Electric Company finds "Religion" with Salmon

[JoseCuervo]

I like the quote from the Company's scientist, where he says they are "voluntarily" putting the Salmon in the river. I wonder why it took 60 years to get religion? Maybe something to do with the re-licensing????

Return to the River

Thursday, June 3, 2004

Pacific Power is proposing to return salmon and steelhead to the upper North Fork of the Lewis River after a 60-year absence as part of an application to renew its license to operate Merwin, Yale and Swift dams.

The proposal is additional compensation for the fish losses caused when the three dams blocked passage and flooded habitat. For decades, Pacific has paid for hatcheries on the river and improved habitat.

PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Scottish Power, which operates as Pacific Power in the Northwest, filed its application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in late April, several years after it began planning for the renewal process. The three dams produce 510 megawatts of electricity, half the Portland-based utility's hydroelectric capacity.

The company is using the government's alternative licensing process, which is designed to work out mitigation issues in advance, making renewal less adversarial. New licenses would be for 30 years or more.

Pacific's plan to restore fish calls for trapping adult spring chinook, coho salmon and winter steelhead at Merwin Dam and trucking them to Swift Reservoir for release. Once in Swift, the fish would have access to 117 miles of habitat, about two-thirds of the habitat available upstream of Merwin.

Young fish migrating downstream would be collected at Swift Dam and trucked downstream of Merwin for release.

Building the upstream trap-and-haul facility will cost an estimated $6 million, and the downstream collector at Swift Dam will cost $60.3 million.

Dave Kvamme, a Pacific spokesman, said the cost of fish restoration will be a factor when the utility seeks rate increases in its six-state operating region. Pacific serves 1.5 million retail customers in six Western states.

A report by S.P. Cramer & Associates, a Gresham, Ore., consulting firm hired by Pacific, estimates the habitat upstream of Swift Dam would produce about 1,200 returning adult spring chinook, 1,400 winter steelhead and 6,200 coho under current conditions.

Under ideal conditions, those numbers might jump to 2,300 spring chinook, 1,800 winter steelhead and 10,400 coho, said Guy Norman, a biologist for Cramer & Associates.

Ninety-four percent of the adult fish trapped and hauled upstream are projected to survive. Between 67 percent and 93 percent of the juveniles at Swift Dam are expected to be collected and survive.

"PacifiCorp's willingness to voluntarily introduce salmon and steelhead above the projects (dams and reservoirs) signals how seriously it takes the resource and environmental stewardship responsibilities,'' said Frank Shrier, the company's principle scientist. "The technical analysis we've done in relicensing shows that providing fish passage into Swift Reservoir is the best way to address the project's impacts and boost the river's prized salmon runs.''

Pacific would continue to pay for Lewis River, Merwin and Speelyai hatcheries, but wants to reduce hatchery production as the natural runs increase.

Norman said a goal of 86,000 adult fish has been discussed, a figure which includes both fish that were harvested and those that returned to the river. If natural production in the upper Lewis reached 20,000 fish, higher than expected even under ideal conditions, reductions in hatchery production would be allowed.

Shrier said the company would continue to pay the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to rear and release kokanee in Merwin Reservoir and rainbow trout in Swift Reservoir to provide sport fisheries.

Although Pacific's license application to FERC is labeled as "final,'' it could change substantially, he said.

In using the government's alternative licensing process, Pacific has been involved in years of discussion and negotiations with federal and state agencies, city and county governments, Indian tribes and other stakeholders in the future of the Lewis River.

Negotiations on the application with the parties are nearing conclusion. If an agreement is reached, the license application will be modified to reflect the agreement, Shrier said.

Participants in the settlement negotiations have signed a confidentiality agreement, and will say little about the final deliberations.

"There are lots of issues and lot of measures (in the relicensing),'' said Curt Leigh, lead negotiator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. "We wanted to see anadromous fish return to anadromous habitat and it looks like we're going to accomplish that. We want to see continued harvest of anadromous fish and of resident fish in the reservoir.''

Leigh said he hopes to see a deal wrapped up this month or next.

"There are some pretty exciting things and we want to get it all together and get it signed,'' he said.

Pacific has included an alternative to the Merwin trap-and-haul program for salmon and steelhead.

The alternative calls for traps and overhead trams similar to ski lifts at all three dams. Adult fish would be lifted to just upstream of each dam and released.

Juvenile salmon and steelhead would be collected at each dam and transported downstream via pipelines.

The alternative opens 174 miles of habitat but also subjects the juvenile salmon to risk as they move through three reservoirs instead of just Swift.

There are other risks as well. If coho salmon are introduced in Yale Reservoir they could pose a threat to bull trout in Cougar Creek and the popular kokanee fishery in Yale.

The alternative also would be much more expensive for Pacific, with an estimated price tag of $86 million for downstream collectors and $43 million for the traps and trams.

Fish ladders, like those used on the Columbia River dams, won't work in the Lewis, said Norman.

Ladders at Columbia River dams lift fish 100 feet or less. Ladders would have to lift salmon and steelhead 200 to 250 feet at Merwin and Yale and 500 feet at Swift.

"Those dams are in a canyon,'' he said. "A 250-foot ladder would have to be half-mile long snaking back and forth around the canyon to get the right gradient.''

John Clapp of Woodland, a citizen activist who has been involved in committees working out various issues, said he's pleased with the relicensing outcome, but that the process has been difficult and time consuming.

"It's not been fun,'' Clapp said. "I want an honorary Ph. D. in negotiating.''



Did you know?

* A 1913 state report said the Muddy River and its tributaries were the prime spawning grounds in the Lewis River. A 1928 state report said a crew secured 273,000 chinook eggs from fish captured at the confluence of the Muddy and North Lewis rivers.

* Construction of Merwin Dam began Oct. 19, 1929. The reservoir began filling in May 1931.

* Efforts to sustain anadromous fish in the Lewis through a trap-and-haul system at Merwin Dam continued through 1957. By that time, only fall chinook and coho sustained enough of a return to warrant transport upstream. It was believed this was a result of inadequate downstream passage of juveniles.

* Kokanee, which are landlocked sockeye salmon, were introduced in Merwin and Yale in 1957 and in Swift in 1961 from fish brought in from Kootenay Lake, B.C., and Cultus Lake, Wash. Only Cougar Creek, a Yale tributary, supports a significant self-sustaining population.

 

[Ithaca 37]

I think they oughta just blow up the dams.

 

[pawclaws]

What a novel approach; fixing what you screw up. Kind of like picking up your own socks isn't it. Thank you ElkGunner. This is a very good article. Wonder if this approach can be applied elsewhere?