I received a comment on the blog last week from Bob MacRostie, the retired manager of the Deschutes Valley Water District that supplies drinking water to the Culver-Madras area. He wished us success but was was wondering just how effective this project was likely to be at restoring fish runs above the dams.
I also want to point out that we needed to construct a temperature control tower to meet water quality standards attached to the new federal license for the project. A substantial percentage of the cost can be attributed to returning the lower Deschutes River temperature cycle back to normal. This will happen quite dramatically during the winter of 2009-2010, with the result being a much cooler Lake Billy Chinook, warmer spring downstream releases, and cooler fall downstream releases than at present.
— Don Ratliff, PGE biologist
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