Spring spill at Columbia/Snake River dams to aid juvenile salmon and steelhead in their migration through the hydro projects and out to the ocean is in full motion with all of the lower eight dams on the two rivers initiating full spill by April 10.
Full spill at the dams is coming after a month-long phase-in that began with partial spill March 1 at lower Snake River dams and at McNary Dam on the Columbia River. This was all due to an agreement to stay (delay) Columbia River basin litigation over dam operations in federal court. A stay for five years through Dec.13, 2028 was approved by U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Simon on Feb. 8, 2024 with a potential stay for as long as 10 years.
The agreement also calls for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to spill more water over dams, beginning last spring, than in past years. Spilling instead of passing water through turbines at the dams offers a safe passage for the anadromous juvenile fish.
In the agreement known as the Columbia River Basin Restoration Initiative, the Corps committed to spill more water over spillways instead of through turbines during its annual spring spill operations at dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers, as well as expanding spill in the fall and early spring.
“This is an important component of the agreement with Tribes, States, and other parties to implement a long-term, durable path forward,” said Tim Dykstra, the Corps’ Northwestern Division Fish Policy lead. “We’ve been using spill as an important tool for fish passage since the mid-1990s to improve migratory conditions for juvenile salmon and steelhead and we will evaluate the impacts of the increased spill to inform our decisions in the future.”
In the past, spring spill began April 3 at the four lower Snake River dams and April 10 at the four lower Columbia River dams. 2024 was the first year of the agreement and partial spill began March 1 last year, as it did this year, at Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, Lower Granite and McNary dams, spilling 4 hours each day through surface passage routes, mostly to assist upstream passage of migrating adult steelhead, the Corps said in a news release.
Beginning March 21, those projects, plus John Day Dam on the Columbia River, began spilling through surface passage routes 24 hours each day until regular spring spill began in April.
The Corps said it uses these operations to decrease the time it takes juvenile salmon and steelhead to move through the system of dams to the Pacific Ocean as well as provide other non-turbine passage routes.
Spring spill levels vary at each of the eight dams, but all projects have an upper limit that protects water quality from high levels of total dissolved gas, the Corps said. Even though this additional water is valuable for fish passage, managers must reduce spill amounts to keep from exceeding 125 percent TDG limits that state water quality agencies set, and EPA approved in Washington, which adds more intricacy to water management in the basin.
Spill operations driven by the litigation agreement and beginning April 10 at the dams are:
— Bonneville, McNary, Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental and Lower Granite dams will spill up to the 125 percent TDG levels 24 hours per day.
— The Dalles Dam will spill 40 percent of the river over the spillway.
— John Day Dam will spill 40 percent of the river over the spillway during the day and up to the 125 percent TDG levels and at night.
–Little Goose will also spill 16 hours per day up to the 125 percent TDG levels and reduce spill for eight hours to performance standard spill levels, or 30 percent of the river. This is to benefit adult fish passage.
“Consistent with our past coordination efforts with regional sovereigns and stakeholders, the Corps looks forward to working closely with our regional partners to ensure implemented operations benefit out-migrating juvenile salmonids, returning adult salmon, steelhead and lamprey as well as resident fish, while simultaneously providing for other important regional needs such as flood risk management, hydropower production, and navigation,” said Dykstra.
The Corps has other ways for juvenile fish to pass through the dams. For example, the agency’s Walla Walla District has a Juvenile Bypass System at Lower Granite Dam. Bonneville Dam uses a corner collector, spillway, juvenile bypass system and sluiceway.
For more information on juvenile passage improvements through lower Snake River dams, see the Corps’ fact sheet here: https://www.nww.usace.army.mil/Portals/28/docs/V2N/FactSheets%20not%20508/LSR%20Dams%20Fish%20Passage%20Improvements%2022%20Oct%202018_Page_1.jpg?ver=2019-07-09-123917-523.
A Bonneville Dam fact sheet is here: https://www.nwd.usace.army.mil/Fact-Sheets/Article/3485127/bonneville-dam-and-lake-bonneville/
A new advanced technology turbine designed for fish passage survival improvements was installed at Ice Harbor Dam in 2018. And, a juvenile collection and bypass system was built at Lower Granite Dam to “minimize turbine passage, increase fish survivability, and reduce injury in the existing bypass system,” the fact sheet says.
