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Washington Updates Aquatic Life Toxics Criteria To Help Protect Salmon, Steelhead, Orcas

The Washington Department of Ecology has developed changes to the state’s aquatic life toxics criteria the agency says are based on updated science and new research, new methods and modeling tools, and recommendations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Tribal governments.

Once the new criteria are approved by EPA, Ecology will use them to identify polluted waters and develop clean up plans. Ecology will also use the approved criteria when updating water quality permits for facilities discharging those chemicals.

Aquatic life toxics criteria are part of the state’s water quality standards — the rules that set the limits of pollution allowed in Washington’s water. These criteria are designed to protect aquatic life (fish, plants, and invertebrates) from the effects of toxic chemicals in the water. Among the species of aquatic life that needs protecting are endangered chinook salmon, steelhead and Orca whales.

–See CBB, June 24, 2022, Washington Begins Process To Update Rules For Protecting Salmon, Steelhead, Orcas From Toxic Chemicals https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/washington-begins-process-to-update-rules-for-protecting-salmon-steelhead-orcas-from-toxic-chemicals/

“By using innovative methods and new scientific studies we can better protect salmon, shellfish and all aquatic life from the toxic chemicals they face every day,” said Vince McGowan, Ecology’s Water Quality program manager. “The new limits are customized to Washington’s unique environment and the species we need to protect.”

With this rule, Washington has limits for 42 chemicals. This includes limits for both marine and fresh water, and limits to protect aquatic life from both immediate (acute) effects, such as death, and long-term (chronic) effects, such as changes in growth and reproduction.

Well-known toxics already in Washington’s standards such as arsenic, copper, nickel, silver, and zinc were updated to better protect aquatic life, says WDOE. New additions to Washington’s aquatic life criteria include PFOA and PFOS (part of the PFAS chemical group), aluminum, and 6PPD-quinone.

Washington is the first state in the nation to establish a numeric, freshwater limit for 6PPD-quinone, a chemical that comes from the breakdown of vehicle tires that has shown to be highly toxic to some salmon and trout, including coho salmon and steelhead. The new limit will allow the state to make progress in regulating the amount of 6PPD-quinone that reaches the water.

The new PFOA and PFOS criteria are based on EPA’s current draft national aquatic life criteria for those chemicals. Ecology determined, with public feedback, that setting these limits now will better protect Washington waters than waiting for national criteria to be finalized by EPA.

Ecology received extensive comments on the proposed changes. This feedback and the agency’s responses are summarized in the Concise Explanatory Statement. https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/publications/summarypages/2410032.html

Also see:

–CBB, Jan. 6, 2022, COURT: EPA MUST DETERMINE SOON WHETHER FEDS SHOULD TAKE OVER DEVELOPING WASHINGTON’S WATER QUALITY STANDARDS FOR TOXINS https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/court-epa-must-determine-soon-whether-feds-should-take-over-developing-washingtons-water-quality-standards-for-toxins/

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Council Gets Rundown On Over 130 Habitat Projects Aiming At Improving Lot Of Struggling Willamette River Spring Chinook, Winter Steelhead

Upper Willamette River spring Chinook salmon and winter steelhead are benefitting from long-running habitat projects downstream of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 13 Willamette Project dams, according to a recent presentation at the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

Three primary partners – the Bonneville Power Administration, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and Meyer Memorial Trust – have invested in over 130 habitat projects on the river since 2008, the date of NOAA Fisheries’ biological opinion of the Corps’ Willamette River dams.

“Land use and development along the mainstem Willamette since the late 1800s has dramatically altered the form and function of the river, its tributaries, and floodplains,” Denise Hoffert of OWEB said in her presentation to the Council, July 10.

She told Council members that development along the lower Willamette River has reduced channel length by 44 percent and led to “armoring” of over half of the river’s 180-mile length. In addition, dams on the river and its tributaries block upstream fish passage and alter downstream flow and sediment transport; impacts from urban areas along with rural land uses have increased stream temperatures and suspended sediment, nutrients and bacteria. Ecologically rare bottomland hardwood forests have declined by more than 70 percent.

“Flood control dams, bank stabilization, streamside logging, large wood removal, systematic closure of side channels, and dredging have greatly reduced channel and floodplain habitat complexity,” she concluded.

All of these changes to the river’s habitat are degrading the river environment and impacting upper Willamette spring Chinook and upper Willamette winter steelhead, which were listed under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1999. The multiple habitat projects below the Corps’ dams on the McKenzie, North and South Santiam and Middle Fork Willamette rivers were developed to meet the requirements of Reasonable and Prudent Actions (RPA 7.1.2 and 7.1.3) contained in NOAA’s 2008 BiOp. Many are a part of the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program.

According to Hoffert, the projects are administered by OWEB, a state granting agency, in partnership with BPA. However, from 2008 through 2021, funding of the projects has been through three funding agencies, including BPA (26 percent of the overall funding for the habitat projects), OWEB (45 percent) and Meyer Memorial Trust (29 percent of the funding).

Recently, a 2024-25 NOAA 5-year review of its ESA listing for the two Willamette River species concluded that a “spatial structure concern is the availability of juvenile rearing habitat in side-channel or off-channel habitat. River channelization and shoreline development have constrained habitat in the lower tributary reaches and Willamette River mainstem, in turn limiting the potential for fry and subyearling “movers” emigrating to the estuary (Schroeder et al. 2016). These impacts therefore also limit juvenile life history diversity for this ESU. Overall, there has likely been a declining trend in the viability of the Upper Willamette River Chinook salmon ESU since the last review. The magnitude of this change is not sufficient to suggest a change in risk category, however, so the Upper Willamette River Chinook salmon ESU remains at “moderate” risk of extinction.”

On the other hand, there has been a recent uptick in the number of wild winter steelhead in the river. As of May 27, some 8,826 wild winter steelhead had been counted at Willamette Falls, which is the highest number of threatened fish since 2004. The count in 2017 of wild winter steelhead at the falls was just 822 fish when ODFW declared the run on the brink of extinction and predicted an 85 percent chance of extinction. That year, ODFW estimated that sea lions at the Falls had consumed as much as 25 percent of the already low steelhead run. After lethal removal of the sea lions began, their consumption of the steelhead dropped to 8 percent in 2019, 0.4 percent in 2020 and 1.2 percent in 2021.

“While the viability of the ESU appears to be declining, the recent uptick in abundance may provide a short-term demographic buffer,” the 2024-25 5-year review says. “In the absence of substantial changes in accessibility to high-quality habitat, the DPS will remain at ‘moderate-to-high’ risk. Overall, the Upper Willamette River steelhead DPS is therefore at “moderate-to-high” risk, with a declining viability trend.”

NOAA Fisheries’ 5-year review of Willamette System spring Chinook and winter steelhead can be found here. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/2024-5-year-review-summary-evaluation-upper-willamette-river-steelhead-upper

See CBB, July 17, 2024, STATUS REVIEW: ESA-LISTED IN 1999, UPPER WILLAMETTE SPRING CHINOOK, WINTER STEELHEAD NOWHERE NEAR RECOVERY, NEED BETTER PASSAGE AT DAMS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/status-review-esa-listed-in-1999-upper-willamette-spring-chinook-winter-steelhead-nowhere-near-recovery-need-better-passage-at-dams/

The 5-year review recommends continuing restoration of lower lying floodplain habitat along the Willamette and its tributaries to provide improved refuge for juvenile fish migrating downstream toward the ocean.

Following NOAA’s recommendations, the habitat projects’ goals are to increase channel complexity and length; improving connectivity between the river and its floodplain; and expanding and improving the health of floodplain forests.

From 2008 through 2023, the over 130 habitat projects has resulted in the restoration of more than 5,200 acres of floodplain and riparian forest, the enhancement of more than 23 miles of side channels, the reconnection of more than 450 acres of floodplain and one-third of a mile of retaining barriers (revetments) have been modified, according to Hoffert.

Hoffert said that the long-term strategy with choosing projects to pursue is to “first protect and restore a series of relatively intact habitats with high conservation values in a stepping-stone fashion along the river corridor. Anchor habitats are located at major tributary confluences and river sections where there are opportunities to reconnect the river to its historic floodplain.”

She highlighted three of the Willamette habitat projects:

Partners in the Chahalpam Crossing and Floodplain Restoration project are the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, ODFW, North Santiam Watershed Council and Marion Soil and Water Conservation District. Chahalpam is a 462-acre conservation site located along the North Santiam River that has been reacquired in phases between 2013 and 2019 by the Tribes through the Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program. The site, according to Hoffert, is permanently protected by three conservation easements held by BPA. Restoration at the site is to improve habitat quantity, quality and complexity for native fish and wildlife species. BPA investment to date has been $545,744 and OWEB investment has been $298,852.

The Luckiamute State Natural Area began in 2008 and is funded by OWEB, BPA and MMT. Implementation has been in five phases and resulted in over 500 acres of weed control and revegetation, over 600,000 native trees and shrubs have been planted, 9.5 acres of floodplain forest has been re-connected, existing high-quality riparian “gallery” forest has been protected and today the project partners are stewarding and managing a total of 535 acres of riparian forest and wetland habitat, Hoffert’s presentation shows.

The 85-acre Finn Rock Reach project is on land owned by the McKenzie River Trust. Funding has been by BPA, federal infrastructure funds, OWEB, Eugene Water and Electric Board and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Hoffert’s presentation shows.

“Project goals are to: restore ecological processes that maintain a healthy, diverse, and resilient ecosystem to the project area by increasing the area of floodplain inundation at base flow conditions; increase surface roughness elements; and restore a diverse native plant assemblage in selected disturbed areas (long term goal, not funded by BPA),” the presentation shows.

Hoffert’s presentation can be found in a July 2, 2024 Council Memorandum at https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/18818/2024_0709_5.pdf

For background, see:

— CBB, May 31, 2024, IMPROVED OCEAN CONDITIONS GIVING A BOOST TO ESA-LISTED WILLAMETTE WILD WINTER STEELHEAD, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/improved-ocean-conditions-giving-a-boost-to-esa-listed-willamette-wild-winter-steelhead/ 

–CBB, Jan. 5, 2024, NOAA GRANTS $27 MILLION FOR PROJECTS TO HELP RESTORE WILLAMETTE VALLEY IMPERILED SALMON, STEELHEAD https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/noaa-grants-27-million-for-projects-to-help-restore-willamette-valley-imperiled-salmon-steelhead/

— CBB, January 27, 2022, “Corps Evaluating EIS Alternatives For Potential Survival Improvements At Willamette Valley Dams For ESA-Listed Salmon, Steelhead,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/corps-evaluating-eis-alternatives-for-potential-survival-improvements-at-willamette-valley-dams-for-esa-listed-salmon-steelhead/

— CBB, December 16, 2021, “Court Approves Interim Actions For Aiding ESA-Listed Willamette Valley Salmon, Steelhead; Ninth Circuit Appeal Possible,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/court-approves-interim-actions-for-aiding-esa-listed-willamette-valley-salmon-steelhead-ninth-circuit-appeal-possible/

— CBB, March 26, 2020, WILLAMETTE VALLEY LANDOWNERS CAN APPLY FOR HABITAT CONSERVATION EASEMENTS FUNDED THROUGH BPA FOR DAM IMPACTS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/willamette-valley-landowners-can-apply-for-habitat-conservation-easements-funded-through-bpa-for-dam-impacts/

— CBB, August 20, 2010, COUNCIL RECOMMENDS USING $16 MILLION IN BPA FUNDS FOR WILLAMETTE HABITAT ACQUISITIONS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/council-recommends-using-16-million-in-bpa-funds-for-willamette-habitat-acquisitions/

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Cable Installation To Begin Off Oregon Coast For Nation’s First Grid-Connected, Utility-Scale Wave Energy Testing Facility

Crews later this month will begin installing the power and data cables that are essential to completing construction of a new wave energy testing facility off the Oregon Coast.

The cables will support Oregon State University’s PacWave South, the first pre-permitted, utility-scale, grid-connected wave energy test site in the United States. When the facility is completed, wave energy developers will be able to test different technologies for harnessing the power of ocean waves and transmitting that energy to the local electrical grid.

