For example, conservationists want to see the steelhead fishery restored to their historical habitats, the places in the upper basin that were previously inaccessible because of the dam. The return of these two species is important for many different reasons.
Numbers have increased over the years and right now, there are 111 adult spring Chinook upstream of the dams. The facility has been successful in reestablishing fish passage at Round Butte Dam and starting in 2012, returning adult salmon and steelhead have been documented. In 2009, Portland General Electric (PGE) and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (Tribes), co-owners of the Round Butte Dam, installed an underwater town and fish collection station as a part of their federal relicensing agreement (FERC). This fish barrier interrupted the natural ecosystem of the river and seriously impacted salmon and steelhead populations above the dam. The original fish passage built into the dam failed to allow returning salmon and steelhead to migrate past the dam and into the upper basin. When the Round Butte Dam was built in the 1960’s, this is exactly what happened. Take one part of this journey out and the stops the cycle altogether. These migrating fish are hatched in freshwater streams, live most of their adult life in the ocean, then return to their home stream to spawn and the cycle continues. This article was published on: 07/12/21 4:45 PM How the Deschutes Basin Came Together to Bring Back Migrating Fishīy Tai’Anne Smith, Deschutes River ConservancyĪfter 45 years, salmon and steelhead have finally returned to the Deschutes Basin.
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