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

Public invited to share their voices on Foster and Green Peter Lakes Master Plan for Land Use
11/5/2024
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (USACE), invites community members to participate in shaping the future of land management at Foster and Green Peter Lakes...
USACE invites public to Willamette Valley reservoir levels info session
5/23/2024
Water managers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) invite the public to an online information session to learn about the summer forecast for the Willamette Valley System (WVS) of dams and...
Swim, paddle, relax: Dive into the summer secrets of seven Willamette Valley reservoirs
5/22/2024
This Memorial Day weekend and continuing into the summer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' reservoirs in the Willamette Valley are overflowing with recreation opportunities for visitors of all ages...

About this project

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 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: