Savage Rapids Dam - Reasons For Removal

Reasons For Removal

The Rogue River in southwestern Oregon is one of the nation's most outstanding rivers and the second largest producer of salmon in Oregon outside of the Columbia basin. Because of its scenic beauty, world-class whitewater, and its internationally renowned salmon and steelhead fishery, it was one of the original group of rivers designated as “wild and scenic” with the passage of the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968. The Bureau of Land Management estimates that some 25,000 visitors use the Rogue River each year.

The Savage Rapids Dam had long been considered the biggest fish killer on the Rogue River. Located at river mile 107, the dam was the first human-built obstruction that native salmon and steelhead trout encounter during their migration upstream from the ocean to spawn in-river. Upstream of the Savage Rapids Dam, there are over 500 (square?) miles of salmon and steelhead trout spawning habitat, including 50 (square?) miles on the mainstream of the Rogue River. All of this river's prized spring chinook salmon spawn upstream of the dam, and this dam impeded passage of significant portions of the four other runs of salmon and steelhead in the Rogue River, including the coho salmon, which is listed as "threatened" under the Federal Endangered Species Act.

This dam's fish ladders and fish screens did not meet current legal or practical standards. The north ladder only operated during the irrigation season, had poor attraction flows and was generally inadequate. The south ladder had poor attraction flows and it was difficult to regulate flows within the ladder. During the spring and fall, when dam operations were starting up and shutting down, upstream fish passage could be totally blocked. Adult fish were delayed, injured, and sometimes killed while trying to navigate the dam in their upstream spawning migration, thereby reducing overall spawning success. Downstream juvenile fish were impinged on and entrained through the screens over the dam's diversion and pump-turbine systems. There was increased predation of young fish in the seasonal reservoir pool created by the dam and after juveniles pass through the dam's bypass systems. There was a loss of 3.5 (square?) miles of fall chinook salmon spawning habitat that could be reclaimed from the elimination of the seasonal reservoir pool when the dam was removed.

According to a 1995 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Planning Report and Environmental Statement (PRES), removal of the dam would increase fish escapement at the site by 22%. This translates into approximately 114,000 more salmon and steelhead each year (87,900 that would be available for sport and commercial harvest and 26,700 that would escape to spawn) valued at approximately $5,000,000 annually. Reclamation's PRES also found removing the dam and replacing it with pumps to be more cost effective than trying to fix the ladders and screens. The National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife all support dam removal as the best, most viable, and only permanent solution to the fish passage problems at Savage Rapids Dam.