07. POWER - Columbia Basin Bulletin - Page 120

9. GRANT PUD BEGINS DAM RELICENSING

October 1, 2003/in 03. HABITAT, 07. POWER

Grant County Public Utility District in eastern Washington began the
long process of relicensing its Priest Rapids hydroelectric project on
the mid-Columbia River last week.
The utility is seeking to relicense the projects for another 50 years.
The current license expires in October 2005.
The PUD began its process with two local informational public workshops,
but will expand that process to include others as it builds a group of
stakeholders to help guide the PUD through relicensing ...

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14. BADGLEY EXHORTS CBFWA MEMBERS

October 1, 2003/in 03. HABITAT, 04. WILDLIFE, 07. POWER, 08. LAW

Columbia Basin fish and wildlife managers are "well positioned to have
a lot of influence" as recovery discussions enter a historic phase, says
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's top regional official.
Federal, state and tribal officials are eyeing recovery options that
range from current operations to dam breaching.
"That is an amazing discussion to be having," said Anne Badgley, USFWS
regional director. Badgley was appointed to the position in August.
She was in Coeur d'Alene, ...

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5. FRAMEWORK ALTERNATIVES CRITIQUED

October 1, 2003/in 03. HABITAT, 04. WILDLIFE, 07. POWER

None were ruled out, but a "constructive review" produced numerous ideas
for reshaping and fleshing out seven proposed alternatives for Columbia
Basin fish and wildlife management.
Alternatives range from dam breaching to current operations with severe
limitations on harvest and emphasis on habitat restoration.
Ecological and "human effects" work group scientists completed their
review -- initially billed as a first-round scientific analysis -- last
week. For the most part the reviews ...

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10. GOVERNORS PLAN PORTLAND MEETING

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER

The governors of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington meet Tuesday
morning to discuss topics of mutual interest -- the operation of the regions
federal hydropower system and efforts to recover Columbia Basin fish and
wildlife stocks.
The "Four Governors" meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m. May
4 at the Northwest Power Planning Council offices in Portland.
Following the introduction of Govs. Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, Marc Racicot
of Montana, John Kitzhaber of Oregon and Gary ...

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11. SMOLT TRANSPORT SEASON HITS STRIDE

October 1, 2003/in 02. RIVER, 04. WILDLIFE, 07. POWER, 08. LAW

The Army Corps of Engineers smolt transportation program for 1999 began
this month, with river operators once again using a combination of spill
and collection/transport to move juvenile salmon and steelhead through
the Columbia/Snake hydropower system.
If 1999 resembles 1998 operations, high percentages of fish will make
the trip by barge or truck.
An April 27 staff memo by the Fish Passage Center indicates that 66-81
percent of the wild yearling (spring/summer) chinook originating ...

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14. FEEDBACK

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER

From: Bob Heinith, hydro coordinator for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal
Fish Commission:
Dear Editor: I wish to set the record straight on my position in the
System Configuration Team as was described in the 4/23 CBB. I was surprised
that my positions were so freely reported by others since I was not at
attendance at the meeting.

I attempt to track the technical development of Corps' capital construction
spending in both the SCT and in other arenas on behalf of the CRITFC ...

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1. GORTON, BABBITT AT ODDS OVER DAMS

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER

Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt and Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash.,
continue to lock horns over Gorton's demand for congressional authority
for any dam removal in the Northwest.

An exchange between the two men on Thursday at a hearing by the Senate
Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, which Gorton chairs, indicated no
breakthrough in their stalemate of last year.

That's when Gorton linked congressional approval of the Administration's
request for funds to begin tearing down two small

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3. HANFORD GROUP MODIFIES STRANDING PLAN

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER

The Hanford Reach stranding policy group agreed to two in-season management
modifications in two weeks, the first in-season changes for the group.

The first change, which deletes the weekend re-wetting operation, was
discussed Friday (April 16) and instituted by noon of the same day. The
second change, which sets flow targets for this weekend, was agreed to
during a conference call Wednesday (April 21).

After several members of the policy group questioned the effectiveness
of ...

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4. MAINSTEM PROJECTS GET CAUCUS APPROACH

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER, 08. LAW

The group responsible for recommending regional spending priorities
to improve fish passage at Columbia-Snake mainstem dams has decided to
tackle the task from three angles -- effectively splitting into three delegations
representing the tribes, the states and the federal agencies.

