Dams in the McKenzie Watershed
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Date
2020
Authors
Long, Nicole
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The McKenzie River is a river at work, and the primary tools for harnessing its power have been dams. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) owns two of the dam systems on the McKenzie, including the Cougar Dam, the tallest dam in Oregon. The Eugene Water and Electricity Board (EWEB) owns the other two dam systems. I conducted my research through observational site visits to all four dam systems as well as other areas, including a salmon spawning channel maintained by EWEB. I also conducted two semi-structured interviews with a McKenzie River Guide and a staff member of the McKenzie Watershed Council. I supplemented my observations and interviews with literature research. I found that the dams on the McKenzie have cut salmonids off from over 20 miles of their ancestral spawning habitat. In addition to being fish passage barriers, the dams have reduced the McKenzie’s riparian zones due to the cessation of nutrient and debris flows. The large size of Cougar Dam’s reservoir decreases the river’s temperature, which disrupts salmon migration and spawning. Native plant and animal species such as cottonwood, alder, caddisfly, and roughskin newts are affected by the simplification of the river and its floodplain due to the dams. Human communities in the McKenzie Watershed are protected from floods by the dams, and they are a necessary reality. However, there is an ethical way to use the dams, such as renovating their infrastructure, and ways to mitigate their effects, such as restoring habitat downstream.
Description
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Keywords
environmental studies, dams, sustainability, native fish, watershed health