the film forum library tutorial contact DONATE

Boiling Point: Hot Water Killing 50% of Columbia River's Salmon Population by Staff Reuters, July 31, 2015

The enormous mortality rate has been blamed on
water temperatures reaching up to 76 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Columbia River in Oregon and Washington is usually teaming with hundreds of thousands of sockeye salmon this time of year, but warming waters have wiped out nearly 50 percent of this year's population -- and it could get worse. Although more than 507,000 sockeye salmon have migrated up the Columbia River this year, more than 250,000 have died, according to the Associated Press. Reuters, meanwhile, put the number at 235,000.

"We've never had mortalities at this scale," said Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife fisheries manager John North to Reuters.

In fact, the bad news could get even worse: Up to 80 percent of the entire population could ultimately die, Ritchie Graves of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the AP.

Hot water leaves nearly 250,000 salmon dead in the Pacific Northwest

-- ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) July 29, 2015

Additionally, hot water can foster the growth of deadly pathogens that can infect the fish.

"The water temperatures in the Columbia River are nearing lethal levels for salmon, which is a little inconvenient if you're a salmon trying to come into the Columbia River and migrate," Teresa Scott, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's drought coordinator, said to ThinkProgress. "It's a matter of fish being caught in those warm waters and not being able to deal with them."

Contributing to the warmer water is a combination of drought conditions on the West Coast and higher than normal temperatures, as well as unusually low runoff from mountain snowmelt. Snowmelt can help keep rivers cool, but this year the Columbia River reached 70 degrees in the middle of June, Reuters reported. It doesn't typically hit that level until mid-July.

Horrifying: 80 percent of sockeye salmon may die this year because of warmer waters.

-- Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) July 28, 2015

"There's no doubt on the part of our climatologists that say that these are the kinds of conditions that we will see in the future," Scott told ThinkProgress. "We are mounting short term responses this year, and anticipating a recovery from these conditions in the near term, but certainly this is a wakeup call and a dress rehearsal for what fishery managers years from now will be dealing with on a regular basis."

Related Pages:
Riverkeeper: No Sustained Hot Water Temps if Lower Snake Dams Go by Laura Berg, NW Fishletter, 9/5/17
Warm Water Wreaks Havoc on Columbia River Fish by John Harrison, NW Power & Conservation Council, 8/12/15
Sockeye Arrives at Stanley Despite Warm Water by Associated Press, Teton Valley News, 7/29/15
Salmon Dying by the Thousands in Hot U.S. Rivers by Ted Ranosa, Tech Times, 7/29/15
First Sockeye of Year Returns to Redfish Creek Despite Hot Rivers by Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman, 7/28/15
Why Are Thousands of Migratory Salmon Dying Before They Can Spawn? by Courtney Sherwood, Christian Science Monitor, 7/27/15
Biologists Bring Sockeye into Idaho on Trucks to Get Them Out of Hot Water by Rocky Barker, Idaho Statesman, 7/17/15
Sockeye Salmon Suffer Infections in Warm Columbia River System by Rich Landers, Spokesman-Review, 7/17/15
Half of Columbia River Sockeye Salmon Dying Due to Hot Water by Associated Press, The Oregonian, 7/18/15