In Oregon, many endorse opening the Willamette river dams and letting fish coast the natural current as the best way to avoid extinction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has other ideas.
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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is being forced to make immediate and extensive changes to the way it operates the 13 dams in the Willamette Valley, including Detroit Dam, to give native species of fish a chance to survive.
Under an order from federal District Court Judge Marco Hernandez issued July 16, the Corps will be forced to take actions such as improving fish passage and water quality, deep drawdowns of water to allow juvenile fish to pass downstream, spilling water at different times of year, and releasing adult fish above the dams. Hernandez s order laid out broad actions; a later final judgment will contain specifics.