This spring, I had the great fortune to watch native summer steelhead spawning on a gravel bar in Trout Creek, a tributary of the Deschutes River. The scene was at Trout Creek Ranch, a 3,000-acre property purchased by Portland General Electric in 1999 for fish and wildlife habitat mitigation.

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July 1 marked the beginning of a new era of managing temperatures on the lower Deschutes. Hydro operators adjusted some controls on the new Round Butte Selective Water Withdrawal Tower (SWW) and the lower Deschutes River grew cooler. They had begun mixing the cold, deep water in Lake Billy Chinook with warmer water on the surface.

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During summer and fall 2009 and 2010, PGE, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and the Ochoco National Forest will invest about $35,000 to protect the fragile habitat around the Lower Whychus Creek Crossing. The creek, which runs near Sisters and joins the Deschutes River about 10 miles south of Lake Billy Chinook, is popular destination for campers and day trippers.

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PGE and the Tribes, through the Pelton Fund, have contributed $200,000 to a major habitat restoration project set to begin this summer on Shitike Creek, which runs through the community of Warm Springs. One of many supporting projects helping to restore fish passage on the Deschutes River, this project will return the creek to its natural meandering channel and provide valuable habitat for returning fish to spawn.

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