
Completed in 1954. Lookout Point Dam at Lowell is among 13 Willamette Basin dams that a federal judge says must be massively changed to allow passage of Chinook salmon and winter steelhead. Dexter and Fall Creek dams are also mentioned prominently in the order.
By DOUG BATES/Editor/The Herald — Is it possible that salmon may once again be seen leaping majestically over Salmon Creek Falls east of Oakridge?
The iconic Chinook, absent from the streams of the Upper Willamette for nearly seven decades, have received a long-awaited boost from a federal judge who has ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to make massive changes at the dams that block the fish from historic spawning grounds in the Willamette Basin.
Dams affected by the ruling include Lookout Point, Dexter, Fall Creek and at least 10 other dams on the Willamette River and its tributaries. Hills Creek Dam near Oakridge is not named in the suit but appears to be among the 13 dams targeted for change.
Ruling July 16 on a lawsuit by environmentalists, U.S. District Court Judge Marco Hernandez said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must act swiftly to improve fish passage and water quality at these aging dams. Actions must include deep drawdowns of water to allow juvenile fish to pass downstream, spilling water at different times of year, and releasing adult fish above the dams.
Deep drawdown ordered for Lookout Point Dam
Specific actions outlined in the judge’s order include a deep drawdown on the McKenzie River’s Cougar Dam, spring and fall spill operations at Foster Dam, landslide risk analysis associated with a deep drawdown at Lookout Point Dam and spill operations at Lookout Point Dam and Dexter Dam.
“The Corps has fought tooth and nail to resist implementing interim fish passage and water quality measures that it was supposed to begin implementing a decade ago, and that National Marine Fisheries Service has been recommending for years,” Hernandez wrote.
Between 2008 and 2018, the Corps struggled to sell temperature control towers to the public. One early concept it presented to the public required a two-year drawdown of Detroit Lake to 1,310 feet above sea level to start construction, angering local farmers reliant on the dam’s irrigation.
In his order, Hernandez said the Corps has not begun operation of any permanent downstream fish passage structures as required under the 2008 settlement and will not meet any future deadlines.
He noted that water temperatures below Detroit, Green Peter and Lookout Point dams continue to be too cold in the summer and too warm in the fall, peak times for migration for the species.
Hernandez also ordered the Corps to provide biannual status reports detailing progress and compliance with interim measures it’s being forced to take to save the Chinook and steelhead.
Dexter, Fall Creek dams involved, too
The interim operational changes he ordered include:
— Conducting winter and spring downstream passage operations at Fall Creek Dam.
— Analyzation of landslide risks associated with a deep drawdown at Lookout Point.
— Spill operations at Lookout Point Dam and Dexter Dam.
— Fish passage and water quality operations at Detroit and Big Cliff reservoirs, including considering using lower regulating outlets at Detroit Dam.
— A deep drawdown at Cougar Dam.
— Spring and fall spill operations at Foster Dam.
“We celebrate today and hope it will mark the decisive moment that saved wild Chinook salmon and winter steelhead in the Willamette River,” said Marlies Wierenga, Pacific Northwest Conservation Manager for WildEarth Guardians. “Judge Hernandez was adamant . . . that the Corps’ operation of the Willamette Valley dams has pushed these fish toward extinction and the agency must take action to reverse that decline.”
Northwest Environmental Defense Center, WildEarth Guardians, and Native Fish Society — represented by attorneys at Advocates for the West filed suit in 2018 asking the court to save these iconic fish by compelling the Corps to make immediate operational adjustments to dams on four key tributaries of the Willamette River (North Santiam, South Santiam, McKenzie and Middle Fork Willamette) that block between 40 to 90% of spawning habitat.
The Corps is reviewing Hernandez’s opinion and is considering next steps, Corps officials said in a statement.