Cowlitz Fish Report
The Barrier Dam spillway upgrade construction project is taking place through Oct. 1. Update as of 7/30/21: Although we had to keep our Cowlitz River outflows below Mayfield Dam at around 2,500 cfs for the last few weeks due to the construction, we are now at a phase where we can increase flows again and move back to our typical operations. Please note that the construction work has changed the flow path near the “Cowlitz River Below Mayfield Dam” USGS gage, so the real-time gage readings are not currently available. We will provide further updates on this page and at MyTPU.org/LakeLevels.
September 20, 2021
Last week, Tacoma Power employees recovered 434 coho adults, 108 coho jacks, 278 fall Chinook adults, 17 fall Chinook jacks, 15 spring Chinook adults, one spring Chinook jack, 18 spring Chinook mini jacks, 21 summer-run steelhead adults, and 23 cutthroat trout during five days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery separator.
During the past week, Tacoma Power released 57 coho adults, 18 coho jacks, two spring Chinook adults, one spring Chinook jack, and five cutthroat trout at Franklin Bridge in Packwood and they released 18 coho adults, seven coho jacks, four spring Chinook adults, and six cutthroat trout into the Cispus River near Yellow Jacket Creek.
Tacoma Power released 286 coho adults, 81 coho jacks, 94 fall Chinook adults, 11 fall Chinook jacks, and two cutthroat trout into the Tilton River.
River flow below Mayfield Dam is 2,590 cubic feet per second on Monday, September 20, 2021. Water visibility is 11 feet and the water temperature is 54.5 degrees F. River flows could change at any time so boaters and anglers should remain alert for this possibility.
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Get the Cowlitz Fish Report online at MyTPU.org/CowlitzFishReport. Current river flows for the Cowlitz, Nisqually, Wynoochee and Green rivers, plus lake levels for Riffe, Alder, Wynoochee and Cushman lakes, are available at MyTPU.org/lakelevels.
- Get information about river flows and lake levels at MyTPU.org/LakeLevels.
- Questions? Please email cowlitz@cityoftacoma.org.
Cowlitz Fish Stats:
- Graphs of adult returns by species for each week and 10-year averages.
- Tables of collections by species for each week, season to date and weekly 5-year averages.