Returning Salmon to the Upper Columbia

Returning Salmon to the Upper Columbia Sheri Sears Colville Confederated Tribes Map of Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) Chronology of Dam Construction and the loss of Fish Passage ● Rock Island – 1933 with fish passage ● Grand Coulee – 1942 without fish passage ● Brilliant – 1944 without fish passage ● Waneta – 1954 without fish passage ● Chief Joseph – 1955 without fish passage ● Under Columbia River Treaty – 1964 ● Hugh Keenleyside – 1968 without fish passage ● Mica – 1973 without fish passage The Loss of Salmon The Loss of Culture, Religion, Health, and Identity Adverse Results ● Lost over 1,100 miles of primary stream habitat for salmon, steelhead and resident species ~ 45% of historic habitat. ! ● Lost important nursery lakes (i.e. Arrow, Slocan) ! ● Lost annual aboriginal harvest of about 3 million salmon and steelhead. ! ● Lost cultural connection to salmon ! ● Previously active fishing sites eliminated: ● Celilo Falls; Kettle Falls; Spokane Falls Eco-System Impacts of Dams ● Altered the seasonal flow of the river ● By 1980, the summer proportion of flow was about 50 percent or the original flow ● Eliminating the seasonal pattern and normal hydrograph ● Altered the landscape and ecosystem of the river ● Blocked fish passage above Chief Joseph Dam ● Slack water pools between each dam ● increased migration time from weeks to months ● elevated water temperatures ● Both leading to increased mortality in fish Fish Passage at Lower Dams ● Many of the lower dams have problems with ladders and juvenile fish passageways ● Ladders used to pass adults some very lethal ● Juvenile passed through turbines in early years ● 1969 COE developed bypass systems and installed them on all dams except at the Dalles ● PH2 at Bonneville caused high mortality in the 1990 ● In early 2000’s a single day descaling rate exceeded 257K ● Juvenile fish collectors installed in 2003. Mortality and descaling rates have decreased after additional work on the bypass structures ● Although recorded as injured these fish are not listed in mortality rates Power and Flow Facts ● By volume, the Columbia is the fourth-largest river in the United States; it has the greatest flow of any North American river draining into the Pacific ● The 14 hydroelectric dams on the Columbia's main stem (11 in US and 3 in Canada) and many more on its tributaries produce more hydroelectric power than those of any other North American river ● The river system as a whole has more than 400 dams for hydroelectricity and irrigation with Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph generating the most power - about 40% of the west coasts power ● Highest recorded flow, measured at The Dalles, was 1,240,000 cubic feet per second in June 1894, before the river was dammed ● Flows now average about 265,000 cubic feet per second Agricultural Dams ● Many farmers in central Washington have built dams on their property for irrigation and to control frost on their crops. ● The Washington Department of Ecology, using new techniques involving aerial photographs, estimated there may be as many as a hundred such dams in the area, most of which are illegal. ● Fourteen farms in the area have gone through the permitting process to build such dams legally. ● Six such dams have failed in recent years, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to crops and public roads and increasing sediment delivery. Salmon that Once Migrated through the area ● Sockeye Salmon Most abundant species in the Upper Columbia • - into Upper Arrow Lakes and Slocan Lakes in Canada ! ! ● Coho Salmon ● Spawned in lower 50 miles of Spokane River ● All 75 miles of the Sanpoil River ● Lower 4-5 miles of Hall Creek ● Chinook Salmon ● Lower 50 miles of Spokane River ● All 75 miles of Sanpoil River ● Lower 4 miles of Colville River ● Kettle River into Canada ● Pend Oreille River below Metaline Falls and Lower 50 miles of the Kootenai River Salmon that Once Migrated through the area ● Steelhead ● Lower 50 miles of the Spokane River ● All 75 miles of the Sanpoil River ● Lower 4 miles of the Colville River ● Kettle River into Canada ● Pend Oreille River below Metaling Falls ● Lower 50 miles of the Kootenai River ● Sturgeon, redband rainbow trout, bull trout and multiple resident, species Total Run of Salmon and Steelhead at Kettle Falls Fishery ● Minimum catch at the Falls has been estimated at 90,000 to 120,000 fish annually ● Estimated total annual run above Grand Coulee ranges from 980,000 to 1.6 million ● NPCC in 1986 estimated the % of salmon species originating from above Chief Joseph Dam Metric Spring Summer Fall Coho Sockeye Steelhead Chinook Chinook Chinook % Basin 14.7 16.6 14 17.3 64.7 10.5 Total # 213 592 276 232 1,761 101 Adults Lake Roosevelt Chief Joseph Dam Built in 1955 236’ high 51 mile long reservoir 2,260 Mw capacity Issues in Blocked Areas Above Chief Joseph Dam Lake Rufus Woods ● Lake Rufus Woods ● Run of the River regulating 51 mile reservoir ● Short retention time ● Very little tributary habitat ● Study done in early 2000’s on available main stem Spawning habitat ● Coyote Creek ● Nespelem River ● Peter Dan Creek ● Intermittent streams Lake Rufus Woods Grand Coulee Dam Built in 1942 550’ high 151 mile reservoir 6,809 Mw capacity Concerns in Lake Roosevelt ● Water retention time - about 45 days ● Nutrients ● Carcasses – main source of nutrients ● Iodine and imprinting- Over 70 years of depletion ● Predation – Walleye, small mouth bass ● Sanpoil River predator removal ● Contamination - Early removal actions ● Man-made barriers ● Diversion of flow ● Nutrient /food loss .

Load more