FISH LADDER
FISH LADDER
Over the past decade, climate change has caused record-breaking heat waves over the Pacific Northwest which has led salmon populations to decline as these high temperatures cook the salmon as they head up the Columbia River. This raised alarms among biologists, environmentalists, and salmon conservationists and led the Environmental Protection Agency and the State of Oregon to create a cold-water refuge map to locates more suitable for salmon spawning since the require colder water to survive(New York Times). The Crystal Springs Creek was identified as one of these locations and provides spawning ground for the endangered Coho salmon. This led to a massive project within Reed Canyon to restructure the creek leading up to Reed Lake for the juvenile Coho salmon to gain access to cold-water (Reed Quest).
Leading the restoration strategy is Zac Perry who is the Restoration Manager and has been for the past 21 years. One of the restoration strategy projects was the construction and reshaping of the lower lake head water area with fish ladders, reforming natural creek bends, and slowing the speed of the river so that it became more hospitable and accessible for Coho Salmon as they journey up to Reed Lake.
As stated in the Crystal Springs Headwater Fish Passage and Restoration Project, “Reed College has developed a plan to restore the canyon and lake to a self-sustaining, ecologically balanced condition over a period of five years” (Canyon Restoration). This project included building a concrete wall (as seen in figure 1), a weir system that are six inches tall steps for juvenile fish to climb up (as picture in figure 2), destroying the outdoor Reed pool, and placing trees and creek bends (as seen in figure 4). Now salmon migrates to the Reed Lake with ease because of Reed and Zac’s efforts to create a self-sustaining environment. Go to the land bridge next to the Physical Plant building and look on the east side of the bridge to see the fish ladder and see if there are fish swimming up it!
Works Cited
College, Reed. “Coho Caught Spawning in Crystal Springs.” Reed Magazine | Sallyportal, 23 Oct. 2014, www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/sallyportal/posts/2014/salmon-spawn-in-crystal-springs.html.
College, Reed. “Reed College.” Reed College | Canyon | Canyon Restoration Photo Albums: Crystal Springs Headwater Fish Passage, 2010, www.reed.edu/canyon/rest/rivelli_farm/index.html.
College, Reed. “Reed College.” Reed College | Canyon | Reed College Canyon: "Reed Canyon Reach", June 2001, www.reed.edu/canyon/reso/docs/2001_PPR.html#_Toc504459799.
College, Reed. “Reed College.” Reed College | Canyon | Restoration Overview, www.reed.edu/canyon/rest/overview.html#IIc.
Johnson, Kirk. “Finding Refuge for Salmon, Cold Water Preferred.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Dec. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/12/12/us/finding-refuge-for-salmon-cold-water-preferred.html?fbclid=IwAR2pYpOCBd_csEH8ybtYEC79i8W_fJRd00Hz-rYkiCxKe0wnYLY7m2uzbiQ.
Lam, Clarissa. “Canyon Column 2: The Introduction of a Restoration Strategy in 1999.” The Reed College Quest, The Reed College Quest, 24 Oct. 2020, reedquest.org/articles/2020/10/16/canyon-column-2-the-introduction-of-a-restoration-strategy-in-1999.
“Wild Coho Spawning in Crystal Springs Creek.” Wild Coho Spawning in Crystal Springs Creek RSS, www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/66158.
Works Cited
College, Reed. “Coho Caught Spawning in Crystal Springs.” Reed Magazine | Sallyportal, 23 Oct. 2014, www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/sallyportal/posts/2014/salmon-spawn-in-crystal-springs.html.
College, Reed. “Reed College.” Reed College | Canyon | Canyon Restoration Photo Albums: Crystal Springs Headwater Fish Passage, 2010, www.reed.edu/canyon/rest/rivelli_farm/index.html.
College, Reed. “Reed College.” Reed College | Canyon | Reed College Canyon: "Reed Canyon Reach", June 2001, www.reed.edu/canyon/reso/docs/2001_PPR.html#_Toc504459799.
College, Reed. “Reed College.” Reed College | Canyon | Restoration Overview, www.reed.edu/canyon/rest/overview.html#IIc.
Johnson, Kirk. “Finding Refuge for Salmon, Cold Water Preferred.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Dec. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/12/12/us/finding-refuge-for-salmon-cold-water-preferred.html?fbclid=IwAR2pYpOCBd_csEH8ybtYEC79i8W_fJRd00Hz-rYkiCxKe0wnYLY7m2uzbiQ.
Lam, Clarissa. “Canyon Column 2: The Introduction of a Restoration Strategy in 1999.” The Reed College Quest, The Reed College Quest, 24 Oct. 2020, reedquest.org/articles/2020/10/16/canyon-column-2-the-introduction-of-a-restoration-strategy-in-1999.
