, ,

EVs, Chip Factories, Data Centers, Growth Leading To Doubling Of Electricity Needs In Northwest By 2046

Above graphic: The Council’s new forecast projects potential trajectories of electricity demand for data centers and tech, electric vehicles and transportation, as well as green hydrogen production. The trajectories for electric vehicles could be on par with the low- to middle-ends of tech as soon as the 2030s – with hydrogen not far behind.

Northwest states have been consuming about 22,000 average megawatts of electricity per year, but the Northwest Power and Conservation Council is forecasting double that amount by 2046 to as much as 44,000 aMW, according to a just-completed initial forecast of Northwest energy demand.

The largest sources of this doubling of electricity use, according to the Council’s Power Division staff, are residential and commercial buildings, data centers and chip fabrication facilities, electric vehicles and hydrogen production.

For the ninth time since its inception in 1980, the Council’s Power Division staff completed a portion of its latest iteration of a Power Plan (the Ninth Power Plan), introducing April 29 its latest initial forecast of electricity demand growth in the Columbia River basin states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and western Montana. The forecast is in preparation for its next Power Plan due out next year.

The Ninth Power Plan, the Council says in a blog, will assure the region of an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable power supply. The plan’s cost-effective resource strategy will ensure the power system’s adequacy and reliability risks remain within established thresholds. The draft power plan will be ready for public review and comment by July 2026, with a final version adopted by the end of 2026.

“Our new demand forecast helps us understand the potential growing and evolving energy needs of the communities, businesses, and industries in our region,” said Oregon Council Member Margi Hoffmann. “The Council will develop a plan for meeting all these needs over the next 20 years, while also protecting and mitigating for fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin through our next Fish and Wildlife Program. Throughout 2025 and 2026, we will be addressing the growing need for energy along with the urgent need to protect fish and wildlife in our Basin.”

Annual energy is measured in aMW, which is one-million watts delivered continuously 24-hours a day for a year, or 8,760 megawatt-hours, according to a Fast Fact pocket guide published by the Council. One average megawatt is enough electricity to power about 730 homes for a year.

The forecast released by the Council late last month shows a range of potential electricity demand growth over the next two decades, a Council blog says. Senior Energy Forecasting Analyst Steve Simmons, Senior Power Analyst Tomás Morrissey, and Power System Analyst Jake Kennedy led the April 29 presentation on the forecast during an online meeting of the Council.

The forecast projects annual energy demand growth to grow from about 22,000 aMW and reaching between 31,000-44,000 aMW by 2046, varying by trajectory. Already, an increasing trajectory has been periodically evident. The Northwest electricity grid winter peak in February 2025 was about 35,500 MW, an increase over the 2023 winter peak of 35,100 MW, the blog says. During a heatwave in July 2024, the region reached a summer peak of 33,300 MW. By 2046, the forecast trajectories project peak demands ranging between 47,000-60,000 MW.

“Heatwaves and winter storms have stressed our power system in recent years,” said Montana Council Member Doug Grob. “Every resident and business owner in the Northwest must be assured that their power supply will be there when it’s needed most – from our major urban centers out to the rural homeowners, small businesses, farmers, and ranchers who live at the ends of the power lines. Planning for an adequate and reliable power supply is our legal duty under the Northwest Power Act. The Council will ensure this is achieved in the Ninth Power Plan.”

Staff is projecting an annual average growth rate range for energy of between 1.8 percent and 3.1 percent from 2027-2046.

The presentation with the full analysis is at https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/19380/2025_0429_2.pdf

For a video of the presentation, go to https://vimeo.com/1080017998#t=10m28s

Not included in the analysis are available and cost-effective energy efficiency, demand response and rooftop solar, all of which could reduce or slow growth. Those items, the Council blog says, will be identified through the plan analysis and be included in the resource strategy for the Council’s next power plan.

“These resources flatten peaks and reduce electricity demand,” the blog says. “For example, unmanaged electric-vehicle charging that often occurs in after-work hours can coincide with other peak hour power needs. Demand response programs could manage the charging in several different ways that have less impact on power system peaks – such as after midnight. The initial load forecast assumes unmanaged charging, leaving the demand response potential of managed charging as an option for Power Division staff’s computer models to choose when they analyze different resource strategies for building out the Northwest electricity grid in the future.”

Power Division staff will present these resources to the Council at its meetings in May and June. They presented the rooftop solar potential at the Council’s April meeting. That analysis found cumulative rooftop solar potential will surpass 500 aMW in 2031 and grow to above 4,000 aMW by 2046 (https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/19338/2025_04_04.pdf).

Once the Council staff decides how much energy efficiency, rooftop solar, and demand response is cost-effective, it will re-run the load forecast to get the final version to include in the Ninth Plan.

“The next two years are a critical juncture for planning our energy future in the Pacific Northwest,” said Washington Council Member K.C. Golden. “The Northwest Power Act gives everyone a seat at the table as the region navigates critical decisions that will shape our economy and environment going forward. The stakes are high and the challenges are real. We invite Northwest residents to join us and weigh in as we develop our next plan.”

The Council says the work by its Power Division is the most complex, data-intensive and sophisticated load forecast it has ever produced.

“Power system analysts used upgraded computer modeling to produce annual, monthly, and hourly forecasts of load between 2025-2046 for the Northwest as well as for 13 individual utilities’ balancing authorities in the region,” the blog says. “They also included data from 27 weather stations in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, which allowed staff to forecast future changes related to weather and climate conditions and how that could affect electricity demand.”

The Council says that data center and chip fabrication developments will mostly occur in Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, the Portland metro area, and the Boise metro area. Yet, technology sector load growth could be constrained due to infrastructure needs, construction timelines, permitting, supporting power infrastructure and supply and other factors. So, Council staff has developed three tech forecasts – low, medium, and high – to help account for this uncertainty.

In addition, the Northwest transmission grid, as well as others across the U.S., are encountering constraints, supply chain delays and issues, and interconnection queue backlogs, the blog says. The Council is planning a scenario to explore uncertainty in the cost and availability of new resources and transmission to specifically address this uncertainty.

“Since 1980, the Council’s power plans have helped keep costs affordable for residents, businesses, and industries,” said Idaho Council Member Jeff Allen. “Our upcoming regional power plan will look to build on this legacy and create a blueprint for the cost-effective expansion of our power grid. This will provide certainty to businesses and industries looking to locate or expand in the Northwest, as well as grow our economy and well-paying jobs for the next generation.”

The Council was established by Congress through the 1980 Northwest Power Act. Its responsibilities include developing a 20-year Northwest power plan through a public process that includes a 20-year resource strategy.

The plan will also incorporate a new Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program and must account for changes to the hydroelectric system required by operations that benefit salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake rivers, such as spill, flow and requirements for cooling low summer flows. Development of a new Fish and Wildlife Program is now in process and a final Program will be completed in early 2026.

For background, see:
— CBB, January 19, 2025, Northwest Power/Conservation Council Seeks Recommendations For Amendments To Columbia Basin Fish/Wildlife Program, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/northwest-power-conservation-council-seeks-recommendations-for-amendments-to-columbia-basin-fish-wildlife-program/
— CBB, February 18, 2022, NW Power/Conservation Council Adopts Regional Power Plan; Approves Staff Moving Forward On Dam Breaching Analysis, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/nw-power-conservation-council-adopts-regional-power-plan-approves-staff-moving-forward-on-dam-breaching-analysis/
— CBB, December 16, 2021, “Should The Northwest’s New 20-Year Power Plan Include Analysis Of Lower Snake Dams Removal? Some Say Yes, Some No,” https://www.cbbulletin.com/should-the-northwests-new-20-year-power-plan-include-analysis-of-lower-snake-dam-removal-some-say-yes-some-no/.

