February 2009

A new fish ladder at Lyle Falls will greatly boost fish populations that are culturally important to the Yakama Nation and prized by recreational anglers.

Work will begin this summer to upgrade the 50-year-old fish ladder at Lyle Falls, just upstream from the Columbia River, giving fish far better access to more than 60 miles of prime spawning habitat that they now often cannot reach. Biologists expect the project will help more than double the Klickitat runs of species such as spring Chinook. The Klickitat reaches onto Yakama Nation lands and is an important tribal fishery.

By strengthening the fishery, the Lyle Falls project will promote expanded tribal, sport and commercial fishing. It will also create more than 20 jobs.

BPA, the Yakama Nation, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service are joint sponsors of this work, the first major construction project to be implemented under the landmark Columbia Basin Fish Accords.

The poorly functioning ladder now blocks more than half the annual coho run from reaching habitat upstream. The upgrade will ensure that at least 90 percent of the run gets through. It will also benefit fall chinook, spring chinook, steelhead, bull trout and lamprey.

The overhaul will fix several critical problems, including:

• Sediment and low water often prevent fish from entering the ladder. A redesigned entrance will provide fish access during all but the highest river flows, when fish usually aren't migrating anyway.
• The ladder is too steep. The overhaul will lengthen the ladder about 330 feet so it slopes more gradually, offering fish an easier climb. The work will also add new resting pools along the way.
• Fish exit the ladder into rapids that wash them back downstream. They'll exit the rebuilt ladder in calmer waters.
• Sharp corners impede lamprey. The new ladder includes rounded corners to assist Pacific lamprey, which are weaker swimmers than salmon and have trouble negotiating sharp turns.
• Crude monitoring facilities stress fish. Crews now must physically handle fish, but the new ladder will include state-of-the-art technology so fish pass through untouched.

"Lyle Falls is a very important place for the Yakama People," said Ralph Sampson Jr., Yakama Nation Tribal Council chairman. "We have fished this site since time immemorial. With the loss of Celilo Falls, this site remains one of the last places where tribal members can harvest salmon using traditional methods. It is a place where we pass down this important part of our heritage to the next generation.

 

The Yakama Nation believes that the fishway improvement will result in increased natural production, and that production will in turn provide greater numbers of salmon to complete the circle of life and replenish important nutrients to the river.

BPA is committed to moving ahead with many more projects like this under the new Fish Accords - dedicating new resources toward fish and reducing the risk of conflict and litigation.