Foster Fish Collection Facility Rebuild

The Corps of Engineers has upgraded the Foster Dam adult fish facility near Sweet Home, Oregon. This work, which finished in February 2014, included upgrading portions of the existing facility on the dam and powerhouse structures and constructing large new fish collection, holding, sorting, spawning and transportation features on the south bank of the South Santiam River from the powerhouse west into Wiley Park.

We selected Wiley Park as the best location for the new facility features because it had the largest amount of clear space available for construction and is already Corps of Engineers property. 

The original facility collected adult fish for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s South Santiam hatchery to compensate for habitat blocked by construction of Foster and Green Peter dams. The new facility will continue to support the hatchery program, but will also safely trap and haul wild adult fish upstream of Foster and Green Peter dams via transport trucks, where they will be released to spawn naturally. 

This project is required under the 2008 Willamette Project Biological Opinions produced by the National Marine Fisheries Service and U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and is part of our ongoing efforts to restore Upper Willamette River spring Chinook salmon and winter steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act.  The existing facility does not meet current fish handling standards. Fish are often physically handled and sometimes injured, contributing to high levels of pre-spawning mortality.

Contact us

Phone: 503-808-4510

Email us about the Foster Fish Collection Facility Rebuild Project.

Closures and other near-term public impacts will be announced on Facebook and Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/portlandcorps and http://twitter.com/portlandcorps

Latest News Releases

Corps seeks public input for Willamette Valley hydropower report to Congress
10/30/2023
The Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will gather the public’s perspective and opinions on the future of hydropower across the Corps’ Willamette Valley system of dams during three...
Corps assessing future of hydropower production in Willamette Valley
9/1/2023
In two virtual public information sessions, the Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will discuss the role of hydropower at their Willamette Valley dams, and how they’re answering Congress’...
Corps advises recreation users check Willamette Valley boat ramp availability ahead of Labor Day weekend
8/10/2023
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District advises boaters to check availability of boat ramps in the Willamette Valley ahead of the Labor Day weekend...

About this project

Collapse All Expand All
 Status and timeline as of March 2013

The Natt McDougall Co. of Tualatin, Ore., is the construction contractor. Construction remains on schedule.

October 2012: Initial mobilization and site preparation

Summer 2013: In-water work

February 2014: Construction complete

March 2014: Facility begins operations

 Public impacts
Some sections of Wiley Park will be removed from public use permanently to accommodate the new facility. Other sections will be temporarily closed during construction. We do not anticipate the entire park being closed at any time.

Some short-term, temporary closures of the boat ramp at Wiley Park are also likely, but the boat ramp will remain open as much as possible during construction, particularly during fishing seasons.

During peak construction, we estimated that about 30 vehicles per day may need to access and leave the site, possibly resulting in short-term traffic delays. Flaggers may be deployed to temporarily halt traffic to facilitate safe entrance and/or exit of heavy equipment and vehicles. A small amount of construction in the forebay is also required, so traffic control may be implemented on the dam itself.
 Documents and multimedia

Aerial view of proposed facility:

 

3-D model of proposed facility: