The potential for enhancing salmon survival with major operational or
structural changes at John Day Dam will be explored through a yearlong,
$3.3 million study launched this year by the Corps of Engineers.
The congressionally mandated study is intended to analyze mostly existing
information on the estimated economic costs and biological benefits of
two drawdown scenarios. The first is called spillway crest drawdown, from
the reservoir’s normal operating level of 265 feet above sea level