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Since You Asked: Chinook eggs could be lost if small streams dry up Wednesday Oct 26, 2016 at 12:01 AM I was wondering about all the fall chinook salmon that supposedly are spawning now in tiny urban creeks because we had a wet October. Don't get me wrong, I think it's cool to have salmon in town. I'm just worried what will happen if these little creeks dry up this winter because we get a little dry spell. Isn't that bad? — J.A., Medford   A dry spell certainly could be a bit troublesome in terms of water flows in some of the creeks where fall chinook have been spawning this month in the Bear Creek Basin, J.A. During early October rains, big fall chinook were able to reach even unnamed tributaries of Bear Creek in Medford, and that is generally considered a good thing, says Pete Samarin, a fish biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. But if they dry up, the eggs will die, Samarin says, and it does happen. "A couple years ago, we lost quite a few in the Illinois (River)," he says. It’s a tradeoff, Samarin says. Eggs laid in smaller creeks can have higher survival rates than ones laid in the mainstem of Bear Creek, where they are at risk of getting blown out in high water, Samarin says. Having more salmon in different habitats is like nature hedging its bet on survival. Each female fall chinook lays about 3,000 eggs for a reason — low survival to adulthood. "I’ll be concerned if the weather pattern turns dry," Samarin says. — Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. To see a collection of columns, go to mailtribune.com/youasked. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.