On as sunny winter day in 2024, Ben Caviness takes a boat out on Lake Cushman to measure the zooplankton levels for the reintroduced sockeye salmon in the North Fork Skokomish River. Ensuring sufficient zooplankton levels in the lake means the fish can be reintroduced without causing unintended consequences to ecosystem balance.
For Ben Caviness on Tacoma Power’s Water Resources team, protecting the aquatic environment for the fish the public utility stewards looks different every day. Some days, Ben works to secure permits for projects in and near water and salvages fish during projects that require a body of water to be “dewatered,” or the water temporarily removed for the project. During one such project, Ben was part of a team working 15 feet below a coffer dam made from giant gravel bags, working to salvage as many fish as possible (and even one duckling) as the Cowlitz River streamed down the other side of the barrier dam. (Photo included) While most of this work involves nets (called “seins”), Ben has been trained in “backpack electrofishing” to use in certain situations, which when done properly can be used to efficiently find and remove fish without causing harm.
While at Tacoma Power’s Cushman hydro project, Ben launches a boat onto Lake Cushman to measure lake zooplankton levels for the reintroduced sockeye salmon in the North Fork Skokomish River. Ensuring sufficient zooplankton levels in the lake means the fish can be reintroduced without causing unintended consequences to ecosystem balance.
Other days, it means standing downstream of Mayfield Dam on the Cowlitz River with only the moonlight and his cell phone flashlight to illuminate his work as he monitors the Total Dissolved Gas (TDG) in the water during a dam spill event. Ben and his team monitor TDG during spills to ensure the water is not oversaturated with dissolved nitrogen, which can cause “gas bubble disease” in fish, very similar to human divers getting “the bends.”
Ben Caviness tries to measure the maximum depth of a pool for habitat survey.
As caretakers of the land and water we use to generate power for our customers, Tacoma Power’s Natural Resources team also conducts extensive habitat monitoring at our hydro projects. For Ben, this means leading a summer-long habitat resurvey effort at the North Fork Skokomish River below Cushman Dam No. 2. Together with a team, Ben inventoried woody debris in the river, assessed sediment, recording tree canopy cover, and classifying habitat type for over seven miles of river. Very little water flowed through the North Fork for nearly 90 years, and its restoration takes careful monitoring and thoughtful planning from the Natural Resources team.
Between the LaGrande Dam and the LaGrande Powerhouse, a short stretch of the Nisqually River funnels into a canyon. And while this stretch is closed to the public and has little flow, it’s important to monitor for salmon presence. Some days, Ben dons safety gear and canoes through deep pools and boulders over large rocks to monitor salmon.
Aside from his “regular” day job, Ben has also assisted the Wildlife and Lands team within Tacoma Power’s Natural Resources Department to help with archeological monitoring, elk forage field management, wood duck box monitoring, shoreline management, and other projects that are key to maintaining the land surrounding our hydro projects.
As a public utility, providing clean, affordable, renewable hydro power to our customers doesn’t mean cutting corners on our responsibility to the water and land that makes this power possible. Jobs like Ben’s in the utility ensure we are living our values to steward the land we use to create our essential service, protecting it for future generations and for the wildlife that depend on it for their survival. We are proud to say that salmon can and do thrive together with hydropower, and passionate employees like Ben make it their life’s work to ensure the delicate balance in our ecosystem in the beautiful Pacific Northwest remains intact.