Sturgeon stuck on Sauvie Island

Owen from Outdoor GPS is saying there are between 500-600 sturgeon high and dry in Sturgeon Lake on Sauvie Island. Many many breeders between 8 and 10 foot. Low tides and no rain have stranded these fish and they can't get back to the Gilbert River. Hoping the Army Corps can dump some water and save these fish.

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Not sure how the Army Corps could raise the level on the Columbia, gonna have to hope for Canada snow meltoff of major rains.   

I am curious how the Gee creek improvements impact this since the supposed major benefits (if i remember right) were that by dredging that channel it would be easier for water to flow out of sturgeon along with built-up sediment. 

It's really sad this has happened. The Columbia is super low right now for how early in the year we are. We're at levels normal for August instead of March. The spring spill season doesn't start for another 3 weeks. The Corps, or BPA actually, absolutely could spill water to fix this, but it's like asking them to flush money down the drain. I can confirm that they did not modify their operations in the past 24 hrs. The region is about to warm considerably though so we will see much more water via natural processes in the next couple days. I really hope it isn't too late.

Spilling water will not raise the level of the river.  Spill is just water going over the top of the dam versus through the dam.  Total flow of the river does not change due to spill, it just so happens that spill tends to coincide with the spring melt-off so river flows tend to increase around spill time.    Most of the the US based dams on the mainstem Columbia and Snake do not have significant storage capacity to pull from to increase flow in the river. Grand Coulee is the only reservoir that has that significant capacity, the rest of the storage is up in Canada. 

The higher temps in the eastern part of the states should help.  Snow melting will feed the tributaries which when you add them all up will help increase flows on the Columbia.  Still not going to do a whole lot. 

The river is incredibly low though.  I go down Barbur Blvd. in PDX every day on my way to work and can see the Willy.  The shallows at Ross Island are still exposed in parts, as is the little island by all the Hoboats. 

Spilling water will not raise the level of the river.  Spill is just water going over the top of the dam versus through the dam.  Total flow of the river does not change due to spill, it just so happens that spill tends to coincide with the spring melt-off so river flows tend to increase around spill time.    Most of the the US based dams on the mainstem Columbia and Snake do not have significant storage capacity to pull from to increase flow in the river. Grand Coulee is the only reservoir that has that significant capacity, the rest of the storage is up in Canada. 

The higher temps in the eastern part of the states should help.  Snow melting will feed the tributaries which when you add them all up will help increase flows on the Columbia.  Still not going to do a whole lot. 

The river is incredibly low though.  I go down Barbur Blvd. in PDX every day on my way to work and can see the Willy.  The shallows at Ross Island are still exposed in parts, as is the little island by all the Hoboats.

You're absolutely correct with respect to my terminology. I should have been more specific when I wrote "spill". But the truth is, to the public, the concept I'm trying to get at is the same whether we're talking about spill, or turbine flow, or lowering the forebay level, or whatever. The idea of "spill" that I'm referring to is flushing more water with the purpose of changing the river conditions.  BPA does have the ability to modify the amount of water that is being sent down the river at any given time.

You are also correct in that most of the dams under their control are not technically storage dams, but rather run of the river dams.  Which makes this problem more difficult. BPA has a extremely large and delicate responsibility when it comes to management of the Columbia. There are many variables to consider. However, an example is that during spawning season for certain species, BPA holds the level of the river at certain levels to aid spawning efforts, or even to influence behavior or spawning fish, like where in the river they create redds.  Like this:

https://www.ktvz.com/news/columbia-river-flow-boosted-to-aid-returning-chum-salmon/842977008

The question they're likely facing with a problem like the sturgeon on Sauvie Island, is at what cost can they accomplish the goal. The cost is probably enormous and they may not be able to make it happen faster than the melt we should see shortly. Or maybe not. I don't actually know all the factors that the river managers are facing at this moment. But I know what it looks like on the river when they suddenly raise the levels.

True about the public’s interpretation of spill.l and I would agree that above bonneville there is a certain buffer that the dam operators, corps and the others, have to regulate pool levels.  Below bonneville there not a lot they can do. Tides play a huge factor there (as we all know when trying to paddle against them), but since they can’t really increase flow (since they aren’t holding any thing back), there’s not a whole lot that can be done. 

More local coverage:
https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2019/03/scores-of-sturgeon-stuck-in-lake-on-sauvie-island-after-water-levels-drop.html

...  (since they aren’t holding any thing back), ...

May I ask how you know this to be the case? I truly mean no disrespect with this question, I'm genuinely curious.

Plot of the main stem river discharge (Q) and stage for the last 3 weeks, closest Q station is downstream at Vancouver but it's close.  The river is running about 75,000 cfs below the long-term historical average for this time of year.  I would be utterly amazed if the Corps and/or BPA can flush enough water out to really help.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&site_no=14144700&period=21&begin_date=2019-03-11&end_date=2019-03-18

...  (since they aren’t holding any thing back), ...

May I ask how you know this to be the case? I truly mean no disrespect with this question, I'm genuinely curious.

Reservoir and water data can be found for the whole region here: http://www.nwd-wc.usace.army.mil/dd/common/sysmap/www/index.html?lat=47&long=-118&zoom=6

Any dam in the system called run of river essentially has no useable storage.

Also the Columbia River treaty spells a lot of it out too: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_River_Treaty

Looks like there just one inlet & no outlet. Anyone know how low Sturgeon Lake & Gilbert Channel are? As a short term fix, why not pump water from the Columbia into the lake & herd the fish into the Gilbert channel? Wouldn't that use less water than opening the dams?
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.7359133,-122.8156207,4909m/data=!3m1!1e3

Looks like there just one inlet & no outlet. Anyone know how low Sturgeon Lake & Gilbert Channel are? As a short term fix, why not pump water from the Columbia into the lake & heard the fish into the Gilbert channel? Wouldn't that use less water than opening the dams?
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.7359133,-122.8156207,4909m/data=!3m1!1e3

With the size of that lake it’d probably be impossible to pump enough water to move the fish without 100+ firefighter pumps, in my opinion. Volunteers with wet material swings pack out as many as you can save and hope for the best?

Not sure if it is complete but work was ongoing to clear the other entrance/exit:

https://wmswcd.org/types/sturgeon-lake/

https://pamplinmedia.com/scs/83-news/403065-298944-restoration-work-on-sauvie-island-continues-pwoff

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2015/04/sauvie_islands_dying_sturgeon.html

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/bill_monroe/2014/10/post_127.html

Paul - ODFW is pumping water, but herding the fish is nearly impossible because that lake is more mud than water. A hovercraft would be the only practical conveyance, and wading would be near suicidal. They’re going to have to get themselves out during high tides.

The situation is looking better. Some fish are getting free with each high tide and the river is on the rise. Luckily these fish are also incredibly robust. Their species has been around for so long for good reasons.