/0 Comments/by
, , , , ,

Mixed Ocean Conditions When Columbia River Salmonid Juveniles Hit Salt Water In 2023, Average Numbers Returning This Year

Mixed ocean conditions for Columbia River salmon and steelhead juveniles entering the ocean in 2023 translate to average runs of spring and fall Chinook when they return as adults in 2025, according to information from NOAA Fisheries presented to a changing Northwest Power and Conservation Council last week.
Based on ocean conditions when the juveniles entered the ocean, the run of adult spring Chinook returning to Bonneville Dam this year is expected to be similar to last year’s run, but the run will be slightly lower in 2026, said Brian Burke, supervisory research fish biologist at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. He is predicting 100,000 spring Chinook in 2025 (near the 10-year average number of spring Chinook) and 84,000 in 2026.
Many of these fish entered a warming ocean as juveniles in 2023 and are now returning to rivers to spawn after spending two years growing to maturity.
“The ocean is warming more and more,” he told the Council at its meeting Wednesday, April 9. “We have seen more ocean heatwaves since the Blob began in 2014. The July 2025 forecast shows that the ocean will be warmer than average.”
Also based on ocean conditions, NOAA is expecting the number of Fall Chinook salmon arriving at Bonneville in 2025 to be 512,000 fish, dropping to 416,000 fish in 2026; and the number of steelhead in 2025 to be 158,000, dropping to 141,000 fish in 2026.
The U.S. v Oregon Technical Advisory Committee predictions are slightly different and more precise than those reported by Burke. TAC is predicting 217,500 spring Chinook at the Columbia River mouth (lower and upriver runs combined), which is higher than the actual return in 2024 of 189,559 fish, according to another presentation by Northwest fisheries managers at last week’s Council meeting (https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/19333/2025_04_10.pdf). TAC’s prediction for upriver spring Chinook in 2025 is 122,500 fish. Last year’s actual run was 116,332 fish.
TAC is also predicting that 717,400 fall Chinook will arrive at the Columbia River mouth in 2025 (again, both lower and upriver runs), which is higher than the 2024 total run of 669,505. The upriver segment for 2025 is forecasted at 313,400 upriver fall Chinook brights and Snake River wild and a slightly higher 2024 actual return of 318,089 fish.
TAC’s 2025 forecast for steelhead is 55,600 fish, considerably lower than the actual return in 2024 of 121,579 fish. Of the 2025 forecast, some 19,000 will be wild. Last year’s actual run of wild steelhead totaled 36,543 fish.
Each year Burke briefs the Council on the outlook for Chinook and Steelhead returns to the Columbia River based on what NOAA has discovered through its research into offshore juvenile salmonid abundance and ocean conditions.
“The first weeks and months after the smolts enter the ocean is critical and is when the bulk of mortality occurs,” Burke told Council members. “Early ocean survival is very important. After that survival is less variable” as the fish continue to nurture and grow in the ocean.
NOAA’s now familiar stoplight table that shows ocean indicator trends assesses some 21 ecosystem indicators, rating them green (good conditions), yellow (fair conditions) or red, with a red rating being poor.
Burke is one of NOAA’s scientists responsible for developing the indicator that shows over time what ocean conditions are in relation to salmon and steelhead rearing in the seas off Oregon and Washington.
For 2023 when most of the Chinook entered the ocean, ecosystem indicators ranked green were early and later Pacific Decadal Oscillation, early and later upper sea surface temperatures, copepod richness and near and offshore ichthyoplankton presence and juvenile coho catch. NOAA describes the PDO as “a long-lived El Niño-like pattern of Pacific climate variability .”
The 2023 Stoplight chart has a few red squares (deep temperature and salinity, length of upwelling, juvenile Chinook catch), but overall has more yellow squares and ranking (11.4).
The 2022 ranking was 11.9, while the 2021 ranking was better at 6.9. The years of the Blob ranked at 21.8 and 21.5. The 2024 ranking, which will mostly impact juveniles that enter the ocean last year, is ranked 15.4.
See https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/science-data/ocean-conditions-indicators-trends
See a video of Burke’s presentation at the April 9 Council meeting at https://www.nwcouncil.org/calendar/council-meeting-2025-04-08/
Burke’s takeaways for the ocean ecosystem during 2023 and 2024, which especially impacted juvenile salmon and steelhead entering the ocean, are:
1. Basin-scale climate patterns were mixed, with a negative PDO and a transition to a strengthening El Niño.
2. Atmospheric rivers added record snowpack in early 2023, reducing prolonged drought conditions in California.
3. Diverse and productive prey communities provide positive preconditioning ahead of the emerging El Niño.
Among the unfavorable conditions and risk factors are overall ocean warming, creating the fourth largest marine heatwave on record. On the positive side was that, although upwelling along the coast was below average, there were periods of intense local upwelling and lipid-rich northern copepods were relatively stable off Oregon, there was abundant forage for the juveniles, such as anchovies, and encouraging indicators for Snake River salmon returns, Burke said.
For the 2024 to 2025 period in the California Current, positive conditions include average conditions for productivity, a transition to La Nina, as well as above-average yearling coho abundance and a positive outlook for Columbia River returns.
Burke said there is a shifting relationship in the ocean between growth and survival of smolts. “Higher growth rates do not always guarantee higher survival,” he said. The faster juveniles entering the ocean grow, the better to reach what Burke calls the “gap limit for predators.”
“The bigger you are, the better. As growth rate increased, so did survival. However, we’re seeing growth rates out there that are higher than ever, but not higher survival,” he said. “Predators always affect survival.”
“Better understanding survival mechanisms is necessary to identify management levers and avoid ecological surprises,” Burke concluded, making his argument for continuing ocean research.
(Meanwhile, at the Council last week it was announced that Bill Edmonds is stepping down as executive director April 18 after a run of some five years. Former Council member from Washington, Guy Norman, will take his place as interim director. Norman served on the Council from 2016 to 2023.)
For background, see:
— CBB, March 22, 2024, Ocean Conditions Key For Columbia River Basin Salmon/Steelhead Survival, NOAA Researchers Say About Average In 2023, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/ocean-conditions-key-for-columbia-river-basin-salmon-steelhead-survival-noaa-researchers-say-about-average-in-2023/
— CBB, March 16, 2023, WITH END OF LA NINA, OCEAN CONDITIONS LIKELY TRENDING DOWNWARD FOR SALMON, STEELHEAD SURVIVAL, MASS OF WARM WATER IN NORTH PACIFIC, https://cbbulletin.com/with-end-of-la-nina-ocean-conditions-likely-trending-downward-for-salmon-steelhead-survival-mass-of-warm-water-in-north-pacific/
— CBB, February 26, 2023, STATES APPROVE RECREATIONAL FISHING DATES FOR EXPECTED DECENT SPRING CHINOOK RETURN; CONCERNS EXPRESSED ABOUT IMPACTS OF TOO MUCH EARLY FISHING, https://cbbulletin.com/states-approve-recreational-fishing-dates-for-expected-decent-spring-chinook-return-concerns-expressed-about-impacts-of-too-much-early-fishing/
— CBB, March 17, 2022, WHAT HAPPENS TO COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON IN THE OCEAN? NOAA RESEARCHER SAYS NEED TO RAMP UP MARINE SCIENCE TO INFORM MANAGEMENT DECISIONS, https://cbbulletin.com/what-happens-to-columbia-river-basin-salmon-in-the-ocean-noaa-researcher-says-need-to-ramp-up-marine-science-to-inform-management-decisions/
— CBB, June 30, 2021, “Independent Science Panel Review Recent Research Asserting Ocean Conditions Main Culprit In Decline Of Columbia Basin Salmon, Not Dams,” https://www.cbbulletin.com/independent-science-panel-reviews-recent-research-asserting-ocean-conditions-main-culprit-in-decline-of-columbia-basin-salmon-not-dams/
— CBB, March 18, 2021, “An Exchange: Are Lower Snake Dams Or Ocean Conditions Responsible For Continued Low Smolt-To-Adult Returns?” https://www.cbbulletin.com/an-exchange-is-it-lower-snake-dams-or-ocean-conditions-responsible-for-continued-low-smolt-to-adult-returns/.
— CBB, March 11, 2021, “Where Salmon Spend The Most Time: Ocean Conditions Good For Fish Right Now, Heat Wave Expected Later This Year,” https://www.cbbulletin.com/where-salmon-spend-the-most-time-ocean-conditions-good-for-fish-right-now-heat-wave-expected-later-this-year/
/0 Comments/by
, , ,

Northwest Power/Conservation Council Gets Two New Oregon Members

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has two new Oregon Members. Gov. Tina Kotek appointed Margaret Hoffmann and Chuck Sams, and the Oregon Senate has confirmed their appointments to the Council. They replace Council Members Louie Pitt and Ginny Burdick, who served from 2021-2025. Hoffmann and Sams started working in their roles as Council Members on March 3.

