Corridor Description

The headwaters of the Salmon River originate in Lewis County on the southwestern slopes of the Tug Hill Plateau at an elevation of 1800 ft.  The river flows in a westerly direction thru Oswego County before entering Lake Ontario, elevation 250 ft.  The main stem of the river is 44 miles and the change in elevation over the course of the river is 1,550 ft.  Total drainage area is 285 square miles and today include three reaches:

(1)  The headwaters including the North and East Branch of the Salmon River, and their tributaries, including Mad River, Mill Stream, Fall Brook, Cottrel Brook, and Prince Brook.

(2)  The Salmon River Reservoir at river mile 21 (upper reservoir), the Lighthouse Hill Reservoir at river mile 17 (lower reservoir), and the river between, including the bypass reach (original river bed) and the Salmon River Falls at mile 19 (vertical drop of 110 ft)  which was the historical natural barrier to the upstream migration of the native Atlantic Salmon.

(3) Main stem Salmon River below Lighthouse Hill Reservoir including the tributaries Beaverdam Brook, Laney's Brook, Orwell Brook, and Spring Brook.

The historical reaches of the watershed pre hydro development included two reaches - the main stem and tributaries below the Salmon River Falls,  and the river and its tributaries above the falls.  Today the Lower reservoir dam blocks upstream passage of migratory fish to historical habitat below the Salmon River Falls with the loss of 2 miles of river, but the rest of the tributary system below the dam has historical habitat still available.  The upper watershed above the Salmon River Reservoir is a high quality cold water fishery, including stocked and wild native Brook trout, and introduced Brown and Rainbow trout - which have naturalized to the system. The lower main stem is a high quality migratory salmoid fishery consisting of  introduced Pacific salmon, Steelhead, Brown trout, and reintroduced native Atlantic salmon.  The lower main stem tributaries also receive runs of migratory salmonids from Lake Ontario with natural reproduction occurring, along with small populations of native Brook trout and naturalized Brown trout, mainly now being found in the upper reaches of these streams.

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