[Sound of water pouring out of dam.]
Narrator: You can’t see them, but inside this rushing column of Columbia River water
are young salmon and steelhead, migrating downstream to the ocean.
[Sound of rushing water.]
On their journey to the sea, the tiny fish, or smolts, encounter many dangers, but recent
studies show when juvenile fish travel through hydroelectric facilities, such as John Day
Dam, passage improvements made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation
and BPA [Bonneville Power Administration] are helping to increase fish survival.
Ritchie Graves, Supervisory Fisheries Biologist, NOOA, National Marine Fisheries Service: I
don’t think anybody questions that the river is now a much safer place for juvenile salmon
and steelhead than it was 10, 20, 30 years ago.
Narrator: Ritchie Graves, a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
or NOAA, works with several federal agencies to ensure dams on the lower Columbia and Snake
Rivers are safe for salmon and steelhead passage.
[Sound of someone tossing the Biological Opinion document on a table and turning pages.]
Narrator: To make fish passage safe and effective, NOAA scientists have issued what’s known
as a biological opinion.
The so called Bi-Op, sets performance standard requirements for the Federal Columbia River
Power System.
The performance standards specify that 93 to 96 percent of juvenile salmon and steelhead,
depending on the species, must survive as they migrate through eight federal dams on
the lower Columbia and Snake rivers.
In 2012, juvenile fish passage studies conducted at six of those eight dams met or exceeded
Bi-Op performance standards.
[Sound of testing lab at John Day Dam.]
To understand and document how well young salmon and steelhead pass through dams, scientists
perform studies such as this one taking place at John Day Dam in the summer of 2012.
Using a limited number of smolts, scientists working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
put tiny fish to sleep.
Scientist: This is an acoustic transmitter.
This is a pit tag, a passive tag.
Narrator: Then insert small electronic devices under their skin.
Brad Eppard, Fish Biologist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: This is displaying the fish,
the tagged fish that are detected upstream of the dam.
Narrator: The researchers use such devices to track fish as they move down stream toward
the ocean.
The scientific information gathered has proved extremely valuable.
Brad Eppard, Fish Biologist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: We use that information, that
detection information, to estimate survival for fish.
We know exactly when and where the fish pass the dam.
Narrator: Brad Eppard, a fishery biologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, coordinated
the research at John Day Dam.
Brad Eppard: So with that information we can estimate their survival and show that we are
meeting the performance standards.
Jason Sweet, Supervisory Fishery Biologist, Bonneville Power Administration: We spend
a lot of effort for both improving operations at the dams and structural modifications at
the dams to improve salmon survival.
Narrator: Jason Sweet, a fishery biologist with the Bonneville Power Administration,
says to help juvenile salmon and steelhead successfully pass through dams, scientists
first had to understand that most of the young fish travel in the top 30 feet of rivers.
Armed with that knowledge, the Corps of Engineers that owns and operates the dams has installed
new innovative surface passage structures for fish at all eight federal facilities on
the lower Columbia and Snake.
Federal agencies also effectively spill just the right amount of water over dams to move
fish quickly and safely downstream.
In addition, improved fish bypass systems keep most smolts away from the hydroelectric
turbines at dams, but even when they do pass through turbines, these days most fish survive.
Jason Sweet: Each dam is a little different; each species is a little different so we tailor
our overall fix at each dam.
Narrator: One example of an improvement, designed specifically for the Dalles Dam, is this 830
foot long spill wall.
The spill wall, completed in 2010, has improved juvenile salmon and steelhead survival at
the Dalles by an average of four percent.
That number equates to tens of thousands of more fish surviving through the facility then
before.
The wall functions as a guide, pushing young fish into deeper, faster water as they exit
the dam.
Before the wall was constructed, swift currents carried smolts into shallow water, where predators
sat waiting to eat them.
Jason Sweet: The spill wall down at The Dalles Dam is something that had never been done
on that scale anywhere else on the Columbia River.
So, we’re constantly improving our techniques and modifying the dams in new ways every year.
Narrator: While improvements to dams have taken years to perfect, and in some cases
are still being tested and adjusted, studies indicate the efforts are paying off with safer
dam passage for juvenile fish, showing it is possible for the Northwest to enjoy clean
and reliable hydropower and still be friendly to the environment.
Ritchie Graves: There have been a number of improvements to the system; unquestionably
it’s better than it was.
We are getting there.
[Music]