Reservoir may be spared for now

OROFINO, Idaho — The Bonneville Power Administration intends to seek stored water in Brownlee reservoir for summer flows rather than draw down Dworshak by an extra 20 feet, officials said.

But if those plans fail, the agency could revive its efforts to get the water from Dworshak, said Greg Delwiche, BPA vice president of environment, fish and wildlife.

“I wouldn’t say (the extra Dworshak drawdown) is entirely off the table, we are just pursuing other options instead,” Delwiche said.

The Bonneville Power Administration markets power produced at federal dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers. Officials from the agency are trying to reduce the amount of water spilled at the dams during hot summer months.

The federal salmon recovery plan calls for the water to be spilled instead of run through turbines. Spilling helps push young fall chinook salmon to the ocean. But it also means the water can’t be used to produce power at a time of high demand.

BPA has estimated that reducing summer spill would allow it to generate an extra $45 million worth of power.

The government’s salmon recovery plan allows for reduced spills, according to officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division.

But spills can be reduced only as long as other measures are taken that help the threatened fish just as much as spill would.

To that end, BPA has sought an extra 250,000 acre feet of water from Dworshak Reservoir, a prime water resource for recreation and boating that brings millions of dollars to the local economy.

The water would be taken from the reservoir during the late summer and lower its elevation an additional 20 feet.

The reservoir is already lowered 80 feet each year as 1.2 million acre feet is used between July and August to cool the lower Snake River and flush juvenile fall chinook to the ocean.