Relicensing draft puts more water over falls

How much water should flow over the Spokane River’s famous falls during the summer months?

On Monday, Washington Department of Ecology officials said they’re comfortable with Avista Corp.’s proposal in the range of 200 to 300 cubic feet of water per second. But the Sierra Club wants more.

“This water is more valuable to the community in the waterfall than it is the powerhouse,” said Rachel Paschal Osborn, the Sierra Club’s Spokane River project coordinator, noting the falls’ significance as a natural asset and tourist attraction in the heart of downtown.

Public surveys show that most people prefer the look of 500 cubic feet of water per second flowing over the north channel of Upper Falls Dam, she said. Summer flows produce such a small amount of power that Avista could forgo electric generation in favor of sending the water through channel for “a few pennies per household,” Paschal Osborn said.

Disagreement over waterfall esthetics is just one point of contention in the relicensing of Avista’s five Spokane River dams. On Monday, Ecology officials released a draft water quality certification for the four dams on the Washington side of the border.

The draft, which is out for a 30-day public review, is part of the scrutiny that comes with a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission review. Avista hopes to wrap up the licensing process by the end of the year.

In addition to the falls, Ecology’s draft certification addresses oxygen levels in the river and flows for fish, including a native redband trout population.

The Sierra Club and Spokane’s Center for Justice had particularly hoped to see a stricter timeline for taking care of algae blooms in the river, Pascal Osborn said. Nutrients from fertilizer and sewage treatment plants wash downstream and settle behind Long Lake Dam. During the summer, warm water in the reservoir creates the luxuriant algae growth, which eventually dies off, robbing the water of oxygen.

The Ecology draft asks Avista for further study, interim steps and water quality compliance within 10 years.

Bruce Howard, Avista’s director of environmental affairs, said the timeline is designed to mesh with corresponding efforts to reduce nutrients in the river from sewage treatment plants. Over the next decade, Avista will study and conduct computer modeling to assess the dams’ contribution to dissolved oxygen deficiencies in Long Lake.

The issue of water over the falls, however, has grabbed the most public attention during the relicensing.

A dry channel at Upper Falls Dams during the summer emerged as a controversial issue during opinion surveys in 2003. When the flows are low, Avista diverts nearly all of the water through its powerhouse.

Ecology officials suggested running 200 to 300 cubic feet of water through Upper Falls dam’s north channel as a compromise. The extra flows would take place between10 a.m. until a half hour past sunset.

“All of us basically like more water,” Howard said.

At 200 cubic feet of water per second, the falls start to regain their visual appeal, as well as the resonance of rushing water, he said. Avista also wants to restore channel cuts made in the late 1800s, which would make the falls’ appear fuller, Howard said.

Avista’s five Spokane River dams produce about 105 megawatts of electricity, or roughly enough energy to power 68,000 homes for a year. Reducing summer generation at one dam may not sound like an issue, but “we have to replace every megawatt,” said Hugh Imhof, Avista spokesman.

The replacement electricity would likely come from fossil fuels, which makes it “expensive and polluting,” he said.