Power disruption, aging infrastructure impact fish hatchery

The main electrical power feeder from Lost Creek Dam to the Cole M. Rivers Hatchery failed at the end of April 2021. Since then, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has been working to repair the line and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) staff have assisted as needed.

Corps staff worked diligently to repair the 4,675-foot-long underground direct buried cable that had multiple faults with splices, but the cable has exceeded its life expectancy. Hatchery staff are using emergency equipment to run the facility but there are likely impacts to some of the hatchery fish, according to Tammy Mackey, Portland District Fisheries Section chief.

“The power loss is disrupting our ability to warm incubation water for the hatchery spring Chinook, summer and winter steelhead, and rainbow trout,” said Mackey. “This disrupts growth rates and the ability to meet size release targets, which could affect their survival rates,” she said. “We are committed to finding a solution, as quickly as possible.”

Corps officials expect this to effect one brood year.

The Corps owns Cole M. Rivers Hatchery and ODFW operates the facility where ODFW raises spring Chinook, coho, summer and winter steelhead and rainbow trout to meet mitigation requirements for construction and operation of Lost Creek Dam.

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