“[It] is the time of year when we have juvenile salmon migrating downriver,” said Julie Ammann, Northwestern Division, Reservoir Control Center chief.
“Whatever water we put over the spillway, we are not able to put through the turbine units. So, it does change our hydropower generation amounts.
We do spill every spring, typically starting April 3rd on the Lower Snake River; April 10th down here on the Lower Columbia River. We’ve been doing this operation for several decades.
The amount of spill that we do and how that water is released through the spillway might change a little bit; we make adjustments as we learn more about what works best for fish.
These projects provide a big benefit to the Pacific Northwest through the hydropower, the navigation, our fish operations.”