The Survey 



!• Deschutes River ♦ — (June 19-2U, 19U2j Frey,) Enters the 

 Columbia River about 15 miles above The Dalles, Oregon. The river has 

 a length of about 2U5 miles and a drainage basin of approximately 

 10,500 square miles. The lower 217 miles, from the mouth to Pringle 

 Falls, -was surveyed. The stream has an average rndth of about 500 

 feet at the mouth, and at the time of survey the flow was estimated at 

 about U,000 c»f»s. Spring run chinook salmon and spring and fall r\m 

 steelhead trout continue to enter the stream. It is reported that the 

 present salmon run is only a small remnant of its former size, but 

 that the steelhead runs are still of significant proportions, particu- 

 larly the fall runs. These fish are subjected to commercial and sport 

 fishing in the Columbia River and to an extensive Indian fishery at 

 Celilo Falls before they enter the Deschutes River. 



The main Deschutes River can be divided into five well defined 

 sections: 1) Mouth to Squaw Creek, a distance of I36 miles; 2) Squaw 

 Creek to the North Canal Dam at Bend, Oregon, a distance of 37^ miles j 

 3) North Canal Dam to Benham Falls, a distance of lU miles j U) Benham 

 Falls to Pringle Falls, a distance of 285 miles j and 5) Pringle Falls 

 to source, a distance of 29 miles. 



Section 1 covers the only part of the river that is accessible 

 to salmon and steelhead trout. This section of stream maintains a 

 large flow of cold water throughout the year, and the only obstruction, 

 Sherar Falls, 15 feet high, located U5 miles above the mouth, has been 

 provided with a good fishway by the Oregon Fish Commission. In the 

 past the falls was the site of an important Indian fishery, and a few 

 Indians continue to go there each year to catch salmon. Today it is a 

 popular spot for sport fishing, and it is estimated that the present 

 Indian and sport fishing accounts for 500 - 1,000 chinook salmon and 

 steelhead trout annuailly. Bottom materials in this section are domi- 

 nately bedrock and boulders, with suitable spaiming areas being con- 

 fined to limited areas at the edges of pools. One fair-sized spawning 

 area occurs near the i5)per end of the section but no utilization by 

 salmon is reported. The river in this section is narrow and deep with 

 a fast current, and is mainly a succession of deep resting pools and 

 rapids. The Oregon Fish Commission operates a rearing station at Oak 

 Springs, about k miles downstream from Maupin, Oregon, lihere several 

 h\mdred thousand chinook salmon are reared and released ann\ially. The 

 Oregon Game Commission operates a trout hatchery at the same site. 

 The only tributaries of value enter the main river in this section. 



In Section 2 there are three falls and two cascades that impede 

 or block the upstream passage of fish. The first of these is Steelhead 

 Falls, about 15 feet high located about U miles above the confluence of 

 Squaw Creek and the main Deschutes River. A fishway has been blasted in 



