News Release
| Release Number: | 03-082 |
| Dated: | 6/11/2003 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.-The amount of water released out of Green Peter Reservoir on the South Santiam River will be greatly reduced starting today, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The substantive change in outflows-down to 1,100 cubic feet per second (cfs) by Thursday, June 12, from flows of 4,500 cfs on Monday, June 9-because National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) reduced the flow requirements. NOAA Fisheries requested that the Corps release enough water from the 13 Willamette Valley reservoirs to provide a downstream flow target (measured at Salem) of 15,000 cfs through last Monday. The purpose of the augmented flows was to aid the out migration of juvenile winter steelhead, according to Matt Rea, the Corps' Willamette Basin coordinator.
Since the peak of the juvenile fish run has passed, NOAA Fisheries approved reducing the downstream flow target toward 8,700 cfs. The Corps began reducing water releases from Green Peter Reservoir yesterday and will continue the reduction until releases register 1,100 cfs, which is expected to be tomorrow.
Because steelhead are listed by NOAA Fisheries as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act, the Corps is required to do what it can to help protect the fish. Higher flows help the juvenile fish migrate more quickly downstream and out to the ocean, reducing fish losses resulting from disease, predation and other effects.
After a very wet March and April, conditions turned unusually hot and dry in the Willamette Valley. To meet the flow targets and to make up for the lack of natural flows not regulated by the Corps' multi-purpose projects, the Corps had to release more water than it planned for from the reservoirs. Most of the water used to augment flows during the fish run came from Green Peter Reservoir on the South Santiam River and Lookout Point Reservoir on the Middle Fork Willamette River. An additional 800 cfs of flow came from the Corps' non-power producing projects-Blue River, Fall Creek and Dorena reservoirs.
"Frankly, we chose to draw more water from those two reservoirs to protect recreation at most of the other reservoirs, especially Detroit, Foster and Fern Ridge," said Rea. Those three reservoirs are full; Green Peter Reservoir is about 35 feet below full, he said.
The reduced outflows at Green Peter are a welcome relief for local anglers and recreational users of the South Santiam River, as they have seen higher than normal flows for this time of year. Normally the flow objectives required at Salem are 13,000 cfs during early June, according to Corps fisheries biologist Chuck Willis. This year, however, the steelhead run was delayed, possibly due to cooler weather in April and May, so the higher flows were extended into early June. "The run of juvenile steelhead also appears considerably smaller this year than it was the last couple of years," said Willis, "making it even more important to help the fish that are there."
In an effort to preserve as much recreation opportunities in the basin as possible-and to meet other fisheries needs-the Corps also will cut back flows later this week from other reservoirs, including Lookout Point, Fall Creek, Dorena and Blue River, Rea said.
Construction of a water temperature control tower at Cougar Dam on the South Fork McKenzie River has precluded the Corps from storing water in that reservoir this year. The tower will allow the Corps to draw water from differing depths in the reservoir, mixing it to the optimum water temperature for release below the dam to more closely match natural conditions needed by fish. The changes will improve river conditions for salmon and resident fish in the South Fork McKenzie and McKenzie rivers.
Maintaining flow requirements, filling reservoirs and supporting the needs of fish and anglers in the Willamette Basin is a delicate balancing act at the Corps' 13 Willamette Valley reservoirs. To aid in this balancing act, weekly, and sometimes daily, discussions between the Corps, state of Oregon, and other federal agencies have become the norm as regulators work to determine the best course of action for this years' water needs.