Young salmon could be faring better because they like cool water or because increased turbidity helps them hide from predators such as northern pikeminnow, walleye and bass. Brian Brown, hydrosystem manager for the fisheries service, said the agency believes that increased flows in both spring and summer help salmon. The agency, which is responsible for salmon protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, has no intention of abandoning flow augmentation, Brown said. The federal government boosts flow in the spring by filling reservoirs as much as it can by the end of winter. That means it is normally able to let springs flows go while still maintaining full storage in reservoirs.
Water is released later in the year to augment summer flows.
This year is different because to meet wintertime power demand during an unusually dry year, federal agencies have released some stored water they normally would save until spring. We have heard the arguments against that and did not find them persuasive.