Formed after Congress passed the Northwest Power Act in 1980, the Council is an interstate compact agency representing Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana in regional planning for the Northwest power grid, as well as fish and wildlife mitigation in the Columbia River Basin. Throughout 2025 and 2026, the Council will be developing its Ninth Northwest Power Plan to ensure that the Northwest continues to enjoy a power system that is adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable. The Council is also in the process of updating its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, which protects, mitigates, and enhances fish and wildlife impacted by the operation of the Columbia River hydropower system. Bonneville Power Administration funds the Fish and Wildlife Program to fulfill its mitigation responsibilities under the Power Act. The Council is now accepting public recommendations for the next Fish and Wildlife Program.

Sams is a Pendleton resident who grew up on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. He is Cayuse and Walla Walla and an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Sams served on the Council in 2021 before he was appointed as director of the National Parks Service, a role he held until January 2025.

“The Council’s power plans ensure that we have reliable energy for all of our needs in the Pacific Northwest, while we continue to make progress mitigating for fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin that are impacted by the hydropower system,” Sams said. “The next two years are a critical juncture for planning for the future of the region’s power system and the future of fish and wildlife in the Columbia Basin. I look forward to representing in Oregon in crucial regional decision-making that will help chart the path the Northwest takes.”

At an Oregon Senate Committee hearing on his appointment, Sams testified that his father worked for both Umatilla Electric Cooperative and PacifiCorp, which helped teach him the importance of regional power planning in the Northwest.

Hoffmann is a Bend resident who worked most recently as the Oregon State Director for USDA Rural Development. She has also served as Energy Policy Advisor to Oregon Govs. John Kitzhaber and Kate Brown, and as the Governor’s office liaison to the Oregon Public Utility Commission and Oregon Department of Energy.

“Since 1980, the Council has helped make the Northwest a national leader in energy resilience, which has created tremendous savings and benefit to residents, businesses, and industries,” Hoffmann said. “The Fish and Wildlife Program has deployed innovative, ambitious strategies to protect and enhance salmon and steelhead abundance in an ecosystem the size of France. It’s achieved impressive progress while significant ongoing challenges remain. I’m honored to be a Council Member, and to bring my years of experience working for Oregonians to the Council’s regional planning efforts.”

At February’s Council meeting, Chair Mike Milburn of Montana thanked outgoing Oregon Members Ginny Burdick and Louie Pitt for their service. Burdick and Pitt began their tenure on the Council in November 2021, and both helped finalize and approve the Council’s 2021 Power Plan.

/0 Comments/by
, , , , ,

ESA-Listed Tucannon Spring Chinook Close To Extinction; ‘Safety Net Offsite Strategy’ A Last Ditch Effort To Save Them

Tribal and Washington fishery managers are doubling down on recovering threatened spring Chinook salmon in the Tucannon River in Eastern Washington by raising juveniles originating from the river at a hatchery 300 miles downstream.

Later this month, the Safety Net Offsite Strategy will remove Tucannon juvenile salmon from the Lyons Ferry hatchery and deliver them to the Kalama Falls Hatchery in southwest Washington to overwinter. They are then marked as Tucannon fish (PIT-tagged) and released into the Kalama River, a tributary of the Columbia River downstream of Portland. Returning adult fish then will be captured several years later at Kalama and hauled to Lyons Ferry where they will be used for broodstock if needed or out-planted into the upper Tucannon River for natural spawning, according to Chris Donley, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Regional Fish Program Manager for Region 1 Spokane.

The Safety Net uses a set of tools like captive broodstock and offsite rearing to protect and conserve the genetics of populations like the Tucannon River spring Chinook which have seen a 20 percent decline in population each year since 2011. The Upper Grande Ronde, Catherine Creek, and populations in the Frank Church wilderness are also populations in decline and under consideration for use of the Safety Net tools.

The strategy is a last resort for recovering Tucannon spring Chinook. Snake River spring Chinook were listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1992 and the population that has fared worse than all in the Snake River is in the Tucannon River.

“We have made a tremendous investment in habitat improvements in the river,” Donley said, speaking to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee Monday, March 10. “It’s puzzling, a lot of work and yet the production of smolts is low. SARs (smolt to adult return ratio) is lower than any other Snake River tributary. If we would walk away from this population now it would blink out fairly quickly.”

He added that natural spawning of the salmon is producing less than 10,000 smolts each year.

The Tucannon River in southeast Washington flows from the Blue Mountains to the lower Snake River near Dayton, emptying into the Snake River between Little Goose and Lower Monumental dams.

Efforts to recover spring Chinook in the Tucannon River has a long history, beginning with Lower Snake River Compensation Program in 1985, when fisheries managers began collecting broodstock. At that time, the program goal was 1,152 hatchery adults (132,000 smolts released at about 15 fish/lb.).

From 1985 through 1993, the average return (both hatchery and wild) was about 500 fish per year, but by the mid- to late-1990’s the “bottom dropped out,” Donley said. There were 30-Year Floods in 1996 and 1997 that eliminated most natural production.

In each of the years 1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999, fisheries personnel trapped all fish returning to the weir downstream of the Tucannon Hatchery and from 1997 to 2002 implemented a captive broodstock program aiming for 150,000 smolts. The fish performed lower than expected, with SARs at about one-half of the standard supplementation program survival. So, in 2006, they increased smolt production to 225,000.

From 2008 through 2012, researchers did a size-at-release study of juveniles (9 fish/lb. vs 15 fish/lb.), finding that the larger fish survived better and returned more adults overall. The larger size also produced more jacks/minijacks. Currently, 12 fish/lb. is the goal.

From 2012 to 2016, in-river pre-spawn mortality increased (both hatchery and wild-origin fish). Although the returns were good, there were relatively few redds, Donley said.

From 2016 through 2024, 100 percent of the adults were held at Lyons Ferry Hatchery and then adults were out-planted in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022. There were no spring Chinook out-planted from 2019-2021 or 2023-2024.

Also during the last 20 years, $25 to $30 million worth of habitat work was done, including reducing fine sediment, increasing the riparian corridor, improving irrigation efficiencies, screening diversions, eliminating fish passage barriers, adding large wood, improving channel complexity, increasing floodplain connections, forming pools and reducing stream power, according to Donley’s presentation, which can be found at https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/19136/2025_03_f1%20updated.pdf

The response has been dismal and spring Chinook returns to the river – both hatchery and wild – over the past few years are as bad or worse than when the fish was listed in 1992. The average SAR of hatchery fish (1985-2018) is just 0.17 percent, the lowest spring Chinook hatchery program SAR in the entire Snake River basin, and recruits per spawner for hatchery fish is 1.8 R/S, 10 of 35 below replacement, and of wild fish, just 0.6 R/S, 21 of 35 below replacement.

One issue for returning adults is that many overshoot the Tucannon as they travel upstream in the Snake. In fact, it is just as likely to find a Tucannon spring Chinook in the Deschutes River as it is in the Tucannon River, Donley said.

For juveniles migrating downstream, the mouth of the Tucannon is a thermal barrier full of predators, such as walleye and small mouth bass, pelicans, herons and ducks. Donley said that “we lose almost half the juveniles by the time they get to the mouth” and only 60 to 70 percent of those that travel beyond the river’s mouth actually make it to the first dam – Lower Monumental — 60 miles downriver.

Donley said that no number of smolts can make it through this predator gauntlet. “If we want to get serious about recovering this population in this basin over the next 50 years, we will need to make some serious moves against these predators.”