“Transmitting power from wave-energy generators to shore in a form compatible with the regional power grid is a huge challenge, and cabled connection from PacWave South provides the capability to test power-delivery technologies,” said Burke Hales, PacWave’s chief scientist and a professor in the OSU College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. “These cables are highly specialized and their installation and burial is a keystone of wave energy development in the U.S.”

The work includes installing four power and data cables ranging in length from about 10 to 13 continuous miles from a vault under the parking lot of Driftwood Beach State Park south of Newport out to the test site offshore.

Louisiana-based subsea cable services contractor R.T. Casey is overseeing the installation of the cables. The work will be carried out by crews aboard three vessels and will likely be visible to beachgoers and visitors for the duration of the installation process, which is expected to take six to seven weeks, depending on ocean conditions, said Dan Hellin, deputy director of PacWave.

The cables will be anchored in an underground vault at Driftwood and will run through conduits from the shore under the beach, then come up out of the seafloor about 1 mile out. From there to the test site, the cable will be buried about three feet under the seafloor.

The subsea cables, which were manufactured in Norway by the Paris-based firm Nexans, were transported via freighter to Louisiana and transferred to Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) HOS Innovator, which will be used to lay the cables, to make their way to Oregon.

Once the work begins, a second vessel, the OSV Nautilus, will follow behind to bury the cable using a remotely-operated vehicle. Those two vessels are expected to work around the clock for the duration of the installation and their lights may be visible at night when they are close to shore, Hellin said.

“We are asking all mariners in the area to maintain a minimum distance of 500 yards from any vessel involved in the cable installation process,” Hellin said. “While these vessels will be moving very slowly, they will be laying cables and have equipment operating on the seafloor, so they will be unable to stop operations or deviate from their planned route.”

A third vessel, the M/V Liberty, will support diving operations during the cable installation and provide other assistance as needed. That vessel will make trips back and forth from Newport while the work is underway, Hellin said.

On land, another group will be installing cables that run from the vault to a shoreside utility connection and monitoring facility on the east side of Highway 101 just south of Driftwood. Two of the three buildings at the site are nearly completed and the third is a couple of months behind them, Hellin said.

Portions of the Driftwood Beach State Recreation Site parking lot will be closed beginning July 16 to accommodate the work. Beach access and park restrooms will remain open, but parking may be limited and recreational vehicles and other large vehicles may not be able to turn around. Alternative parking and beach access is available at Governor Patterson Memorial State Recreation Site 3 miles south of Driftwood Beach.

“We will maintain some parking and access to the restrooms, beach trail and the viewing platform at the park so people can watch the action if they are interested,” Hellin said.

Access to Driftwood is expected to be limited through mid-September.

Once the cables are installed, the open ocean test site will be marked with a series of buoys to alert mariners traveling in the area, Hellin said. The first wave energy developer is expected at PacWave South in 2025 and the first cable-connected test is expected in 2026 under current timelines. Construction updates will be posted on the project’s website: https://pacwaveenergy.org/constructionupdates/

The ocean test site is on a sandy-bottomed stretch of the Pacific Ocean away from popular commercial and recreational fishing reefs about 7 miles off the coast south of Newport. The site will have four test berths, which combined can accommodate up to 20 wave energy devices at any one time.

Wave energy has the potential to provide clean, reliable electricity to help meet the world’s rising energy demands. Oregon State has pursued development of a wave energy test facility for more than a decade to accelerate the development of this industry. There currently is no U.S. facility for developers to measure the electrical and environmental performance of their devices at this scale.

PacWave South is supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy, the state of Oregon and other public and private entities. Oregon State’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences is managing the construction and operation of the more than $100 million facility.

Also see:

–CBB, Feb. 3, 2022, DOE AWARDS $25 MILLION FOR PROJECTS SUPPORTING WAVE ENERGY TESTING AT PACWAVE SOUTH OFF OREGON COAST https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/doe-awards-25-million-for-projects-supporting-wave-energy-testing-at-pacwave-south-off-oregon-coast/

— CBB, March 11, 2021, FERC ISSUES OSU LICENSE FOR NATION’S FIRST WAVE ENERGY TESTING FACILITY https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/ferc-issues-osu-license-for-nations-first-wave-energy-testing-facility/

— CBB, Feb. 26, 2021, FEDS AWARD OSU LEASE FOR NATION’S FIRST WAVE ENERGY TESTING FACILITY: $80 MILLION PROJECT OFF NEWPORT https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/feds-award-osu-lease-for-nations-first-wave-energy-testing-facility-80-million-project-off-newport/

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Public Power Council Urges Biden Administration To Include Its Members In New Columbia Basin Task Force

In a forceful letter earlier this month, the Public Power Council urged the Biden Administration to include its members as a “meaningful part” of the Columbia Basin Task Force, which the Administration’s Council on Environmental Quality formed in June.

Earlier, on December 14, 2023 the Administration reached an agreement with six sovereigns consisting of the states of Oregon and Washington and four Columbia River tribes. The PPC, as well as others, such as the state of Idaho and river users, were left out of those negotiations.

“Our utilities collectively bring decades of invaluable experience balancing complex power grid objectives with those critical to increasing salmon abundance,” the July 2 PPC letter says. “Further, our efforts to have utility industry perspectives and concerns included in the recent federal mediation process that resulted in the Administration’s December 14, 2023 agreement with six sovereign parties were ignored.

“We simply cannot have this scenario repeated given the crucial energy and environmental policy issues upon us.”

The PPC warned that the region’s hydroelectric system could reach a “breaking point” if some of the actions contemplated by the Administration are carried out.

Following up on its December agreement, the Biden Administration released on June 18, a “Tribal Circumstances Analysis” acknowledging the harm 11 Columbia and Snake river dams have inflicted and continue to inflict on Columbia Basin Native American Tribes.

At the same time, the White House CEQ created the new interagency Columbia River Task Force that the CEQ says will coordinate efforts across federal agencies to fulfill its commitments to restore native fish populations. Federal agencies include the departments of Commerce, Energy and Environmental Protection.

These steps advance a historic agreement to work in partnership with Tribes and Pacific Northwest states to restore wild salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin and develop a long-term strategy to meet the clean energy, transportation, and other key needs of the region, a Biden Administration news release said in June.

PPC says it is the largest trade organization that advocates for the interests of more than 100 non-profit, consumer-owned Pacific Northwest electric utilities across six states, all served to some extent by the Bonneville Power Administration.

PPC utilities are “ready and willing to be a constructive, integral resource for this Task Force in its Columbia River Basin efforts going forward,” the letter says. “Conversely, the absence of substantive input from Northwest public utilities could lead the Task Force to commit to actions that have unintended consequences – severe enough to create major disruptions impacting public health and safety for millions of Americans, with lasting negative impacts on our regional and national economies. Public power’s unique position as stewards of the Northwest’s diverse hydropower-dominated electricity system, in partnership with BPA, underscores the necessity of having our perspective included in the Task Force’s dealings.”

The letter reminded the Administration of the 1980 Northwest Power Act, a statute already in place, which the PPC says is the “key statutory guidance” for the region’s hydropower system and fish and wildlife program.

The “backbone of the Northwest’s electric grid has, and continues to be, our region’s phenomenal hydropower system,” the letter says. “The Northwest’s underserved and economically disadvantaged communities in rural, suburban, and urban areas are among the beneficiaries of this reliable and clean electricity marketed by BPA, as are many Tribal communities.”

It says that the Administration “has admirably sought to right historical wrongs to Tribal communities,” but that it should consider “how the wrongs of the past are carefully and tactfully addressed by the US Government so as not to create new unintended consequences for ratepayers of the non-profit, public power utilities in the Northwest, including Tribal ratepayers.”

Public power has funded through its customer rates an average of $685 million a year over the past decade for fish and wildlife mitigation in partnership with federal agencies and Tribes, PPC says.

“BPA data shows about 45 percent of this fish and wildlife program is carried out by Tribes and Tribal entities, which provides jobs, economic benefits, and skill retention in local communities,” the letter says. “However, if BPA is placed in a position of economic instability, these continued annual investments and resulting benefits are also at risk.”

Northwest electricity demand is expected to grow by more than 30 percent in the next decade, “so actions that further reduce its capabilities at a time of intense and growing need would be a colossal step backward for our region.

“These forces of supply and demand – combined with high operational uncertainty should our zero carbon-emitting hydro system face further restrictions – will likely result in large power rate increases and poor reliability that will significantly harm the Pacific Northwest economy,” the letter says.

“We fear there is a breaking point approaching fast, should the US Government place additional constraints on hydro projects, move forward with the breaching of dams or conduct other efforts that further constrain our region’s clean hydro system – the result would not just dry up the existing mitigation efforts that employ Tribal partners, but also potentially cause catastrophic service disruptions, blackouts, and rate shocks that would reverberate through the economy.”

Consideration of these perspectives is vital for the Task Force to make informed recommendations, the letter concludes.

The PPC letter can be found at https://www.ppcpdx.org/wp-content/uploads/PPC.ColumbiaBasinTaskForce-7.2.24-FINAL.pdf

The Tribal Circumstances Analysis is here. https://www.doi.gov/media/document/tribal-circumstances-analysis

For background, see:

— 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, March 1, 2024, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, STATES, TRIBES FORMALLY SIGN BILLION-DOLLAR COLUMBIA BASIN RESTORATION INITIATIVE TO RECOVER SALMON, STEELHEAD, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/BIDEN-ADMINISTRATION-STATES-TRIBES-FORMALLY-SIGN-BILLION-DOLLAR-COLUMBIA-BASIN-RESTORATION-INITIATIVE-TO-RECOVER-SALMON-STEELHEAD/

— CBB, March 1, 2024, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, STATES, TRIBES FORMALLY SIGN BILLION-DOLLAR COLUMBIA BASIN RESTORATION INITIATIVE TO RECOVER SALMON, STEELHEAD, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/BIDEN-ADMINISTRATION-STATES-TRIBES-FORMALLY-SIGN-BILLION-DOLLAR-COLUMBIA-BASIN-RESTORATION-INITIATIVE-TO-RECOVER-SALMON-STEELHEAD/

— 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://CBBULLETIN.COM/FEDERAL-JUDGE-APPROVES-YEARS-LONG-PAUSE-ON-BASIN-SALMON-RECOVERY-LITIGATION-SO-PARTIES-CAN-PURSUE-TRIBAL-STATES-FEDS-RESTORATION-PLAN/

— 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/

See 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, Dec. 13, 2023, D.C. SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING: NW GOP LAWMAKERS COMPLAIN ABOUT CONFIDENTIAL (LEAKED) DRAFT SALMON SETTLEMENT TALKS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/d-c-subcommittee-hearing-nw-gop-lawmakers-complain-about-confidential-leaked-draft-salmon-settlement-talks/

— CBB, November 30, 2023, Leaked Court Mediation Document Listing Actions and Commitment for basin Salmon recovery draws objections, questions, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/leaked-court-mediation-document-listing-actions-and-commitments-for-basin-salmon-recovery-draws-objections-questions/

— CBB, November 16, 2023, REPUBLICAN U.S. HOUSE MEMBERS REQUEST ALL CEQ DOCUMENTS RELATED TO MEDIATION, SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS ON LOWER SNAKE DAMS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/republican-u-s-house-members-request-all-ceq-documents-related-to-mediation-settlement-discussions-on-lower-snake-dams/

–CBB, Nov. 3, 2023, COLUMBIA/SNAKE SALMON RECOVERY LAWSUIT ON HOLD AGAIN AS PARTIES SEEK BUY-IN ON ‘ACTIONS AND COMMITMENTS’ NOT YET MADE PUBLIC, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/columbia-snake-salmon-recovery-lawsuit-on-hold-again-as-parties-seek-buy-in-on-actions-and-commitments-not-yet-made-public/

