October, 2025
In last week’s blog post, I showed you my visit to the dam on the Washington State side of the “double wide” Bonneville dams on the Columbia River. At the end of that blog post, I shared three photos of a sign that talked about how young fish, particularly salmon, get back DOWN stream to the ocean after they are born up stream. Here are those three photos again.
I didn’t know anything about this process and had never seen the structures described in that sign. As I drove down the road, away from the dam, I looked for signs to such a facility, but found no evidence of any of it. But I did want another photo looking back upstream at the Oregon powerhouse, so I pulled over and parked, then walked to the edge of the river and snapped the photo below.
The Oregon powerhouse is on the right, then there’s a bright orange/red sign right in the middle of the picture and behind it is the spillway. The Washington powerhouse is off to the left, out of the photo. But look! There on the left! It looks like a concrete chute with water flowing out of it … wow, maybe that is the outfall chute described in the sign above!
So I drove back upstream, still trying to find access to it, and not being successful. Eventually, I pulled over again, walked out to the edge of the Columbia River and … there it is! It’s now downstream from me and it obviously is the chutes described in the signs above.
Zooming in with the telephoto lens below.
The closest chute has water pouring out of the end of it, relatively gently, so maybe that’s where the young fish leave the pipe and re-enter the river below the dam. That further chute is spraying water everywhere, not sure why that is.
So THEN I drove down some narrow gravel roads, through some woods, and finally found the building (photo below) where they control this system of pipes and water flow that allows the young fish to swim safely past the dam, not through the turbine generators, so they will live to return to the ocean.
Around another curve or two and I came to the entrance to that facility. Yay, I can talk with people who can teach me something new. Oops, nope, “No Trespassing” … there were actually four signs saying that. It seemed odd that I could see so much of the dam, and powerhouse, and turbine generators, and fish ladders, etc. But I couldn’t even get in the gate here.
Hmmm, but … I think I remember one other dirt road that led through the woods a little further down stream, just a block or two away actually, let me go see where it leads.
Ha! That dirt road did the trick. No gate, no fence, no signs. That dirt road led to the back side of that facility, where I could have drive right INTO the parking lot there, right up next to the building, with not one “No Trespassing” sign in sight. How odd. I chose to keep my distance. 🙂 And parked between that facility (on the right in the photo below) and the Columbia River (just 60 feet or so to the left in the photo below).
The photo below shows how close I was at that point to those chutes.
So I walked closer. Still no warning signs.
The photo below shows both chutes … the one on the left carries the water with the young fish. The chute on the right sprays water up into the air (still haven’t found out why).
With the sun in the west, the light in the photos above wasn’t the best for photos, so I walked down stream just a tiny bit and took photos looking back at the chutes … much better light. You can clearly see the two chutes and how the water comes out of each one of them so differently.
Look at the birds on the fish chute! Mostly Cormorants and Seagulls.
Birds eat fish … and humans go fishing too.
After I got home from this trip, I found an explanation online about the power spray of water that’s coming out of that one chute. It is supposed to be sprayed out over the gentle fish water as that water exits the first chute carrying the young fish … that high pressure spray is designed to deter the birds from eating the young fish.
Here’s a short video that shows the two chutes and the spray that comes out of the second chute. You will see that the spray doesn’t come even close to the water carrying the young fish.
As I stood there and watched, I certainly did notice there were numerous birds hanging out on the water or flying above the water where the young fish would first appear. Hmmm, seems like someone needs to adjust that spray device.
I enjoyed this! I liked learning how the fingerlings or fry, the young fish, get downstream. I liked that humans have learned ways to help them and are researching more ways, and are building systems that help the fish. I liked hearing the birds, and watching the river and the sky. I enjoyed being outdoors in the sunshine. I had a great time exploring by driving down the dirt roads and through the woods and then finding fascinating things to see and do and learn about. What a wonderful world this is. 🙂
I’ve been around some of the dams further up the Columbia, and on other rivers too, all of them have fish ladders to help the adult spawning salmon get up the rivers, but I’ve never heard or seen any info about how the fingerlings get down the river without needing to run through the turbines. Great info! I’m really glad things are changing.