“The largest amount of wilderness in the Columbia basin is in the Snake River basin,” said Dave Johnson, Department Manager, Nez Perce Tribe Fisheries Department. “Yet these fish are nowhere near healthy and abundant. The Yakima and John Day rivers have better SARs, but not nearly as good habitat.”

He added that the Tucannon spring Chinook have fallen below the quasi-extinction threshold of 50 or fewer spawners on the spawning grounds and are way below their replacement rate. Less than 200 Chinook and 20 redds or nests were found in 2023.

Johnson said that the Nez Perce believe that if river managers improve the wild returns, that will improve all returns.

“Snake basin habitat (where wild fish are) is essential for preserving the species; especially in a changing climate,” he said, adding that the basin’s habitat is a vast and largely intact/wilderness. In addition, wild fish (not hatchery fish) are central to ESA delisting. Tucannon spring Chinook are the canary in the coal mine, and “the canary is dying.”

The Nez Perce are proposing a solution to predators, holding on to the genetics of the population, including using cryopreservation and conservation hatcheries while increasing productivity and ensuring the river is restocked with marine derived nutrients that have been missing with the low adult returns.

See Council’s March 4 Memorandum here: https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/19136/2025_03_f1%20updated.pdf

For background, see:

— CBB, December 15, 2024, Despite Habitat Improvements Over 20 Years, Spring Chinook In Washington’s Tucannon River Still At Risk Of Extinction, Steelhead Doing Better, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/despite-habitat-improvements-over-20-years-spring-chinook-in-washingtons-tucannon-river-still-at-risk-of-extinction-steelhead-doing-better/

— CBB, July 14, 2022, Current Recovery Plan Not Working: Tucannon River Spring Chinook In Big Trouble, Options Explored, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/current-recovery-plan-not-working-tucannon-river-spring-chinook-in-big-trouble-options-explored/

/0 Comments/by
,

Northwest Power/Conservation Council Seeks Recommendations For Amendments To Columbia Basin Fish/Wildlife Program

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has released a letter requesting recommendations from the region on how to amend its Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, with submissions due by April 17.

The Fish and Wildlife Program represents a 40-year effort to protect and mitigate for the impacts of the hydropower system on salmon and other fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin. The program includes a variety of strategies to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife, including dam operations that improve conditions for fish passage and survival, habitat restoration and enhancement, predator and invasive species management, and artificial production. Target species include salmon, steelhead, lamprey and resident fish like sturgeon and bull trout.

The Fish and Wildlife Program is one of the largest mitigation efforts in the world, but significant challenges still remain, said the Council in a press release.

The Council updates the program every five years based on recommendations from regional tribes, state and federal agencies, local governments, nonprofits, energy customers, regional utilities, the general public, and more. Bonneville Power Administration funds these efforts to fulfill its mitigation responsibilities under the Northwest Power Act; currently, the Program provides about $300 million annually to support over 300 projects and initiatives throughout the Basin.

To learn more and submit a recommendation, go to www.nwcouncil.org/amend. The deadline for submissions is April 17, 2025. The Council is aiming to adopt the updated Fish & Wildlife Program in spring 2026.

“Columbia River Basin tribes share a common vision on the importance of salmon and steelhead, as well as a shared sense of urgency to better protect and care for them to ensure their survival for future generations,” said Louie Pitt, Oregon Council Member and a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation. “Caring about this place, its ecosystems, and the fish and wildlife that sustain us is rooted in our tribal heritages and histories. The success and progress of the Council’s program to date would not be possible without the past four decades of partnerships with the Basin’s tribes. Tribes will play a critical role in guiding us forward.”

In December, Council staff gave a presentation on progress towards the Fish and Wildlife Program’s goals and objectives over the past 44 years. They showcased the Council’s online Program Tracker, which tracks data on progress indicators from around the region, including for adult returns of salmon and steelhead to the Columbia River Basin.

The 10-year rolling average from 2014-2023 stands at 2.3 million fish, similar to the average of 2.4 million between 2004-2013. It’s an improvement from the 1990s when the average dipped to 1.3 million – its lowest since the program began in 1980.

The 2014-2023 rolling average does not meet the Council’s long-standing goal of having 5 million adult salmon and steelhead return to the Basin annually.

–See CBB, Dec. 22, 2024, Council Shows Total Salmon/Steelhead Return Numbers To Columbia River Through The Years Short Of Goal; ESA-Listed Fish Continue To Struggle https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/council-shows-total-salmon-steelhead-return-numbers-to-columbia-river-through-the-years-short-of-goal-esa-listed-fish-continue-to-struggle/

Staff also reported progress on the goal of increasing the proportion of adult fish returning above Bonneville Dam compared with the 1980s. 2024 provided clear examples of both progress and challenges: the Basin saw record-setting adult returns of Okanagan Basin sockeye and Willamette River coho, yet the need remains for efforts to support, rebuild, and reintroduce, where appropriate, weaker stocks in the Basin, said the press release.

“Pacific Northwest residents now have an opportunity to inform the future course of the Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program,” said Council Vice Chair Les Purce, who represents Washington. “Our website provides key dates, a link to submit recommendations, and an easy-to-use Program Tracker tool that tells the story of the Program’s 44-year history – it helps explain key initiatives, successes, progress, challenges, and lessons learned for the future. We encourage every member of the public to use this tool and then have their voices heard on where our program should go next.”

The Council’s program covers an area of land roughly the same size as France, which spans from the mouth of the Columbia River in Astoria, Ore., to the Continental Divide in Western Montana.  It makes up a significant part of the tapestry of mitigation and recovery efforts in the Columbia River Basin.

“The Council’s program has provided consistent funding to support critical long-term monitoring and evaluation of threatened species, including salmon and steelhead,” said Lance Hebdon, Fisheries Bureau Chief, Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “Additionally, the Asset Management Strategic Plan has been instrumental in addressing deferred maintenance needs for fish screens and hatcheries. Investments in upgrading this infrastructure will ensure the longevity and integrity of these facilities, benefiting fish populations. Idaho has significantly benefited from the program’s strategic direction.”

“Located in the headwaters of the Columbia, Libby and Hungry Horse dams integrate operations for flood risk management, renewable power generation, and the ecosystem needs of local resident fishes as well as anadromous species residing in the downstream portion of the basin,” said Matt Boyer, Science Program Supervisor for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks. “Native fish mitigation projects and aquatic habitat conservation in the Kootenai and Flathead subbasins help improve conditions for fish and wildlife affected by construction and operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System.  There’s more new and exciting work to do and Montana looks forward to continued engagement through the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program amendment process.”

Established when Congress passed the Northwest Power Act in 1980, the Council represents the four Basin states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The Act directs the Council towards three goals: to ensure the region has an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable power supply; to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife impacted by the hydroelectric system in the Columbia River Basin; and to do so with broad public participation.

The current version of the program is a combination of the 2014 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program and its 2020 Addendum. The 2014 Program also includes 58 separate subbasin plans.

The Power Act requires the Council to call for recommendations to amend the Program prior to its review of its Northwest Power Plan; the Power Plan must be reviewed at least every five years.

The process begins with a formal request in writing to the tribes and state and federal fish and wildlife agencies for recommendations for:

• Measures which can be expected to be implemented by the Bonneville Power Administration, using authorities under this Act and other laws, and other federal agencies to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife, including related spawning grounds and habitat, affected by the development and operation of any hydroelectric project on the Columbia River.

• Establishing objectives for the development and operation of such projects on the Columbia River and its tributaries in a manner designed to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife

• Fish and wildlife management, coordination, and research and development (including funding) which will assist protection, mitigation, and enhancement of anadromous fish at, and between, the region’s hydroelectric dams The Act also allows recommendations to be submitted by federal and state water management agencies, regional electric power producers, utility customers of BPA, and the public. The Council provides wide public notice of the request for recommendations for that purpose. All recommendations must be accompanied by detailed information and data in support. The Act requires that the Council allow at least 90 days for entities to respond to the request for recommendations.

