Fish Passage on Six Dams in the Pend Oreille & Clark Fork Rivers for Resident Fish

Historically, native fish were able to migrate freely throughout the Pend Oreille/Clark Fork basin.  The construction and operation of Thompson Falls, Noxon Rapids, Cabinet Gorge, Albeni Falls, Box Canyon and Boundary dams fragmented habitat within the United States portion of the basin and negatively impacted migratory salmonids such as bull trout, westslope cutthroat trout and mountain whitefish.  With the exception of Albeni Falls Dam (US Army Corps of Engineers), all of these dams are private facilities that are required to operate under a license administered by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).  Within the last decade, FERC relicensing and subsequent settlement agreements have required fish passage at these hydroelectric facilities.  This talk will focus on the process for providing upstream passage at these facilities with emphasis on Box Canyon Dam.  The design criteria used to develop detailed plans and specifications for an upstream trap and haul facility at Box Canyon Dam will be presented which is applicable to other upstream fish passage facilities for salmonids.