NOAA Announces Kellogg Dam Removal

Photo: Ryndon/Flickr

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced a partnership with American Rivers to remove the Kellogg Dam at the mouth of Kellogg Creek. Kellogg Creek is a tributary to the Lower Willamette River, which in turn is a tributary to the Columbia. This dam removal project will open up spawning habitat for chinook, coho, Pacific lamprey, and steelhead that utilize the Willamette River for spawning.

American Rivers will receive $15 million from NOAA to conduct studies and initial construction for the dam removal process. Once the dam is fully removed, NOAA anticipates that the project will open up 17 miles of stream and restore 15 acres of floodplain habitat.

The Kellogg Dam has been in place since 1858, which NOAA notes is the same year that Abraham Lincoln ran for Senate. The dam ceased operations 40 years later.

“It’s basically been limiting fish passage and backing up stagnant water for 125 years,” said Megan Hilgart, Marine Habitat Resource Specialist for the NOAA Restoration Center. “There are traces of chinook and coho salmon upstream, but nothing compared to how many should be there.”

Additional habitat work will be completed to restore the floodplain, mitigate contaminant risk from the sediment backed up behind the dam, and restoring structures for coldwater fish in the Lower Willamette River to utilize.

You can read more about the project here.