Council Will Review Scientific Views On Salmon Plan New Idaho Council Members Are Opposed To Dam Drawdowns

The Northwest Power Planning Council voted Thursday to listen once again to the scientific arguments behind its plan to save Columbia Basin salmon runs.

They did so to educate new council members about the complex issue, and to satisfy those who oppose parts of the recovery plan.

Four of the eight council members oppose portions of the plan that call for drawing down reservoirs on the Snake and Columbia rivers and releasing more water upstream.

The theory behind those tactics is the quicker young fish get the ocean, the more likely they are to return to spawn.

“We’re not backing away from our plan,” said Ken Casavant, a council member from Eastern Washington. “Implementing it may take longer, and ultimately we may go in another direction.”

Mike Field, one of Idaho’s two new members, hopes Thursday’s decision sends the council quickly in another direction.

Field and Todd Maddock were appointed by Republican Idaho Gov. Phil Batt because they support his position that drawdowns and upstream releases are expensive ideas that won’t help the fish.

The council adopted its salmon strategy in December, before the new Idaho members and a new representative from Washington were appointed.

Under the 1980 Northwest Power Act, the council is charged with protecting fish and wildlife affected by the federal dams, as well as ensuring a reliable, economical supply of energy to the region.

Field said the four-state council decided to proceed with “80 percent” of the recovery strategy that everyone accepted. That includes improving fish-counting technology and hatchery management.

However, he said, “We have a gentlemen and ladies’ agreement that we will not actively implement” the controversial parts of the strategy while everyone listens to the scientific evidence.

He estimated the scientific review would last through the summer.

Casavant acknowledged that the first step in the council’s drawdown strategy, a partial drop in Lower Granite reservoir, won’t happen during this spring’s migration of endangered Snake River salmon.

The U.S. Corps of Engineers hasn’t begun the necessary work to accomplish a 1995 drawdown, he said, and “the will of the region may not be there.”

But he said reviewing the science doesn’t mean the plan is on hold.

The Power Council’s salmon strategy is one of two plans aimed at saving endangered salmon runs.

The second will come this year from the National Marine Fisheries Service. That agency is not yet calling for major river drawdowns.

Drawdowns mean a loss of hydropower and an interruption in barge traffic. Using upstream water for salmon flush is even more costly to the federal hydropower system.

The council’s strategy, which eventually would rely mostly on drawdowns, would add an estimated $160 million a year to salmon recovery costs.

The big expense would be lost power production and dam modifications.

Montana council members also have opposed drawdowns and water releases. But their two votes, combined with Idaho’s, would not be enough to overturn the salmon strategy. Council members from Oregon and Washington offered no clues Thursday that they are willing to change their minds.

“I’m willing to review the science,” said Washington’s Mike Kreidler, the third new council member. “But I have concerns that there are those that would like to back away from (recovering) a sustainable fishery.”

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