VANCOUVER, Wash. — While federal officials consider breaching one or more dams in Washington to increase salmon survival, state officials are considering increasing spill over the dams to help more smolts survive in the meantime. If there is too little spill at hydrodams, more young, vulnerable salmon are sent down more dangerous turbines to get past them. If there is too much spill, they can die from the pressure, with gas bubbles suffocating their gills. It’s similar to “the bends,” a decompression illness that happens to scuba divers who come to the surface too fast. At the direction of the governor’s orca task force, Washington is trying to strike a balance by increasing spill thresholds so more smolts can make it through. “How much recovery value it has has always been the subject of debate, but pretty much everybody has agreed that more will help,” said Michael Garrity, Columbia River and Water Policy Manager for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. At a public hearing in Vancouver, Washington, the Department of Ecology heard testimony from people who wanted to weigh in on a measure to increase spill. “This is one of the few things the state can do to provide more salmon for orcas in just a few years,” said Sristi Kamal of Defenders of Wildlife. “The more fish that are spilled, the more fish that return to the river as adults to spawn.” The department is considering an increase on ‘total dissolved gas,’ or TDG, on t
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Source: Breaking News
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