The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a temperature control tower (left) in 2005 at Cougar Dam, in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, which necessitated a drawdown of the reservoir. Corps plans to create downstream fish passage at the dam could affect reservoir levels during construction and installation. However, the Corps’ goal is to minimize impacts to stakeholders throughout the region. (Photo by Tom Conning)
Editor’s note: This article is the final part of a series discussing various Corps actions in Oregon’s Willamette Valley to address Endangered Species Act-listed fish.
Current affairs
PORTLAND, Ore. — Compared to his comedic-adventures in the Disney/Pixar movie “Finding Nemo,” Marlin, Nemo’s dad, would have a stroke at the thought of a salmon’s journey from egg to ocean. From the beginning, the young salmon (called fry or fingerlings) and the movie’s famed clown fish have coral-ated fates because both deal with turbulent waters.
Salmon face predation and flooding inundates eggs with too much water, whereas drought leaves them dry. Human irrigation practices can dewater habitats, pollute or return water that is...
09.04.2018 | PORTLAND, OR, US |
Story by Tom Conning
Salmon face predation and flooding inundates eggs with too much water, whereas drought leaves them dry. Human irrigation practices can dewater habitats, pollute or return water that is too warm into those environments. Likewise, harsh currents can wash fry away or leave them stranded when water levels recede, and the threats from birds and other fish never cease.
For several months, Jeff Ament has been watching tension simmer along the banks of the North Santiam River, as it churns and empties its frustrations into the Willamette River as residents voice a mix of anxieties about a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ project at Detroit Dam.
The proposed project, a temperature control tower and fish collection facility, will provide temperature regulation and fish passage through the dam for endangered...
An upcoming Corps construction project at Detroit Lake, Oregon has been generating buzz around the region because of its potential impacts on thousands of Willamette Valley residents.
This project, like many U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fish-related projects in the valley, is part of a broader effort to reduce the effects of Corps-operated dams on winter steelhead and spring Chinook salmon. Both species are listed under the Endangered...
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invites volunteers to roll up their sleeves and devote Sept. 24 to planting trees and shrubs and improving parks at Cottage Grove Reservoir, near Cottage Grove, Oregon. The event supports National Public Lands Day--the nation’s largest annual, single-day volunteer restoration effort for America’s public lands.