For complete information, go here: https://www.nwcouncil.org/fish-and-wildlife/program-amendments/

/0 Comments/by
, , ,

Council Panel Hears Details On $1 Billion ‘Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement,’ Extent Of ‘Collaboration’ Questioned

A December, 2023 agreement among six Northwest sovereigns and the U.S. government to restore Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead runs to “healthy and abundant levels” and touted by advocates as a collaborative effort to restore salmon runs in the basin, was questioned this week at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting in Portland.

The agreement, currently known as the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (formerly called the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative), was the result of behind-the-scenes negotiations among the six sovereigns – the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Nez Perce Tribe, and the states of Oregon and Washington – and the U.S. government.

After representatives from the sovereigns gave an overview of the nearly $1 billion agreement to the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 14, Idaho Council member Ed Schriever said the agreement that left out of the negotiations two Northwest states that have a stake in salmon recovery was anything but collaborative.

“You say its collaborative and that everyone can participate, but Idaho and Montana struggle,” Schriever said. “You write the rules and expect everyone to agree.”

The agreement was the outcome of a pause in litigation that initially challenged a 2020 Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement and a Record of Decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bonneville Power Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation, as well as a biological opinion on the effects of the federal power system on salmon and steelhead by NOAA Fisheries, all released at the same time. The Columbia River power system BiOp had been litigated numerous times since 2001.

The litigation that was filed in the federal District Court of Oregon was stayed or administratively terminated in 2021, which allowed all parties to engage in mediated discussions.

Plaintiffs in the legal challenge were American Rivers, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Institute For Fisheries Resources, Sierra Club, Idaho Rivers United, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, NW Energy Coalition, National Wildlife Federation, Columbia Riverkeeper, Idaho Conservation League the state of Oregon and the Spokane Tribe of Indians. Attorneys were from Earthjustice.

The outcome of these discussions was a Memorandum of Understanding – the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement — with the Six Sovereigns and the National Wildlife Federation plaintiffs. The RCBA provided for a stay of litigation on the CRSO EIS, ROD and related biological opinions for up to 10 years and includes agreed upon operations at Columbia River dams. Earthjustice called the RCBA a “comprehensive plan to restore the basin’s native fisheries.”

“Sue and settle provides the opportunity for collaboration, but only among yourselves,” Schriever said. “And, it seems the prep work seems to be following the same pattern.”

However, the representatives of the collaboration speaking at the Council meeting stressed an urgency to move forward on recovery of Columbia basin salmon and steelhead.

“We understand your concerns,” said Jim McKenna, Columbia River Federal Affairs Advisor to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek. “What came out of this is a framework to move this all forward. You call this a veto power; I see it as making sure we recover the fish.”

“From Washington’s perspective as a friend of the court, we thought we weren’t getting far enough on recovery,” said Michael Garrity, Special Assistant for Columbia River Policy for the state of Washington. He added that 25 years of litigation hadn’t produced a solution and that there is now an urgency to do something more. “We hope that conversations like this will bring people along.”

As the largest salmon-producing river in the lower 48 states, the run of salmon and steelhead into the river once tallied 10 to 18 million fish. Now the annual run is just 1 to 2 million, with only about 250,000 that are natural (wild) spawners. Of the historical runs, the Council has estimated the hydroelectric system accounts for the loss of 5 to 11 million salmon and steelhead, said Jay Hesse, Director of Biological Services for Nez Perce Tribe. The Council’s interim goal is for 5 million salmon and steelhead to return to the river each year by 2025. “That’s this year,” he said.

Snake River salmon are in crisis, Hesse said. As the largest tributary, the Snake contains the largest accessible amount of pristine, protected habitat remaining in the Columbia Basin, yet wild salmon and steelhead from the Snake River Basin are in dire straits.

As of 2021, 42 percent of Snake River spring/summer Chinook populations have natural origin spawner abundances at or below the Quasi-Extinction Threshold of less than 50 returning spawners per year; and 19 of Snake River steelhead are at or below the QET, he said.

Developing the RCBA was a response to the urgency of recovering these salmon, he said. It is building on other basin initiatives, including:

— Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force Goals

— Columbia Basin Initiative – Rep. Mike Simpson

— Sen. Murray / Gov. Inslee Lower Snake River Benefit Replacement Report and Recommendations

— Biden Administration government-to-government consultations with Columbia Basin Tribes

— Mediation and Biden Administration efforts to resolve 30+ years of hydrosystem litigation

— NOAA Fisheries 2022 Report on Rebuilding Interior Columbia Salmon and Steelhead.

Hesse went on to say that the RCBS is intended as a roadmap to help the Six Sovereigns and the U.S. government work in partnership and with others in the region to “halt the decline” by restoring Columbia Basin fisheries to “healthy and abundant levels, honor commitments to Tribal Nations, and deliver affordable and reliable clean power while meeting the many resilience needs of stakeholders in the Columbia River basin and the Pacific Northwest.”

Among the strategies of the RCBA are to:

Significantly increase funding for restoration to levels sufficient to address identified mitigation needs and obligations and support “healthy and abundant” fisheries recovery goals. That includes about $530 million in new fish restoration and mitigation funds for 10 years, beginning in fiscal year 2023, as well as a commitment from BPA to maintain current levels of funding for its fish and wildlife and fish accord programs. In addition, it includes an agreement to seek additional non-rate-payer funds from Congress to at least double available resources for native fish restoration projects in the Columbia Basin, and a government commitment to fund tribal clean energy production. BPA agreed to pay $100M for 10yrs for Columbia Basin fisheries restoration

Fully fund hatcheries. Address the significant backlog of authorized and recommended, but historically underfunded, actions necessary for the safe and effective operation of critical fisheries infrastructure, assets, and programs. BPA along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will fund $200 million for Lower Snake River Compensation hatchery programs,

Replace the benefits of the lower Snake River dams with due urgency to enable breaching to move forward, and ensure interim fish measures are adequate to minimize additional generational decline of fish populations.

Implement the Upper Columbia United Tribes’ Phase Two Implementation Plan to reintroduce and provide passage of anadromous species above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams. BPA will pay $200 million for 20 years to help reintroduce salmon into the reaches of the Columbia River upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams.

Establish a long-term biological performance monitoring and reporting program to measure progress and support accountability towards the qualitative and quantitative recovery and abundance goals identified in the Columbia Basin Partnership Phase II Report.

Also presenting to the Council for the six sovereigns were: Kate Marckworth, Senior Attorney for the Yakama Nation, Eric Quaempts, Director of Natural Resources for the Umatilla Tribe and Lyman Jim, Fisheries Department Manager for the Warm Springs Tribe.

For background, see:

— CBB, December 22, 2024, AGENCIES TAKING ANOTHER LOOK AT 2020 EIS DETAILING IMPACTS OF COLUMBIA/SNAKE RIVER FEDERAL HYDROSYSTEM ON IMPERILED SALMONIDS, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/AGENCIES-TAKING-ANOTHER-LOOK-AT-2020-EIS-DETAILING-IMPACTS-OF-COLUMBIA-SNAKE-RIVER-FEDERAL-HYDROSYSTEM-ON-IMPERILED-SALMONIDSAGENCIES-TAKING-ANOTHER-LOOK-AT-2020-EIS-DETAILING-IMPACTS-OF-COLUMBIA-SNAK/

— CBB, December 22, 2024, COUNCIL SHOWS TOTAL SALMON/STEELHEAD RETURN NUMBERS TO COLUMBIA RIVER THROUGH THE YEARS SHORT OF GOAL; ESA-LISTED FISH CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/COUNCIL-SHOWS-TOTAL-SALMON-STEELHEAD-RETURN-NUMBERS-TO-COLUMBIA-RIVER-THROUGH-THE-YEARS-SHORT-OF-GOAL-ESA-LISTED-FISH-CONTINUE-TO-STRUGGLE/

