PGE’s 2024 Adult Fish Migration Report: Tracking Steelhead, Chinook, and Sockeye Upstream
The graph above illlustrates reintroduction origin Chinook, steelhead and sockeye returns in years 2012-24. The bump in steelhead numbers since 2020 might look somewhat promising, but more than a third of these are trucked around Lake Billy Chinook. These fish never encounter PGE’s Selective Water Withdrawal Tower. In any case, fish reintroduction upriver from the Pelton-Round Butte project for all three anadromous species is a very long way from achieving its goals.
By Hannah Camel, Water Quality Coordinator, Deschutes River Alliance
PGE has released its 2024 Adult Migration, Survival and Spawning Annual Report for the Pelton-Round Butte Hydroelectric Project. The report tracks the returns of steelhead, Chinook and Sockeye returns to the Pelton trap, as well as the movement of reintroduction origin fish above the project. The annual report is required as a condition of PGE’s federal license to operate the project.
Summer Steelhead
The 2023–2024 run brought 135 reintroduction-origin adults (all reintroduction-origin anadromous fish are identified by left maxillary clip, LM) and only one wild-origin adult (right maxillary clipped, RM ) to the Pelton Trap. Including excess broodstock releases, 167 steelhead entered the upper basin. Because summer steelhead runs span two calendar years, the run year is measured from June 1 to May 31 of the following year. The 2023–2024 season concluded on May 31, 2024. Of the 91 steelhead radio-tagged, one was detected exclusively in the Deschutes River, 22 in the Metolius River, and 31 in the Crooked River. The remaining 40% moved between multiple rivers, most commonly traveling between the Crooked and Metolius. Notably, 22 steelhead passed above the Opal Springs Hydroelectric Project on the Crooked River, but only one was detected 20 km upstream— suggesting that steelhead tend to avoid the Crooked once they leave the influence of Opal Springs.
Spring Chinook
The 2024 Spring Chinook run produced just 29 LM-clipped adults returning to the Pelton Trap, with no wild-origin fish observed. In addition, 135 excess brood jacks were passed above the dams into the upper basin. Of these, 48 jacks and six LM adults were released directly into the Metolius River near Camp Sherman, while 87 jacks and 23 LM adults were released into Lake Billy Chinook at the adult release facility. Notably, a large share of the Metolius direct releases had final detections in other systems—13% in the Crooked River and 33% in the Deschutes River. This unusual movement may be linked to the extremely skewed sex ratio in 2024, with 145 males to just 19 females. With very few females in the system, fish are more likely to wander in search of a mate.
Sockeye
In 2024, a total of 21 Sockeye (10 females and 11 males) were released into Lake Billy Chinook. In addition, 26 kokanee were collected. All Sockeye and Kokanee were transported and released into Lake Billy Chinook without tagging. While no radio-tagging was done in 2024, past tracking data suggest that most sockeye migrate into the Metolius River and its tributaries to spawn.
Key Conclusions
While reintroduction origin steelhead numbers to the Pelton Trap were up in the 23-24 run year, all but one were from hatchery smolts, which is not a success in terms of self-sustaining, naturally produced returns. Spring Chinook fared even worse, with no naturally produced fish returning in 2024. One possible reason behind the recent uptick in steelhead returns could be linked to a change in fish passage strategy starting in 2020: of the 100,000 hatchery steelhead reared annually for the reintroduction project, 30,000–40,000 are now trucked around Lake Billy Chinook and the SWW Tower, bypassing the reservoir entirely during juvenile outmigration. In contrast, juveniles that swim through the reservoir face a much tougher journey. However, because smolts trucked around the reservoir and tower are not marked differently, their contribution to adult returns and the impact of this management change is impossible to measure. Not measuring survival (by differentially marking) transported smolts versus those that must negotiate Lake Billy Chinook is hard to defend as solid science.
Further complicating matters, PGE changed its reporting format in 2025. Instead of reporting LM and RM clips, returns are now simply grouped as “released into the upper basin,” limiting public insight into the success of reintroduction efforts. Given that the steelhead counts over Bonneville Dam have been exceptionally high in 2025 so far, it will be interesting to see what returns to the Pelton Trap look like in the coming months. However, the change in reporting will make it difficult to gauge the proportion of wild versus reintroduction-origin fish passed upstream. We’ll have to wait for the 2025 Adult Migration, Survival, and Spawning Report next year to see those details.
This 2024 report highlights the importance of transparent, publicly accessible data because without it, the true status of fish returns remains unclear. To give the public a better picture of progress in steelhead and salmon recovery, ODFW and PGE must collaborate more effectively, moving beyond simplified return data and ensuring detailed information is readily available to the public rather than only within specialized reports.
More From The Blog
Subscribe the the DRA Newsletter
The Deschutes River Alliance is your focused voice to protect the lower Deschutes River, its cold water flows and the fish and wildlife that are sustained by them. We send regular emails with important data and news about the lower Deschutes River. We will not sell your contact information to others.
How to Support the DRA
Everyone wants clean, healthy water in the Deschutes River. Oregonians cherish our clean and healthy waterways to provide drinking water, wildlife habitat and recreational activities. The lower Deschutes River is a federally designated Wild & Scenic River, and a national treasure. It must be protected for the environmental and economic health of Central Oregon. By working together we can return the lower Deschutes River to full health.
