Salmon are spawning for the first time in nearly 30 years in McKay Creek, a tributary of the Umatilla River near Pendleton.
The spawning is the result of the partial removal of a fish weir, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
ODFW on Friday, Feb. 23, reported fishery co-manager staff, ODFW and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, found a high number of redds —72 — in the 6 miles below McKay Creek Reservoir Dam during a recent survey in lower McKay Creek.
Redds are the nests female salmon make to lay their eggs.
Steelhead will be able to use the habitat this spring to spawn as well, according to ODFW.
That means a fish passage project started last summer is producing near immediate results as salmon and summer steelhead now can use this habitat to spawn and possibly rear.
Fishery co-managers in July 2023 coordinated with the federal Bureau of Reclamation to drop the left-hand side of an adult weir that’s been in place since the 1990s and was blocking adult salmon and steelhead passage. This is part of a larger effort working toward improving fish passage at McKay Creek Reservoir Dam. ODFW ranks the dam as the 11th highest fish passage priority in the state.
The BOR installed the adult weir at the mouth of McKay Creek to keep anadromous species out of this section due to flows being shut off during the winter months to retain water in the reservoir for contracted irrigation storage. In 2004, a federal mandate under the Endangered Species Act required the bureau to release 10 cubic feet of water per second in the nonirrigation season months to protect any juvenile ESA listed summer steelhead or bull trout that might have migrated into McKay Creek.
“We could definitely see a higher number of salmon and steelhead returning to the Umatilla basin in the upcoming years because of this now available habitat in McKay Creek,” according to Taylor McCroskey, ODFW Umatilla District fish biologist. “Again, it’s the first time adult salmon and steelhead will be able to spawn in McKay Creek since the adult barrier went in back in the 1990s.”
That available habitat is the lower 6 miles of the creek, below the dam, which blocks fish passage to 108 miles of habitat and represents 26 miles of stream miles upstream of the dam. According to ODFW, the habitat above the dam also represents about 25% of suitable steelhead spawning and rearing habitat in the Umatilla River Basin. The McKay Creek drainage produces some of the coldest water in the basin, making it ideal spawning/rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead.
Woo Hoo!