Army Corps seeking comment on Detroit Lake drawdown and hydropower

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking public comment on two requirements: A deep drawdown for Detroit Lake in fall 2026 and studying a permanent end to hydropower production at Willamette Valley dams.

Comments will be accepted until Friday, June 6, and may be submitted by mail, email or in public meetings by filling out comment cards.

The Tribe has been demanding that the Army Corps follow congressional directives to study removing hydropower from its dams, and court and federal orders to implement more deep drawdowns to enable juvenile spring Chinook and winter steelhead to pass through the dams so they can migrate to the ocean. The measures are considered critical for the survival of both species.

To read more about this topic, visit www.smokesignals.org and type “The salmon situation,” into the search bar.  

Send comments to Willamette.eis@usace.army.mil or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CENWP-PME-E/ Willamette EIS, P.O. Box 2946, Portland, OR 97208-2946.

Public meetings where comments may be submitted will be held online from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 28, and from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 29 at www.nwp.usace.army.mil/WVS-EIS.

There will be in-person meetings from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 31, at Detroit City Hal, 345 Santiam Ave., and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 3, at Broadway Commons, 1300 Broadway St. NE, Salem.