— CBB, December 9, 2024, SHIFTING CURRENTS IN COLUMBIA/SNAKE RIVER SALMON RECOVERY: EFFORTS TO SAVE SNAKE RIVER FISH RUNS LIKELY TO LOOK DIFFERENT UNDER TRUMP, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/SHIFTING-CURRENTS-IN-COLUMBIA-SNAKE-RIVER-SALMON-RECOVERY-EFFORTS-TO-SAVE-SNAKE-RIVER-FISH-RUNS-LIKELY-TO-LOOK-DIFFERENT-UNDER-TRUMP/

–CBB, June 21, 2024, Administration Report Describes Harm Of Dams To Columbia Basin Tribes, White House Sets Up Task Force To Coordinate Basin Salmon Recovery, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/administration-report-describes-harm-of-dams-to-columbia-basin-tribes-white-house-sets-up-task-force-to-coordinate-basin-salmon-recovery/

–CBB, Feb. 9, 2024, Federal Judge Approves Years-Long Pause On Basin Salmon Recovery Litigation So Parties Can Pursue Tribal-States-Feds Restoration Plan, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/federal-judge-approves-years-long-pause-on-basin-salmon-recovery-litigation-so-parties-can-pursue-tribal-states-feds-restoration-plan/

–CBB, Dec. 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, August 23, 2022, NOAA SAYS NO CHANGE NEEDED TO ESA-LISTING STATUS OF INTERIOR COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON/STEELHEAD; TWO POPULATIONS FACE HIGH EXTINCTION RISK, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/NOAA-SAYS-NO-CHANGE-NEEDED-TO-ESA-LISTING-STATUS-OF-INTERIOR-COLUMBIA-RIVER-BASIN-SALMON-STEELHEAD-TWO-POPULATIONS-FACE-HIGH-EXTINCTION-RISK/

— CBB, July 15, 2022, White House Issues Reports On Basin Salmon Recovery, Costs; ‘Business As Usual’ Not Restoring ESA-Listed Salmon, Steelhead, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/white-house-issues-reports-on-basin-salmon-recovery-costs-business-as-usual-not-restoring-esa-listed-salmon-steelhead/

/0 Comments/by
, , , , ,

Council Shows Total Salmon/Steelhead Return Numbers To Columbia River Through The Years Short Of Goal; ESA-Listed Fish Continue To Struggle

The average number of salmon and steelhead returning to the Columbia River each year has remained mostly constant over the last twenty years. While today’s returns of the fish have improved dramatically since the 1990s at a time when many of the species were being listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, today’s combined returns are still only half of the 2025 goal of 5 million fish set by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

Council Fish and Wildlife staff recently completed a comprehensive and detailed accounting of salmon and steelhead at the Columbia’s mouth and at Bonneville Dam, finding the most recent 10-year rolling average (2014-2023) to be 2.3 million fish, slightly lower than the 2004-2014 rolling average of 2.4 million. Still, that’s an improvement over the 1990s when the average dipped to 1.3 million fish.

The 2014-2023 rolling average does not meet the Council’s long-standing goal of having 5 million adult salmon and steelhead return to the Columbia River basin annually, although at least one year (2014) was close when 4.6 million adult fish entered the river, according to a presentation to the Council last week by Kris Homel, program performance biologist, and Kate Self, fish and wildlife program scientist, both with the Council’s Fish and Wildlife staff.

“Increased salmon and steelhead abundance in the Columbia River Basin – especially above Bonneville Dam – over the past 40 years marks important progress,” said Louie Pitt, an Oregon Council member and a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, in a Council news release. “These fish still face severe stresses from climate change, pressures from human population growth in the Basin, and other environmental impacts. Some stocks are struggling right now. We cannot ease up in our collective efforts to help these fish populations grow stronger and larger everywhere we can – including in blocked areas of our Basin such as above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams.”

NOAA Fisheries noted seven of those “struggling” stocks when it completed in 2022 five-year status reviews of interior Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead species listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA. NOAA concluded that they all should retain their current listing status. The listed species are in the mid- and upper-Columbia River basin and in the Snake River basin. Of the seven species, NOAA said there is an “increased level of concern” due to climate change and for that reason urgent action is needed, including further improving passage through hydropower dams, restoring tributary and estuary habitat, controlling predators and modifying hatchery practices.

At most risk, according to NOAA, are upper Columbia River spring-run Chinook salmon and Snake River sockeye salmon. The two species are also among the most endangered salmon on the West Coast and “face high extinction risk. All three populations of upper Columbia spring-run Chinook salmon have declined over the last 5 years by an average of 48 percent, NOAA said in its status report.” In a Council presentation last month, Tucannon River spring Chinook salmon were highlighted as another species at risk of extinction.

See CBB, August 23, 2022, NOAA SAYS NO CHANGE NEEDED TO ESA-LISTING STATUS OF INTERIOR COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON/STEELHEAD; TWO POPULATIONS FACE HIGH EXTINCTION RISK, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/NOAA-SAYS-NO-CHANGE-NEEDED-TO-ESA-LISTING-STATUS-OF-INTERIOR-COLUMBIA-RIVER-BASIN-SALMON-STEELHEAD-TWO-POPULATIONS-FACE-HIGH-EXTINCTION-RISK/

The Council has estimated that historical returns (1850s) ranged from 10 to 16 million salmon and steelhead. The Independent Scientific Advisory Board estimated in 2015 that some 6 million salmon and steelhead had historically returned to the river, and in 1984, the Bonneville Power Administration’s estimate was a whopping 35 million salmon and steelhead.

In Homel’s and Self’s presentation to the Council, they estimate that some 7 to 14 million of the historical return were lost to all sources, including dams, habitat loss and blocked areas. They attribute 5 to 11 million lost salmon and steelhead to the construction of hydro-electric facilities in the mainstem Columbia and Snake rivers, as well as in tributaries.

The Council’s goal, most recently found in its 2020 Addendum to the Council’s Fish and Wildlife  Program (https://www.nwcouncil.org/fish-and-wildlife/), is to “Increase total adult salmon and steelhead runs of Columbia River origin to a 10-year rolling average of five million annually by 2025 in a manner that emphasizes increases in the abundance of the populations that originate above Bonneville Dam.”

The total count includes harvest in the ocean and river below Bonneville Dam, the number of fish spawning below Bonneville Dam and the number of adult salmon of all species counted at Bonneville Dam. River mouth returns include mainstem, tributary and hatchery returns in the lower river, harvest including catch and release mortality rates, and natural spawner abundances when appropriate, according to the presentation.

From time immemorial, salmon, steelhead, and other fish populations have been essential to the cultures and livelihoods of Indigenous tribes and people in the Columbia basin, the Council news release said. Mitigation efforts to address the human impacts on salmon and steelhead have been occurring in the Basin for more than a century. Early mitigation initiatives, primarily hatcheries, focused in the lower sections of the river to benefit commercial fisheries and ocean harvest and ignored fisheries upstream – particularly those for tribes. However, the heaviest losses of salmon and steelhead abundance occurred upstream of Bonneville Dam.

“In general, while year-to-year returns of specific stocks to different parts of the Basin vary, getting more adult fish above Bonneville Dam is crucial to supporting tribal harvest, sport fisheries, and natural reproduction in the middle and upper portions of the Basin,” the Council news release said.

“Because most of the loss of salmon and steelhead production as a result of hydroelectric development has occurred above Bonneville Dam, increases in abundance to satisfy this goal must come predominantly from this area,” Self said in her presentation to the Council, Tuesday, Dec. 10. For more information, a Council Dec. 3 Memorandum is at https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/19015/2024_12_1b.pdf) and a video of the meeting is at https://vimeo.com/1038058874#t=111m13s.

The goal of improved returns of adult fish to areas upstream of Bonneville Dam has made some progress, she said. Prior to the 1850s, more than 80 percent of salmon and steelhead returning to the Columbia River migrated to areas in the interior regions of the basin above where Bonneville Dam is located today. The average annual salmon and steelhead count at Bonneville since the dam was built in 1938 to 1966 was 601,720 fish. That number rose slightly in the period 1967-1994 to 648,095 each year and there was a significant rise in fish counted at Bonneville during the nearly 30-year period 1995-2023 with an average annual count of 1,181,297. The 2023 rolling 10-yr average is 1,231,865 fish over Bonneville.

