Between the Gravel and the Sea:Vital Role of the Willamette River for Chinook Salmon

Kirk SchroederLuke WhitmanBrian CannonPaul Olmsted

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

“The Willamette River from a Mountain” Paul Kane, 1847

Jan Roberts-Dominguez: “Above the Willamette”

Will

amet

te R

iver

Columbia River

South Santiam River

North Santiam River

McKenzie River

Middle Fork Willamette River

Eugene-Springfield

Corvallis

Salem

Willamette Basin:

Largest watershed in Oregon

70% of Oregon population

Largest urban areas in Oregon

Dams block access to upper reaches of Spring Chinook

rivers

Spring Chinook ‘threatened” species

1999

Portland

Albany

Clackamas River

Willamette Falls

Recovery Plan 2011

Sandy River

Harrisburg

General Life History – Spring Chinook Salmon

Peak migration over Willamette Falls: April – May

Spawn: late August – late October

Incubation and fry emergence: December – April

Rear 5 – 15 monthsMigrate to ocean as smolts

Rear 2 – 4 years in North PacificMost Willamette Chinook: 4 – 5 years old

when they return

Progress: Starting Point

Willamette River = Migration Corridor

River Management = “Flushing Flows” to push fish out of river

“Spring chinook salmon are native to the Willamette River, with the mainstem river primarily a migration corridor for adults and smolts.”

Bonneville Power AdministrationFY 2003 Provincial Project Review

Juvenile Chinook: simple life history hatchery fish emphasis

Origins of View

1. Legacy of Willamette as polluted river

2. Willamette as controlled river

Dams control flow

Hatcheries control fish production

Catch of Wild Juvenile Chinook in McKenzie at Leaburg DamMigration from Spawning Areas

Migration of Juvenile Chinook past Willamette FallsTagged at Leaburg Dam in fall or spring

Spring migrants spend < 1 month – 3 months in WillametteMost Fall migrants overwinter in Willamette

Fry Dispersal & Rearing

Santiam basin – early migrationInfluence of dams

McKenzie – later migrationColder water

Fry dispersed throughout Willamette by late February to early March

March 2011 (1.5 – 3 inches)

Migration to lower Willamette & Columbia

Most migrate as smolts in June & July

Long Distance Fry Dispersal – What’s up with that?

Hypothesis: Adaptation to access productive rearing habitat in Willamette

Hulse et al. 2004. Ecological Applications 14: 325–341

Visualization of upper Willamette River downstream of McKenzie confluence - 1850

Spawning Tributary

Lower Tributary & Willamette River

Fry

Columbia River

Ocean

Winter-Spring Spring-Summer

Subyearling

Summer

Fall Migrant

Fall-Winter Spring

Fingerling

Fry

Fall Migrant

Spring Migrant

2-year

Spring Migrant

Willamette Juvenile Chinook Diversity (Spread the Risk)

May-Jun

Jun-Jul

Oct-Dec

Feb-Apr

Mar-Jun

May-Jul

Nov-Jan

Non-natal Streams

(Aug-Sep)

Mar-May

Feb-May

Apr-May

Apr-Jun

Jan- ?

Precocial Male

Spawning

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

Fry Migration

Subyearling

Yearling

Poor freshwater conditions

Poor ocean conditions

Subyearling

Yearling

Life History Diversity – Spreading the Risks

Brian Franklin

Dave Herasimtschuk © FI

Life History Diversity Provides Stability to PopulationsProportion of returning adult Chinook that migrated as subyearling or yearling smolts

McKenzie North Santiam South Santiam Clackamas

1998 – 2006 brood years

1998 2000 2003 2005

Shallow edges for fry

New gravel bars & islands

Refuge areas during floods

Narrow channels with shade

Small side channels

Cold water pockets

Pools for larger fish

Productive riffles

Dynamic Rivers provide Diverse Habitats that support Diverse Life Histories

Willamette River downstream of McKenzie confluence

Challenges

Full Steam Ahead?

“What happens if you get to the cliff and you take one step forward? Or do you do a 180° turn and take one step forward?

Which way is progress? The solution to many of the world’s problems is to turn around and take a step forward.”

Doug Tompkins from the documentary 180 ° South

Progress = continual growth

Measuring Progress

Life History Diversity

Water Quality

Native Species Richness

Connect People to River

Working Farms & Conservation

Historic TrajectoryProgress?

Historical Willamette River Channel Change - S. Gregory, L. Ashkenas, D. Oetter, P. Minear, K. Wildman

Channel complexity

Within the time scale of a person’s

lifetime and the lifetimes of his or her

children and grandchildren, entire

ecosystems change. Ironically, however,

it is within this time scale that people

are most blind to changes occurring

around them.

In honor of Jim Sedell (1944 – 2012)