Dams’ impact to be studied

LEWISTON – The federal government has agreed to study the effect that dams in the Hells Canyon have on protected salmon and steelhead.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will work with officials at the Fisheries Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to determine if the Idaho Power Co. dams are harming the threatened and endangered fish.

Environmental groups asked the federal government to study the dams’ effects on fish in 1997, but the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ignored the request. The groups sued last year, and in June a three-judge panel from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the energy commission would have to respond to the request.

On Friday, the commission said it agreed with the environmental groups and would meet with the fishery agencies, Idaho Power and other interested parties on Sept. 9.

“We are really excited the FERC is finally going to consult,” said Sara Denniston Eddie, the attorney with Advocates of the West who argued the court case. “We have been waiting for this decision for almost eight years.”

The decision comes as Idaho Power is seeking a 30-year extension for its license to operate the three dams on the Snake River. The company was granted a 50-year license by the energy commission in 1955, and though it expires next year, the dams will likely continue to operate under the old license until a new one is issued.