Grant County PUD opens new salmon facility on Nason Creek

With the goal of restoring native fish populations of spring chinook salmon, the Grant County PUD has opened a new acclimation facility on Nason Creek. The new $7.85 million facility is located just off U.S. Highway 2, across from the Nason Creek Rest Area.

Grant County PUD is operating the facility as mitigation for its two dams, Wanapum and Priest Rapids. Grant County PUD Fish Wildlife Water Quality Manager Tom Dresser said both dams are referred to as the Priest Rapids project so they are operating under one FERC operating license.

"Spring chinook, summer chinook, coho, sockeye. These fish actually migrate through the Priest Rapids project area, located in the mid-Columbia River. If you look at Grant County, there are no tributaries where spring chinook spawn," Dresser said. "That is the main reason we are in the upper basin here. We are going to areas where wild fish spawn to begin our hatchery facilities."

Grant County PUD was involved in the Nason Creek program back in 1997. Initially, the Nason Creek stock was designated a captive brood program, where you take adults out of the wild and into a hatchery facility where they complete their life cycle.

Dresser said it was a last ditch effort to preserve the last genetic stock of Nason Creek.

"That's how Nason Creek started out. Grant, working with the agencies and tribal representatives, began the program with the first releases into Nason Creek was in 1992," Dresser said. "Pretty low numbers, probably somewhere between 1,300 to 1,500 fish. Discussions continued between Grant and the agency tribal representatives. The thought process was if Grant continued to implement we would get credit in relicensing."

When NOAA issued a biological opinion for the Priest Rapids project in 2004, the next in 2008, Nason Creek became Grant PUD's requirement to implement and fund.

The facility consists of a water intake structure on the creek bed, where water comes into the facility. The water exits back into the creek through another tube. There is an an acclimation building with a series of eight tanks in it. There is a maintenance building, office building for hatchery staff. There are two residents on site 24/7 to make sure they don't have any issues with the fish on station.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is operating the facility for the Grant County PUD. Mark Babiar of Leavenworth is the hatchery manager.

The acclimation facility differs in many ways from a traditional hatchery. The main function of the acclimation facility is restore the wild run of spring chinook salmon on Nason Creek. Adult wild salmon are captured on Nason Creek.

These adults are transferred the Chelan County PUD's Eastbank Hatchery for spawning, incubation and early rearing. Once they are ready, the fish are trucked to Nason Creek in October, November then released into Nason Creek in April or May.

The acclimation facility has some unique features, according Grant PUD Fisheries Scientist Peter Graf.

"We are using these circular vessels. The idea behind the circular vessel is there is a steady current throughout the whole vessel. No slow areas or dead areas. The fish are constantly having to swim against the current. It conditions the fish, so they are in better condition when we release them," Graf said.

The acclimation facility is indoors, due to the amount snow that typically falls in the area. Because of that, Graf said they must use the natural light in another way.

"We use these solar tubes on the roof. One tube for each tank. It collects sunlight and shines light down the tube onto the vessel. That serves to help mimic the photo period and natural light throughout the winter and spring. All that helps them get ready migrate come spring time," Graf said. "That is a newer technology. Fish biologists have known for a long time that photo periods are important. With these facilities with a roof over them, it is important that we use that photo period as a cue for the fish."

Currently on station are 45,000 juvenile spring chinook salmon from 25 adults captured in Nason Creek. The facility is designed to accommodate 250,000 juveniles taken from around 65 adults.

The major difficulty at this point is capturing the wild spring spring chinook from Nason Creek.

"We used a method we call tangle netting, so it required a bunch of guys in snorkels and wet suits out in the creek looking for wild fish. When we identified them and found them, we used nets to corral them, catch them and take them down to the hatchery," Graf said. "We were out in July, August doing that and they typically don't spawn until fall. Spring chinook come up June, July and then they hold until the fall to spawn. That's when we were collecting them."

Graf said this method is unique. But he maintains they are just starting out, so they are still discovering ways to collect the fish.

"What is the best method? It is a bit of a trial and error right now. That is one method we used last year and this year. Likely we will start using different methods, possibly Tumwater downstream as a collection area," Graf said. "The tricky part for this program is we have to have wild fish from Nason Creek. There are no Nason Creek returns, like Leavenworth has. Just wild fish spawning in the river."

There is also a problem collecting at Tumwater Dam, Graf said, because it is impossible to tell Nason Creek spring chinook from the other upper Wenatchee River spring chinook. The genetic signature has become too muddied over time.

The decision on how to proceed on this issue will likely come from the major stakeholders, Grant County PUD, Tribes, NOAA Fisheries and others.

"Some of these fish are PIT tagged, but these fish retain their adipose fins. The fish that came out of Nason Creek are actually wild fish. This is called an integrated hatchery program, where we are managing to try and get wild stock returning," Dresser said. "At some point in the future, we will have hatchery fish returning to Nason Creek. Those fish will be marked to indicate they are hatchery fish. Basically, we want to restore the wild stock."

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.