Herm,

The Nisqually has only a small amount of storage at Alder reservoir, so if got the kind of precip that the northern rivers just did, Alder and LaGrande Dams would be spilling out of control also. There is nothing Tacoma or the Corps could do about that.

The Skagit crested at about 165,000 cfs and 42 on the gage at Concrete today. If it hits that height at Mt. Vernon (it probably won't) that would be higher than a 100 year flood. It's been a bad week to be a salmon up there.

Wooley Worm,

The Corps is required by Congress to keep flows to no more than 12,000 cfs on the Green River at Auburn if possible. They pass natural flows through Howard Hanson Dam most of the winter, except when higher floods threaten. Then in late winter and early spring, they begin storing some of the spring runoff to augment summer flows for fish and M&I water to Tacoma.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.