River Cooling System

Latest News

Guard Continues Domestic, Global Missions in a Busy 2022
December 21, 2022 — ARLINGTON, Va. - The National Guard’s footprint on domestic and international events continued in... MORE

Spc. Megan Koszarek, an infantryman with the Alaska Army National Guard’s Avalanche Company, 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, conducts a security sweep during a training exercise near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Dec. 3, 2022. The exercise's aim was to enhance the unit’s combat readiness and evaluate proficiency in an arctic environment.

South Carolina Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing is Mission Ready
October 28, 2022 — WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. – From exercising air power in South America to conducting hurricane evacuations... MORE

Colombian Air Force KFIRs and the U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons from the South Carolina Air National Guard, 157th Fighter Squadron, fly in formation during Relampago VII, an exercise in Barranquilla, Colombia, Aug. 30, 2022. South Carolina is Colombia’s partner in the State Partnership Program.

New York Army Guard Aviators Complete Hurricane Mission
October 11, 2022 — ROCHESTER, N.Y. – New York Army National Guard Soldiers completed their Florida mission helping... MORE

Civilian search and rescue personnel on a CH-47F Chinook helicopter operated by New York Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to B Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, head to a mission on Sanibel Island, Florida, Oct. 2, 2022. At the direction of Gov. Kathy Hochul, the New York National Guard deployed two Chinook helicopters and 11 Soldiers to help the Florida National Guard respond to the destruction caused by Hurricane Ian.

Florida Guard’s RED HORSE Squadron Clears Roads
October 5, 2022 — PINE ISLAND, Fla. – The Florida Air National Guard’s 202nd Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy... MORE

Members of the 202nd Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Squadron, Florida Air National Guard, clear roads of Hurricane Ian debris in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, Oct. 1, 2022. The 202nd RED HORSE Squadron, stationed at Camp Blanding, Florida, is a specialized, highly mobile civil engineering team of Florida Air National Guard members.

Virginia National Guard Prepared for Possible Severe Weather
October 3, 2022 — RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia National Guard staged Soldiers and trucks in the Eastern Shore and... MORE

The Virginia National Guard staged eight Soldiers and four tactical trucks capable of high water transportation on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and 12 Soldiers and six trucks at readiness centers in the Hampton Roads area Oct. 3. The Guard was prepared to respond to potential severe weather if needed.

Virginia National Guard Prepared for Hurricane Response
September 30, 2022 — RICHMOND, Va. - The Virginia National Guard staged about 60 Soldiers and Airmen across the... MORE

Virginia National Guard Soldiers prepare for possible severe weather from Hurricane Ian Sept. 30, 2022, in Powhatan, Virginia. Soldiers assigned to the 180th Engineer Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 329th Regional Support Group, were prepared to provide high mobility transport and clear debris if needed.

Louisiana Guard Joins Hurricane Ian Response in Florida
September 30, 2022 — PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana National Guard is supporting the response to Hurricane Ian in Florida... MORE

Nearly 60 Louisiana National Guardsmen assigned to the 1087th Transportation Company, 165th Combat Sustainment and Support Brigade, 139th Regional Support Group, prepare tactical vehicles to assist emergency operations in Florida after Hurricane Ian, Slidell, Louisiana, Sept. 29, 2022.

Thousands of Guardsmen Supporting Hurricane Ian Response
September 29, 2022 — ARLINGTON, Va. – More than 5,000 National Guardsmen from multiple states are positioned across... MORE

U.S. Army Soldiers with the Florida National Guard's Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and Explosive - Enhanced Response Force Package load supplies as part of their response to Hurricane Ian, Sarasota, Fla., Sept. 29, 2022. Soldiers and Airmen were joined by emergency responders from other states as they mobilized to support the local community.

National Guard Staged for Florida Hurricane Response
September 28, 2022 — ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Some 5,000 Florida National Guard troops were ready Wednesday to help... MORE

Florida National Guard Army Pfc. Kenneth Bonn, a combat engineer with the 753rd Engineering Brigade, inspects a search and rescue vessel during Hurricane Ian state activation, Camp Blanding Joint Training Center, Fla., Sept. 27, 2022. Bonn is part of the Florida National Guard's Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) - Enhanced Response Force Package (FL-CERFP).

Latest Photos

Latest Videos

Video by Chief Petty Officer Matthew Cole

River Cooling System

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District

July 24, 2020 | 3:23

he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has developed and constructed fish cooling systems at Lower Granite and Little Goose dams to alleviate warming water concerns.

Warm water temperatures above 68 degrees aren’t good for salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake river system, and records show that 2015, 2016 and 2017 were the hottest years on record.

When summer temperatures spiked, the Walla Walla District’s scientist, biologists and engineers responded by developing fish cooling systems at Lower Granite Dam and Little Goose Dam on the Snake River.

While building four dams on the lower Snake River between the 1950s and 1980s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed adult fish ladders to allow passage of upstream-migrating adult salmon and steelhead (salmonids) on their way to their natal spawning areas. Since construction, the Corps has made both facility and operational improvements to assist adult salmonid migration as needed.

Historically, the Snake River is known to have experienced high summer water temperatures in years prior to construction of dams. In summer 2013, elevated water temperatures began to occur in Columbia-Snake basin river reaches with and without dams due to unusually hot weather dominating the basin. At Lower Granite Lock and Dam’s adult fish ladder, longer-duration elevated water temperatures began to form a “thermal barrier” to upstream migrating salmon and steelhead, slowing and/or stopping adult fish migration upstream.

During 2015 fish perished throughout the West in rivers with and without dams due to elevated water temperatures. A total of 510,705 sockeye that originated in numerous watersheds passed Bonneville Dam on the lower Columbia River. Snake River-born sockeye comprised about 4,069 of the more-than-510,000 sockeye run, or less than one percent of the total run, as confirmed by Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag analysis.

By the time the survivors of those initial 4,069 Snake River sockeye reached Ice Harbor Dam, the first dam encountered on the lower Snake River, 74.1 percent had perished in the lower Columbia River, and their numbers were reduced to 1,052 Snake River sockeye to migrate up the Snake River.

In response, the Corps developed both an interim solution to the thermal barrier in 2014-2015, and installed permanent cooling systems at Lower Granite Dam in 2016 and at Little Goose Dam in 2017.