MOUNT VERNON, Wash. - A drier, hotter summer and below-average winter snowpack could make it harder for salmon to spawn and thrive.
Low river flows on the Skagit River and its tributaries could jeopardize salmon, which need ample water to spawn and thrive during the initial years, Brett Barkdull, a biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
"When things dry up, (the salmon) don't have a place to live. It's that straightforward," he said.
The Skagit River is flowing at 8,000 cubic feet per second, or about 80 percent of its normal rate, the Skagit Valley Herald reported.
Some salmon-bearing creeks such as Red Cabin, Jones and Alder creeks are already small and getting smaller, Barkdull said.
Pink salmon are returning to the Skagit in droves, with as many as 1.2 million expected. But there's concern over whether the pinks and other salmon will have adequate spawning grounds with less water in the river and some streams drying up.
"As flows drop dramatically, you end up with much smaller pools. They have to have an area in which to live," Barkdull said.
The shortage of habitat is more pronounced in the lower Skagit, particularly in tributaries that rely on rainfall.
"At this point, if we don't get above-average rainfall, those (lower tributaries) are places that fish won't get into to spawn," Barkdull added.
September is typically the driest month for the Skagit.
But utility officials who operate dams in the Skagit basin said they have safeguards to ensure there's enough water for fish during very dry years.
Seattle City Light, which operates three dams above Newhalem, is required to release between 2,500 and 3,500 cfs of water during and after spawning season.
City Light fisheries biologist Dave Pflug said the utility is also responsible for keeping most of the pink salmon redds, or eggs, underwater during winter and spring.
"There could be half a million pink redds in the river soon," he said. "We need to make sure all of those redds stay underwater, even in the dry weather expected in September and early October."
Puget Sound Energy, which maintains a reservoir behind the Baker dams, also holds a certain amount of water in reserve for emergencies.
The utility would release that water to help spawning salmon "if things really got dire," said utility spokesman Roger Thompson.
