Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of columns titled ‘Knowing our Willamette.’
Herein are people, places and things that made our Willamette River and Valley a challenge in terms of water quality, power production and now a successful fishery. Recent tallies of fish passage over Willamette Falls of coho salmon are the best ever — probably in recorded history. This didn’t happen by accident. Our regional power providers, Portland General Electric, had also planned in the past a “micro-hydro” facility on the Oregon City side that never came to be. However, many of their efforts with fish passage of young salmon, steelhead and other species as downstream juvenile migrants have been successful. Their efforts at their historic TW Sullivan plant on the West Linn side of Willamette Falls have achieved over 99% passage which is an incredible standard.
In the 1980s, dedicated biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the community-oriented leadership of Portland General Electric responded to the concerns for the state’s 20-year plan on salmon recovery in a very positive way. The efforts of Governor John Kitzhaber, several decades ago, in founding watershed councils that could keep an eye on our creeks, streams and watersheds to benefit all over time are what have made the difference.