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Priest Rapids Facility is Regional Steelhead Monitoring Site
July 24, 2007

WDFW employees Chris Eilers (left) and Janet Eckenberg, watch as Chinook salmon moves through Offladder Adult Fish Trap

Janet Eckenberg examining Steelhead

EPHRATA, WA – When examining a Steelhead, Janet Eckenberg knows how to distinguish the difference between a lamprey bite wound and a seal scratch.  She’s also thrilled to be working in the new Off Ladder Adult Fish Trap (OLAFT) facility at Priest Rapids Dam. The fish ladder at the dam is one of the monitoring points for upstream migrating steelhead in the mid-Columbia River system.

The new state-of-the-art facility, built by Grant PUD at a cost of $4.2 million, was a requirement of the Biological Opinion issued by NOAA Fisheries in 2004.  It replaces a single trap built more than 20 years ago.

Operation of the original trap was often hampered by low water in the upstream side of the dam. Design and engineering of the new trap included cutting three holes in the dam.  One hole was cut to provide a source of gravity-fed water and the other two provide ingress and egress for the fish entering and leaving the trap.

The OLAFT consists of an elaborate series of submerged openings, diversion channels, turning pools and an elevated set of false rapids.  The purpose of the device is to divert steelhead from the fish ladder into a holding tank where they are examined, measured, recorded and implanted with a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag before being returned to a channel that routes them back into the fish ladder. 

The trap is operated by three employees that work for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, identifying and recording the species of fish passing through the device. Steelhead are diverted into a holding tank, while other species including shad, sockeye, whitefish and Chinook are routed back into the fish ladder to continue their journey upstream.

Construction of the new facility started in August 2006 and began operation July 10, 2007. The trap is operated two days a week from July until mid-October. 

The facility is part of the utility’s compliance with the interim Biological Opinion issued for the Priest Rapids Project in May 2004 by NOAA Fisheries and adopted by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on December 16, 2005.  The listing of a species as threatened or endangered initiates a regulatory process that imposes requirements upon any agency, municipality, or individual whose activities affect a listed species. 

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Grant County Public Utility District is a Washington state municipal corporation that began electric service in 1942.  Owned by the people it serves, Grant PUD generates and sells electricity to Grant County residents and millions of customers throughout Central Washington and the Pacific Northwest.  The Priest Rapids Project, comprised of Priest Rapids and Wanapum Dams, produces nearly 2,000 megawatts of clean, renewable and reliable electricity – enough to supply a city the size of Seattle.  A leader in science based technology; Grant PUD is committed to finding effective measures for the protection, mitigation and enhancement of salmon, steelhead and other natural and cultural resources.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kathy Kiefer

Grant County Public Utility District News Release © 2007