Members of the three groupings were asked Thursday to decide amongst
themselves how to rank a list of 49 proposed Corps of Engineers' Columbia
River Fish Mitigation Program projects. Each group is to seek ...

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6. JUDGE MARSH: FINISH FISH PLAN

October 1, 2003/in 03. HABITAT, 04. WILDLIFE, 07. POWER, 08. LAW

Participants in U.S. v Oregon negotiations were exhorted Tuesday to
come up with a new Columbia River Fish Management plan to guide hatchery
and harvest activities.

'"I can't express how much I want you to be successful in these
negotiations," U.S. District Court Judge Malcolm F. Marsh said during
a status conference in his Portland courtroom.

"It would be sad if you had to return to this court with one piece
of litigation after another" to settle treaty ...

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7. TRIBES’ FUNDING REQUEST DENIED

October 1, 2003/in 05. INDIGENOUS, 07. POWER

An estimated $180 million in "unspent" capital investment
funds will be used to benefit fish and wildlife beyond the year 2001, not
redirected to fund other mitigation projects during the current budget
period as the chairmen for the four Lower Columbia treaty tribes had requested.

That's the conclusion offered to the tribes by Bonneville Power Administration
administrator Judith Johansen.

The chairmen of the four Lower Columbia treaty tribes in October asked
that ...

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8. DEFAZIO QUESTIONS BREACHING CAMPAIGN

October 1, 2003/in 03. HABITAT, 04. WILDLIFE, 07. POWER

A key Democratic congressman on power and salmon issues has sharply
criticized environmentalists' national campaign to breach four lower Snake
River dams, saying it is alienating him and other friendly members of the
Northwest delegation.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., took issue with the campaign's portrayal
of breaching as a "budgetary windfall" for the federal government
and with its plan to seek support among members of Congress who have long
charged that the Northwest's ...

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9. PGE, TRIBES DISCUSS DESCHUTES DAMS

October 1, 2003/in 04. WILDLIFE, 07. POWER

Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
are in talks that could result in a joint licensing application for the
Pelton Round Butte complex of three dams on the Deschutes River in central
Oregon, as well as the reintroduction of anadromous fish into upper Deschutes
River tributaries.

While PGE says the talks are young, they hope for an agreement by July
to leave time to complete a final application that is due at the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission ...

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11. PARALLEL PROCESSES MEET SAME DAY

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER

They are not merged, but two of the Columbia Basin's fish and wildlife
restoration efforts are moving closer to lockstep starting next week.

The next meetings of the Columbia River Basin Forum committee and the
Columbia River Basin Multi-Species Framework process will be held on the
same day, Thursday, April 29. The scheduling is intended accommodate those
who participate in both processes, said Karl Weist of the Northwest Power
Planning Council's Oregon office. It is also hoped the ...

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1. A-FISH REPORT STRESSES UNCERTAINTIES

October 1, 2003/in 03. HABITAT, 04. WILDLIFE, 07. POWER

A key document in the Corps of Engineers' ongoing evaluation of fish
hydrosystem passage strategies restates the scientific assertion that breaching
the Lower Snake River dams offers the best chance of recovering the river's
threatened and endangered salmon stocks.

But that judgment comes with qualifications that the National Marine
Fisheries Service calls "uncertainties."

The document, released by NMFS Wednesday, considers whether dam breaching
or transporting fish ...

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2. A-FISH REPORT GETS MIXED REACTION

October 1, 2003/in 03. HABITAT, 04. WILDLIFE, 07. POWER, 08. LAW

As expected, reaction to the National Marine Fisheries Services "Assessment
of Lower Snake River Hydrosystem Alternatives on Survival and Recovery
of Snake River Salmonids" ranged from kudos to NMFS for stressing
scientific uncertainties to dismay over any suggestions that decisions
should be delayed.

"More than anything, this report tells me that we still don't know
if dam breaching would have any impact on restoring Snake River salmon
runs -- it's a long shot," ...

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4. SCIENTISTS ‘RECUSED’ FROM A-FISH REVIEW

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER

A pair of scientists who signed a letter urging a return to "more
normative river conditions" say they intended no dam-breaching endorsement.

