The Fish Passage Center released a report this week that shows a marked
difference in the survival of juvenile that remained in the river
between McNary and John Day dams once the Bonneville Power
Administration decided to provide a limited amount of spill this spring.
Some of the lowest river flows on record, coupled with no spill, or
reduced spill provided too late at Columbia Basin dams to move the main
body of juvenile migrants downstream, resulted this spring and summer in
lower than ever in-river survival for juvenile salmon and steelhead.
By anyone's spin, it was a bad year for salmon and steelhead juveniles.
Chum flows last season cost the Northwest hydroelectric system a
significant amount of valuable water and partially depleted headwater
storage reservoirs. Despite this effort, when regional fisheries and
operations managers shut off chum flows in mid-March, only 20 percent of
Columbia River chum had emerged from mainstem redds and even fewer had
emerged from Hardy Creek and Hamilton Springs spawning areas.
The Bonneville Power Administration officially ended Oct. 3 a power
emergency that had been in effect since April 3.
The emergency was declared by BPA administrator Steve Wright when the
agency realized that a combination West Coast power shortage, high
wholesale electricity prices and a drought that had depleted water
supplies caused the reliability of the region's electricity system to be
in peril.
The Columbia Basin's healthiest wild fall chinook population took a
potentially severe hit this spring and early summer with at least 1.6
million fry dying outright -- the victims of low river flows and
fluctuating water levels in south-central Washington's Hanford Reach.
Citing better than expected stream flows, but an uncertain financial
position, the Bonneville Power Administration proposed this week to
increase spill at two federal dams.
As a result of the proposal, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers increased
spill Wednesday at The Dalles Dam to 40 percent of river flow for 24
hours and to 24-hour spill of 50,000 cubic feet per second at Bonneville
Dam beginning Thursday evening.
A quick-fix at Tumwater Dam on central Washington's Wenatchee River has
restored the flow of sockeye surging toward their spawning grounds --
and restored anglers' hope that they'll be able to pull the salmon from
Lake Wenatchee's waters for the first time since 1993.
The Bonneville Power Administration this week agreed to begin a limited
summer spill program at two lower Columbia River dams to help juvenile
salmon remaining in the river pass federal projects.
At the multi-agency Implementation Team meeting this week, BPA said it
can spill 30 percent of the river at The Dalles Dam for up to two weeks
and about 45,000 cubic feet per second for 5 hours per day at Bonneville
Dam, depending on actual river flow.
Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton on Wednesday announced that she
had authorized the Bureau of Reclamation to release water from southern
Oregon's Upper Klamath Lake to irrigate area crops that have been left
parched in order to preserve the precious liquid for endangered sucker
fish that inhabit the lake.
The Bonneville Power Administration announced Thursday that it will fund
approximately $10 million worth of projects aimed at helping fish
affected by this year's power emergency operations at federal
hydroelectric projects in the Columbia Basin.
Columbia Basin fish and wildlife managers and others watching this
year's mainstem and tributary flows fear the worst for migrating
juvenile and adult salmon as the summer warms.
The forecast for January-July runoff as measured at The Dalles Dam fell
to 54.7 million acre feet or 52 percent of normal ...
The Idaho Power Company laid out a plan to meet power production
requirements in July and August at its Hells Canyon complex of dams this
week, guaranteeing that it will pass 100,000-acre feet of water each
month. Depending on power requirements and market conditions, IPC could
pass as much as 400 kaf during the two-month period.
Water should be spilled at Columbia and Snake river dams this summer to
help juvenile salmon and steelhead migrate to the ocean -- but only if
the reliability of the region's electricity system is not jeopardized,
the Northwest Power Planning Council recommended Wednesday.
Water should be spilled at Columbia and Snake river dams this summer to
help juvenile salmon and steelhead migrate to the ocean -- but only if
the reliability of the region's electricity system is not jeopardized,
the Northwest Power Planning Council recommended Wednesday.
Reducing spill at federal hydrosystem projects below levels outlined in
a National Marine Fisheries Service biological opinion would have
"negligible" impacts on migrating Snake River fall chinook salmon
juveniles, according to a preliminary Northwest Power Planning Council
staff issue paper released for public comment June 13.
A hydropower vs. fish debate jumped onto the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission stage this week, with fishery agencies from Alaska to the
Northwest, as well as tribal entities, protesting a proposal to forego
spill operations this summer at two mid-Columbia dams in order to
increase energy production.
A hydropower vs. fish debate jumped onto the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission stage this week, with fishery agencies from Alaska to the
Northwest, as well as tribal entities, protesting a proposal to forego
spill operations this summer at two mid-Columbia dams in order to
increase energy production.
Even with a large rate increase imminent, a drop in market electricity
prices and a huge reduction in load from the region's utilities, the
Bonneville Power Administration says a decision about summer spill is
too close to call.
BPA officials say the agency needs a water supply forecast of 54.8
million acre feet to 55.4 maf at The Dalles, January through July,
before it can initiate summer spill this year.
The limited spill at four lower Columbia River dams will end tonight
(June 15). Based on a decision made by federal agency executives at a
June 8 meeting, the regional Technical Management Team this week ordered
spill to stop at midnight.
The Northwest Power Planning Council Wednesday endorsed a staff analysis
showing improved regional power system reliability while voicing
concerns about how that information had been used to justify spill
programs at federal hydro projects intended to aid fish passage.
During the Wednesday meeting, Council members from Idaho, Montana and
Washington said current spill regimes may not be justified, and were
implemented without the consultation that the Council had requested.
A Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order has cleared the way for a
proposed Columbia Basin "spill exchange" the agency says will both
assure flexibility and reliability" in the regional power grid and
protect fish species listed under the Endangered Species Act.
A limited amount of spill at lower Columbia River dams will continue at
least through next week, said the Bonneville Power Administration after
a meeting today (June 1) of the federal executive committee.
BPA said the regional response to load reduction efforts and the
addition of diesel generators is allowing the agency to extend the spill
for at least one more week, but that spill could go through mid-June.
Reacting to improved news about the region's electric system reliability
from the Northwest Power Planning Council, the Bonneville Power
Administration said today (May 25) that it will not only extend spill at
two lower Columbia River dams through next Friday, it will also spill
water through McNary and John Day dam spillways through Tuesday in an
effort to move juvenile salmon downstream.
The barge ride for nearly 360,000 juvenile salmon and steelhead
collected at the lower Snake River's Lower Granite Dams was cut short
early Saturday morning when problems with fish tank overflow screens
forced the fishes' release upstream from Ice Harbor Dam.
The barge ride for nearly 360,000 juvenile salmon and steelhead
collected at the lower Snake River's Lower Granite Dams was cut short
early Saturday morning when problems with fish tank overflow screens
forced the fishes' release upstream from Ice Harbor Dam.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
