Whats up at Bonneville dam?

[AnglersRental]

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/07082156.jpg

Was up at Bonneville dam today, just drove up for a looksee during lunch, didn't fish. but I did notice that they are doing a bunch of building on the Island between the Washington powerhouse and the spillway in the middle of the dam. Waht are they building? sort of looked like a new fish ladder type thing?

Also noticed that the Oregon side fish ladder was dry... no water whatsoever?

There was no water flowing thru the Washington powerhouse or the spillway. The Washington side of the river above the end of Bradford Island was a lake. No current at all. Zero.

There were a few guys fishing the blcktop at the deadline, no fish, no bites reported. There were five people at tanner creek - 2 sturgon fishing, 3 springer fishing, no fish, no bites all day they told me.

The water below the dam was at summertime low levels. Just about as low as I have ever seen it. No water at all in the side channel below the Oak tree hole. Not like last year at all.

UG

[Smj]

UG, The fish ladder on the OR. side was dry when we went up for a visit on 2/18.
Nobody was fishing the black top at the deadline and there wasn't any water being released there either. All the crane barges were there also.
Go figure.

???
Smj

[dawhunt]

I believe there building a new fish by-pass that may be the reason their holding water back.Then again they could be holding it back because of no snow and their saveing water for power ?? :shrug:
Bob :whazzup:

[Unskunked]

The project at Bonneville is called the B2 (Bonn 2nd Powerhouse) Corner Collector. It uses the ice and trash sluiceway of the 2nd PH as a means of collecting near surface juveniles and moving them downstream via an open channel. The channel will carry up to 5000 cubic feet per second, so this is a high velocity bypass. As a comparison, the Clackamas River usually flows at less than 5000cfs.

(Edit) The period from about Dec 1 thru the end of Feb is the "in water work period" at Bonneville. This time frame was selected as the period when there are no (or at least the fewest) fish migrating either upstream or down. Maintenance on the fish ladders is probably being accomplished. Lower flows are being maintained to facilitate the construction of the corner collector, but most of the flow is probably being held back to conserve water due to the low snow pack and moderate power demand at this time of year.

[ 02-27-2003, 10:05 AM: Message edited by: Unskunked ]

[Hawgwash]

Great info Unskunked. How do you know that? I looked for a statement on the web. Thanks!

[Unskunked]

Hawgwash - I work for the Corps.

[AnglersRental]

Hey Hogwash, thanks for the information. is similar stuff going on on the other dams? Any plans to put fish passage in at Grand Coulee or the other impassable ones?

UG

[Unskunked]

UG - No plans at Grand Coulee - it's just too high. Some of the Willamette dams may get some form of fish passage in the future.

[fishbait]

I understand that this work will significantly adversly affect :dance: the biting posture of springers in the first few miles below the dam this year, making any trips up there just a waste of time. Looks like we will all just have to fisher down stream somewhere..... :dance: