Priest Rapids Complex John Day Mitigation Operations and Maintenance Annual Report: July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is required to provide mitigation for the loss of fall chinook salmon spawning habitat caused by the inundation associated with the construction and operation of John Day and The Dalles dams. Specifically, the USACE funds hatchery production of upriver-bright (URB) and tule fall chinook smolts to replace lost natural production. This hatchery production is known as John Day/The Dalles Mitigation (JDM).

In 1992, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the USACE, in agreement with Grant County Public Utility District (GCPUD), began rearing and releasing 1.7 million JDM fall chinook salmon at the Priest Rapids Hatchery (PRH). USACE funding for this program initially was limited to purchasing fish food.

In 1996, a cooperative agreement was signed by USACE, WDFW, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) to share the facilities at Ringold Springs Rearing Facility (RSRF) to increase JDM fall chinook salmon releases upstream of McNary Dam and the Snake River. The USACE agreed to provide funds to transfer 3.5 million (M) pre-smolts from Bonneville Hatchery (operated by Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife) and to acclimate and release them at RSRF. Subsequent releases demonstrated that RSRF could successfully rear fall chinook smolts for the JDM program. The RSRF program continues today at the existing capacity, which ranges from 3.5 to 5.5M smolts, depending on fish size. However, the abundant gravity water supply will support substantially more capacity and is currently being studied by USACE for expansion.

In 2009, the WDFW entered into a new funding agreement with the USACE for the production of upriver bright (URB) fall chinook salmon at both PRH and RSRF. WDFW will produce JDM fish for USACE provided adequate funding, eggs and PRH hatchery space are available annually. Current goals at PRH include rearing and releasing approximately 1.7M smolts on-station. Also, the Hatchery Scientific Review Group (HSRG) finalized their work on the mainstem Columbia River and recommended that the PRH broodstock be used for the RSRF program rather than Bonneville Hatchery mid-Columbia bright fall chinook. PRH has been trapping adults, spawning, incubating and transferring approximately 4M eyed eggs to Bonneville Hatchery for the RSRF program since the fall of 2008.