The bottom section of the underwater tower is nearing completion and is getting closer to being lowered to its final resting place 270 feet below the surface. Because of the size of the bottom section and the challenges of building on the water, the contractor will lower the structure approximately 20 feet in June to allow them to finish erecting its top.

Megan Hill, our fish research lead biologist, has been studying the effect of feeding Chinook fry for a short period prior to their release. Do they grow faster? Do they have a better survival rate?
To find out, she and her assistants arranged for 10 days of extra feeding at Round Butte Hatchery for half of the spring Chinook that were planted in the upper Metolius Basin in late February 2008. The other half - about 75,000 fish - were released right from the incubators to begin feeding after release. Read the rest of this entry »

As we assess the effectiveness of the new fish passage system, we will need to know how many steelhead and spring Chinook smolts successfully pass through Lake Billy Chinook and the fish collection facility. To do this, we will be operating several downstream-migrant fish traps in the tributaries to Lake Billy Chinook to capture and tag these smolts. continue reading…

A key milestone for the restoration of fish runs above Lake Billy Chinook took place Feb. 26 and 27, when 150,000 Spring Chinook fry were released into the upper Metolius River. These young fish will be the first to use the new Deschutes passage system. In spring 2009, when they’re ready to migrate downstream, the project will be completed and the fish will be safely transported around the dams. PGE fish biologist Don Ratliff took part in the release and provided this first-hand report. continue reading…

We are making good progress on the construction of the underwater tower. Similar to most construction projects, we have encountered some surprises but the contractor has worked through these challenges and is still on schedule.
We are building the major components on floating barges in Lake Billy Chinook, and will set them into place once they are completed. continue reading…

A key milestone for the restoration of fish runs above Lake Billy Chinook took place Feb. 26 and 27, when 150,000 Spring Chinook fry were released into the upper Metolius River. These young fish will be the first to use the new Deschutes passage system. In spring 2009, when they’re ready to migrate downstream, the project will be completed and the fish will be safely transported around the dams. PGE fish biologist Don Ratliff took part in the release and provided this first-hand report. continue reading…