A US$1M, 88m concrete fish ladder is being constructed to bypass the Electron dam in Washington, to help bring back spawning salmon to the upper reaches of the Puyallap river. The ladder, a joint project between the Puyallap Indian tribe and Puget Sound Energy, will allow fish to access 30 miles of habitat.
The ladder was successfully tested in late October, allowing salmon that had gathered below the diversion dam to quickly migrate upstream.
However, Russ Ladley, resource protection manager for the Puyallap tribe estimated that it will take 10-15 years before biologists know for certain that the run is seeding the habitat.