The Fracture and the Frantic at Wanapum Dam: Developing an Emergency Plan and Infrastructure for Fish Passage

“Potential Failure Situation is Developing.” That was the call sent from the Wanapum Control Room on February 27, 2014 after divers discovered a 65-foot wide, 2-inch deep crack in the Wanapum Dam spillway. An expansive emergency notification process was set in motion as required under Grant PUD’s Emergency Action Plan for Wanapum Dam. Within 48 hours of the incident, Grant PUD management assembled response teams, including one to address fish passage issues resulting from an unprecedented emergency drawdown of the Wanapum Reservoir. The Fish Passage Team was tasked with developing a plan to pass adult salmonids and other species over Wanapum Dam. In close coordination and consultation with regulatory agencies and tribal representatives, Grant PUD staff developed an Interim Fish Passage Operations Plan, a fluid and dynamic plan adaptively managed on a day-to-day basis with the changing on-site conditions. Key elements of the plan included the design, installation, modification, and biological testing of the Wanapum Fish Passage Exit Systems, modification and testing of existing adult trap facilities, and trap and transport protocol for adult salmonids, bull trout, and Pacific lamprey. These strategies resulted in the safe passage of a record number of adult fish migrating through the mid-Columbia River.