Behavior and passage of juvenile salmonids during evaluation of a new fish screen at Cowlitz Falls Dam, 2006

In spring of 2006, Tacoma Power installed a new fish screen at the Cowlitz Falls Project (CFP) with the purpose of improving the collection of anadromous juvenile fish for downstream transport. The new fish screen was placed between the upstream baffle panels and the fish gates and flume system that lead to the Cowlitz Falls Fish Facility. We initiated a radio telemetry evaluation of the screen using juvenile coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). These evaluations were intended to provide guidance to direct efforts to further improve juvenile fish collection. Based on study findings in 2006, and 2007 the screen will be modified and evaluated again in 2008.