— 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/

-CBB, Sept. 7, 2023, JUDGE APPROVES THIRD EXTENSION ALLOWING PARTIES IN LAWSUIT OVER COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON RECOVERY TO KEEP TALKING, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/judge-approves-third-extension-allowing-parties-in-lawsuit-over-columbia-river-basin-salmon-recovery-to-keep-talking/

–CBB, June 29, 2023, NW HOUSE REPUBLICANS HOLD FIELD HEARING ON LOWER SNAKE DAMS TITLED ‘THE NORTHWEST AT RISK,’ https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/nw-house-republicans-hold-field-hearing-on-lower-snake-dams-titled-the-northwest-at-risk/

–CBB, June 1, 2023, ONCE AGAIN, FEDERAL ‘LISTENING SESSION’ ON COLUMBIA BASIN SALMON RECOVERY FOCUSES ON BREACHING LOWER SNAKE DAMS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/once-again-federal-listening-session-on-columbia-basin-salmon-recovery-focuses-on-breaching-lower-snake-dams/

— CBB, April 7, 2023, WHITE HOUSE LISTENING SESSIONS HEAR ARGUMENTS ON WHETHER LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS SHOULD STAY OR GO, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/WHITE-HOUSE-LISTENING-SESSIONS-HEAR-ARGUMENTS-ON-WHETHER-LOWER-SNAKE-RIVER-DAMS-SHOULD-STAY-OR-GO/

–CBB, August 4, 2022, JUDGE AGREES TO EXTEND STAY ON COLUMBIA/SNAKE SALMON RECOVERY CASE FOR ANOTHER YEAR AS PARTIES SEEK ‘COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS’ https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/judge-agrees-to-extend-stay-on-columbia-snake-salmon-recovery-case-for-another-year-as-parties-seek-comprehensive-solutions/

–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/

— CBB, June 30, 2022, FEDERAL MEDIATORS FOR COLUMBIA BASIN SALMON RECOVERY HOPE FOR EXTENSION OF LITIGATION PAUSE; WOULD GIVE MORE TIME FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/federal-mediators-for-columbia-basin-salmon-recovery-hope-for-extension-of-litigation-pause-would-give-more-time-for-comprehensive-plan/

–CBB, March 31, 2022, WHITE HOUSE PLANS ON BEING INVOLVED WITH COLUMBIA BASIN SALMON RECOVERY AS BIOP LITIGATION TALKS CONTINUE; COLLABORATIVE APPROVES A CHARTER, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/white-house-plans-on-being-involved-with-columbia-basin-salmon-recovery-as-biop-litigation-talks-continue-collaborative-approves-a-charter/

— CBB, April 7, 2023, WHITE HOUSE LISTENING SESSIONS HEAR ARGUMENTS ON WHETHER LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS SHOULD STAY OR GO, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/WHITE-HOUSE-LISTENING-SESSIONS-HEAR-ARGUMENTS-ON-WHETHER-LOWER-SNAKE-RIVER-DAMS-SHOULD-STAY-OR-GO/

— CBB, December 22, 2022, NORTHWEST TRIBAL LEADERS WELCOME NEW COMMITMENTS FROM BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AT WHITE HOUSE TRIBAL NATIONS SUMMIT, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/NORTHWEST-TRIBAL-LEADERS-WELCOME-NEW-COMMITMENTS-FROM-BIDEN-ADMINISTRATION-AT-WHITE-HOUSE-TRIBAL-NATIONS-SUMMIT/

— CBB, October 6, 2022, NOAA FISHERIES FINALIZES ‘REBUILDING’ REPORT TO INFORM DIALOGUE ON COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON RESTORATION, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/NOAA-FISHERIES-FINALIZES-REBUILDING-REPORT-TO-INFORM-DIALOGUE-ON-COLUMBIA-RIVER-BASIN-SALMON-RESTORATION/

— CBB, October 27, 2021, “Federal Judge Approves Pause In Salmon/Steelhead EIS/BiOp Case; Parties ‘In Good Faith Discussions To Resolve Litigation,’” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/federal-judge-approves-pause-in-salmon-steelhead-eis-biop-case-parties-in-good-faith-discussions-to-resolve-litigation/

— CBB, October 22, 2021, “Parties Put Salmon/Steelhead BiOp Litigation On Hold, Commit To Working Together To Find ‘Comprehensive, Long-Term Solution,’” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/parties-put-salmon-steelhead-biop-litigation-on-hold-commit-to-working-together-to-find-comprehensive-long-term-solution/

— CBB, Dec. 11, 2020, OREGON FILES INTENT TO CHALLENGE FEDS’ NEW EIS/BIOP FOR BASIN SALMON/STEELHEAD IN CASE REGIONAL COLLABORATION GOES NOWHERE, https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/oregon-files-intent-to-challenge-feds-new-eis-biop-for-basin-salmon-steelhead-in-case-regional-collaboration-goes-nowhere

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U.S., Canada Reach ‘Agreement-In-Principle’ For Modernized Columbia River Treaty; Assures Pre-Planned Flood Control, Rebalances Power Benefits

The governments of Canada and the United States announced Thursday they have reached an agreement-in-principle to modernize the Columbia River Treaty. Under the AIP, the countries have agreed that a renewed treaty will provide some level of assured pre-planned flood control and continued cooperation on hydropower for the Columbia River.

The countries have also agreed to incorporate new provisions not considered in the original agreement, including those for increased unilateral flexibility for how British Columbia operates its treaty dams, ecosystem health, restoring and strengthening salmon populations, Indigenous cultural values, adaptive management and new collaborative engagement on Libby Dam operations.

For decades, the Columbia River Treaty has played an important role in reducing flood damage and providing electricity to millions of households, businesses and industries in both Canada and the United States.

The AIP is a milestone in the negotiation process. It is intended to provide a clear road map for the negotiation teams to move forward on drafting a modernized treaty.

The AIP supports a renewed approach to sharing benefits between countries. It enables B.C. to continue receiving a share of the additional hydroelectric power potential in the U.S. as a result of how B.C. operates its treaty dams, and includes newly negotiated access to U.S. transmission infrastructure. It also provides annual indexed compensation from the U.S. for a reduced volume of reservoir space for flood-risk management and for other benefits the U.S. receives, including benefits to irrigation, navigation, recreation and fish-population enhancements in the U.S. portion of the Columbia Basin.

In the coming weeks, the governments of Canada and B.C. are expected to share more detailed information about the AIP and about future engagement with the basin communities to seek their feedback.

The Columbia River Treaty is a transboundary water-management agreement between Canada and the United States, ratified in 1964, that aims at coordinating flood-risk management and power generation on both sides of the border, to the benefit of both countries.

The treaty required Canada to build three dams – Duncan (1967), Hugh L. Keenleyside (1968) and Mica (1973) – in B.C. and allowed the U.S. to build a fourth dam, the Libby Dam (1975), that flooded into Canada.

Although international treaties are within the jurisdiction of the federal government, the 1963 Canada-British Columbia Agreement transferred most treaty rights and obligations to the Province and requires the Province’s agreement before terminating or amending the treaty.

Revenue from the treaty has contributed to funding of B.C. government functions such as health care, education and infrastructure.

The treaty has no end date but either country can unilaterally terminate the treaty from September 2024 onward provided at least 10 years notice is given. Since Canada (including B.C.) and the United States began negotiations to modernize the treaty in May 2018, 19 formal rounds of negotiations have taken place.

Elements of an agreement-in-principle do not have the force of law. It means the U.S. and Canada agree, in principle, on core issues and have a joint commitment to draft text of a treaty amendment and related arrangements. Some key elements of the AIP:

  • Canadian flexibility: The treaty requires Canada and the United States to annually co-ordinate 15.5 million acre-feet (MAF) of reservoir storage space behind Canadian treaty dams to optimize hydropower generation in both countries.

Canada can unilaterally decide to reduce the co-ordinated storage to a minimum of 11.5 MAF in each year through 2039, and 10.5 MAF from 2039-2044 for their own domestic purposes. Domestic flexibility will be used to address impacts resulting from the treaty to ecosystems, Indigenous cultural values and socio-economic interests. For every MAF co-ordinated storage is reduced, the Canadian Entitlement that the United States is required to deliver to Canada will be reduced by 6.5%.

  • Canadian Entitlement: The Canadian Entitlement (CE) is Canada’s share of the downstream power benefits provided under the treaty. The CE for the current (2023-2024) operating year is 1,141 megawatts (MW) in hydropower generation capacity and 454 average MW (aMW) of energy. The anticipated schedule that reduces the CE at the beginning of the 2024-2025 operating year (beginning Aug. 1, 2024), starts from 660 MW capacity and 305 aMW of energy, stabilizing in 2033-2034 at 550 MW of capacity and 225 aMW of energy, and ending in 2044. The reduction of the CE takes into account the decrease expected when the treaty was originally entered into.
  • Preplanned flood control: Following the modernized treaty’s entry into force, Canada will provide the United States with 3.6 MAF of preplanned flood-risk management (FRM), a reduction from the current 8.95 MAF. The U.S. and Canada are working to identify arrangements under the existing treaty to implement the preplanned FRM for the upcoming flood season (spring of 2025).
  • Compensation to Canada for flood-risk management and other benefits: Annual payments will be made to Canada:
  1. Preplanned FRM payments are anticipated to be $37.6 million (USD) and indexed to inflation, using the consumer price index, through 2044. This compensation will be owed the first year Canada provides the preplanned FRM.
  2. The United States also recognizes that it receives additional benefits from the operation of the Canadian reservoirs and will provide an additional $16.6 (USD) million to Canada annually once the modernized treaty enters into force, indexed to inflation using the CPI, through 2044.
  • Transmission: The Bonneville Power Administrationand Powerex (BC Hydro’s energy marketing and trading arm) will enter into an agreement to allow Powerex to assume, in a manner consistent with BPA’s transmission tariff that applies to other BPA contract-holders, and pay for existing transmission capacity of 1,120 MW currently held by BPA to deliver the Canadian Entitlement. This long-term arrangement will contribute to British Columbia’s system reliability and energy security.
  • New transmission: BPA and Powerex will conduct a study on expansion of new transmission and, based on that study, BPA will determine whether to proceed to necessary domestic processes to implement the expansion. If realized, this would further expand British Columbia’s transmission capacity to optimize market opportunities to benefit its energy system.
  • Indigenous and Tribal advisory body: The United States and Canada will form an Indigenous-led advisory body that will provide recommendations on how treaty and other hydrosystem operations can better support ecosystem needs and Indigenous and Tribal cultural values. This body will integrate a “One River” approach to ecological health along the Columbia River and adopt an adaptive-management framework.
  • Flows for salmon: Canada will provide 1 MAF of water flows in all years and an additional 0.5 MAF in dry years to support salmon survival and migration, contributing to maintaining and enhancing downstream salmon populations, including Okanagan salmon.
  • Salmon reintroduction: The United States and Canada acknowledge that the Tribes and Indigenous Nations on each side of the border are conducting salmon reintroduction studies and will co-ordinate on these studies. The goal is to maximize synergies from efforts on both sides of the border and to facilitate information sharing.
  • Kootenay/Kootenai working group: A multiparty transboundary working group will be formed to work towards addressing common interests in the Kootenay/Kootenai river system such as ecosystems and aquatic objectives, recreation and flood-risk mitigation on both sides of the border.

John Hairston, administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, said Thursday on a Zoom news briefing that the agreement will provide operational predictability. He said an objective of the agreement was to “rebalance power benefits.”

“It’s worth noting that this relief on the Canadian entitlement begins immediately, even as the countries continue to complete the necessary steps to enter into the modernized treaty,” Hairston said. “Beginning in August, the Canadian entitlement will be about 60 per cent of what it is today, and by 2033 will decrease to less than 50 per cent of today’s entitlement.”

Michael Connor, assistant secretary with the U.S. Amy Corps of Engineers, said at the briefing that the governments had reached an agreement “on a quantity of preplanned” flood-risk management space in Canada.

“It is important to note, however, that without modernization, the treaty requires no preplanned space in Canada and U.S. reservoirs would have experienced much greater impacts in many more years than what is expected under the new agreement,” he said.

