PNNL

Abstract

In the Snake River basin of the Pacific northwestern United States, hydroelectric dam operations are often based on the predicted emergence timing of salmon fry from the riverbed. The spatial variability and complexity of surface water and riverbed temperature gradients results in emergence timing predictions that are likely to have large errors. The objectives of this study were to quantify the thermal heterogeneity between the river and riverbed in fall Chinook salmon spawning areas and to determine the effects of thermal heterogeneity on fall Chinook salmon emergence timing. This study quantified river and riverbed temperatures at 15 fall Chinook salmon spawning sites distributed in two reaches throughout 160 km of the Snake River in Hells Canyon, Idaho, USA, during three different water years. Temperatures were measured during the fall Chinook salmon incubation period with self-contained data loggers placed in the river and at three different depths below the riverbed surface. At all sites temperature increased with depth into the riverbed, including significant differences (p