noticeable declines in the numbers of salmon and steelhead follofred that 

 year. No one is certain just irtien the last salmon -was seen, but all 

 agree that they disappeared from the river sometime during the last 25 

 years. 



In upstream order, the next six dams are constructed of concrete 

 for the use of flashboards and are from U to 8 feet high. With the flash- 

 boards in place none of these dams is passable to the upstream migration 

 of fish. This is due not so much to the height pf the dans, but because 

 the overflow spills across the entire crests of the structures onto con- 

 crete aprons of varying -widths, making it impossible for fish to jump. 

 These dams also have plank -walkways above the flashboards that add to -the 

 difficulty of passage. 



The next dam is located in the city of Pendleton. It is a con- 

 crete struct-ure U feet high -with a single flashboard crest and -with a 

 broken do-wn, 5-step fish-way at the south end* It is passable at all 

 times at the nor-bh end near the point of diversion. The remaining t-wo 

 dams above Pendleton are temporary earth and rock stmctures that are 

 passable at all times* 



The limiting factor on the Umatilla River as it concerns chinook 

 salmon and steelhead trout is a total lack of -?>ater near the mouth at the 

 time of year that these fish are migrating. The potential value of the 

 stream to these fish remains, but under existing conditions of -water use 

 this value is nullified. 



The present demands for -water irrigation are in excess of the 

 available water dviring the critical sximmer season. This demand, to- 

 gether -vdth the prospect of putting additional lands under irrigation, 

 plus the demand for flood control in the Pendleton area, has promptiBd 

 -the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to investigate the possibilities of 

 -water storage on the river. T-wo sites for storage dams have been stud- 

 ied above and below the confluence of Meacham Creek. Insofar as ana- 

 dromous fish are concerned, until such time as an adeq-uate sustained 

 flow can be main-bained in the lo-wer Umatilla -there is no necessity for 

 improving conditions for -the passage of fish, or for conducting further 

 investigations preparatory -bo restocking the stream* 



UA. Butter Creek . — (May 27, 19iilij Nielson. ) Enters the Umatilla 

 River 13 miles above the mouth. This stream is about l6.5 miles long 

 from -bhe mouth to the confluence of i-bs north and south forks* The 

 entire flow is diverted for irrigation, there being t-wenty diversions 

 and twenty- t-wo dams* All of -bhe diversions sire small, carrying from 

 1 to 5 c«f.s. The dams are all flashboard type s-bruct-ures -with concrete 

 bases and abu-bments. Butter Creek in its present condition is of no 

 value to salmon or steelhead trout. 



27 



