The Willamette River ranks as the 10th largest river in the lower 48 states. The 187-mile main stem starts south of Eugene and flows north, dropping over Willamette Falls at Oregon City before joining the Columbia River at Portland. Major tributaries are the Clackamas, Santiam, McKenzie, Yamhill, Molalla and Tualatin Rivers.

Willamette Falls history
Willamette Falls was an important economic and social gathering place for Native Americans to fish and gather lamprey eels off the rocks. The falls are deeply rooted in their culture. Early settlers soon realized the economic opportunities of harnessing the power of the falling water. In 1889, Willamette Falls Electric Co., a predecessor of PGE, made the first long-distance transmission of electricity in the United States – 14 miles from Oregon City to the streetlights of Portland.

As demand for electricity grew, our longest-running hydroelectric plant, the T.W. Sullivan plant, was completed on the West Linn side of the Willamette in 1895. During the next half-century, technological advances allowed us to modernize the plant and by 1953 the plant was generating 16,000 kilowatts.

Falls a seasonal barrier to fish
Before development, Willamette Falls presented a seasonal natural barrier to migrating fish. Spring chinook salmon and winter steelhead were the only two species that could ascend the falls in later winter and early spring.

In a letter to the editor of The Oregonian on Aug. 12, 1870, a writer suggested that the Legislature build a fishway over the falls. He wrote that “salmon are found in all the waters of Oregon except those of the upper Willamette.” In 1885 the first fish ladder was excavated out of the solid rock. Though primitive, this ladder did help fish move above the falls. Technology and knowledge of fisheries advanced over time, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife designed the current fish ladder, which was completed in 1971.

Sullivan Plant designated green
The Sullivan Plant hydro project is now an official producer of green power. The plant joins PGE's Pelton Round Butte project as two of only a few dozen hydro plants in the U.S. to have earned this designation, including just one other Oregon facility.

The Low Impact Hydropower Institute Board certified Sullivan as low impact based on an extensive array of fish protection and passage improvements, including installation of a second fish bypass system at the powerhouse and construction of a flow control structure at the apex of the falls to improve downstream fish passage over the falls. For more, see the press release.

Fish passage improvements
The above improvements grew out of an agreement PGE signed with a variety of governmental, environmental and tribal organizations to allow continued operation of the Sullivan Plant.

The agreement also takes into consideration maintenance and necessary improvements to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's fish ladder to help adult chinook salmon, coho salmon and steelhead move upstream. The upgrades are expected to increase fish survival rates to 98 percent or better.

Lamprey eel research
PGE also launched a research program for Pacific lamprey. Lamprey are anadromous – they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, and return to fresh water to spawn. They are a traditional food source for Native Americans who harvest them at Willamette Falls.

The Willamette Basin is probably the most important production area for Pacific lamprey in the Columbia River Basin. There is inadequate scientific knowledge of these eel-like fish and speculation on whether they should be listed for protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.