Connor noted the U.S. will compensate Canada in U.S. dollars for the space it provides.

In a statement, the U.S. State Department said “until both countries complete domestic processes for entry into force, the United States and Canada are preparing appropriate interim measures to transition implementation of Treaty operations to a modernized future that benefits the people and environment on both sides of the border.”

On Thursday, President Biden said, “Today, with Prime Minister Trudeau visiting Washington D.C., I am pleased to announce that our countries have reached agreement in principle on the key elements of a modernized Treaty.

“After 60 years, the Treaty needs updating to reflect our changing climate and the changing needs of the communities that depend on this vital waterway. The Columbia River and its tributaries are of great importance to Tribal and Indigenous peoples, who have been sustained by this ecosystem and the abundant resources it provides for time immemorial. These waterways are also vitally important to our nation’s economy, generating 40% of U.S. hydropower, irrigating $8 billion in agriculture products, and moving 42 million tons of commercial cargo every year.

“For 60 years, the United States and Canada have managed these waterways together through the Columbia River Treaty.  Now, our two countries have found common ground on how we will work together to care for them for the next 20 years.

“In modernizing this treaty, we will elevate U.S. Tribes’ and Canadian Indigenous Nations’ voices. We’ll re-balance energy coordination between the United States and Canada, allowing the United States to keep more clean hydropower energy at home while giving Canada more opportunities to import from and export to the U.S. market – critical to both countries achieving our clean energy goals.

“And the United States will benefit from pre-planned water storage at Canadian Treaty dams, to help control flooding and protect vulnerable communities.

“In the coming weeks, the United States and Canada will continue our work together to draft a Treaty amendment that reflects these key elements and to begin the process in both our countries to get this done.

“Together, we will continue to steward this precious shared natural resource, on behalf of all our people.”

Trudeau said Canada and the United States “have always been steadfast partners when it comes to protecting our shared waters. Today, in Washington, D.C., I’m proud to reaffirm this partnership through an agreement-in-principle reached between our two countries on the modernization of the Columbia River Treaty.

“For more than 50 years, the Columbia River Treaty has played a crucial role in reducing flood damage and providing clean energy to millions of households, businesses, and industries in both of our countries. Today’s announcement is the result of extensive negotiations between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States. Canada’s negotiating team is a partnership between the federal government, the Province of British Columbia, the Ktunaxa, the Secwépemc, and the Syilx Okanagan Nations. This agreement-in-principle is the result of extensive engagement, notably with Indigenous and local communities, to ensure that all interests are heard, represented, and addressed.

“The agreement-in-principle is a major milestone that will enable us to now update the Treaty, ensuring continued flood risk management and co-operation on hydropower for the Columbia River and incorporating important provisions not considered in the original agreement, such as ecosystem health and Indigenous cultural values. The modernized Treaty will reduce flood risk in communities, advance Indigenous priorities, and promote clean energy goals.

“The agreement-in-principle is an important step on our path to renew the Columbia River Treaty and to advance our Roadmap for a Renewed U.S.-Canada Partnership. Together with the United States, we reaffirm our historic alliance, steadfast friendship, and commitment to making life better for people on both sides of our shared border – and to building a more free, equitable, secure, and prosperous world for everyone.”

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, said, “There is no way to truly estimate the tremendous economic, environmental, and recreational value of the Columbia River to our state and region. Getting the U.S. and Canada to come together on an Agreement in Principle to modernize and optimize the hydro system for clean power and environmental considerations is a positive step forward.

“The region will need to review and weigh in on the details. But I appreciate President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau reaching a smart agreement to grow clean energy capacity in both countries and create opportunities for future cooperation that could expand electricity generation at a time when the region has big demands for more power.

“I want to express my thanks to Senator Risch for years of partnership pushing for Treaty modernization and look forward to working with him on Treaty ratification if the Northwest region responds positively to the terms.”

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch , R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, “For 60 years, the Columbia River Treaty has provided coordinated flood control for the Pacific Northwest, in turn providing significant hydropower opportunities for both the United States and Canada, as well as irrigation and navigation throughout the region. In my home state of Idaho, all of these benefits have and continue to contribute to our economic growth and success. We have been working on a renewal of the treaty for several years.

“Today’s announcement of a preliminary agreement between the United States and Canada looks promising, but as always, I look forward to seeing all the details. I also expect that a final agreement will be submitted by the president to the Senate for our review.”

Northwest civic, faith, clean energy and conservation organizations expressed frustration and disappointment that the AIP “does not adequately address the crisis facing the Columbia River ecosystem and its dwindling salmon and steelhead runs. The Agreement continues to maintain the primacy of hydropower and flood control over the needs of struggling anadromous fish populations. It leaves critical, unresolved questions regarding health of the river and uncertainty and risk for fish populations facing extinction today.”

“The health of the Columbia River must become an explicit purpose and priority in a new, modernized Treaty,” said Joseph Bogaard of the Save Our wild Salmon Coalition, who chairs the Columbia River Treaty NGO Caucus. “The Columbia Basin is out of balance today. A modernized Treaty must become a tool for restoring balance. Salmon advocates have serious concerns with this Agreement in Principle. In its current form, it means continued risk and uncertainty for this historic river, its native fish populations and the many benefits they bring to our communities.”

“U.S. Treaty governance must expand to include Indigenous expertise and with a committed federal steward of the Columbia River’s health under a renewed Treaty in order to deliver healthier river conditions for both people and salmon. We’ll continue working hard to ensure these kinds of changes are made.”

Many Columbia River tribes have long called for Ecosystem Function, i.e. the health of the river and native fish, to be added as a new, third Treaty purpose, joining power production and flood management.

“Northwest people and salmon need a modern Treaty that is a strong asset for, not an impediment to, a healthier and more resilient Columbia River,” said Bill Arthur of the Sierra Club. “Support for including Ecosystem Function as a new pillar to the treaty was included in the Regional Recommendation, and broadly supported by the public. It is hugely disappointing that it is absent from the Agreement in Principle.  The agreement focuses on revenue for BPA and customers while the salmon and Columbia River are left with a status quo that was already inadequate.”

“We are optimistic that this Agreement in Principle for a modern Treaty brings more balance to the power system relationship between the US and Canada. It is long overdue and the savings should be used to help the Northwest meet our climate, clean energy and salmon recovery goals”, said Nancy Hirsh, executive director of NW Energy Coalition. “The Agreement raises many questions about transmission and power management and the details to come will be critical to get right.”

“People of faith and conscience across our region strongly support the addition of Ecosystem Function as a co-equal purpose for the revised Columbia River Treaty,” said Rev. AC Churchill of Earth Ministry and Washington Interfaith Power and Light. “A properly revised treaty must carve a new path that prioritizes the health of the river, all surrounding life and Indigenous wisdom. This new path would, at last, codify that the river is more than a power source, but is life itself.”

“We are disappointed that the Agreement in Principle fails to provide more water for salmon, despite scientists recommending higher streamflows for migratory fish in the river,” said Neil Brandt, executive director of WaterWatch of Oregon. “Salmon have suffered tremendous losses through the industrialization of the Columbia Basin’s rivers, in part, as a result of this Treaty. A modernized Treaty must do better for salmon in terms of streamflows in the Columbia and Kootenai rivers, and in terms of operations of the dams encompassed by the Treaty.”

The Columbia River Treaty Non-Governmental Organization Caucus was created in 2012. Members include the Center for Law and Policy, Earth Ministry and Washington Interfaith Power and Light, League of Women Voters of Washington, National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Northwest Energy Coalition, One River Ethics Matter (OREM), Save Our wild Salmon Coalition, Sierra Club, and WaterWatch of Oregon.

Also see:

–CBB, Dec. 15, 2023, SENATORS PUSH BIDEN, TRUDEAU TO SWIFTLY COMPLETE NEW COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY BEFORE CANADA FLOOD CONTROL GOES FROM CERTAINTY TO ‘CALLED-UPON’

Senators Push Biden, Trudeau To Swiftly Complete New Columbia River Treaty Before Canada Flood Control Goes From Certainty To ‘Called-Upon’

–CBB, Oct. 13, 2023, WITHOUT A NEW COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY CORPS WILL NEED TO USE ‘REAL-TIME’ FLOOD CONTROL, RATHER THAN ‘ASSURED STORAGE’ IN CANADIAN RESERVOIRS https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/without-a-new-columbia-river-treaty-corps-will-need-to-use-real-time-flood-control-rather-than-assured-storage-in-canadian-reservoirs/

— CBB, June 30,2021, NW LAWMAKERS SEND LETTER TO BIDEN URGING ‘WHITE HOUSE LED STRATEGY’ ON COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY, SEEK REDUCING ‘CANADIAN ENTITLEMENT’; CONSERVATIONISTS’ LETTER STRESSES ‘HEALTH OF THE RIVER’ https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/nw-lawmakers-send-letter-to-biden-urging-white-house-led-strategy-on-columbia-river-treaty-seek-reducing-canadian-entitlement-conservationists-letter-str/

— CBB, June 16, 2023, NEW AGREEMENTS GIVE CANADA’S INDIGENOUS NATIONS REVENUE SHARING FROM  BENEFITS OF COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/new-agreements-give-canadas-indigenous-nations-revenue-sharing-from-benefits-of-columbia-river-treaty/

— CBB, May 24, 2023, COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY NEGOTIATORS MEET IN KELOWNA; DISCUSS SALMON REINTRODUCTION, FLOOD-RISK MANAGEMENT, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/columbia-river-treaty-negotiators-meet-in-kelowna-discuss-salmon-reintroduction-flood-risk-management/

— CBB, April 20, 2023, AS EXPIRATION DATE NEARS, U.S., CANADA PUSHING TO FINISH COLUMBIA RIVER TREATY NEGOTIATIONS BY JUNE; UNCERTAINTY OVER FUTURE OPERATIONS A MOTIVATOR, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/as-expiration-date-nears-u-s-canada-pushing-to-finish-columbia-river-treaty-negotiations-by-june-uncertainty-over-future-operations-a-motivator/

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NW Power/Conservation Council Approves Funds To Upgrade Fish Screens, Reviews Progress On $25 Million For Hatchery Maintenance

Idaho, Washington and Oregon are in line to receive $1,840,082 to upgrade or replace existing fish screens that prevent migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead from getting trapped in canals and irrigation ditches. The money will also be used in some cases to make repairs to state fish screen facilities, all in fiscal year 2025.

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council approved the expenditure included in its asset management program at its June meeting in Helena, Montana. The Bonneville Power Administration will fund the fish screens through its 2024 rate case funds for fish and wildlife programs.

The Council also reviewed progress on $25 million of non-routine hatchery maintenance approved last year. The hatchery maintenance uses BPA Reserve Distribution Clause funds allocated to Fish and Wildlife for use in FY2024 after the power marketing agency finished FY2022 with higher-than-expected revenues, triggering the RDC.

Since 2018, BPA has either reduced funding for its fish and wildlife program or levels of funding remained flat — all part of the agency’s 2018-23 strategic plan to keep fish and wildlife costs below the rate of inflation. Its fish and wildlife budget dropped 10 percent in FY2020-21 to $249 million and another 1 percent in fiscal year 2022-23. Although the agency said it would raise the budget by 8 percent this year, the FY2024 budget amount is still lower than its FY2018-19 budget.

See CBB, January 13, 2023, BPA URGED TO DISTRIBUTE MORE EXCESS REVENUE TO SALMON RECOVERY, 70 PERCENT GOING TO KEEP RATES DOWN, 10 PERCENT FISH, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/BPA-URGED-TO-DISTRIBUTE-MORE-EXCESS-REVENUE-TO-SALMON-RECOVERY-70-PERCENT-GOING-TO-KEEP-RATES-DOWN-10-PERCENT-FISH/

With the RDC, BPA allocated $50 million to address non-recurring maintenance needs at existing fish and wildlife assets. Some $25 million of that went to Lower Snake River Compensation hatcheries and the remaining $25 million is going to Fish and Wildlife Program-supported hatcheries between FY2024 and FY2027.

