the film forum library tutorial contact

Do the Math by Kaye Ewing Lewiston Tribune, December 7, 2021

The number of steelhead that passed through the last dam on the Snake River
in 2021 was approximately 29 percent fewer than 2020.

If the fish counts are relevant, the lower Snake River dams are not the problem.

According to the cumulative steelhead fish counts since July 1, as printed in the Nov. 26 edition of the Lewiston Tribune: 68,479 steelhead passed the Bonneville Dam (the dam at the mouth of the Columbia River), 50,381 steelhead passed the McNary Dam (the last dam before the Snake River), 38,038 steelhead passed the Ice Harbor Dam (the first dam on the Snake River) and 39,359 passed the Lower Granite Dam (the last dam on the Snake River).

So, 18,098 steelhead were lost between Bonneville Dam and McNary Dam, 12,343 steelhead were lost between McNary Dam and Ice Harbor Dam and the number of steelhead increased by 1,321 between the Ice Harbor Dam and the Lower Granite Dam.

Additionally, between 2020 and 2021, the number of steelhead that passed Bonneville Dam dropped from 107,807 to 68,479 -- an approximate decrease of 37 percent.

During the same time, the number of steelhead that passed the Lower Granite Dam dropped from 55,470 to 39,359 -- an approximate decrease of 29 percent.

So, even though approximately 37 percent fewer steelhead entered the Columbia River in 2021 than in 2020, the number of steelhead that passed through the last dam on the Snake River in 2021 was approximately 29 percent fewer than 2020.

So, the way I see it, the Snake River is ahead of the game, even with the dams.