PART 4 

 METHOW AND OKANOGAN MVER SYSTEJilS 



Introcjuction 



The Methow River has its source on the eastern slope of the 

 Cascade Moxmtains, and flows southeast to dir.charge into the 

 Columbia River at the town of Pateros, Washington. The drainage 

 area of the Methow is about 1,700 square miles, and includes an 

 extremely rugged, mountainous area in the headwaters. A large 

 part of the watershed is semi-arid, open, hilly country. The 

 fertile valley lands require irrigation for the best crop 

 production. Melting snow in the high headwaters section 

 maintains a good sustained flow in the upper part of the river. 

 However, the lower main stream and its tributaries become very 

 low in late summer because of irrigation demands. 



The Methow River formerly supported large runs of chinook 

 and silver salmon and steelhead trout. From 1899 through 1914 a 

 hatchery was operated at Twisp by the State of Washington and 

 the Okanogan Country Game Comission. This hatchery collected 

 as many as 2,000,000 silver salmon eggs and about 70,000 chinook 

 eggs annually. However, in 1915 the Washington Water Power Company 

 constructed a dam at Pateros near the mouth of the river which was 

 not provided with fishways of any kind. Since the dam was impassable, 

 no fish could reach the hatchery. Therefore, it was moved downstream 

 to the damsite. Silver salmon eggs were taken at this new location, 

 although in smaller numbers than previously, and in addition 2 to 4 

 million steelhead eggs were taken annually. Practically no chinook 

 salmon eggs were handled by the hatchery during this time, as the 

 run had been virtually extenninated. 



Egg taking was discontinued at this location in 1921. Several 

 attempts were made during the period 1926-1931 to introduce chinook 

 salmon from other hatcheries. These fish were nearly all late fall- 

 rxm salmon taken from tributaries relatively near the mouth of the 

 Col\jmbia, and apparently there was no return to the Methow River ' 

 from these plantings. By 1930, when the power dam at Pateros had 

 been rremoved, the run of silver salmon had all but disappeared, and 

 the rwci of steelhead was very small. At the time of the first stream 

 survey in 1935, a few spring chinook salmon were seen in the main 

 Methow and some of its tributaries. 



The causes for the almost complete disappearance of the large 

 runs of salmon which formerly inhabited this river system are obvious s 

 The mafiy open irrigation diversions resulted in the death of thousands 

 of young migr&nts annually, a fact which was pointed out by the Washington 

 State Commissioner of Fisheries as early as 1902. The diversion dams, 

 which were often impassable during low water stages, seriously hindered 



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