Thousands of wild chinook salmon come home to spawn at Vernita Bar

Each fall, dam operators adjust river patterns typically dictated by hydroelectric generation, to protect salmon redds in the Hanford Reach, a fifty-mile section of river located east of Yakima, Wash. This year, nearly 66,000 chinook salmon returned to spawn in a section of the Reach known as Vernita Bar. 

"With our ability to use the hydro system to protect the salmon during the winter and spring, we have practically doubled the amount of spawning habitat and ensured that it will stay wet compared to what it would be without the hydro system," says Scott Bettin, Bonneville Power Administration fish biologist. "This is a great example of collaboration to benefit wild fish and it’s helped produce one of the region’s healthiest wild salmon runs."

Scientists say the total number of redds counted at Vernita Bar in 2019 should bode well for fall chinook returns in the next three to five years. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, redd counts for this season were 7,733. That number is well within the range of redds counted in the past ten years (4,389 on Nov. 21, 2009 and 20,678 counted on Nov.16, 2015.) 

Redd count surveys are typically conducted from just upstream of the I-182 Bridge in Richland, Wash. This fall, the surveys were commissioned by U.S. Department of Energy and were conducted on Oct. 21, Nov. 4 and 24. 

To prepare for the redd count, Grant County PUD, which owns and operates Priest Rapids Dam, located four miles upstream from Vernita Bar, reduced flows about 50 percent to 50,000 cubic feet per second. At that lower water level, biologists were able to get an accurate ground count of redds. Even though some redds were exposed, they were not harmed because the eggs can be out of water and remain viable up to 12 hours.

As a result of the count and location of the redds, the 2019 flows were set at a minimum of 65,000 cubic feet per second to protect them. 

Each fall, dam operators adjust river patterns typically dictated by hydroelectric generation, to protect salmon redds in the Hanford Reach, a fifty-mile section of river located east of Yakima, Wash. This year, nearly 66,000 chinook salmon returned to spawn in a section of the Reach known as Vernita Bar. 

"With our ability to use the hydro system to protect the salmon during the winter and spring, we have practically doubled the amount of spawning habitat and ensured that it will stay wet compared to what it would be without the hydro system," says Scott Bettin, Bonneville Power Administration fish biologist. "This is a great example of collaboration to benefit wild fish and it’s helped produce one of the region’s healthiest wild salmon runs."

Scientists say the total number of redds counted at Vernita Bar in 2019 should bode well for fall chinook returns in the next three to five years. According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, redd counts for this season were 7,733. That number is well within the range of redds counted in the past ten years (4,389 on Nov. 21, 2009 and 20,678 counted on Nov.16, 2015.) 

Redd count surveys are typically conducted from just upstream of the I-182 Bridge in Richland, Wash. This fall, the surveys were commissioned by U.S. Department of Energy and were conducted on Oct. 21, Nov. 4 and 24. 

To prepare for the redd count, Grant County PUD, which owns and operates Priest Rapids Dam, located four miles upstream from Vernita Bar, reduced flows about 50 percent to 50,000 cubic feet per second. At that lower water level, biologists were able to get an accurate ground count of redds. Even though some redds were exposed, they were not harmed because the eggs can be out of water and remain viable up to 12 hours.

As a result of the count and location of the redds, the 2019 flows were set at a minimum of 65,000 cubic feet per second to protect them. 

Background

The Vernita Bar agreement between BPA, mid-Columbia PUDs, NOAA, Washington State and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation was put in place by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 1979. Through the Agreement, the parties agree to maintain a minimum outflow from Priest Rapids Dam to protect wild salmon and their spawning habitat. 

The Vernita Bar agreement between BPA, mid-Columbia PUDs, NOAA, Washington State and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation was put in place by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 1979. Through the Agreement, the parties agree to maintain a minimum outflow from Priest Rapids Dam to protect wild salmon and their spawning habitat.

Watch our "Vernita Bar: Where Hydro Ops Have Biologists Seeing Redds" on YouTube.