You may have noticed in your copy of the Oregonian today - at least in Metro south - that PGE plans on revamping the fish ladder at River Mill Dam on the Clackamas. ODFW has been working very closely with PGE to improve fish passage for some time now. The interest may be due in no small part to the fact that PGE project engineer John Esler also holds another title unmentioned in the newspaper article: ODFW Commission Chair.
Now, I certainly am no hydroelectrical engineer, nor a fisheries biologist, but the inclusion of a Commission member (the head Commissioner no less) who plays a major role with the regulator and the permitee, disturbs me. Granted, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the one issuing the permit, but my biggest concern, taken from what little I do know of this situation, is that ODFW staff may be reticent to advise more strenuous fish passage efforts from PGE if it costs their boss's boss too much.
I was hoping that one here on ifish, who perhaps knows more about the situation than yours truly, might be able to shed some light on what, at face value, appears to me to be a fishy situation.
A link to the article can be found
here or just below
PGE plans to ease fish passage
Improvements at hydroelectric dams on the Clackamas River would make it easier for salmon and steelhead to migrate
01/14/04
JIM KADERA
ESTACADA -- Portland General Electric plans to spend up to $9 million to improve salmon and You may have noticed in your copy of the Oregonian today - at least in Metro south - that PGE plans on revamping the fish ladder at River Mill Dam on the Clackamas. ODFW has been working very closely with PGE to improve fish passage for some time now. The interest may be due in no small part to the fact that PGE project engineer John Esler also holds another title: ODFW Commisson Chair.
Now, I certinally am no hydroelectrical engineer, nor a fisheries biologist, but the inlcusion of a Commission member (the head Commissioner no less) who plays a major role with the permitee and permiter, disturbs me. My biggest concern, taken from what little I do know of this situation, is that ODFW staff may be relicient to advise more strenouous fish passage efforts from PGE if it costs their boss's boss too much.winter steelhead trout passage at hydroelectric dams on the upper Clackamas River.
It will be the first large-scale upgrade of fish ladders and other systems to help fish pass the massive barriers since the four PGE dams were constructed between 1907 and 1958.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has asked for written public comments by Jan. 31 on a permit that would allow PGE to build a new fish ladder and improve the fishway at River Mill Dam near Estacada. River Mill, built in 1911, is the first dam adult fish confront as they swim upstream to spawn.
"We've been working on this with PGE for quite a while," said John Zauner, a hydropower coordinator with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in Clackamas. "The new fish ladder will improve fish passage tremendously."
John Esler, PGE project engineer, said the dam is not meeting passage requirements set by fish agencies. "The fish ladder at River Mill is almost vertical," he said.
The ladder was modified in 1973 and again after that but is still inadequate, Zauner said. The new ladder will have a more gradual slope to ease migrants upstream. It will also have a better flow of water to attract fish to take that route around the dam. Now, some fish delay before passing or try to spawn downstream, Zauner said.
"The spillway will be reconfigured so when (downstream migrating juvenile) fish come out, they will have a smoother ride down to the streambed," Esler said.
The new design will keep smolts from sometimes being plunged against river rocks.
The River Mill work will be a result of the Federal Energy Regulation Commission amending the license for PGE's Clackamas Basin dams last June. The utility filed for an amended license in 2001.
Esler said additional improvements at two or three dams upstream of River Mill will be proposed when the utility files in August with the energy commission to relicense the dams.
A 30-year license covering the River Mill, Faraday, North Fork and Oak Grove dams expires in August 2006.
The North Fork dam and reservoir have another problem to overcome. Because water is drawn from the reservoir bottom to propel the dam turbine generators, there isn't enough current near the top of the reservoir to push smolts downstream. One of the options being studied is to draw water from the upper zone used by the young fish, Esler said.
The improvements at all of the dams will cost an estimated $8 million to $9 million, he said. The River Mill work will be completed in 2005. Some of the other improvements will begin soon after relicensing is completed in 2006, but there is no schedule, Esler said.
With hydropower licenses commonly extending for 30 to 50 years, state and federal fish agencies often look at the relicensing period as an opportunity to push for environmental gains. PGE a few years ago began studying how to strengthen fish passage on the Clackamas.
"We realize the public and fish agencies wanted these improvements, so we decided that rather than fight, we would get started early with the engineering before we were up for relicensing," Esler said.
PGE needs to show it will make improvements because spring chinook and winter steelhead are on the federal list of threatened species. Wild coho are listed as endangered by the state and are a candidate for federal listing.
A copy of the public notice showing the River Mill work in detail can be obtained by calling the corps in Portland at 503-808-4385.
Conflict of Interests?
...I just don't see anything to be "disturbed" about.
freespool
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