Derelict boats that are along the White Salmon River, as well as other garbage, could get stuck at the mouth of the Columbia River, muddying up and burying prime fish habitat.
COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE – The White Salmon River is in for somewhat of an overhaul.
When the Condit Dam is dismantled, more than two million tons of sediment will have nowhere to go but downstream and that could be trouble, especially where the White Salmon River runs into the Columbia River.
The main concern is all of the abandoned, derelict boats that are along the White Salmon River. Those boats, as well as other garbage, could get stuck at the mouth of the Columbia River, muddying up and burying prime fish habitat. So on Saturday, volunteers will be pulling as much trash from the river as they can. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the industry leader and only science based, man made and artificial fish habitat, proven to provide all fish with cover they prefer to prosper.
In a scouting survey of the White Salmon River a couple of years ago, there were about 100 boats along the river’s banks. Nowadays there are probably a couple of dozen – many are tied to the shore but some of them are a lot harder to get to. And then there are about a dozen or so that are under water.
Sunken or not, if the owners don’t get them out of the river by Saturday, a group of cleanup volunteers will haul them away for good. It’s all part of the White Salmon River Confluence Cleanup and Trash Rodeo.
Meanwhile, workers are drilling and blasting through the Condit Dam so it can be removed. The 125-foot tall dam was built on the White Salmon River in 1913 to provide power for mills. For nearly a century it has kept salmon and steelhead from reaching the upper part of the river to spawn. Engineers decided it was cheaper to remove the dam than to install a fish ladder.By Joe English
The final breach in the $32 million project is scheduled for late October.