The RDC, a rate mechanism that implements an element of BPA’s Financial Reserves Policy, triggered for Power Services based on FY 2022 end-of-year results, the power marketing agency said in a news release early last year. It allows the administrator to repurpose financial reserves when certain conditions are met. The primary condition is that both the agency and the business line must exceed their upper days cash on hand thresholds: 90 days cash on hand for the agency and 120 days cash on hand for a business line. Days cash on hand is the number of days a business can continue to operate using its own cash on hand with no new revenue.

The amount above the thresholds can be used for debt reduction, incremental capital investment, rate reduction through a dividend distribution or any other high-value business-line-specific purpose determined by the administrator.

An Asset Management Subcommittee, represented by Council member Ed Schriever (Idaho) and Jason Sweet, Executive Manager, Fish and Wildlife Division, BPA, met in January to consider prioritizing the entirety of the $2.7M allocated to non-routine Asset Management in Bonneville’s FY2024 rate case for fish screens. Although $2.7 million was available for fish screens, fish screen managers only submitted $1.87 million in requests.

In addition to the fish screen projects approved by the subcommittee, it said it will also “investigate the potential to fund a 3rd party assessment of the Program’s screen fabrication facilities in FY25,” says a June 4 Council memorandum (https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/18756/2024_06_5.pdf).

The Council’s Fish and Wildlife Committee approved the plan at its May 14 meeting, and supported bringing the recommendations to the full Council for approval June 12.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game will receive $862,000 for five projects, one on the Lemhi River ($65,000), one on the East Fork of the Salmon River ($355,000) and one on the Salmon River ($82,000). In addition, IDFG will receive funds for a septic system at its screen shop ($85,000) and funds to purchase a road grader for fish screen access ($275,000).

Some $539,360 will go to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for four projects with the largest of $348,280 going to total component replacement or rebuild on nine screens in the Deschutes, John Day and Grande Ronde rivers subbasins. $37,560 will be used at diversion dams on Trout and Fifteen mile creeks and $87,100 goes to replacement of walkways to meet safety standards at 9 fish screens in John Day and Grande Ronde subbasins. ODFW will also receive $66,500 for a mini-excavator to help clean fish screens.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is receiving $438,722 for five projects. $112,537 is for installing a wedge wire panel on Scott Ditch Fish Screen on the Naches River, $169,987 to replace the Clark and Lindsey Phase II Drum Screen Facility on the Yakima River, and $31,629 to rebuild Starbuck Electric Drum Screen on the Tucannon River and Chapman-Nelson Drum Screen on the Naches River. WDFW will also receive $26,524 to purchase Perforated Plate (standby materials) for drum screen repair and $58,246 for a bending machine and miscellaneous shop tools.

“RDC funds previously prioritized for non-routine hatchery maintenance continue to meet the program’s hatchery needs,” the June 4 Council memo says, noting that $24,542,786 of the $25 million has been allocated. Approved in 2023, implementation at these hatcheries continues, with. Here’s a run-down:

Ten hatcheries have been awarded contracts, with two still out for signature and two more in development. The largest of the awards has gone to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation ($3,404,540), the Kootenai Tribe ($2,364,189), the Nez Perce Tribe ($2,005,535) and the Colville Tribe ($1,701,089) and the Spokane Tribe ($1,171,995). Others include IDFG, Westland Irrigation District, the Yakama Nation and the Warm Spring Tribes.

Still out for signature are ODFW ($4,550,000) and WDFW ($403,661).

Under development are Alaska Energy for chiller support ($500,000) and Terraphase, a Umatilla well analysis ($30,000).

The Council’s Asset Management Strategic Plan was approved in 2018 to address non-recurring maintenance needs in order to ensure the longevity and integrity of the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program’s past investments made for the benefit of fish and wildlife, including hatcheries, fish screens and lands, Mark Fritsch, Project Review and Implementation in the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Division, told the Council. The plan established an annual $500,000 asset management placeholder.

BPA also has a Strategic Asset Management Plans initiated for hatcheries in 2020 that is updated biennially to support the Integrated Program Review cycle, Jason Sweet, executive manager of BPA’s Fish and Wildlife Program, told the Council. BPA’s Plan, he said, describes BPA’s long-term objectives and strategies, asset criticality and risk assessments.

Sweet said the two programs – the Council’s Asset Management Strategic Plan and BPA’s Strategic Asset Management Plans – have been “maturing together.”

Fritsch said “I can’t speak enough how these (two programs) are complimentary to each other.”

For background, see:

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

— CBB, SEPTEMBER 28, 2023, NW POWER/CONSERVATION COUNCIL RELEASES TWO REPORTS DETAILING FISH/WILDLIFE SPENDING; $932 MILLION BY BPA IN FY 2022, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/NW-POWER-CONSERVATION-COUNCIL-RELEASES-TWO-REPORTS-DETAILING-FISH-WILDLIFE-SPENDING-932-MILLION-BY-BPA-IN-FY-2022/

— CBB, JUNE 21, 2023, COUNCIL/BPA APPROVE USING $25 MILLION IN BPA FUNDS FOR LONG OVERDUE MAINTENANCE AT AGING COLUMBIA BASIN HATCHERIES, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/COUNCIL-BPA-APPROVE-USING-25-MILLION-IN-BPA-FUNDS-FOR-LONG-OVERDUE-MAINTENANCE-AT-AGING-COLUMBIA-BASIN-HATCHERIES/

–CBB, May 18 2023, COUNCIL/BPA MOVING CLOSER TO APPROVING HUGE INCREASE FOR HATCHERY MAINTENANCE DUE TO FLUSH REVENUE YEAR FOR BPA, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/COUNCIL-BPA-MOVING-CLOSER-TO-APPROVING-HUGE-INCREASE-FOR-HATCHERY-MAINTENANCE-DUE-TO-FLUSH-REVENUE-YEAR-FOR-BPA/

— CBB, January 13, 2023, BPA URGED TO DISTRIBUTE MORE EXCESS REVENUE TO SALMON RECOVERY, 70 PERCENT GOING TO KEEP RATES DOWN, 10 PERCENT FISH, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/BPA-URGED-TO-DISTRIBUTE-MORE-EXCESS-REVENUE-TO-SALMON-RECOVERY-70-PERCENT-GOING-TO-KEEP-RATES-DOWN-10-PERCENT-FISH/

— CBB, Nov. 22, 2022, BPA 2022 NET REVENUES EXCEED TARGET BY $792 MILLION; PROPOSING FLAT RATES FOR 2023-25, 8 PERCENT INCREASE FOR SALMON MITIGATION https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/bpa-2022-net-revenues-exceed-target-by-792-million-proposing-flat-rates-for-2023-25-8-percent-increase-for-salmon-mitigation/

— CBB, June 16, 2022,

BPA TO RAISE ANNUAL FISH/WILDLIFE BUDGET BY 8.7 PERCENT STARTING 2024; HAS ASSESSED HATCHERY, FISH SCREEN MAINTENANCE NEEDS, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/BPA-TO-RAISE-ANNUAL-FISH-WILDLIFE-BUDGET-BY-8-7-PERCENT-STARTING-2024-HAS-ASSESSED-HATCHERY-FISH-SCREEN-MAINTENANCE-NEEDS/

— CBB, April 14, 2022, COUNCIL DECISION MEMO TO BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION CALLS FOR AGENCY TO ADDRESS FLAT-FUNDING OF BASIN FISH/WILDLIFE MITIGATION PROJECTS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/council-decision-memo-to-bonneville-power-administration-calls-for-agency-to-address-flat-funding-of-basin-fish-wildlife-mitigation-projects/

— CBB, March 31, 2021, MORE SPILL FOR SALMON BUMPED BPA FISH/WILDLIFE COSTS UP 18 PERCENT IN 2021; FOR ESA FISH, MOST SPENT ON MID-COLUMBIA STEELHEAD AT $36 MILLION, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/more-spill-for-salmon-bumped-bpa-fish-wildlife-costs-up-18-percent-in-2021-for-esa-fish-most-spent-on-mid-columbia-steelhead-at-36-million/

— CBB, Sept. 30, 2021, SCIENCE PANEL REVIEWING BPA-FUNDED BASIN FISH/WILDLIFE PROJECTS SAYS TIME TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY; MORE SYNTHESIS, SOLICIT NEW PROJECTS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/science-panel-reviewing-bpa-funded-basin-fish-wildlife-projects-says-time-to-do-things-differently-more-synthesis-solicit-new-projects/

— CBB, June 20, 2021, “BPA Opens Fish/Wildlife Budget Process For FY2020, Hopes To Hold Spending Steady,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/bpa-opens-fish-wildlife-budget-process-for-fy2020-hopes-to-hold-spending-steady/

— CBB, March 11, 2021, REPORT: 2020 TOTAL BPA FISH/WILDLIFE COSTS DROP BY $177 MILLION OVER 2019; $611.5 MILLION, 25 PERCENT OF WHOLESALE POWER RATES, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/report-2020-total-bpa-fish-wildlife-costs-drop-by-177-million-over-2019-611-5-million-25-percent-of-wholesale-power-rates/

— March 19, 2020, “Draft Report Pegs BPA’s 2019 Fish/Wildlife Costs At $788 Million, $17 Billion Since 1981; 25 Percent Of Wholesale Power Rate,” https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/draft-report-pegs-bpas-2019-fish-wildlife-costs-at-788-million-17-billion-since-1981-25-percent-of-wholesale-power-rate/

— CBB, March 15, 2019, “Report On 2018 BPA Fish/Wildlife Costs Released For Comment; $16.8 Billion Since 1981,” https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/report-on-2018-bpa-fish-wildlife-costs-released-for-comment-16-8-billion-since-1981/

— CBB, January 18, 2019, “Latest Numbers Show Cuts to BPA Fish And Wildlife Spending at $6.3 million,” https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/latest-numbers-show-cuts-to-bpa-fish-and-wildlife-spending-at-6-3-million/

–CBB, August 17, 2018, “Council Gets Update On BPA Efforts To Reduce Funding For Fish/Wildlife Program Projects,” https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/441295.aspx

–CBB, July 13, 2018, “Council F&W Committee Talks Policy About BPA Project Funding Cuts, Columbia Basin Fish Accords,” https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/441105.aspx

–CBB, June 15, 2018, “Bonneville Power Looking At Spending Reductions In Columbia Basin Fish/Wildlife Spending,” https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/440947.aspx

— CBB, February 2, 2018, “Bonneville Power Releases Five year Strategic Plan, 2018-2023,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/bonneville-power-releases-five-year-strategic-plan-2018-2023/

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Infrastructure Law Funding Restores Habitat On Section Of Oregon’s McKenzie River, Redds Showing Up

NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation says the agency and its partners are increasing numbers of threatened Upper Willamette River Chinook salmon by restoring habitat in Oregon’s McKenzie River watershed. Years of development and road building in the region altered stream flows, limiting the ability of salmon adults to reproduce and juveniles to survive to adulthood.

Historically, hundreds of thousands of Chinook salmon and steelhead returned to the Willamette River Basin in Oregon to spawn. Fish counts at the Willamette Falls fish ladders show those numbers have plummeted. The current 5-year average annual return is about 30,000 Chinook and 3,000 steelhead. Aside from the major dams, pollution, climate change, and habitat degradation caused by development are threatening the survival of migratory fish.

In 2022, NOAA provided the McKenzie River Trust $1.7 million in congressionally-directed community project funding to restore 150 acres of floodplain habitat at Finn Rock Reach. Adult Chinook spawned in the restored habitat last fall, laying eggs in 65 “redds”—gravel nests they scour out of the river bottom. A new generation of juvenile Chinook is now growing there and will eventually head downstream toward the ocean.

The limited habitat prior to restoration work confined salmon to a small single channel.

“We used a cut and fill operation to reconnect the river to the floodplain, dramatically increasing the wetted area where water can flow across the site,” says McKenzie River Trust Restoration Projects Manager John Trimble. “We then let the river do the work of rearranging the sediment into preferred flow paths.”

