Field report No. 1

Observed August 9, 2026

SALMON TRAVEL(and sometimes, people.)

Snake & Clearwater confluence, Lewiston, Idaho — U.S. Forest Service, 2015

Basin: Columbia / Snake
Observers: USGS, USACE via DART
Readings: Daily means, provisional
Distribution: One reader

01State of the River

All readings August 9, 2026 · U.S. Geological Survey

Two gauges, both federal, both public. One sits on the Snake before it reaches the dams; the other sits on the Columbia after both rivers have joined. Together they describe the corridor a returning salmon has to swim.

Snake River flow

12,500cfs

70% of normal for this date

Normal is 17,900 cfs (68 years, 1958–2025)

Snake River near Anatone, WA (13334300)

Columbia River flow

125,000cfs

72% of normal for this date

Normal is 173,000 cfs (146 years, 1879–2024)

Columbia River at The Dalles, OR (14105700)

Water temperature

21.8°C

1.8°C above the 20°C limit

EPA limit for migrating salmon is 20°C

Columbia River at The Dalles, OR (14105700)

What this means

Both rivers are running at roughly 70–72% of their long-term normal for this date, and the water is 1.8°C warmer than the limit the EPA sets for migrating salmon. Less water, moving slower, holding more heat. For a fish swimming several hundred miles upstream on a fixed annual schedule, those are the two conditions that matter most.

Where these gauges sit

Bonneville Damwhere the fish are counted

The Dalles gauge125,000 cfs · 21.8°C

The four damslower Snake River

Anatone gauge12,500 cfs

Bonneville Dam — where the fish are counted
The Dalles gauge — 125,000 cfs · 21.8°C
The four dams — lower Snake River
Anatone gauge — 12,500 cfs

Fig. 1 — lower system, schematic. Mouth at left. Not to scale.

Why this is contested

Four federal dams sit on the lower Snake River. Each one turns a stretch of moving river into a slack reservoir, and slow shallow water absorbs more summer heat than fast water does. The EPA has identified the dams as the dominant source of heat in this basin, adding as much as 2.5°C in late summer — which is the mechanism behind the temperature reading above.

The Conservation Alliance funds conservation groups working to remove these four dams and reopen the habitat upstream. Its funded partners include the Idaho Conservation League and the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association. Columbia Sportswear is a member company of the Alliance.

The four dams, downstream to upstream

Ice Harborcompleted 1961
Lower Monumentalcompleted 1969
Little Goosecompleted 1970
Lower Granitecompleted 1975

Built between 1961 and 1975 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. All four are still in place today.

Aerial photograph of Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River, water spilling over the gates, surrounded by dry farmland. — Ice Harbor, the furthest downstream of the four, eight miles up from the Columbia. The flat water behind it is the reservoir.David Falconer / U.S. National Archives, 1973

02State of the Salmon

Counts through August 9, 2026 · Columbia River DART (UW / USACE)

Two adult spring Chinook salmon holding over cobble in clear shallow river water.

Adult Chinook counted past Bonneville Dam — 2026 season so far

153,931

January 1 through August 9, 2026 · fishway water 21.8°C

Spring Chinook, Salmon River, Idaho — BLM, 2016

Through the same date last year, 194,006 fish had passed. This season is down 40,075 fish, or 21%.

24% of last year's full season

2025 total — 632,461

The route upstream

A salmon returning to spawn in Idaho enters the Columbia from the Pacific and climbs eight dams to get home. Each dam has a fish ladder, and the Army Corps counts fish at every one. Bonneville is the first — the number above is taken there, closest to the ocean, before any of the attrition upstream.

Columbia RiverPacific to the confluence
1. Bonnevillecounted aboveRM 146
2. The DallesRM 192
3. John DayRM 216
4. McNaryRM 292
Snake Riverconfluence to Lewiston, Idaho
1. Ice HarborRM 10
2. Lower MonumentalRM 41
3. Little GooseRM 70
4. Lower GraniteRM 108

RM = river mile, the distance upstream from each river's mouth. Lewiston, Idaho sits just above Lower Granite and is the furthest inland seaport in the western United States.

Silhouette of a fish counter at a lit viewing window inside Bonneville Dam, a salmon passing behind the glass. — How the counting is actually done: a person at a window in the ladder, tallying fish as they pass.David Falconer / U.S. National Archives, 1973

Historic photograph of the switchback fish ladders on the north side of Bonneville Dam, with water spilling over the dam behind them. — The ladder itself — a switchback staircase of pools that lets a fish climb the height of the dam.U.S. Forest Service, c. 1937–1950

Counting runs April 1 through November 30 at all eight dams, sixteen hours a day, worked in shifts. The rest of the year it is done on video. It remains the most honest travel report in the Pacific Northwest.

Field note: adults only. Jacks — early returners between twelve and twenty-two inches — are tallied separately and are not in the figure above. The Corps furnishes these counts without warranty as to accuracy; they stay provisional.

Aerial view looking east up the Columbia River gorge, with Bonneville Dam, its spillway and navigation lock spanning the river.

Plate 05 — Bonneville Dam, river mile 146

Every fish in the count above came through this one structure, and somebody watched each of them do it.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2003

03The Human Migration

Subject: Columbia Sportswear

Every year, Columbia Sportswear moves thousands of people across hundreds of routes. Unlike salmon, they expense it.

The Army Corps knows how many fish passed Bonneville yesterday. Most companies cannot say the same about their own people.

Migration instrumentation compared: salmon versus corporate travel
Measure	Salmon	People
Counted at	Eight ladders	Quarter close
Reported	Same day	After the trip
Reimbursed	Never	Eventually

What Navan changes

01
One system of record
Travel, expense and card in a single ledger, categorized as it happens.
02
Policy at the point of booking
Controls sit inside the booking flow, so the cheaper itinerary is the default one.
03
A close, unsentimental view
Committed and unbilled spend by team, region and route, in real time.

One system of record

Policy at the point of booking

A close, unsentimental view