In 1939, construction of Grand Coulee Dam blocked anadromous fish from 1,835 linear stream kilometers of spawning and rearing habitat in the upper Columbia River, causing the extinction of upper Columbia River Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshwaytscha), coho (O. kisutch), sockeye (O. nerka), and steelhead (O. mykiss).  Collectively, these fish accounted for approximately 1.1 million adult migrants to the upper Columbia River annually (Scholz et al. 1985).  The completion of Grand Coulee Dam also altered the natural ecology of the area by inundating about 243 river km of the upper Columbia River, creating Franklin D. Roosevelt reservoir.  Inundation of the upper Columbia River and subsequent hydro-operations changed the system from a river to a lentic habitat, leading to resident fish extinctions of redband, cutthroat, and bull trout (Bryant and Parkhurst 1950; Earnest et al. 1966).  The loss of wild, indigenous anadromous and resident fishes combined with major environmental changes resulted in a substantial ecosystem perturbation to the upper Columbia River.  

In the 1980’s, the stakeholders around Lake Roosevelt began requesting a return of a fishery in the reservoir, and began their campaign by starting up the volunteer net pen project.  Today, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Spokane Tribe of Indians (STOI), Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT), and Lake Roosevelt Development Association/Volunteer Net Pen Project are cooperating in a comprehensive artificial production program to produce kokanee salmon and rainbow trout for annual release into the reservoir.  The Lake Roosevelt Fisheries Evaluation Program was developed to assess the effect of the supplementation program on native resident fish and the ecology of the reservoir, and to assess the effect of hydro-operations on the artificial production program, the native fishery, and the Lake Roosevelt ecology as a whole.

The Evaluation Program’s primary objectives are to monitor and evaluate the performance of the Lake Roosevelt artificial production program and to assess the impact of reservoir operations on the fishery and ecology of Lake Roosevelt.  

FY2019 Work:

Northern Pike Suppression:
Project field work will include fisheries surveys via gillnetting to examine relative abundance of Northern Pike in Lake Roosevelt and feasibility of targeted gillnetting (suppression). Data will be maintained via electronic database and utilized to inform and develop suppression efforts in FY17, FY18 and FY19.

Public Outreach and Coordination:  We also plan to continue public outreach and coordination efforts through the Kettle Falls Water Festival and the Lake Roosevelt Student Discovery Week.  In September and May we plan to participate in outdoor events teaching students about invertebrates, pollution, the environment and Lake Roosevelt.  Coordination will remain a critical component in order to foster interaction and communication between the public, Lake Roosevelt co-managers, researchers, the net pen coordinator, and hatchery managers and personnel.