Work is underway this week to remove the smolt slides at the Ballard Locks.
The smolt slides are basically “baby salmon slides”, which allow younger salmon a safe route to transition from fresh water to salt water, according to Natural Resource Specialist Katie McGillvray. They are installed every spring in April and removed in the autumn.
The maintenance team is currently removing the smolt flumes in order to make the spillway gates available for the rainy season.
Photos from Hiram M. Chittenden Locks on Facebook
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
Yet another assault on our precious natural resources.
Huh? The ladders are to help baby salmon reach the ocean, and they are removed every fall as rainfall increases and requires the spillways to operate. How exactly is that an assault on natural resources?
By not giving the salmon year round ability to reproduce, we are hurting the entire ecology of the area.
let me guess, we will all die in 12 days???
We only have one climate, we better not ruin it.
It is nature that didn’t give the salmon a “year round ability to reproduce” you spaz.
Don’t feed the trolls. Mock them instead.
thanks for the information. i never heard about a smolt slide before. it sounds like something salmon do for fun during the summer, like a ride at an amusement park. maybe i’ll write a song about it.
Jesus there are some stupid people on this site!
Most truthful statement yet!
Haha yep. It’s what happens when you have an unmoderated forum. Sometimes the crazies get in.