May 2025- New Salmon Data
See the newly published findings of two years of stream surveys in the Pudding River Watershed. In 2023 and 2024 our snorkel contractors surveyed large swaths of the watershed, and the data is an detailed blueprint of how fish are doing and what projects should be prioritized moving forward.
Highlighting a Couple of Streams
Abiqua Creek
An estimated 39,070 juvenile Coho were counted in Abiqua Creek in 2023, 281% higher than 2014. This represents a piece of the success story of Coho in the Willamette Basin above Willamette Falls, a place where they weren’t historically present.
Butte Creek
Butte Creek saw a significant warming of it’s lower mainsteam and tributaries in 2023 as compared to 2014, as did many of the streams in the watershed. As a result, lower reaches that were rearing salmon in 2014 were no longer doing so in 2023.
Silver Creek
No juvenile Coho, Steelhead, Chinook, or Trout were documented in Silver Creek in 2023, a 100% reduction from 2014, when there were 1,700 juveniles. The likely cause of this is too much warm water spilling over the top of the Silverton Reservoir.
How are the Snorkel Surveys Done?
Check out our Youtube video that shows how Jeremy Lees, owner of Bio Surveys, and his team conduct stream inventories and why they are so important for priorizting restoration projects. They also recorded:
- Water temperature data at many important locations
- Spawning gravel amount and quality
- Beaver presence and activity along streams
What Comes Next?
The report makes a series of recommendations for improving fish habitat in the Pudding River Watershed. We’ll be using this report to prioritize projects and generate grant applications to fund habitation restoration and enhancement projects. A few of the opportunities are:
- Added channel complexity and large wood projects
- Removing barriers to fish passage
- Protecting and expanding areas of cold water
Want to Read the Full Report?
The Final Report is 114 pages and full of technical information, but if your level of interest and expertise are a good match for that level of data, dive right in and enjoy yourself.