Powerdale River Mile 3 Habitat Enhancement Project

The Hood River Watershed Group (HRWG), Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs (CTWS), and Columbia Land Trust have prioritized habitat enhancement projects on the mainstem Hood River along the Powerdale Corridor. The Powerdale Corridor includes approximately 400 acres running along approximately three miles of the Hood River, just outside the City of Hood River. For nearly a century, the land was owned by a utility company for the purpose of operating the Powerdale Hydroelectric Project. After removal of the Powerdale Dam in 2010, Columbia Land Trust and Hood River County accepted ownership of the property, creating a prime opportunity to implement restoration projects along the Corridor.

The mainstem Hood River, including the Powerdale Corridor, has the greatest number of native fish species and life stages present in the watershed, including spring and fall Chinook salmon, summer and winter steelhead, coho salmon, Pacific lamprey, bull trout, sea-run and resident cutthroat trout, and rainbow trout. The mainstem affords the best opportunity for habitat restoration to benefit fall Chinook recovery within the Columbia Gorge/Hood River ‘population’. Additionally, restoration in the lower mainstem Hood River would benefit juvenile salmon and steelhead from the Hood River, as well as adults migrating up the Columbia, since the Hood River is one of twelve primary cold-water refuges on the lower Columbia River (EPA 2020).

Through the process of conducting a feasibility study for restoration opportunities along the Corridor, HRWG, CTWS, Columbia Land Trust, and other project partners have identified the River Mile 3 Project as a high priority project for implementation. The project aims to reconnect approximately 2,000 feet of the mainstem Hood River to floodplain habitat that was cut off from the river nearly 100 years ago by infrastructure associated with the Powerdale Dam. FIP funding will support the project design, cultural survey, and construction oversight.

The mainstem Hood River, including the Powerdale Corridor, has the greatest number of native fish species and life stages present in the watershed, including spring and fall Chinook salmon, summer and winter steelhead, coho salmon, Pacific lamprey, bull trout, sea-run and resident cutthroat trout, and rainbow trout. The mainstem affords the best opportunity for habitat restoration to benefit fall Chinook recovery within the Columbia Gorge/Hood River ‘population’. Additionally, restoration in the lower mainstem Hood River would benefit juvenile salmon and steelhead from the Hood River, as well as adults migrating up the Columbia, since the Hood River is one of twelve primary cold-water refuges on the lower Columbia River (EPA 2020). Through the process of conducting a feasibility study for restoration opportunities along the Corridor, HRWG, CTWS, Columbia Land Trust, and other project partners have identified the River Mile 3 Project as a high priority project for implementation. The project aims to reconnect approximately 2,000 feet of the mainstem Hood River to floodplain habitat that was cut off from the river nearly 100 years ago by infrastructure associated with the Powerdale Dam.