Adding fallen trees and other pieces of wood to the river slowed stream flows and created protected pools. They prevented spawning gravels and juvenile fish from being washed downstream.

More recently, the Office of Habitat Conservation awarded the McKenzie Watershed Alliance $7.6 million through the Infrastructure Law. They will use the funds to restore lower Quartz Creek, a tributary of the McKenzie. Historical accounts document the presence of Chinook salmon and bull trout in Quartz Creek, but neither species has been seen there for decades.

Project partners have replaced an aging bridge that constricted Quartz Creek. Previously, the stream constriction forced the water to gush like a fire hose, blasting salmon and sediment downriver. “Slowing down the water flow will keep juveniles from being flushed out and help keep spawning gravels in place,” says NOAA Marine Habitat Resource Specialist Larissa Lee. “Salmon need a certain size gravel to cover and protect their eggs.”

Next, the partners will restore floodplain habitat around the creek. Floodplains give juvenile salmon a place to escape fast-moving winter flows and provide access to highly nutritious organic matter and insects. The floodplain absorbs excess water during winter storms and increases groundwater connectivity throughout the watershed, keeping the river flowing through the summer months.

The 2020 Holiday Farm Fire severely impacted the watershed, resulting in increased flooding and significant erosion. Higher levels of sediment made it harder for fish to breathe and decreased water quality for downstream residents. Eugene and other cities rely on the McKenzie River for drinking water.

The restoration work will increase groundwater and expand the amount of wetlands, which can reduce the impact of forest fires. Crews will place felled trees and other woody debris in the creek to further slow and spread the water. The log jams will act like sieves to filter sediment so it drops out.

“When you have a single-threaded river that doesn’t function naturally, fire just runs right through it,” says Eli Tome, Director of Conservation for the McKenzie River Trust, a project partner. “However, when you restore the natural processes of a river and reintroduce wetlands you create a natural fire break and provide refuge for wildlife trying to escape.”

Additional partners for both projects include the McKenzie Watershed Council, U.S. Forest Service, and Eugene Water & Electric Board.

NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation says it is “reinvigorating efforts to restore threatened salmon and trout species in Oregon’s Willamette River watershed.” It says this is one of four related restoration projects being funded under the Infrastructure Law.

Also see:

–CBB, Sept. 15, 2023, AS MEASURES IMPLEMENTED TO AID ESA SALMONIDS AT WILLAMETTE VALLEY DAMS, CORPS STUDYING WHETHER TO END HYDRO PRODUCTION https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/as-measures-implemented-to-aid-esa-salmonids-at-willamette-valley-dams-corps-studying-whether-to-end-hydro-production/

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Administration Report Describes Harm Of Dams To Columbia Basin Tribes, White House Sets Up Task Force To Coordinate Basin Salmon Recovery

The Biden Administration this week released a controversial “Tribal Circumstances Analysis” acknowledging the harm 11 Columbia and Snake river dams have inflicted and continue to inflict on Columbia Basin Native American Tribes.

At the same time, the White House Council on Environmental Quality created a new interagency Columbia River Task Force that will coordinate efforts across federal agencies to fulfill its commitments to restore native fish populations. Federal agencies include the departments of Commerce, Energy and Environmental Protection.

These steps advance a historic agreement to work in partnership with Tribes and Pacific Northwest states to restore wild salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin and develop a long-term strategy to meet the clean energy, transportation, and other key needs of the region, a Biden Administration news release says.

“Since time immemorial, Tribes along the Columbia River and its tributaries have relied on Pacific salmon, steelhead and other native fish species for sustenance and their cultural and spiritual ways of life. Acknowledging the devastating impact of federal hydropower dams on Tribal communities is essential to our efforts to heal and ensure that salmon are restored to their ancestral waters,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “As part of our ongoing commitment to honoring our federal commitments to Tribal Nations, the Interior Department will continue to pursue comprehensive and collaborative basin-wide solutions to restore native fish populations, empower Tribes, and meet the many resilience needs of communities across the region.”

A Nez Perce Tribe statement calls the Tribal Circumstances Analysis comprehensive by documenting the “devastating impacts of federal Columbia River dams on Columbia Basin Tribes” and it provides critical recommendations for upholding the federal government’s Treaty and trust responsibilities.

“The United States – by telling the truth about the historic and ongoing injustices the federal dams have imposed on our people and by embracing its Treaty and trust obligations – is upholding the rule of law and highlighting the urgency to act to prevent salmon extinction,” said Shannon Wheeler, Chairman of the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee.

“The Tribal Circumstances Analysis is a stark reminder that the federal dams were built on the backs of our Tribal Nations and our people, and continue to decimate our salmon populations and our culture, sovereignty, and way of life,” Wheeler continued.  “We know we must act urgently to prevent extinction, and this report reaffirms the need for the United States and us to move forward together as Treaty partners.  We look forward to continuing to work with the United States to take bold and immediate actions to ensure a future where our rivers run free, our salmon return in abundance, and our people thrive.”

The Tribal Circumstances Analysis is here.  https://www.doi.gov/media/document/tribal-circumstances-analysis

Less enamored with the Biden report is U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-WA, who represents Eastern Washington. She said the report is in bad faith and reflects the Biden Administration’s desire to breach the four lower Snake River dams, all located in Washington.

“This bad faith report is just the latest in a long list of examples that prove the Biden administration’s goal has always been dam breaching. They continue to undermine the honest regional dialogue we need to determine the future of the Columbia River System with a politically-motivated report that — in their own words — ‘is based on limited sources’ and uses ‘examples to support the conclusions.’ This irresponsible means to justify an end is misguided and should not be taken seriously, especially by those who understand the tremendous benefits this critical infrastructure provides to our region.”

The Pacific Northwest Waterways Association said the actions taken by the Biden Administration this week have failed to involve the local communities and economies currently most impacted.

“Our concerns with the Biden Administration’s actions are their excessive lack of transparency and the failure to account for all interests affected by this complex issue,” said Neil Maunu, Executive Director of PNWA and the Inland Ports and Navigation Group.

“We are deeply concerned with the failure to involve local communities that live and work in this region,” the PNWA continued in its news release. “This one-sided approach has not been transparent, as claimed by the Administration. The approach dismisses the tremendous negative impacts on the future of this region’s economy and the environmental harm caused by the breaching of the Lower Snake River dams. The current economy of the tri-state region is reliant on the Snake River and would be devastated by the negative impacts on river commerce, agriculture exports, recreation and tourism, and power generation.

“The Administration professes to support environmental justice, yet this report neglects the interests of millions of residents, including Native American tribes in the region, who rely on the river system’s multi-use benefits today for their livelihoods, bringing more insecurity to marginalized communities and negatively impacting local economies. The Administration must reconsider its one-sided view in favor of an inclusive, holistic approach that equitably serves all stakeholders.”

According to a joint Idaho Senate memorial passed this spring, nearly 10 percent of all U.S. wheat exports are barged through the four dams on the Snake River, and about 50 percent of all Idaho-grown wheat is barged from Lewiston to Portland and then exported to international markets. Removing or breaching the dams would make it unnavigable for farmers to transport those products to port for export, the memorial said.

PNWA is a non-profit trade association that advocates for federal policies and funding in support of regional economic and environmental sustainability. It represents over 150 public ports, navigation, transportation, trade, tourism, agriculture, forest products, energy and local government interests in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho (www.pnwa.net).

Earthjustice, attorneys representing plaintiffs in federal court since 2001 that have challenged the biological opinions of Columbia River federal hydro system operations, said the report is a start.

“This truth-telling from the federal government is a critical step toward remedying historical and ongoing injustice to Columbia Basin Tribes,” said Earthjustice Senior Attorney Amanda Goodin. “The health of salmon, these rivers and the Tribes are inextricably linked. This report underscores the imperative for the Administration and Congress to take all actions necessary to rebuild healthy and abundant salmon and other native species across the Basin, including substantial increases in funding across the Basin and Congressional authorization to breach four Lower Snake River dams.”

The actions recommended in the report should prioritize substantial increases in federal funding for basin restoration, including fully funding the Columbia Basin 10-year fish needs plan once finalized (a forthcoming plan developed under the U.S. Government Commitments), Earthjustice said in a news release.

It should also include working directly with Tribes on energy planning, fish and ecological restoration, working collaboratively with partners across the basin to timely implement the U.S. Government Commitments that were part of the Resilient Columbia Agreement signed last December, and working collaboratively to fully implement the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative, which Earthjustice says “a comprehensive blueprint to restore the Columbia Basin developed by the Yakama, Nez Perce, Umatilla, and Warm Springs Tribes and the states of Oregon and Washington.”

In addition, the organization says, future environmental analyses of the Columbia River System Operations must be informed by this analysis, “including a decision on whether the federal government should recommend that Congress authorize breaching four dams on the Lower Snake River to rebuild the salmon populations that originate there.”

The latest Earthjustice lawsuit in Oregon federal court by the National Wildlife Federation and others challenged the federal government’s 2020 environmental impact statement and BiOp. Judge Michael H. Simon of the U.S. District Court in Oregon stayed that litigation in 2021 to allow White House-mediated discussions on potential solutions, which are now complete. The lawsuit has since been stayed for 10 years.

Established by the CEQ and co-chaired by three federal agencies, the new Columbia River Task Force will coordinate efforts across federal agencies to fulfill the Administration’s commitments to restore native fish populations made last year and in February of this year, says a June 18 CEQ news release.

On Sept. 21, 2023, the Administration signed an agreement with upper Columbia River tribes to restore salmon runs in blocked areas upstream of Grand Coulee/Chief Joseph dams. The agreement included $200 million over 20 years from the Bonneville Power Administration. The agreement, between the United States, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, and the Spokane Tribe of Indians. will fund efforts to test the feasibility of, and ultimately to reintroduce salmon in blocked habitats in the Upper Basin. The Department of the Interior also announced it is providing $8 million over two years through the Bureau of Reclamation to support these efforts. 

On Dec. 14, 2023, Oregon and Washington and the leaders of four lower Columbia River tribes (six sovereigns) signed a Memorandum of Understanding that agreed to a broad recovery plan known as the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative and an agreement to stay long-running litigation in federal court for up to 10 years. The MOU was accompanied by a list of commitments and funding by the U.S. government designed to ensure the initiative would be successfully completed.

Although the MOU 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.

See CBB, March 1, 2024, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, STATES, TRIBES FORMALLY SIGN BILLION-DOLLAR COLUMBIA BASIN RESTORATION INITIATIVE TO RECOVER SALMON, STEELHEAD, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/BIDEN-ADMINISTRATION-STATES-TRIBES-FORMALLY-SIGN-BILLION-DOLLAR-COLUMBIA-BASIN-RESTORATION-INITIATIVE-TO-RECOVER-SALMON-STEELHEAD/

In late February this year, the Biden administration and the six sovereigns formally signed an agreement committing 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.

In this week’s announcement, the Administration says that “Federal dams in the Columbia River Basin have long delivered – and continue to deliver – renewable energy and many other benefits. But they have also inflicted – and continue to inflict – grave harms on Tribal communities. Delivering on a key commitment, today the Department of the Interior is releasing a report acknowledging and detailing the historic, ongoing, and cumulative damage and injustices that the federal dams on the Columbia River have caused and continue to cause to Tribal Nations. The report marks the first time the U.S. government has detailed these harms.”

“The Columbia River Task Force will implement President Biden’s vision to develop affordable, clean, and reliable energy options for the region while working to restore wild fish populations and address the grave harms the federal dams have inflicted on Tribal communities,” said Brenda Mallory, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “President Biden recognizes that to confront injustice, we must be honest about history – even when doing so is difficult. The report released today is an important step to recognize and overcome the past together.”

Nik Blosser, who served as chief of staff to former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, has been tapped by the Administration to lead the Task Force.

The Tribal Circumstances Analysis addresses the impacts of 11 dams in the Columbia River basin, including the four lower Columbia dams (Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, and McNary), the two upper Columbia dams (Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee), the four lower Snake dams (Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite), and Dworshak dam, located on the North Fork Clearwater River.

