Columbia Basin Bulletin - April 16, 2025

Summer Steelhead Spawn, Sea Lion Predation, Columbia Basin Water Supply Forecast... and more

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Columbia Basin Bulletin
April 16, 2025

There are more summer steelhead spawning this year in waters upstream of the Pelton-Round Butte Complex of dams on central Oregon’s Deschutes River than at anytime since the 1960s, according to Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, which co-own the dams.

Predacious sea lions in Bonneville Dam’s tailwaters took a bite out of the spring Chinook salmon and steelhead runs during the spring of 2024. Some 2.8 percent of the number of salmon counted at the dam last spring and 3.8 percent of the number of steelhead counted were snagged and eaten by Steller and California sea lions, according to a recently-released annual report by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Some Melting In March But Columbia Basin Water Supply Forecast Improves, 90 Percent Of Average At Dalles Dam (April-Sept)

Warmer temperatures with some snowmelt and near- or wetter-than-normal precipitation in much of the Columbia River basin in March led to some early runoff but overall resulted in higher April-Sept. water supply forecasts and a better outlook for stream flows in the basin that will aid juvenile and adult salmon and steelhead migrations this summer, according to a NOAA water supply briefing last week.

Scoping meetings to explore possible changes to the 2020 Columbia River salmon/steelhead environmental impact statement have been delayed again.

Washington’s Annual Wolf Report For 2024 Shows Increase In Gray Wolf Packs, Decrease In Overall Minimum Count

The number of gray wolf packs in Washington increased slightly in 2024, according to the Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2024 Annual Report, released by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, while the state’s wolf count declined overall. Based on wolf biology and long-term population trajectory, WDFW wolf biologists do not believe wolf recovery is threatened at this time.

Climate change could pose a dual threat to native species by reducing their suitable habitats and increasing predation pressure from non-native species, a new study by Oregon State University researchers finds.

Fishery managers from Oregon and Washington took joint state action Wednesday (April 9) to add another six days of recreational spring Chinook salmon fishing in the mainstem Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam. This fishery had closed on Monday April 7 per the preseason schedule adopted in February.

Forest Service Ordered To Increase Logging In Pacific Northwest National Forests By 25 Percent, Remove NEPA Processes

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued a Secretarial Memo to establish an “Emergency Situation Determination” on 112,646,000 acres of National Forestry System (NFS) land, including the national forests of the Pacific Northwest.

The Bureau of Reclamation today announced a $134 million award for the proposed Sites Reservoir Project. This new water storage project would be the second largest off-stream reservoir in the nation and would increase Northern California’s water storage capacity by up to 15 percent.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District says it will not perform a deep drawdown at the Willamette Valley’s Detroit Reservoir in the fall of 2025.