia and Snake Rivers, water managers are thinking of young salmon that need a boost get get downstream through reservoirs to the ocean.
To help young fish pass the dams safely, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun spilling more water at the four lower Snake River and four lower Columbia River dams to facilitate the timely and safe passage of juvenile salmon and steelhead.
The federally required spill began at the lower Snake River dams April 3 and will pick up at the lower Columbia River dams starting April 10.
Juvenile fish survival past dams has increased as a result of dam modifications, such as surface passage, juvenile bypass systems, turbine improvements and more effective and efficient spill operations, said Rock Peters, senior program manager for the Corps’ Northwestern Division.
Nature isn't cooperating so much in the best interest of salmon and steelhead this year.
The most recent water supply forecast issued by the Northwest River Forecast Center for the Columbia River Basin (Apr–Aug) is 84 percent of normal as measured at The Dalles Dam and 70 percent of normal for the Snake River Basin, (Apr–Jul), as measured at Lower Granite Dam.
- See information on the federal salmon and steelhead recovery efforts in the region