While doing so it considers the circumstances of eight of the Basin’s Tribal Nations most immediately affected by those dams, including the Coeur d’Alene Tribe of Indians, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, Nez Perce Tribe, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation, and Spokane Tribe of Indians.

The report says that the basin historically supported abundant wild salmon, steelhead and native resident fish (up to 16 million each year), which contributed to thriving Tribal cultures and communities by providing food for over 130 wildlife species and sustenance to Tribal people. “Since time immemorial, members of these Tribes and their ancestors stewarded these native species and relied upon their abundance as the staples of their daily diets and ceremony,” it says.

The construction of the large dams throughout the basin beginning at the turn of the 20th century blocked anadromous fish from migrating into certain reaches, flooded thousands of acres of land, sacred sites, and ancestral burial grounds, and transformed the ecosystem, the report says. As a result, many Tribal communities lost access to anadromous fish in their communities.

The report described how these profound losses have had traumatic impacts on Tribal communities, including by altering traditional diets, depriving Tribal members of the ability to exercise traditional ways of life, and fundamentally changing how Tribal members teach and raise children in the cultural and spiritual beliefs that center around these fish.

The report tells its story in four sections:

1. Columbia River Tribe’s relationships to the Columbia River

    This section includes a “discussion of the Tribes’ enduring relationships to the Columbia River, including the First Foods traditions and fishing and hunting rights. It also summarizes more than a century of actions by the treaty Tribes to defend their treaty rights, even when faced with physical harm, arrest, and imprisonment, the report says.

    2. Federal Dam Construction, Operations, and Mitigation Actions

    Section 2 provides a history of the federal development of dams in the Columbia River Basin, including a brief overview of mitigation efforts.

    3. Federal Columbia River and Lower Snake River Dams’ Effects on Tribes

    Section III provides the government’s examination and summary of the historic, ongoing, and cumulative effects of the federal hydropower dams on Tribes, based on the perspectives provided by the Tribes over the decades, the report says. These impacts include effects on Tribal villages and homesites; cultural resources and sacred sites; lands, fisheries, and other natural resources; Tribal harvest rights, including treaty rights; economies and livelihoods; and the resulting cumulative impacts from all of these adverse consequences on Tribal ways of life, well-being, and sovereignty.

    4. Recommendations for Furthering the United States’ Treaty and Trust Responsibilities and Achieving a Healthy and Resilient Columbia River Basin

    Section IV offers recommendations for how the government can, consistent with its treaty commitments and trust responsibilities, better address these impacts, it says.

    Recommendations include specific ways the impacts described in this report should inform National Environmental Policy Act and other compliance analyses, actions to strengthen Tribal sovereignty and restore healthy and abundant populations of salmon, fish, and other species, such as advancing Tribally led restoration initiatives and increasing co-stewardship agreements with Tribal Nations.

    For background, see:

    — CBB, March 1, 2024, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, STATES, TRIBES FORMALLY SIGN BILLION-DOLLAR COLUMBIA BASIN RESTORATION INITIATIVE TO RECOVER SALMON, STEELHEAD, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/BIDEN-ADMINISTRATION-STATES-TRIBES-FORMALLY-SIGN-BILLION-DOLLAR-COLUMBIA-BASIN-RESTORATION-INITIATIVE-TO-RECOVER-SALMON-STEELHEAD/

    — 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://CBBULLETIN.COM/FEDERAL-JUDGE-APPROVES-YEARS-LONG-PAUSE-ON-BASIN-SALMON-RECOVERY-LITIGATION-SO-PARTIES-CAN-PURSUE-TRIBAL-STATES-FEDS-RESTORATION-PLAN/

    — 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/

    See 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, Dec. 13, 2023, D.C. SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING: NW GOP LAWMAKERS COMPLAIN ABOUT CONFIDENTIAL (LEAKED) DRAFT SALMON SETTLEMENT TALKS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/d-c-subcommittee-hearing-nw-gop-lawmakers-complain-about-confidential-leaked-draft-salmon-settlement-talks/

    — CBB, November 30, 2023, Leaked Court Mediation Document Listing Actions and Commitment for basin Salmon recovery draws objections, questions, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/leaked-court-mediation-document-listing-actions-and-commitments-for-basin-salmon-recovery-draws-objections-questions/

    — CBB, November 16, 2023, REPUBLICAN U.S. HOUSE MEMBERS REQUEST ALL CEQ DOCUMENTS RELATED TO MEDIATION, SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS ON LOWER SNAKE DAMS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/republican-u-s-house-members-request-all-ceq-documents-related-to-mediation-settlement-discussions-on-lower-snake-dams/

    –CBB, Nov. 3, 2023, COLUMBIA/SNAKE SALMON RECOVERY LAWSUIT ON HOLD AGAIN AS PARTIES SEEK BUY-IN ON ‘ACTIONS AND COMMITMENTS’ NOT YET MADE PUBLIC, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/columbia-snake-salmon-recovery-lawsuit-on-hold-again-as-parties-seek-buy-in-on-actions-and-commitments-not-yet-made-public/

    — 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/

    -CBB, Sept. 7, 2023, JUDGE APPROVES THIRD EXTENSION ALLOWING PARTIES IN LAWSUIT OVER COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON RECOVERY TO KEEP TALKING, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/judge-approves-third-extension-allowing-parties-in-lawsuit-over-columbia-river-basin-salmon-recovery-to-keep-talking/

    –CBB, June 29, 2023, NW HOUSE REPUBLICANS HOLD FIELD HEARING ON LOWER SNAKE DAMS TITLED ‘THE NORTHWEST AT RISK,’ https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/nw-house-republicans-hold-field-hearing-on-lower-snake-dams-titled-the-northwest-at-risk/

    –CBB, June 1, 2023, ONCE AGAIN, FEDERAL ‘LISTENING SESSION’ ON COLUMBIA BASIN SALMON RECOVERY FOCUSES ON BREACHING LOWER SNAKE DAMS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/once-again-federal-listening-session-on-columbia-basin-salmon-recovery-focuses-on-breaching-lower-snake-dams/

    — CBB, April 7, 2023, WHITE HOUSE LISTENING SESSIONS HEAR ARGUMENTS ON WHETHER LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS SHOULD STAY OR GO, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/WHITE-HOUSE-LISTENING-SESSIONS-HEAR-ARGUMENTS-ON-WHETHER-LOWER-SNAKE-RIVER-DAMS-SHOULD-STAY-OR-GO/

    –CBB, August 4, 2022, JUDGE AGREES TO EXTEND STAY ON COLUMBIA/SNAKE SALMON RECOVERY CASE FOR ANOTHER YEAR AS PARTIES SEEK ‘COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTIONS’ https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/judge-agrees-to-extend-stay-on-columbia-snake-salmon-recovery-case-for-another-year-as-parties-seek-comprehensive-solutions/

    –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/

    — CBB, June 30, 2022, FEDERAL MEDIATORS FOR COLUMBIA BASIN SALMON RECOVERY HOPE FOR EXTENSION OF LITIGATION PAUSE; WOULD GIVE MORE TIME FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/federal-mediators-for-columbia-basin-salmon-recovery-hope-for-extension-of-litigation-pause-would-give-more-time-for-comprehensive-plan/

    –CBB, March 31, 2022, WHITE HOUSE PLANS ON BEING INVOLVED WITH COLUMBIA BASIN SALMON RECOVERY AS BIOP LITIGATION TALKS CONTINUE; COLLABORATIVE APPROVES A CHARTER, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/white-house-plans-on-being-involved-with-columbia-basin-salmon-recovery-as-biop-litigation-talks-continue-collaborative-approves-a-charter/

    — CBB, April 7, 2023, WHITE HOUSE LISTENING SESSIONS HEAR ARGUMENTS ON WHETHER LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS SHOULD STAY OR GO, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/WHITE-HOUSE-LISTENING-SESSIONS-HEAR-ARGUMENTS-ON-WHETHER-LOWER-SNAKE-RIVER-DAMS-SHOULD-STAY-OR-GO/

    — CBB, December 22, 2022, NORTHWEST TRIBAL LEADERS WELCOME NEW COMMITMENTS FROM BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AT WHITE HOUSE TRIBAL NATIONS SUMMIT, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/NORTHWEST-TRIBAL-LEADERS-WELCOME-NEW-COMMITMENTS-FROM-BIDEN-ADMINISTRATION-AT-WHITE-HOUSE-TRIBAL-NATIONS-SUMMIT/

    — CBB, October 6, 2022, NOAA FISHERIES FINALIZES ‘REBUILDING’ REPORT TO INFORM DIALOGUE ON COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON RESTORATION, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/NOAA-FISHERIES-FINALIZES-REBUILDING-REPORT-TO-INFORM-DIALOGUE-ON-COLUMBIA-RIVER-BASIN-SALMON-RESTORATION/

    — CBB, October 27, 2021, “Federal Judge Approves Pause In Salmon/Steelhead EIS/BiOp Case; Parties ‘In Good Faith Discussions To Resolve Litigation,’” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/federal-judge-approves-pause-in-salmon-steelhead-eis-biop-case-parties-in-good-faith-discussions-to-resolve-litigation/

    — CBB, October 22, 2021, “Parties Put Salmon/Steelhead BiOp Litigation On Hold, Commit To Working Together To Find ‘Comprehensive, Long-Term Solution,’” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/parties-put-salmon-steelhead-biop-litigation-on-hold-commit-to-working-together-to-find-comprehensive-long-term-solution/

    — CBB, Dec. 11, 2020, OREGON FILES INTENT TO CHALLENGE FEDS’ NEW EIS/BIOP FOR BASIN SALMON/STEELHEAD IN CASE REGIONAL COLLABORATION GOES NOWHERE, https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/oregon-files-intent-to-challenge-feds-new-eis-biop-for-basin-salmon-steelhead-in-case-regional-collaboration-goes-nowhere/

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    At End Of Second Quarter, Bonneville Power $375 Million Below Financial Target

    The Bonneville Power Administration released its second official forecast of the expected financial performance for fiscal year 2024, saying dry conditions and increased power purchases made during the January cold snap have resulted in agency net revenues of negative $280 million, which is $375 million below the financial performance target.

    Power Services’ net revenue forecast is negative $285 million, which is $385 million below agency targets. Higher power purchase expenses are the main driver.

    Transmission Services’ net revenues are forecast to be $1 million, which is $5 million above target. Increased operating revenues were offset by higher operating expenses and cost pressures related to commercial activities.

    “Record low generation combined with record market prices have made this a challenging year from a financial standpoint,” said Marcus Harris, BPA’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. “Despite these challenges, the financial measures we have put in place have positioned us to meet our reserves targets. Through these first two quarters, we continue to execute on all financial plan targets except for net revenue as a result of significant power purchase expense.”

    Agency financial reserves for risk are forecast to be $720 million at the end of the fiscal year, a decrease of $567 million from the prior year. BPA forecasts ending the year with 97 days cash on hand, which exceeds BPA’s minimum threshold of 60 days.

    BPA’s second quarter quarterly business review is available at https://www.bpa.gov/about/finance/quarterly-business-review

    BPA, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is a nonprofit federal power marketer that sells wholesale, carbon-free hydropower from 31 federal dams in the Columbia River Basin. It also markets the output of the region’s only nuclear plant. BPA delivers this power to more than 140 Northwest electric utilities, serving millions of consumers and businesses in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana and parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. BPA also owns and operates more than 15,000 circuit miles of high-voltage power lines and 261 substations, and provides transmission service to more than 300 customers. In all, BPA provides nearly a third of the power generated in the Northwest.

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    Upper Columbia River Tribes Report Progress To Re-Introduce Salmon Upstream

    With a promised $200 million from the Bonneville Power Administration and nearly $100 million from other federal agencies and the state of Washington, Upper Columbia River tribes are moving into Phase II of a twenty-year effort to bring salmon back to blocked areas upstream of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams.