The proportion of salmon and steelhead that enter the river and subsequently pass over Bonneville Dam has increased, although the year-to-year percentages can vary widely. In 1984, some 48 percent of the fish that entered the river passed Bonneville, but the proportion dropped to 32 percent in 1986, a 40-year low, and didn’t rise to 50 percent until 1990. The proportions were mostly in the 60-percent range through the late-1990s and early 2000s. It hit 68 percent in 2010, and was in the 66 to 75 percent range through 2015. More recently in 2022, the proportion dropped to 59 percent and even further to 56 percent in 2023.

In its accounting of salmon and steelhead returns, the Council did not differentiate between natural (wild) and hatchery fish. Nor does it consider whether a fish is protected by the ESA or stream of origin after it passes Bonneville Dam. Although the information is available, it wasn’t part of this presentation, Self said.

The Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program began after Congress passed the Northwest Power Act in 1980. “The Act’s passage came at a particularly dire moment for salmon and steelhead in the Basin, and it has taken many years – and multiple generations of fish – to see some of the effects of the Program’s off-site mitigation and enhancement measures like habitat protection and restoration,” the Council said.

BPA funds the Council program, most recently budgeting $302 million for direct program expenses in fiscal year 2025 to support over 300 projects. The FY2024 budget was $297 million and actual expenditures in FY2023 were $261 million. The Fish and Wildlife priorities include improving habitat, hatchery production, aiding fish passage at hydropower dams, and working with state, federal, and tribal fish and wildlife managers to manage predation.

The Fish and Wildlife Program is based on recommendations from state and federal agencies, tribes, the public, and others, and is amended in five-year cycles. The current Program represents measures in the 2014 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program and its accompanying 2020 Addendum. The next call for recommendations is expected in January 2025.

This is the first time in the Council’s 44-year history that these performance indicators and their results have been reported in such a comprehensive way, the Council said.

“This is an important step in being able to provide accurate and timely updates on the indicators that tribes as well as state and federal agencies need to assess how we’re doing and better understand how the Program is performing,” said Fish and Wildlife Division Director Patty O’Toole. “We hope it helps inform recommendations as the region decides on which priorities will guide the next 5-10 years of our Program.”

The Program’s numerical goals for salmon and steelhead, including the overall goal of 5 million fish, are part of an overarching objective to protect, mitigate, and enhance salmon and steelhead adversely affected by the Columbia River hydroelectric power system, including related spawning grounds and habitat, the Council said.

“The progress we’re seeing is the direct result of coordination, collaboration, and dedication by Council staff, states, tribes, federal agencies, landowners, and many other partners across the Columbia River Basin,” said Idaho Council Member Ed Schriever, who is a former director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “Over the past four decades the region’s fish and wildlife managers have significantly increased their capacity to perform mitigation, stewardship, and enhancement. The managers have also refined their methods and processes as our scientific understanding has evolved and grown more sophisticated. The work being done today is more directed and purposeful than it has ever been.”

Established when Congress passed the Northwest Power Act in 1980, the Council represents the four Columbia/Snake river basin states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The Northwest Power Act directs the Council towards three goals: to ensure the region has an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable power supply; to protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife impacted by the hydroelectric system in the Columbia River Basin; and to do so with broad public participation.

For background, see:

— CBB, December 15, 2024, DESPITE HABITAT IMPROVEMENTS OVER 20 YEARS, SPRING CHINOOK IN WASHINGTON’S TUCANNON RIVER STILL AT RISK OF EXTINCTION, STEELHEAD DOING BETTER, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/DESPITE-HABITAT-IMPROVEMENTS-OVER-20-YEARS-SPRING-CHINOOK-IN-WASHINGTONS-TUCANNON-RIVER-STILL-AT-RISK-OF-EXTINCTION-STEELHEAD-DOING-BETTER/

— CBB, December 9, 2024, SHIFTING CURRENTS IN COLUMBIA/SNAKE RIVER SALMON RECOVERY: EFFORTS TO SAVE SNAKE RIVER FISH RUNS LIKELY TO LOOK DIFFERENT UNDER TRUMP, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/SHIFTING-CURRENTS-IN-COLUMBIA-SNAKE-RIVER-SALMON-RECOVERY-EFFORTS-TO-SAVE-SNAKE-RIVER-FISH-RUNS-LIKELY-TO-LOOK-DIFFERENT-UNDER-TRUMP/

— CBB, October 18, 2024, NORTHWEST POWER/CONSERVATION COUNCIL ISSUES DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON COUNCIL PROGRESS WITH FISH, POWER, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/NORTHWEST-POWER-CONSERVATION-COUNCIL-ISSUES-DRAFT-ANNUAL-REPORT-TO-CONGRESS-ON-COUNCIL-PROGRESS-WITH-FISH-POWER/

— CBB, November 30, 2023, BPA SAYS FOURTH QUARTER BOOSTED 2023 REVENUES BEYOND FORECASTS, INTENDS TO “ACCELERATE FISH AND WILDLIFE MITIGATION’ HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/BPA-SAYS-FOURTH-QUARTER-BOOSTED-2023-REVENUES-BEYOND-FORECASTS-INTENDS-TO-ACCELERATE-FISH-AND-WILDLIFE-MITIGATION/

— CBB, August 23, 2022, NOAA SAYS NO CHANGE NEEDED TO ESA-LISTING STATUS OF INTERIOR COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON/STEELHEAD; TWO POPULATIONS FACE HIGH EXTINCTION RISK, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/NOAA-SAYS-NO-CHANGE-NEEDED-TO-ESA-LISTING-STATUS-OF-INTERIOR-COLUMBIA-RIVER-BASIN-SALMON-STEELHEAD-TWO-POPULATIONS-FACE-HIGH-EXTINCTION-RISK/

— CBB, July 14, 2022, CURRENT RECOVERY PLAN NOT WORKING: TUCANNON RIVER SPRING CHINOOK IN BIG TROUBLE, OPTIONS EXPLORED, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/CURRENT-RECOVERY-PLAN-NOT-WORKING-TUCANNON-RIVER-SPRING-CHINOOK-IN-BIG-TROUBLE-OPTIONS-EXPLORED/

– CBB, Jan. 15, 2021, WASHINGTON STATE SALMON RECOVERY REPORT: MOST POPULATIONS NOT MAKING PROGRESS, SOME ON PATH TO EXTINCTION https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/washington-state-salmon-recovery-report-most-populations-not-making-progress-some-on-path-to-extinction/

/0 Comments/by
, , ,

Northwest Power/Conservation Council Executive Director Plans To Leave In Spring

Just the third executive director of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council in 45 years is about to leave. After nearly five years in the position, Executive Director Bill Edmonds is planning to step down in spring 2025, according to announcement from the Council.

Edmonds was hired in July 2020 and his first day on the job was Aug. 17, 2020. He played a key role in guiding the organization through the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent recovery, the Council said. His future plans include teaching, consulting and community service.

“We appreciate Bill’s leadership and dedication to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council,” said Jeff Allen, Council Chair and Idaho member. “Bill joined the Council at a challenging moment during the Covid-19 pandemic and as work on the 2021 Power Plan was ramping up. His contributions helped guide us through and are deeply valued. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

The Council’s executive director is responsible for overall management of the Council’s central office.

“The opportunity to work for the Council was exciting for me because of the challenges we face here in terms of working on both fish and wildlife issues and power planning on a regional level,” Edmonds said. “I also have tremendous respect for our smart and dedicated Council staff, who provide technical expertise while engaging with the region on these crucial issues. It’s been a wonderful experience, and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved during my tenure.

“Transitions are never easy at an organization, but this felt like the right time to make the move as we are still in the beginning stages of seeking recommendations for the Fish and Wildlife Program and gearing up for the next regional Power Plan,” he continued. “I’m looking forward to what comes next for me, and I know the Council will continue its excellent work on behalf of the region.”

