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The Dalles Dam Set for Fish Help by Associated Press Lewiston Tribune, September 11, 2003

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $4.2 million contract to improve the passage of young salmon and steelhead through The Dalles lock and dam on the Columbia River.

General contractor Robert B. Goebel of Spokane will build two walls extending from the dam's spillway into the river, said Matt Rabes, corps spokesman.

Work on the walls starts after Nov. 1. The project is scheduled to be competed by March 2004, the beginning of the spring salmon migration.

Most Columbia and Snake river dams route young salmon through a juvenile bypass system, Rabes said. The Dalles Dam uses a spillway, which research shows can be potentially harmful for the juvenile fish.

Turbulent water keeps young fish at the bottom of the sideway longer, Rabes said, increasing the chance of injury from contact with concrete structures and predators.

The walls are designed to improve flows to help fish move safely and quickly into the main river channel downstream, he said.