Panel Limits Studies On Drawdowns Only Deeper Drawdowns Will Be Considered At John Day Dam

No more money should be spent to study a minor reduction of water levels behind John Day Dam aimed at saving fish, the Northwest Power Planning Council decided Wednesday.

Instead, studies should be directed at deeper drawdowns, up to 40 feet below present water levels, panel members decided.

The panel voted unanimously not to spend $3.2 million for additional studies of the effects of reducing the reservoir to its minimum operating levels. That is only about 10 feet below normal water levels at the Columbia River dam about 20 miles upstream from The Dalles, Ore.

“There has been a great deal of study done,” said Mike Field, a council member from Idaho.

Operating at minimum levels is not a realistic option, council member Todd Maddock of Idaho added.

Council spokesman John Harrison said studies have shown limited benefits to fish from reducing the water level to the so-called “minimum operating pool.”

“The studies should be on the feasibility of deep drawdowns,” Harrison said.

Several council members suggested that research begin on the impacts of drawdowns on McNary Dam, on the Columbia at Umatilla, Ore.

Council Chairman John Etchart of Montana said any drawdown of McNary’s reservoir would be minor, to uncover wildlife habitat at the Hanford Reach.

“I am not interested in a radical, deep drawdown at McNary,” Etchart said.

The council is grappling with numerous proposals to restore endangered salmon and steelhead runs on the Columbia and Snake river systems. Among the proposals are drawing down the reservoirs on the rivers to speed the flow of the fish to the sea.

But electricity interests, barge operators, irrigators and other river users worry that drawdowns will disrupt their activities.

The council made no decisions on future drawdowns Wednesday, but heard testimony from numerous studies.