Edmonds replaced long-time director Steve Crow, who served 25 years and who was just the second to serve in that position since the Council’s inception. The founding executive director was Ed Sheets who stepped into the position after passage of the Northwest Power Act in 1981. The Power Act of 1980 created the Council. Sheets served as executive director for 15 years.

Edmonds joined the staff in August 2020 after a long career in energy. Prior to his stint with the Council, he was director of environmental management and sustainability at NW Natural, a natural gas utility based in Portland. Prior to that, he worked for PacifiCorp, and initially served as a staff member for the California Public Utilities Commission, and as an environmental consultant.

In his work prior to the Council, he helped develop new and innovative strategies for addressing environmental issues while managing high-performing teams, according to information provided by the Council. At NW Natural he worked with an interdisciplinary team on a strategy to decarbonize the natural gas system using both renewable natural gas and renewable hydrogen.

Edmonds has an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Williams College and a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley.

“Our plans for hiring his replacement are still in the works,” said Peter Jensen, Communications Specialist with the Council.

The power act stipulated that governors from Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington appoint two members to an interstate compact, the Northwest Power Planning Council. The Council is comprised of the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The governors of the four states each appoint two people to serve on the Council.

Under the act, the eight-member Council is responsible for:

(1) developing a 20-year electrical power plan that will guarantee adequate energy at the lowest cost to the region;

(2) developing a regional program to protect and rebuild fish and wildlife populations affected by hydropower development; and

(3) developing these plans with extensive public input and involvement.

For background, see:

— CBB, August 13, 2020, CHANGING OF THE GUARD AT NORTHWEST POWER/CONSERVATION COUNCIL; LONG-TIME EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CROW RETIRES, EDMONDS TAKE THE REINS, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/CHANGING-OF-THE-GUARD-AT-NORTHWEST-POWER-CONSERVATION-COUNCIL-LONG-TIME-EXECUTIVE-DIRECTOR-CROW-RETIRES-EDMONDS-TAKE-THE-REINS/

— CBB, June 25, 2020, NW POWER/CONSERVATION COUNCIL SELECTS NORTHWEST NATURAL’S BILL EDMONDS AS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STARTS AUGUST 17, HTTPS://COLUMBIABASINBULLETIN.ORG/NW-POWER-CONSERVATION-COUNCIL-SELECTS-NORTHWEST-NATURALS-BILL-EDMONDS-AS-NEW-EXECUTIVE-DIRECTOR-STARTS-AUGUST-17/

/0 Comments/by
, , ,

Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission To Receive $794,000 From NOAA For Salmon Recovery In Columbia River Estuary

Oregon U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is set to receive a $794,000 federal grant from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support their salmon recovery work and strengthen underserved communities impacted by climate change in the Columbia River Estuary.

“Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest have been stewards for the Columbia River and protectors of its delicate ecosystems since time immemorial,” Merkley said. “By continuing to support Tribal-driven solutions that restore salmon populations and safeguard the unique landscape of the Columbia River Basin from climate chaos, the entire region will benefit from CRITFC’s work to build a healthier ecological future.”

“Solutions for salmon restoration on the Columbia require the experience and ideas of Tribal communities to succeed,” Wyden said. “I’m gratified the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission has secured this federal grant to ensure Tribal voices are included to solve this challenge in the face of the climate crisis.”

“The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is taking a leading role in identifying climate change threats through hydrological modeling efforts to support salmon recovery in the Columbia River estuary,” said Aja DeCoteau, Executive Director, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. “This project will create a positive feedback loop between the ecosystem and cultural resilience by increasing tribal capacity to develop and implement powerful modeling tools to guide restoration decisions in the lower Columbia River. This work also facilitates partnerships with estuary communities to ensure restoration activities consider local impacts alongside scientific merit and ecosystem benefits.”

NOAA’s Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Tribes and Underserved Communities program, funded through the Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, is targeted to advance the coastal habitat restoration and climate resilience priorities of Tribes and underserved communities.

NOAA Fisheries recently announced its recommendation of more than $45 million in funding for 27 new projects, including more than $20 million for federally recognized Tribes and Tribal organizations.

CRITFC will use the expected federal funding to model the impacts of habitat conservation and restoration, identify climate change threats, and produce actionable science to guide future restoration work in the Columbia River Estuary that conserves salmon habitat and reduces flooding.

Also see:

–CBB, August 9, 2024, “NOAA Announces $105 Million In Recommended Salmon Recovery Funding For Alaska, Northwest States, Tribes” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/noaa-announces-105-million-in-recommended-salmon-recovery-funding-for-alaska-northwest-states-tribes/

/0 Comments/by
, , , ,

Interior Department Establishes New Willamette Valley Conservation Area, Part Of National Wildlife Refuge Complex

The Department of the Interior announced this week the establishment of the Willamette Valley Conservation Area in Oregon as the 572nd unit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-managed National Wildlife Refuge System.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams joined partners in Oregon to celebrate the establishment. The new 600-acre parcel will provide crucial protected habitat for threatened and endangered species. This is the fifth new unit established during Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s tenure, and the 15th conservation area in the Refuge System.

Located in the heart of the Willamette Valley between Salem and Eugene, the acquisition of the Diamond Hill wetlands is the first purchase of the Willamette Valley Conservation Area. The 600-acre parcel just south of Brownsville, Oregon, is a step in a 10-year effort to permanently protect oak and prairie habitat for the benefit of five species listed under the Endangered Species Act, two candidate species and numerous other plant and animal species of concern. The conservation area will also provide habitat for migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, neotropical songbirds and iconic Oregon species such as the Western monarch butterfly, Western meadowlark and Oregon white oak.

The Willamette Valley Conservation Area will be part of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex, a group of national wildlife refuges managed predominantly to maintain winter habitat for dusky geese. In addition to the newly established conservation area, the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex consists of three refuges: William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge and Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge.

In 2014, the Service began working with local partners on a conservation study to analyze the landscape in the Willamette Valley and evaluate habitat most in need of protection. In 2017, the Service published the Willamette Valley Conservation Study which concluded that the amount and distribution of lands managed for sensitive, native wildlife species in the valley was inadequate. The study specifically recommended the need for additional networks of grasslands, oak woodlands and riparian habitat. In 2022, the Service published draft plans including an environmental assessment, and solicited public comments. In 2023, the Service, in partnership with the Willamette Valley Oak and Prairie Cooperative, created the Willamette Valley Conservation Area and published a final Land Protection Plan.

“The National Wildlife Refuge System plays an invaluable role in providing vital landscapes for wildlife species, offering outdoor recreation and bolstering climate resilience across the country,” said Haaland. “In communities across the nation, the Biden-Harris administration is investing resources and bringing together local, state, Tribal and conservation partners to protect treasured outdoor spaces for current and future generations to enjoy.”

“Today’s announcement is the result of robust relationships that are coming together for the benefit of people and wildlife,” said Williams. “It’s because of these partnerships that today we celebrate the new Willamette Valley Conservation Area, which will help support Oregon’s outdoor economy while protecting and restoring threatened and endangered species.”

Conservation areas are a type of national wildlife refuge that consists primarily or entirely of conservation easements on private lands. These conservation easements support private landowner efforts to protect important habitat for fish and wildlife, and major migration corridors, while helping to keep agricultural lands in production.

Under the Biden Administration, the Service has added over 500,000 acres through willing seller land acquisition and approved the potential to acquire more than 1.6 million acres in fee-title and easements across the Refuge System. These efforts are “locally supported and showcase a commitment to a collaborative and inclusive approach to conservation,” says USFWS.

The Service worked closely with Tribal Nations, including the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Willamette Valley Oak and Prairie Cooperative, and private landowners to establish priorities for habitat management and land acquisition at the site. The establishment of the national wildlife refuge supports the cooperative’s vision for protecting imperiled oak and prairie habitat, and ODFW’s Oregon Conservation Strategy.

/0 Comments/by

newsroom@staging.columbiabasinbulletin.org

The American Whistleblower is proudly produced by Virtuoso Media LLC

Produced by Virtuoso Media LLC

© Copyright 1997-2025 - The Columbia Basin Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.