The Sherman Creek Hatchery (SCH) is one of two facilities provided to partially mitigate for the loss of anadromous and resident fish due to the construction of Columbia River mainstem dams. The intent of this project is to continue working with the Lake Roosevelt artificial production projects to provide readily accessible sport and Tribal subsistence fisheries that are compatible and beneficial to the ecological conditions in Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake (Grand Coulee Dam impoundments)It is located immediately adjacent to Lake Roosevelt at the mouth of Sherman Creek. This is three miles west of Kettle Falls, Washington and 101 miles upstream from Grand Coulee Dam. SCH consisting of three large concrete raceways and support facilities was constructed in 1991, and became operational in April 1992 with first releases later that year. In 1999 SCH added twenty net pens at river mile 699 to facilitate increased rearing capabilities on Lake Roosevelt. Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) constructed the Hatchery. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) performs annual operations and maintenance with funding provided by BPA. In 1991 BPA and WDFW entered into a non-discretionary 25-year Memorandum of Agreement to fund the operations and maintenance. Current operations include use of native / indigenous stocks for propagation into Upper Columbia River Basin Waters. These include native Kootenay Lake kokanee salmon from the Freshwater Fisheries Society of British Columbia and native white sturgeon in conjunction with the Transboundary Upper Columbia White Sturgeon Recovery Project. The intent of this project is to continue working with the Lake Roosevelt artificial production projects to provide readily accessible sport and Tribal subsistence fisheries that are compatible and beneficial to the ecological conditions in Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake (Grand Coulee Dam impoundments). Artificial production has been determined a feasible method for sustaining viable fisheries in Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Spokane Tribe, Colville Confederated Tribes and Lake Roosevelt Development Association/Lake Roosevelt Volunteer Net Pen Project are cooperating in a comprehensive artificial production program to produce kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) for annual releases into the project area. The program consists of the Spokane Tribal Hatchery, Sherman Creek Hatchery, Ford Trout Hatchery and Lake Roosevelt Rainbow Trout Net Pen Projects. The Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake Fisheries Evaluation Programs monitor and evaluate release strategies and production methods for the aforementioned projects. Between 1985 and 2011 the collective projects have annually produced up to 800,000 rainbow trout and 4 million kokanee salmon for release into
Lake Roosevelt and 1.4 million kokanee fry for Banks Lake. The current annual release goals include: 3.7 million kokanee fry, 250,000 kokanee yearlings and 750,000 rainbow trout yearlings for the project area. This project is funded by the Bonneville Power Administration under directives by the Northwest Power
Conservation Councils Columbia River Basin Fish & Wildlife Program, Resident Fish Substitution Measures, 1987 to current (Subbasin Plan), as partial mitigation for anadromous and resident fish losses in the blocked areas above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams. Sherman Creek Hatchery provides artificial production on Lake Roosevelt consistent with the Lake Roosevelt Guiding Document and the Lake Roosevelt Fisheries Evaluation Project (LRFEP) recommendations. This proposal was prepared through the collective assistance of the entire Lake Roosevelt Fishery Enhancement Projects with the LRFEP as project lead.