with the exception of temperature, that 

 would indicate the water to be questionable 

 for aquatic life. Average water tempera- 

 tures in excess of 65° F. may persist for 

 a month or more at McNary Dam, at Pasco and 

 in the lower reaches of the Snake and 

 Yakima Rivers. 



Engineering Department was utilized for data 

 analysis. 



Kingsley G. Weber, Fishery Research 

 Biologist, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 Seattle, Washington, was most helpful in 

 administration of the research contract. 



The proposed impoundments in this 

 section of the Columbia River Basin should 

 not alter the chemical or physical quality 

 of the water sufficiently to have any harm- 

 ful effect on aquatic life. Temperature 

 increases during the summer months will be 

 the principal effect these impoundments may 

 have on water quality. Water temperatures 

 in excess of 70° F. should be experienced 

 at McNary Dam for a period of a month or 

 more after the proposed reservoirs are 

 filled. The months of high water tempera- 

 ture will be August and September. 



Additional study is needed on the 

 effect that reservoirs have on downstream 

 water temperatures. Existing data relating 

 water quality to aquatic life is voluminous 

 but difficult to apply as the variables in 

 most bio-assays have been limited. These 

 variables are the test animal, water tem- 

 perature, time and the relative concen- 

 tration of dissolved mineral matter and 

 dissolved gases. More study is needed on 

 the relationship of these variables with 

 the migration and spawning of anadromous 

 fishes in the Columbia River system. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Supplemental data for this report 

 were kindly furnished by: Scott H. Bair, 

 Hydraulic Engineer, Chelan County Public 

 Utility District; Fred A. Davidson, Fishery 

 Biologist, Grand County Public Utility Dis- 

 trict; Herbert A. Swenson, District Chemist, 

 U. S. Geological Survey, Portland, Oregon; 

 M. M. Miller, Hydraulic Engineer, U. S. 

 Geological Survey, Spokane, Washington; aund 

 by Donovan R. Craddock, U. S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, Seattle, Washington. 



Assistance in data collection and 

 analysis was given by the following Univer- 

 si.y of Washington graduate and undergraduate 

 students in Civil Engineering: Robert W. 

 Seabloom, Robert W. Okey, Gerald M. Hansler, 

 John L. Underwood, Lawrence C. Albin, and 

 Leonard L. Whitmire. The Sanitary Engineer- 

 ing Laboratory of the University's Civil 



The study was supported through funds 

 supplied by the Chelan and Grant County 

 Public Utility Districts. 



REFERENCES 



1. Contract for "Investigation of Quality 

 of Water in Relation to Specific Dams 

 Proposed for the Columbia and Wenatchee 

 River Systems," Contract 14-19-008-2506 

 between the United States of America, 

 acting through the Department of the 

 Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, and 

 the University of Washington, June 27, 

 1956. 



2. Correspondence with Chelan County P.U.D. 

 regarding details on the Rock Island, 

 Rocky Reach and Wenatchee hydroelectric 

 developments. 



3. U. S. Army, Corps of Engineers, North 

 Pacific Division, "Review Report on 

 Columbia River zind Tributaries (308 

 Report)," 1948. 



4. Priest Rapids Hydroelectric Development, 

 Columbia River, Washington, Vol. I and 

 II, Public Utility District No. 2 of 

 Grant County, Washington, 1955. 



5. Sylvester, R. 0., "Water Quality Studies 

 in the Columbia River Basin," U. S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, Special Scien- 

 tific Report--Fisheries No. 239, 1058. 



6. Correspondence with U. S. Bureau of 

 Reclamation, Ephrata, Washington. 



7. U. S. Geological Survey, "Irrigation 

 and Streamflow Depletion in Columbia 

 River Basin above the Dalles, Oregon." 

 Water Supply Paper 1220, 1953. 



8. U. S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 

 of Reclamation. "The Columbia River." 

 Report to the Eighty-First Congress, 

 1947. 



9. U. S. Geological Survey, Surface Water 



115 