But both have decided to excuse themselves from the review of processes
leading toward a "1999 decision" on hydrosystem configuration.

Drs. Phil Mundy and Rick Williams met Friday (April 9) with their colleagues
on the Independent Scientific Advisory Board and the Independent Scientific
Review Panel. Williams, a University ...

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5. NMFS EVALUATES IDAHO FLOW AUG

October 1, 2003/in 03. HABITAT, 07. POWER, 08. LAW

The National Marine Fisheries Service gave the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
high marks in its work to obtain 427,000 acre-feet of water from the upper
Snake River to primarily aid in passage of fall chinook juvenile salmon
through the lower Snake River and Columbia River systems.

The water is available from April through August, but generally occurs
during the summer months of July and August to match the peak downstream
migration of the fall chinook. The water may also help the ...

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10. COUNCIL HEARS KEMPTHORNE, SAMPSON

October 1, 2003/in 03. HABITAT, 04. WILDLIFE, 07. POWER

Two of the region's newly seated leaders expressed contrasting views
on two Columbia Basin hydrosystem issues last week in presentations to
the Northwest Power Planning Council in Boise.

Both Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission executive director Don Sampson stressed that the region needs
to reach a collaborative decision on fish and wildlife recovery strategy.
But they also pointed out potential obstacles to a consensus plan.

Kempthorne employed

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1. HEARING FOCUSES ON DAMS, SCIENCE, PROCESS

October 1, 2003/in 03. HABITAT, 04. WILDLIFE, 07. POWER, 08. LAW

Three Northwest senators at subcommittee field hearing Tuesday gave
a definite thumbs down to breaching the four lower Snake River dams as
a way to restore Snake River wild salmon and steelhead runs.

Oregon Republican Sen. Gordon Smith hosted the Hood River hearing of
the Senate Energy and Natural Resource's Subcommittee on Water and Power,
which he chairs. Also attending were Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden;
Idaho Republican Sens. Larry Craig and Mike Crapo; and Oregon Republican
Rep.

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15. DELEGATION REACTS TO DEREG BILL

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER, 08. LAW

Northwest members of Congress welcomed a legislative proposal by the
Clinton administration that would leave intact the region's right to inexpensive
federal power while providing the means to pay for any unexpectedly high
salmon recovery costs.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson on Thursday unveiled a new
version of the administration's electric industry deregulation bill, including
for the first time a section on the Bonneville Power Administration.

BPA officials, who ...

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4. MAINSTEM PROJECT REVIEW CRITIQUED

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER

Mixed reviews have greeted a congressionally mandated independent analysis
of the federal program designed to improve salmon passage at Columbia-Snake
river mainstem dams.

The Northwest Power Planning Council was directed in the conference
report on the 1998 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act to guide
a review of the Corps of Engineers' Columbia River Fish Mitigation Program.
The Council assigned the technical evaluation to the Independent Scientific
Advisory ...

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6. NMFS SET TO RELEASE A-FISH APPENDIX

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER

The National Marine Fisheries Service announced at its multi-agency
Implementation Team meeting Thursday that the agency would release its
long-awaited draft Anadromous Fish Appendix at a press conference Tuesday,
April 13.

The draft appendix will be incorporated into the Army Corps of Engineers'
"Lower Snake River Juvenile Salmon Migration Feasibility Study."
That study looks at the biological and economic impacts of breaching the
four lower Snake River ...

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7. PUD ANSWERS TRIBES ON STRANDING

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER

In a written response to a recent Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
letter, Grant County PUD this week said it intends to continue its 1999
operating program designed to reduce stranding of emerging Hanford Reach
fall chinook smolts.

Grant PUD also charges CRITFC with not considering the most recent changes
to the operating plan and of misinterpreting the results of its operations.

"We have carefully reviewed the issues raised in your letter,"
said Doug Ancona, ...

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8. ISAB CONFLICT ISSUE PROBED

October 1, 2003/in 07. POWER

A special conflicts panel may be called to discuss whether scientists
hired to offer "independent" advice on Columbia Basin fish and
wildlife issues were out of line to sign a letter that declares dam breaching
the only viable salmon recovery alternative now under consideration by
the federal government.

The Northwest Power Planning Council decided Tuesday that it would be
the job of a special committee to decide if Independent Scientific Advisory
Board members violated ...

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