Lower Snake River, ID - Fish Habitat and Dams - The Aerial Perspective

Breaching the four Lower Snake River dams would lead to the largest salmon recovery effort in history- invigorating Idaho's economy and honoring Indigenous treaty rights while carrying on the Northwest legacies of clean energy and fertile farmland.

[@Reed411]

this is really well shot, and well put!

[@pancakeface5717]

Salmon advocates need to unite and speal with one voice. Until we do our voice is diffused and our opponents continue their divide and conquer strategy. They speak with big dollarsand misinformation to influence public officials and public opinion. Tribes, commercial fishers, sport fishers, environmentalists, biologists, river and coastal communities, tourist bureaus, tackle manufacturers, and others who love and benefit from salmon must unite. Stop the infighting and unite. This is a political war, not just one battle.

[@fishcrazy82]

So hells canyon dam and dworshack have no fish passage at all. What is your plan for those?

[@EcoFlight]

we work a lot in Idaho advocating to restore rivers and save fish populations - especially along rivers with aging dams like dworshack and hells canyon dam that were built without fish passages

[@brianjohnston4207]

Milner started the first die offs of salmon below Shoshone Falls in the mainstem Snake. The majority of salmon that spawned in the mainstem Snake spawned between Hells Canyon and Shoshone Falls where migration ended naturally.
Mainstem dams
without fish passage (Upper and Lower Salmon, Bliss, C.J. Strike, and Swan Falls dams) all were built on traditional spawning habitat and are heating the water.
The 4 lower dams were not only built with fish passage but they aren't slackwater pools like C.J.Strike for example but run of the river dams which means that the water exits the impoundment at the same speed it enters and unlike the slackwater pools the water completely flows through the lower dams in about 2 days.
The 4 lower dams aren't creating hot water they are passing hot water downstream.
Dworshak is an important part of maintaining cooler water temperatures with the upper mainstem dams still in place since the corps of engineers uses coldwater releases from Dworshak to cool down the waters in the Snake.
They neglect to tell folks that the Snake was discharging 80°water before the 4 lower dams were built.
The 4 lower dams aren't built on traditional spawning habitat.

[@lynneproudfoot3624]

A “must do “for healthy salmon populations and productive fisheries.
Redesign the Dams and correct 100 years of ecological damage It’s Time.

[@bac-kb3fj]

Has anyone considered fish ladders. Or is the fish population a diversion, excuse, to take out the dams? Fish are very capable of moving up stream using a ladder.

[@brianjohnston4207]

You had 7,635 sping Chinook over Ice Harbor and 1,821 over Lower Granite 5,000 fish disappeared in between, probably in the Lyons Ferry Fishtrap, and or trucked.
I don't have those number's though.

[@thatsme7805]

Why can't they just open the locks wide open during the smolt runs for a few years and see if it actually helps

[@Reed411]

The smolts are still “boiling” to death in the hot slack water lakes. They evolved in colder water condition and it puts a huge physical strain on them. Predators also thrive in those hot lakes. In addition, salmon smolts evolved to literally slide backwards down the river like a roller coaster. Smolts spend and insane amount of precious energy navigating and swimming through massive reservoirs. The list goes on and on, but in the end, the best solution is to remove the dams entirely.
Edit: Don’t make the mistake of thinking there is some easy solution here. Tribes, communities, local and federal governments have already spent over 17 billion dollars on solutions. All have failed.

[@brianjohnston4207]

​@@Reed411the 4 lower dams aren't slackwater lakes,they are run of the river impoundments. This means the water exits the same speed it enters and only spends about 2 days between the 4 dams, unlike C.J.Strike for example which is a slackwater pool.
The Snake was discharging 80° water before the 4 lower dams were built which means they aren't creating hot water they are passing hot water downstream.

[@Reed411]

@@brianjohnston4207 Are you really going to sit here with a straight face and tell me that dams/lakes don't increase water temperature?