Susan, I wondered if you’d been around dams up there. I like that. 🙂 Please share any info about anything camping related in your neck of the woods. Thank you.
Yes, NO research was done about damage to fry through the turbines years ago. The turbines themselves don’t do the damage, it’s the water pressure that does the damage. Wow, you found great info! And I’m impressed you followed it through. But then, you usually do. 🙂 Nice photos.
Thanks Steve. I wish I knew all the things you know. Please keep on sharing stuff here. Thanks for the nice words. 🙂
Liked how you drove around behind that building, finding the back dirt road through the woods. All perfectly legal. Good on you! 🙂
Thanks Walt. As long as I don’t get arrested, I go exploring! 🙂
If that spray is supposed to keep the birds off the water where the young fish enter the river, then yes you betcha someone needs to do their job and adjust that spray. Can’t think of any other reason for the spray. The birds sure look fat and happy.
Love your blog. Thanks for being such a great explorer. 🙂
Ha! Indeed, the birds did look fat and happy. Another clue about the idea that the spray is misdirected! Thanks Judy.
Here’s to a healthy lifelong journey for the new fish … and for you. 🙂
Thank you Eileen! and to you too. 🙂
Fascinating. I never knew any of that!
Me neither. Not until this trip anyway. Thanks for being here Jamie. 🙂
You find the coolest things. Got a kick out of your driving down the back gravel roads through the woods. But what the heck, if they weren’t fenced or signed, why not? That was great. 🙂
Yep, that’s my thought, unless there is a fence or a sign, I’m all IN on the dirt roads. I can apologize later if I need to but lots of great stuff can be found down those dirt roads.
There have been many discussions here in BC, Canada, about our dams and how the fish get past them to the spawning grounds and then how the fry get back downstream past the dams and back to the ocean. Many of our dams are so small that they don’t have a fish ladder for the spawning adults to get UP stream, so they are pumped into trucks that have a huge tank on the back of the truck and then they are driven and then released into the lake above the dam, but many die during that process. And downstream for the fry, well good luck with that. Yes, it’s the difference in water pressure that kills the fry from being under higher pressure in the turbines and then WAY less pressure just down-water of the turbines. More people here are trying to improve things, but changes cost money. It was very heartening to read your blog about how the Bonneville system has improved. And the driving around the back roads and the woods was fun. 🙂 So much for perceived and maybe a bit arrogrant? security. Good on you!
Jim
We have some of those same small dams down here, Jim, where salmon and others are pumped into a truck bin, then they are driven up around the dam and then they are released into the lake behind the dam … but many of the fish die in the process. I guess the folks back then didn’t realize the damage … or maybe they thought there were so many fish that it wouldn’t matter. Today, it matters. Let’s keep supporting the people who are trying to make this right again.
And yes, ha!, “arrogant security” … there were so many “NO TRESPASSING” signs and so many locks on those gates … and yet I could just drive around behind the building on that dirt road no problem. Fun stuff. 🙂
Gosh, what a simple thing to adjust that spray, no? Why have such a large “facility” when the people there aren’t doing the work? Ha! But I too loved how you found a way back into direct access to those chutes, perfectly legal. 🙂 What a gorgeous day. You are such an explorer!
Thanks Pat. 🙂
A number of dams in England have small concrete chutes that regulate the amount of water that is removed from the lake behind the dam. Young fish can return downstream using those spillways. They are open water so birds and small mammals do catch a significant number of small fish there. Those chutes are separate from the water systems that feed the generators. I’ve seen the Hayeswater Dam chutes. Lovely blog post. Thank you.
Henry, I’ve located some of those dams in England online, to see how those spillways for the fish are handled, thanks to your comment. Yes, the young fish can return without swimming through the generators, but still … the systems you have, and that we have, aren’t the best for the fish. I’m hoping all of us keep working on that and sharing expertise and experience. My best to you.