    Prior to the dams, millions of salmon migrated to the upper areas of the Columbia in the U.S. and in British Columbia, and some 4 million salmon migrated to Kettle Falls, where tribes would gather to fish, and is now on Lake Roosevelt that backs up behind the dam, according to Jarred-Michael Erickson, Chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. That huge run of salmon stopped dead in its tracks in 1942 when Coulee was completed without a fish ladder. Chief Joseph Dam, also without a fish ladder, was completed in 1979, depriving Tribal members from the Colville, Spokane and Coeur d’Alene tribes of the ability to exercise traditional ways of life, and fundamentally changed how Tribal members teach and raise children in the cultural and spiritual beliefs that center around these fish.

    “Forty percent or more of Columbia River salmon production occurred upstream of Grand Coulee,” Erickson said. “These fish were the most impacted and least mitigated of all Columbia basin salmon.”

    Erickson said that the tribes held a “Ceremony of Tears” at Kettle Falls when Lake Roosevelt first filled, but they are now looking forward to a “Ceremony of Joy” when the first salmon return.

    Upper Columbia tribal leaders, along with Erickson, briefed the Northwest Power and Conservation Council at its May meeting on progress they are making in their efforts to reintroduce Chinook and sockeye salmon into the blocked areas upstream of the two dams.

    Greg Abrahamson, Chairman, Spokane Tribes of Indians, said that reintroducing salmon will right a wrong. “As it is said by some of our elders, ‘bring salmon back, and it will heal our people.’”

    Joining Erickson and Abrahamson at the Council meeting, May 15, were representatives from the Coeur d’ Alene Tribe, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Washington to discuss the recent agreement on the tribes’ Phase 2 Implementation Plan (P2IP) to investigate the feasibility of reintroducing salmon in the upper Columbia River Basin.

    The three Upper Columbia United Tribes and the U.S. Government entered into an agreement in September 2023 that provides the tribes $200 million from BPA over 20 years for ongoing efforts to reintroduce salmon above Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams. In exchange, the Tribes agreed to a twenty-year pause to existing litigation while these actions are pursued, although they said at the Council meeting they would eventually need more money to complete the reintroduction.

    The Department of the Interior will also provide $8 million over two years through Reclamation, including $1 million for an environmental compliance officer, Roland Springer of Reclamation told the Council. Springer is Reclamation’s Deputy Regional Director, Columbia-Pacific Northwest Region.

    Following completion of the Phase 2 planning phase, the UCUT secured nearly $20 million for implementation from sources such as the State of Washington, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Fisheries, the US Bureau of Reclamation, the Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund, the US Geological Survey and Washington Department of Ecology’s Office of the Columbia River.

    In early May this year, the Spokane Tribe of Indians and BPA signed a 10-year agreement that provides funding to protect and improve habitat for non-ESA listed salmon in blocked areas of the upper Columbia Basin, according to a BPA news release.

    “In signing this 10-year agreement, BPA is memorializing its partnership with the Tribe and committing to funding a range of projects. These projects will protect and restore fish and wildlife and their habitat in the upper Columbia River Basin,” said John Hairston, CEO and President of BPA. “The projects also provide funding for anadromous fish hatchery upgrades. These actions will build on work that our partnership has accomplished through BPA’s Fish and Wildlife Program since the early 1990s.”

    BPA said the agreement is closely related to the September 2023 agreement that provides $200 million for the tribes’ reintroduction of non-ESA listed salmon into blocked areas upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams.

    Among the efforts by the tribes is to scientifically test the feasibility and, ultimately, to reintroduce salmon into areas upstream of Coulee over the next 20 years. They will establish sources of donor and brood stocks for reintroduction, test key biological assumptions, guide management actions, develop interim hatchery and passage facilities, and evaluate success, says a May 7, 2024 Council Memorandum Council (https://www.nwcouncil.org/fs/18719/2024_05_2.pdf).

    Recently the tribes have been working on fish passage issues and are in the early stages of this in the fish passage design work group, said Tom Biladeau, Anadromous Division Lead, Coeur d’Alene Tribe. “The focus now in fish passage is trap and haul to move adult salmon up into blocked areas,” he said.

    In addition, they are identifying upper Columbia River summer Chinook and sockeye donor stocks that they will eventually use in hatcheries to populate areas upstream of Coulee, he added. Currently, they are working with the Entiat Hatchery as a source, but hope in the future to be using the Chief Joseph Hatchery for rearing and for acclimating the juvenile fish in net pens before releasing them. One net pen will be at Lake Rufus Woods, backed up behind Chief Joseph Dam, and another will be at Sherman Creek near Kettle Falls.

    “Sockeye are more difficult,” Biladeau said. “One of the only sockeye hatcheries in British Columbia, out of the country.”

    Casey Baldwin, Salmon Reintroduction Division Manager, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, said the tribes already have a lot of data after several years of rearing Chinook eggs. In the first year they had reared 10,000 eggs and that increased in the second year to 53,000 eggs and now the total is up to 160,000 juveniles, which are being reared in the Wells Hatchery downstream of Chief Joseph Dam.

    Partnerships are being formed with multiple net pen programs, including the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Pacific Aquaculture, and the Spokane Tribe. Baldwin pointed out that given the complex life cycle of salmon, it’s necessary to plan years in advance (see Council blog at https://www.nwcouncil.org/news/2024/05/21/reintroducing-salmon-upper-columbia/).

    “Congratulations to the tribes and congratulations to the U.S.,” said Oregon Council member Louie Pitt, Jr. and Warm Springs Tribe member, speaking of the Phase 2 efforts by the tribes.

    “Our tribes have stepped up and used our treaties to do what their people have done, our people have done for thousands of years: protect our way of life and take care of the gifts our Creator gave us. It’s a great day for me, because we’re growing as a nation, and this is one of the key things. And I’m hoping, I pray this is happening all through our nation.”

    The process has been long in coming. The UCUT completed several studies before releasing a “Phase 1 Report on Fish Passage and Reintroduction Investigations Upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams” in 2019, the Council memo says.

    In its review of the Phase 1 Report, the Independent Scientific Advisory Board recommended that the tribes develop a strategy to advance reintroduction, which became the basis for the “Phase 2 Implementation Plan: Testing Feasibility of Reintroduced Salmon in the Upper Columbia River Basin.”

    P2IP, as it is called, was finalized in 2022. The ISAB also reviewed the P2IP and confirmed its scientific merit, remarking that while many uncertainties remain, the memo says, “… efforts are consistent with the objective of the Fish and Wildlife Program to mitigate for the complete loss of anadromous fish and the losses to other fish and wildlife species in areas above Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams. The UCUT’s reintroduction efforts also generate important contributions to the science of salmon ecology and of fish passage at high head dams.”

    If Phase 2 Implementation Plan studies confirm the feasibility of reintroducing anadromous salmonids in the blocked areas, then it likely will lead to Phase 3, the Council memo says. Phase 3 will include construction of permanent juvenile and adult passage and supporting hatchery facilities, as well as implementation of priority habitat improvements.

    The Council’s 2014 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program contains a strategy – “Anadromous fish mitigation in blocked areas” – and one of the measures under this strategy calls for a science-based and phased approach to investigating the reintroduction of anadromous fish above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams, including juvenile and adult passage at the dams. The Program calls for a “collective approach.”

    The inclusion of reintroducing salmon and steelhead into the Council Program goes as far back as 2003, when a Program Amendment said: “Evaluate the feasibility of reintroducing anadromous fish into blocked areas, including above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams.”

    Phase 2 will test the key assumptions used in the Phase 1 Life Cycle Model, test migratory survival, passage survival, behavior and productivity, establish sources of chinook and sockeye donor stocks, develop interim hatchery facilities to produce fish for feasibility studies, develop and test upstream and downstream interim passage facilities, and provide the data necessary for full-scale reintroduction and permanent passage (Phase 3).

    For background, see:

    — CBB, September 22, 2023, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION SAYS BPA TO PROVIDE $200 MILLION OVER 20 YEARS TO ADVANCE SALMON REINTRODUCTION IN UPPER COLUMBIA RIVER BLOCKED AREAS, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/BIDEN-ADMINISTRATION-SAYS-BPA-TO-PROVIDE-200-MILLION-OVER-20-YEARS-TO-ADVANCE-SALMON-REINTRODUCTION-IN-UPPER-COLUMBIA-RIVER-BLOCKED-AREAS/

    — CBB, September 7, 2023, JUDGE APPROVES THIRD EXTENSION ALLOWING PARTIES IN LAWSUIT OVER COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN SALMON RECOVERY TO KEEP TALKING, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/JUDGE-APPROVES-THIRD-EXTENSION-ALLOWING-PARTIES-IN-LAWSUIT-OVER-COLUMBIA-RIVER-BASIN-SALMON-RECOVERY-TO-KEEP-TALKING/

    –CBB, April 7, 2022, UPPER COLUMBIA TRIBES RECEIVE OVER $3 MILLION FROM WASHINGTON STATE FOR SALMON REINTRODUCTION ABOVE GRAND COULEE DAM, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/upper-columbia-tribes-receive-over-3-million-from-washington-state-for-salmon-reintroduction-above-grand-coulee-dam/

    — CBB, Nov. 18, 2021, PHASE 2 REINTRODUCTION OF ANADROMOUS FISH ABOVE GRAND COULEE DAM: TRIBES SEEK SUPPORT FOR FUNDING ($176 MILLION OVER 21 YEARS), IMPLEMENTATION, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/phase-2-reintroduction-of-anadromous-fish-above-grand-coulee-dam-tribes-seek-support-for-funding-176-million-over-21-years-implementation/

    — CBB, November 15, 2019, “Council Hears Review Of Report On Salmon Reintroduction Above Grand Coulee: ‘Grand Experiment, No Guarantees,’” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/council-hears-review-of-report-on-salmon-reintroduction-above-grand-coulee-grand-experiment-no-guarantees/

    — CBB, November 7, 2019, “Science Panel Completes Review Of Report On Feasibility Of Reintroducing Anadromous Salmonids Above Grand Coulee Dam,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/science-panel-completes-review-of-report-on-feasibility-of-reintroducing-anadromous-salmonids-above-grand-coulee-dam/

    — CBB, July 18, 2019, “Council Requests Independent Science Panel Review Upper Columbia Tribes’ Report On Re-Introducing Salmon/Steelhead Above Grand Coulee Dam,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/council-requests-independent-science-panel-review-upper-columbia-tribes-report-on-re-introducing-salmon-steelhead-above-grand-coulee-dam/

    — CBB, May 11, 2018, “Draft Assessment Looks at Habitat Above Grand Coulee to Support Salmon and Steelhead Reintroduction,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/draft-assessment-looks-at-habitat-above-grand-coulee-to-support-salmon-steelhead-reintroduction/

    – CBB, September 22, 2017, “Council Updated On Assessing Stock, Habitat For Potential Salmonid Reintroduction Above Grand Coulee,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/439607.aspx

    — CBB, July 22, 2016, “Council Evaluates Fish Passage Systems That Might Be Used At High-Head Dams Blocking Salmonids,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/437176.aspx

    — CBB, April 15, 2016, “Council Votes To Move Forward On Salmon/Steelhead Habitat Assessment Above Grand Coulee” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/436490.aspx

    –CBB, March 11, 2016, “Council FW Committee Moves Forward On Salmon Reintroduction Study Above Grand Coulee,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/436211.aspx

    — CBB, Feb. 5, 2016, “Washington Legislature Considers Memorial For Salmon Re-Introduction In Upper Columbia Blocked Areas,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/435982.aspx

    — CBB, December 18, 2015, “Council Moves Proposal For Evaluating Salmon Habitat Above Grand Coulee To Science Review,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/435731.aspx

    — CBB, October 16, 2015, “Can Salmon, Steelhead Survive Above Grand Coulee Dam? Council Investigation May Provide Answer,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/435273.aspx

    — CBB, September 18, 2015, “Council Moves Ahead With Plan To Assess Potential Salmon Habitat Blocked By Grand Coulee,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/435022.aspx

    — CBB, Jan. 16, 2015, “Tribes Lay Out Process For Investigating Feasibility Of Salmon Reintroduction Above Grand Coulee Dam” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/432935.aspx

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