The tin foil hat crowd, better known as the Deschutes River Alliance, recently made a blog post that continues to harp on pH levels in the Lower Deschutes. This is a tired topic, but since they keep making unproven claims, I’ll keep responding. Simply put, as independent scientists and ODFW have shown, and the courts have ruled, pH levels have not been a threat to fish in the Lower Deschutes.

I have many posts about this, most recently last July, where I wrote:

There is a vocal group who continues to harp on Lower Deschutes water quality. Of course, years ago their lawsuit was dismissed for lacking “material fact” but that has not dissuaded their continued harping on the issue. As I wrote way back in 2017, target statewide pH levels do not reflect the specifics of the Deschutes and do not reach levels considered hazardous to salmonids. An independent scientific study in 2019 stated that pH levels should continued to be monitored, which is ongoing.

More importantly, annual fish abundance and health surveys performed by ODFW, continue to show no decline in fish quantity or quality. You can also read about that in my post from last July. If you want to be informed by real science and get the latest updates on this you need to attend this year’s Deschutes Fisheries Workshop.