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Say We Breach the Dams, What Then? by John McKern Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, July 8, 2021

Two articles and Gene Spangrude's July 4 letter addressed the Snake River water temperature issue. All three pointed to hot water, 76 degrees Fahrenheit, coming from the Snake River above the Lower Granite Reservoir. Cold water, 42 degrees, coming from Dworshak Reservoir on the Clearwater River was credited with keeping the water below 68 degrees at Lower Granite Dam.

Idaho Fish and Game will trap Sockeye salmon at the Lower Granite Dam and truck them to hatcheries or spawning areas upstream. Spill will be reduced to one overflow spillway at the Lower Granite and Little Goose dams as intended when the Corps of Engineers developed this concept. Then juvenile fall chinook trapped at the lower Snake River dams will be trucked to be release below the Bonneville Dam.

Now, say we breach the dams. Yes, the lower Snake would be cooler than 68 degrees, but Sockeye migrating upstream would reach a temperature block at Clarkston and after a few years, would be extinct. Juvenile fall chinook would migrate freely down the lower Snake but could not be collected and transported around the dams: Fall chinook runs would decline.

(bluefish notes: Water temperature being reported by Idaho Power today (7/11/21) is 71F at Hells Canyon Reservoirs.)

Related Pages:
Increase Wild Fish Production, Reduce Harvest by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 12/23/20
Ending Super-Saturation Will Help Salmon by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 4/14/19
Supersaturation is Real Trouble for Salmon by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 12/27/18
Breaching Dams Won't Cool River Water by John McKern, Walla Walla Union Bulletin, 11/8/18
Blaming Snake River Dams for Orca Woes a Hoax by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 8/14/18
Judge, Court of Appeals Ignored Fish Facts by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 4/8/18
Ending Super-Saturation Will Help Salmon by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 10/18/17
View from Idaho on Dam Protection by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 8/1/17
Yes, Consider All Facts on Dam Breaching by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 6/30/17
McKern Letter: Salmon Runs by John McKern, Idaho Statesman, 1/2/16
Adult Salmon Survival Past Dams is 99 Percent by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 3/25/15
Hydropower Not Been Replaced by Wind Power by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 3/6/15
Environmentalists Try to Muddy Waters About Dredging by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 12/30/14
Talk of Breaching Snake River Dams a Red Herring by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 3/21/14
Blaming Dams for Fish Loss is a Hoax by John McKern, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 8/23/13
Judge Redden's Replacement Can't Be Worse by John McKern, Walla Walla Union Bulletin, 12/5/11
Science Does Not Support Dam Breaching by John McKern, Walla Walla Union Bulletin, 12/19/11