DART Columbia Basin "Quick Look" Summer Water Temperature with Sockeye and Steelhead Adult Passage

Data Courtesy of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NWD and Grant County PUD and Chelan County PUD and Douglas County PUD

Mainstem Columbia

Bonneville Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

The Dalles Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

John Day Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

McNary Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

Snake Basin

Ice Harbor Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

Lower Monumental Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

Little Goose Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

Lower Granite Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

Upper Columbia

Priest Rapids Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

Wanapum Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

Rock Island Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

Rocky Reach Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

Wells Forebay WQM Summer Water Temperature 6/1 to 9/30 current year with forecasted and historical data. Sockeye and Steelhead adult passage counts current year with average of 10 years historical run timing.

Query Notes and Methods

Figures show for each location: (1) the top plot the daily average water temperature data at Columbia River and Snake River forebay water quality monitor (WQM) sites with inseason forecast temperatures, highest observed (historical period) and historical mean with +/- 1 standard deviation (SD); (2) the middle plot the historical run timing 10 year average for sockeye and steelhead adult passage; and (3) the bottom plot the current sockeye and steelhead adult passage counts. Observed data is updated daily; inseason forecasts are updated weekly.
Water temperature data can be noisy and difficult to QA/QC. For Rock Island, years 2000 and 2007 are excluded from historical data. For Wells, year 2001 is excluded from historical data.
Visualizations inspired by the work presented at Fraser River environmental watch, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
For additional information including individual year details for Water Temperature, please refer to the DART River Environment Graphics & Text query and DART River Environment Metadata & Glossary.
Water Quality Forecasts based on Observed Water Quality Monitoring for Columbia and Snake River Dams and Temperature Forecasts Methods and Information
For additional information including individual year details for sockeye and steelhead Adult Passage, please refer to the DART Adult Passage Counts Graphics & Text query and DART Adult Passage Visual Counts Metadata & Glossary.
Historical Run Timing average for sockeye and steelhead adult passage for 10 Years generated by DART Adult Passage Counts Historical Run Timing

Critical temperature thresholds for adult salmonids in the Columbia River

Compiled by: W. Nicholas Beer, 2016

Apart from the impact of high temperatures that may lead to metabolic stress (Brett 1995) or disease (McCullough 1999), temperatures have an impact on travel rates (Bjornn and Reiser 1991). There are two components to this. First, bioenergetic efficiency allows fish to swim most rapidly in optimal temperature waters (Hinch and Rand 2000). E. g., Columbia River Chinook and Fraser River sockeye swim most rapidly near 16°C (Lee et al. 2003; Salinger and Anderson 2006). Second, sufficiently high temperatures delay migration, e.g. Chinook are known to slow their migration above 20°C (Goniea et al. 2006), and several species completely cease migration above 21°C including Chinook, steelhead and sockeye (McCullough 1999; Quinn et al. 1997) .

Although individual tolerances to temperature are determined partly on acclimation temperatures, diel variation, spatial variability and fish size, temperatures above 21°C are widely regarded as detrimental to migration. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends using a metric called the “7 day average of daily maximums” (a.k.a 7DADM) which “can be used to protect against acute effects, such as lethality and migration blockage conditions” (EPA 2003). This is 20°C for salmon/trout migration.

Finally, extreme temperatures lead directly to mortality. These thresholds are near 24°C and 25°C for steelhead and Chinook respectively.

References

Bjornn, T. C., and D. W. Reiser. 1991. Habitat requirements of salmonids in streams. Pages 751 in W. R. Meehan, editor. Influences of Forest and Rangeland Management on salmonid fishes and their habitats. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.

Brett, J. R. 1995. Energetics. Pages 3-68 in C. Groot, L. Margolis, and W. C. Clarke, editors. Physiological ecology of Pacific salmon. University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, B.C.

EPA. 2003. EPA Region 10 Guidance for Pacific Northwest State and Tribal Temperature Water Quality Standards. Region 10 Office of Water, Seattle, WA.

Goniea, T. M., and coauthors. 2006. Behavioral Thermoregulation and Slowed Migration by Adult Fall Chinook Salmon in Response to High Columbia River Water Temperatures. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 135(2):408-419.

Hinch, S. G., and P. S. Rand. 2000. Optimal swimming speeds and forward-assisted propulsion: energy-conserving behaviours of upriver-migrating adult salmon. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 57:2470-2478.

Lee, C. G., and coauthors. 2003. The effect of temperature on swimming performance and oxygen consumption in adult sockeye (Oncorhynchus nerka) and coho (O. kisutch) salmon stocks. Journal of Experimental Biology 206:3239-3251.

McCullough, D. A. 1999. A Review and Synthesis of Effects of Alterations to the Water Temperature Regime on Freshwater Life Stages of Salmonids, with Special Reference to Chinook Salmon.

Quinn, T. P., S. Hodgson, and C. Peven. 1997. Temperature, flow, and the migration of adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the Columbia River. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54(6):1349-1360.

Salinger, D. H., and J. J. Anderson. 2006. Effects of Water Temperature and Flow on Adult Salmon Migration Swim Speed and Delay. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 135(1):188-199.