Advocates Ask Feds to Make EWEB Consider Volitional Fish Passage at Trail Bridge Dam

Eugene, OR — Today, on Earth Day, Advocates submitted a petition to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requesting a cost and viability comparison of volitional passage at the Trail Bridge Dam on the McKenzie River, and interim improvements to temporary fish passage protocols pending the long-delayed installation of permanent fish passage. The dam, operated by public utility the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB), is a caption total barrier to fish passage into the cold upstream stretches of the iconic McKenzie River.

For over seventeen years, EWEB has been out of compliance with federal laws requiring it to provide safe and effective fish passage for imperiled Chinook salmon and bull trout at the Trail Bridge dam, part of EWEB’s Carmen-Smith/Trail Bridge Hydroelectric Project. Both fish species are listed as ‘threatened’ under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The dam obstructs migration of both species, limiting spawning opportunity for Chinook and bull trout and preventing isolated bull trout populations above and below the dam from achieving genetic exchange, decreasing the chance of recovery. Scientists have identified the Upper Willamette River Chinook salmon subpopulation in the McKenzie as a stronghold for this threatened species, but lack of fish passage and other environmental stressors have caused further declines over the past seventeen years. 

“Our goal is to ensure imperiled Chinook salmon and bull trout regain access to miles of pristine McKenzie River habitat above the Trail Bridge dam,” said Bethany Cotton, conservation director for Eugene-based Cascadia Wildlands. “The fact that we’ve been working for years now to get our public utility to live up to its commitment to ‘reduce our impact on the environment and to protect energy and water resources for generations to come,’ is deeply frustrating.”

EWEB’s FERC-issued dam license is conditioned on the construction of permanent fish passage at Trail Bridge dam. In 2008, EWEB agreed to install a fish ladder at the dam, but years later asked permission to install an inferior trap-and-haul system to reduce expense. In 2018, the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to the less effective plan largely because EWEB promised to build that facility within three years of receiving its license. EWEB then missed multiple deadlines and has yet to break ground on a permanent trap-and-haul facility that was required to be completed in 2022. In addition to the ongoing harm caused to Chinook salmon and bull trout, the myriad delays have likely increased costs to ratepayers and the overall expense of bringing the Project into compliance with federal law. 

“The compromise EWEB made with the fish agencies in 2018 had a ten spawning season timeline for EWEB to show that the inferior trap-and-haul worked well enough that a fish ladder was not needed, if not, EWEB was still required to install a fish ladder. Instead of being deep in the monitoring period, EWEB is still at the starting line and prices have skyrocketed, wildfire risk has increased, the road to the dam has been shut down multiple times, and the species have further declined,” said Lindsey Hutchison, staff attorney with Willamette Riverkeeper. “It’s long past time for EWEB to implement fish passage that does not depend on human presence.”

In 2023, on-the-record statements from a former EWEB employee-turned-whistleblower came to light, alleging that EWEB never intended to implement fish passage and that its excuses for delays were not valid. Both the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service subsequently withdrew from the 2018 joint settlement agreement with EWEB and other stakeholders. The expert fish agencies also notified FERC that EWEB could no longer rely on their 2018 Biological Opinions and Incidental Take Statements without reinitiating consultation under the ESA. In April 2024, FERC put EWEB on formal notice of noncompliance with its license terms, noting the potential for civil penalties “exceeding $27,893 per day, per violation.” EWEB has also publicly admitted that its temporary mitigation efforts have either entirely or nearly completely failed and have killed and injured both Chinook and bull trout. 

Cascadia Wildlands brought its concerns about EWEB’s failure to achieve fish passage to FERC and EWEB’s board of commissioners in May 2024. In March 2025, the petitioning organizations filed suit seeking enforcement of the ESA. Not reaching the merits of the case, the court held that FERC was the appropriate venue to raise the non-compliance issues. In December 2025, EWEB asked FERC to reopen its license and announced it would further delay completion of a trap-and-haul system at the dam to 2032. That request made no mention of volitional passage and implied that even more delay is possible.

“Wild salmon and bull trout are incredibly resilient, but seventeen years of delays and failed trap-and-haul efforts have shown us what doesn’t work,” said Jennifer Fairbrother, legislative and policy director at Native Fish Society. “EWEB owes it to ratepayers, to Oregonians, and to these imperiled species to fully evaluate volitional fish passage, and to give these fish a real shot at returning in abundance for the communities and ecosystems that depend on them.”

Cascadia Wildlands, Willamette Riverkeeper, and Native Fish Society are asking FERC to ensure that all viable alternatives for achieving fish passage at Trail Bridge are fully considered, specifically seeking contemporaneous cost analysis of a fish ladder. The request is informed by several years of failed temporary trap-and-haul efforts at the dam due to design flaws and closures of Highway 126 because of wildfires during spawning season, as well as EWEB’s stated intent to further delay permanent fish passage. Trap-and-haul facilities require daily human presence during spawning season, which is not possible if the only access road to the dam is closed. Wildfire season overlaps with spawning season, and this year’s drought and record low snowpack raise the very real concern that wildfire will impact the McKenzie watershed again this year and in the future. The petition also seeks improvements to the failing temporary trap-and-haul facility in advance of the 2026 spawning season to help mitigate the harm caused by the dam. 

The petitioning organizations are advised by attorneys at Advocates for the West, Public Justice, Cascadia Wildlands, and Willamette Riverkeeper.

*** Still images and footage of bull trout and Chinook salmon in the artificial spawning channel below Trail Bridge dam are available for use upon request. Email noah@cascwild.org

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Cascadia Wildlands works on behalf of its over 18,000 members and supporters to defend and restore Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets.

Willamette Riverkeeper is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1996 with thousands of members in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Willamette Riverkeeper focuses on protecting and restoring the resources of the Willamette River Basin in Oregon and works on programs and projects ranging from the Clean Water Act compliance and river education to Superfund cleanup and restoring habitat.

The Native Fish Society is a conservation nonprofit with a mission to restore abundant wild fish, free-flowing rivers, and thriving local communities across Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.

Advocates for the West is a non-profit, public interest environmental law firm that works to defend public lands, water, fish, and wildlife throughout the American West.

Public Justice takes on the biggest systemic threats to justice of our time – abusive corporate power and predatory practices, the assault on civil rights and liberties, and the destruction of the earth’s sustainability. We connect high-impact litigation with strategic communications and the strength of our partnerships to fight these abusive and discriminatory systems and win social and economic justice.