See CBB, March 7, 2024, Due To New Agreement On Columbia/Snake River Salmon Recovery, Spill For Fish At Federal Dams Starts A Month Earlier, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/due-to-new-agreement-on-columbia-snake-river-salmon-recovery-spill-for-fish-at-federal-dams-starts-a-month-earlier/
The stay in litigation and resulting Restoration Initiative is the result of multiple lawsuits since 2001 challenging NOAA Fisheries biological opinions of lower Snake and lower Columbia River dams and the Corps’ operations at those dams. As in previous litigation, the latest lawsuit by the National Wildlife Federation and others challenged the federal government’s 2020 environmental impact statement and biological opinion.
Simon first stayed this latest litigation in 2021 for one year and later extended the stay for a total of two years while White House-mediated discussions played out. Those discussions had the goal of a lasting agreement on how to operate the federal hydro system while recovering threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead. The result was a Dec. 14, 2023 memorandum of understanding – the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative – that included the long-term stay in litigation along with hundreds of millions of dollars in salmon protection, Tribal wind and solar energy projects and federal support for planning efforts to replace the services provided by the lower Snake River dams.
At the end of February, the Biden administration, along with the governors of Oregon and Washington and leaders of four lower Columbia River tribes – the six sovereigns – formally signed the agreement. It commits the federal government to as much as $1 billion to build infrastructure for eventual removal of four lower Snake River dams and to recover salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River basin.
Although it does not specifically include removing or breaching the four lower Snake River dams, the actions of the MOU coupled with the federal commitments take big steps toward what would be needed before breaching the dams could take place. It would boost clean energy production to help offset the loss of the dams’ hydropower output, and it would build out transportation and provide other benefits provided by the dams if and when Congress could ever agree to breach them.
For background, see:
— CBB, Feb. 9 2024, PUBLIC POWER COUNCIL SEEKS NINTH CIRCUIT REVIEW OF BPA’S ACTIONS REGARDING SALMON RECOVERY MOU, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/PUBLIC-POWER-COUNCIL-SEEKS-NINTH-CIRCUIT-REVIEW-OF-BPAS-ACTIONS-REGARDING-SALMON-RECOVERY-MOU/
–CBB, Feb. 2, 2024, SALMON RECOVERY MOU A SECRET, RADICAL DEAL? REPUBLICANS SAY YES, ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS SAY BRINGS STABILITY, HELPS FISH, CONTAINS COSTS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/salmon-recovery-mou-a-secret-radical-deal-republicans-say-yes-administration-officials-say-brings-stability-helps-fish-contains-costs/
–CBB, Jan. 19, 2024, NEW FILING TAKES ISSUE WITH REQUESTS FOR DISTRICT COURT TO REJECT PROPOSED 5-YEAR DELAY OF COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON LITIGATION, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/new-filing-takes-issue-with-requests-for-district-court-to-reject-proposed-5-year-delay-of-columbia-river-basin-salmon-litigation/
–CBB, Jan. 18, 2024, IF COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON MOU APPROVED BY COURT, WHAT WILL BE THE ROLE OF NORTHWEST POWER/CONSERVATION COUNCIL? HARD TO SAY, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/if-columbia-river-basin-salmon-mou-approved-by-court-what-will-be-the-role-of-northwest-power-conservation-council-hard-to-say/
–CBB, Jan. 5, 2024, IDAHO, MONTANA, UTILITIES, PORTS FILE OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED SALMON RECOVERY MOU, STAY MEDIATED BY BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/IDAHO-MONTANA-UTILITIES-PORTS-FILE-OPPOSITION-TO-PROPOSED-SALMON-RECOVERY-MOU-STAY-MEDIATED-BY-BIDEN-ADMINISTRATION/
— CBB, December 15, 2023, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, TWO STATES, TREATY TRIBES REACH MOU ON COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON RECOVERY, LITIGATION PAUSED FOR AT LEAST FIVE YEARS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/biden-administration-two-states-treaty-tribes-reach-mou-on-columbia-river-basin-salmon-recovery-litigation-paused-for-at-least-five-years/
— CBB, Sept. 28, 2023, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION MEMO ORDERS FEDERAL AGENCIES TO REVIEW ALL COLUMBIA BASIN SALMON RECOVERY PROGRAMS, IDENTIFY NEEDS, PRIORITIZE ACTIONS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/biden-administration-memo-orders-federal-agencies-to-review-all-columbia-basin-salmon-recovery-programs-identify-needs-prioritize-actions/