Dam malfunction forces fish release

LEABURG, Ore. – Malfunctioning gates at a dam on the McKenzie River have led state biologists to release more than 50,000 hatchery trout into Willamette Valley fishing spots at a time of year when there’s not enough food to give them a good chance to survive.

The fish are from a state hatchery at the Leaburg Dam, part of small hydroelectric operations on the McKenzie. The Eugene Water & Electric Board dam dates to 1929.

Two of its gates are closed and stuck that way, the Eugene Register-Guard reported Tuesday. The third gate is open, and officials of the city utility don’t want to move it up or down much for fear it also will malfunction.

So the river is flowing through, draining the reservoir and depleting a supply of water that would normally go into the hatchery, built in 1953.

Dumping young trout this early “is a bit of gamble. There’s not enough food to give them good survival” chances, said Jeff Ziller, a biologist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The department still has 430,000 trout and 110,000 steelhead at the Leaburg hatchery. It is using five portable diesel pumps to draw water from the McKenzie in hope of providing enough in the breeding ponds to sustain them, said Eric Withalm, the hatchery manager.

The agency is also pondering what to do with 800,000 salmon at a hatchery 2 miles downstream that gets water via a canal from the reservoir.

That hatchery is also fed by a small natural stream, but with the canal flow dwindling, “we are looking for another home for those fish,” Ziller said.

Most of the fish trucked Monday to lakes and reservoirs in the south and mid-Willamette Valley are fingerlings. About 9,300 are one-pounders.

The fish are usually stocked in the spring, when there’s more food, such as insects.

The Eugene utility says it is working to fix the Leaburg Dam.

When functioning, the gates roll up to allow water to flow out of the lake, and roll down to shut and build up water in the lake.

The No. 2 gate, in the middle of the dam, abruptly crashed down and shut in 2012. Repair work is underway.

The No. 1 gate stopped working earlier this month. It is largely closed. The utility is evaluating how to make repairs.