New salmon passage-Green River

[Tallguy]

Saw this story, and was happy that new fish passage was getting funded:

‘Big victory’ for salmon habitat in Green River

Fish passage is getting a boost at the Howard Hanson dam with millions of dollars in funding to protect the survival of threatened Chinook and endangered orcas.

www.seattletimes.com

Pretty crazy it will cost 220M, and I am sure it's not going to work perfectly, but I always like and support actions that create or open new habitat or improve existing habitat and make more fish. I think the dollars come from the recent federal Infrastructure Bill.

 

[Tallguy]

Maybe one day I might have a chance to launch a cast at a Green River summer steelhead, before I die.

 

[Tallguy]

Apparently that costs $220M.

 

[Matt B]

Apparently that costs $220M.

Well, it cost WSDOT $56M just to paint one bridge, 10 years ago, if that helps give some perspective on infrastructure costs and relative values.

$56M paint job done on Lewis and Clark Bridge

WSDOT won't have to worry about painting the Lewis and Clark Bridge for 20 years. Crews are finishing a nine-year project to clean and apply five coats of “Washington Gray” to the 84-year-old structure.

www.djc.com

 

[Salmo_g]

I wrote a Jeopardy Biological Opinion requiring the Corps to provide downstream juvenile fish passage at Howard Hanson Dam in 2015/16. A lot of negotiation occurred after I retired that removed an interim fish passage requirement and extended the timeline to complete the work. It's gratifying to see some action finally moving forward.

 

[Smalma]

SG -
I was hoping you would chime in on this.

Have folks solved the problems of capturing juvenile Chinook and steelhead smolts to get them pass the dam?

Curt

 

[Salmo_g]

SG -
I was hoping you would chime in on this.

Have folks solved the problems of capturing juvenile Chinook and steelhead smolts to get them pass the dam?

Curt

I don't know. I've heard that design changes may have been made or will be made. In my experience, design elements made for economic or engineering reasons don't function nearly as well as design elements that are incorporated for biological and fish behavioral reasons. I believe the success of the Baker FSCs are because of the brain storming meetings we held with the theme: "What fish want." Instead of the alternatives preferred by bean counters and some engineers.

 

[davew]

Once the fish passage infrastructure comes online and much more habitat is available to the fish, will the escapement goals be adjusted upwards? If that doesn't happen, what is the point of doing this?

 

[Divad]

I see a $220M quote to/from the gov’t and tap my foot waiting for the change orders to rise it.

I’m with tallguy, fingers crossed they can make it past the poachers and tweakers. Hell by then the fish will return to the hatchery with a few needles to give back to the state too

 

[Salmo_g]

Once the fish passage infrastructure comes online and much more habitat is available to the fish, will the escapement goals be adjusted upwards? If that doesn't happen, what is the point of doing this?

One concern is that a changing climate will cause less of the lower Green to be as suitable for salmonid production, so making the upper Green accessible may well be necessary to maintain current watershed productivity. Escapement goals need to be geared to the productivity of a watershed during a given point in time. So escapement goals may need to be adjusted upward or downward. Lousy answer, I know, but biological systems are not static.

 

[Salmo_g]

I see a $220M quote to/from the gov’t and tap my foot waiting for the change orders to rise it.

I’m with tallguy, fingers crossed they can make it past the poachers and tweakers. Hell by then the fish will return to the hatchery with a few needles to give back to the state too

It's a Corps of Engineers project. Have they ever done a project where the costs didn't increase and the timeline drag beyond initial estimates?

 

[DoesItFloat]

It's a Corps of Engineers project. Have they ever done a project where the costs didn't increase and the timeline drag beyond initial estimates?

I can think of a project or two where the spending increased and the work never actually started.