Reestablishing salmon runs above existing dams part of Southern Resident Orca Task Force Recommendations

In March 2018, Washington State Governor Inslee established the Southern Resident Orca Task Force to identify, prioritize and support implementation of a long-term recovery plan. This was in response to the continued decline of these whales, including the loss of two whales and a new born calf in 2018.

Of the four goals identified for restoration, the first is increasing the abundance of Chinook salmon (which composes about 80% of their diet).

Under this goal the hydropower recommendation reads as follows:

Hydropower operations:
Improve survival and distribution of Chinook populations

Recommendation 7: Prepare an implementation strategy to reestablish salmon runs above
existing dams, increasing prey availability for Southern Resident orcas. Provide funding to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and regional salmon organizations to coordinate with partners to determine how to reestablish sustainable salmon runs above dams including, but not limited to, the Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams on the Columbia River and the Tacoma Diversion, Howard Hanson and Mud Mountain dams in the Puget Sound. Provide policy support for actions needed. Prioritize projects that produce downstream adult Chinook.

The current number of Southern Residents is 74 and they were placed on the endangered species list in 2005. They travel in pods from central Southeast Alaska to central California, spending most of the year in the Salish Sea near the San Juan Islands.

Task Force recommendations identify a complex set of needs to increase the Chinook population, decrease noise disturbance of sea vessels, decrease exposure to contaminants and prey, and increase funding and outreach.

Click here for Task Force report.