“Wild Coho Spawning in Crystal Springs Creek.” Wild Coho Spawning in Crystal Springs Creek RSS, www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/66158.
BRINGING FISH BACK TO THE CANYON
You may know that Reed lake is home to salmon, and that the fish ladder is there to help young fish get up from the lower stream into Reed lake. But, you may be unfamiliar with the recent history of salmon at Reed and the effort to get them back. Reed Magazine (1997 edition) talks about how in 1996, there were no salmon making it to Reed lake.
Reed’s Green Board wanted to raise salmon and release them into the canyon to help bring back the population, but they were not aware of many of the obstacles present, which contributed to their project being unsuccessful. In 1999, Zac Perry was hired to help lead a canyon restoration project. According to Zac, there were culverts underneath roads, a swimming pool, shallow waters, and plenty of other obstacles preventing fish from being able to swim upstream successfully and make it to campus. The fish ladder was then built under his leadership, opening on November 16 2001, allowing the fish to make it up to the lake.
Reed’s Green Board wanted to raise salmon and release them into the canyon to help bring back the population, but they were not aware of many of the obstacles present, which contributed to their project being unsuccessful. In 1999, Zac Perry was hired to help lead a canyon restoration project. According to Zac, there were culverts underneath roads, a swimming pool, shallow waters, and plenty of other obstacles preventing fish from being able to swim upstream successfully and make it to campus. The fish ladder was then built under his leadership, opening on November 16 2001, allowing the fish to make it up to the lake.
He was also able to work with the city of Portland and widen the culverts so that fish could swim underneath the roads without bottlenecking the stream and all the issues that come with that. He also worked to remove the swimming pool and narrow the creek in places to make the water deeper so the fish could pass through. By 2014, a small number of salmon had returned to the canyon (Tovey). Today, if the sun hits the water just right as you look over the edge of blue bridge, you can see the shadows of schools of young fish waiting to, when the time is right, swim out of the canyon to the Willamette river.
Sources
Uncredited photos taken by author
Perry, Z. (2021, September 1). Lecture to the Restoration Ecology Class on the
History of Canyon Restoration.
Angell, T. (2001). Fish Ladder on Opening Day. photograph, Reed College.
Tovey, R. (2014, October 23). Coho caught spawning in Crystal Springs. Reed
Magazine | Sallyportal.
https://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/sallyportal/posts/2014/salmon-
spawn-in-crystal-springs.html.
Coutsoubos, N. (1996, May). Reintroducing Salmon into the Reed Canyon. Reed
Magazine, 28–30.
THE REED COLLEGE CANYON POOL
Today, the Reed College Canyon is a haven for wildlife and humans alike. Carefully tended trails wind among towering trees, alongside peaceful streams, the Canyon lake, and its ponds. A small pocket of woodland in Portland’s city landscape, the Canyon now touts its natural beauty in every corner of its reaches, all the while remaining a place for Reed’s students and Portland’s inhabitants to enjoy and explore.
The same could not be said of the Canyon in 1915. In its early years, Reed College sought to tame the Canyon’s wild beauty. Mass amounts of plants were burned to clear space for a lawn, and plans were made to turn the Canyon into a sculpted Tudor-Gothic style garden. A pool was to be constructed in place of one of the Canyon’s ponds.
The same could not be said of the Canyon in 1915. In its early years, Reed College sought to tame the Canyon’s wild beauty. Mass amounts of plants were burned to clear space for a lawn, and plans were made to turn the Canyon into a sculpted Tudor-Gothic style garden. A pool was to be constructed in place of one of the Canyon’s ponds.
Canyon Day, a long standing tradition at Reed where the student body takes to the Canyon to clear invasive plants and tend to the paths and trails, began with the Reed College pool. The first Canyon day, held in 1915, consisted of a group of students dredging out a pond on the west side of the Canyon to make it easier to swim in. 1929 would see students clearing the plant life at the edges of this new “swimming hole”, and establishing the foundation for what
would soon become an outdoor pool. This stripped away many native plants and demolished the habitats of the pond’s inhabitants. The Canyon was becoming a neat, empty expanse- easy for its human visitors to navigate and enjoy, but very detrimental to the Canyon’s natural health.
would soon become an outdoor pool. This stripped away many native plants and demolished the habitats of the pond’s inhabitants. The Canyon was becoming a neat, empty expanse- easy for its human visitors to navigate and enjoy, but very detrimental to the Canyon’s natural health.
In 1996, the value of the Canyon’s natural health and beauty was finally realized in full, and a full-scale restoration project began. The pool was removed in 2000, and the space was replanted with native plants. In its place, the College built a fish ladder- a series of logs placed in a stair-like array- to encourage salmon spawning in the area by making it easier for salmon to access the clean gravel they need to lay their eggs in.