Condit Dam and White Salmon River 11-18-2011
Today we got a tour of the dam and the opportunity to see the project from another perspective. The river continues to eat away at the debris deposited in the lake bed. Things that most impress me are that the river looking downstream at mid lake has dropped the river about 30 feet in 17 days, the water level is down a good 10 feet into gravel/rock deposits at NW lake park and that when the coffer dam comes out there will be even more lowering of the river level/channel in the lower river. There is an incredible amount of debris in the lower river at the mouth that has not washed into the Columbia, the Steelhead fishery at the mouth of the White Salmon is currently a mud bath about 3″ deep. No migrating fish will be stopping here to enjoy the cool fresh water anytime soon.