1. HOUSE COMMITTEE DEFUNDS CORPS SALMON PROGRAM Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The House Appropriations Committee Tuesday approved a $21 billion energy and water appropriations bill that virtually abolishes funding for the Army Corps of Engineers' proposed $117 million Columbia River Fish Mitigation Program. The bill now goes to the House Rules Committee and then to the House floor. Some of the cuts likely will be restored on the House floor and in a House-Senate conference committee. The level of financing in a final bill will determine whether the National ... Read More...

2. SCIENTISTS ISSUE REVIEW OF 1999 FISH PROJECTS Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Last year's Independent Scientific Review Panel analysis of the proposed FY 1998 Fish and Wildlife Program work plan brought criticism and change to the way the Northwest Power Planning Council and Bonneville Power Administration choose projects for funding. The latest edition, a review of the 1999 work plan, contains every bit as much criticism of the fish and wildlife restoration project selection process. But it mixes in, again, plenty of suggestions for improvement and a few, ... Read More...

3. ISRP SAYS 40 PERCENT OF PROJECTS "INADEQUATE" Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A scientific review of fish and wildlife project proposals released Monday stressed the need to take the application process more seriously, or face the possibility of leaving worthy projects unfunded. About 40 percent of the 403 projects submitted for funding through the Northwest Power Planning Council's Fish and Wildlife Program were deemed technically "inadequate" in an report by the Independent Scientific Review Panel. When making funding recommendations, the ... Read More...

4. JOHN DAY SCREENS PUT ON HOLD Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Representatives from Northwest states, federal agencies and tribes reached an uneasy consensus Friday to withhold judgment temporarily on the $40 million John Day Dam extended length screen project. The justification for the project was questioned last week in a report issued by the Independent Scientific Advisory Board. The panel panned the fish diversion project on both scientific and financial grounds. In response, the Northwest Power Planning Council on May 10 urged the Army ... Read More...

5. HOUSE DELEGATION WANTS FISH FUNDING AGREEMENT Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Fifteen members of the Northwest's House delegation have sent a letter to Vice-President Al Gore urging the Administration to "move promptly" on determining the Bonneville Power Administration's fish and wildlife funding levels for the years 2002-2006. The House members say they want salmon recovery costs based on "realistic and reasonable" measures and that U.S. taxpayers should share the costs. Rep. Elizabeth Furse, D-Oregon, and Rep. Helen Chenoweth, ... Read More...

6. GROUPS THREATEN TO SUE BPA OVER POWER SALES Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Conservation groups announced Wednesday their intent to sue the Bonneville Power Administration if the agency moves forward on selling power from Lower Snake River dams. The 60-day notice of intent to sue was filed in federal court. "For some misguided reason, BPA wants to start right now in 1998 signing up its utility customers on contracts for electric power sales in 2001-2006," said Jim Baker, Northwest Salmon Campaign Coordinator for the Sierra Club. "Try as we have, Read More...

7. OREGON GETS NEW POWER COUNCIL MEMBER Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

For the first time since January, the Northwest Power Planning Council is at full membership. Last week, the Oregon State Legislature confirmed Gov. John Kitzhaber's appointment of Eric J. Bloch, 38, to the Council. The seat had been open since January, when Joyce Cohen vacated the position after serving one three-year term. Bloch, who took office last week, said he will be focusing on the Council "developing an analytical framework that can be a policy tool for the ... Read More...

8. TRANSITION BOARD PROPOSES COST RECOVERY MECHANISM Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The Northwest Energy Review Transition Board has released for public comment a proposed "cost recovery mechanism" that would allow the Bonneville Power Administration to balance the books if costs, including fish and wildlife expenses, exceed revenues. "Under some expectations about future market conditions, it is likely that Bonneville's customers would see substantial benefits relative to purchasing from the wholesale power market, even if Bonneville is called upon ... Read More...

9. SHANKS QUITS WASHINGTON FISH AND WILDLIFE POST Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Bern Shanks, director of Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife, last week submitted his resignation, effective Sept. 11. Shanks, the target of criticism for months, agreed in his letter of resignation that he would not sue the department or the state. Deputy Director Larry Peck will take over the director's duties. During the next three months, Shanks will prepare an analysis of options for long-term funding options for the department. "Two years ago I was hired for ... Read More...

10. USGS FINDS WILLAMETTE BASIN WATER QUALITY POOR Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

A U.S. Geological Survey five-year study of water quality has ranked the Willamette Basin "among the most degraded" compared to 19 similar river basins studied throughout the U.S. The Willamette River is the largest tributary to the Columbia River below the Snake. It drains approximately 12,000 square miles of the most densely populated part of the State of Oregon and empties into the Columbia at Portland. It is a significant source of pollution to the Lower Columbia and ... Read More...

11. TEAM PULLS TOGETHER 'MULTI-SPECIES' PLAN Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Interim subcommittees of the Three Sovereigns process are pulling together budget, mission statement, and leadership for the "multi-species framework" requested by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Northwest Power Planning Council. An interim team made up of Danny Consenstein, representing NMFS, John Brogoitti, Oregon member of the Council, and Roy Sampsel, consultant representing the tribes, met June 15 and will meet again June 22, at which time they expect ... Read More...

12. GRANDE RONDE SUPPLEMENTATION GETS FUNDING Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Two projects intended to "jump start" threatened salmon populations with endemic or native broodstock moved ahead last with the necessary endorsements from the Northwest Power Planning Council's Fish and Wildlife Committee and the full Council. The Grande Ronde Basin Endemic Spring Chinook Supplementation project's "Step 3 Review" was endorsed by the Council May 10. That should help garner $2.6 million in Bonneville Power Administration funding for construction ... Read More...

13. 1998 STEELHEAD BIOP GUIDES RIVER OPERATIONS Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The 1998 Supplemental Biological Opinion (BiOp) for steelhead has been guiding Columbia River operations this spring, although the three federal operating agencies have not yet issued formal Records of Decision. The National Marine Fisheries Service issued the BiOp on May 14. "We already agreed to implement the 1998 BiOp when it was in draft form," says Dan Daley of the Bonneville Power Administration. "The Records of Decision represent a confirmation and clarification of Read More...

14. RIVER OPERATORS DISCUSS FLOWS FOR STURGEON Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

Regional fish managers have requested that federal hydro operators provide water through June 25 for sturgeon spawning in the Kootenai River below Bonners Ferry, but without penalizing summer salmon migrants in the Columbia River. The fear is that water released from Libby Dam now will not be available for flow augmentation in the summer. The request came in the form of a June 10 "System Operational Request" to the National Marine Fisheries Service's Technical Management ... Read More...

15. COUNCIL, CBFWA LOOK AT MULTI-YEAR PROJECT FUNDING Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

The thought was firmly implanted, long before Monday's release of the Independent Scientific Review Panel's analysis of projects to be funded in 1999 under the Northwest Power Planning Council's Fish and Wildlife Program. Things need to be done to streamline the project review process, and while at the same time improving its overall effectiveness. One step seemingly destined for implementation is a multi-year funding process. "There's head nods all around" when the ... Read More...

16. RIVER OPERATIONS: FLOWS, SPILL DECLINE Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

(Editor's Note: The Columbia Basin Bulletin will periodically keep readers posted on river operations during the spring/summer salmon and steelhead migration season. Most of the information comes from weekly reports by the Fish Passage Center.) The 1998 spring migration season started with a shortfall of available water at Grand Coulee Dam, but heavy rains in most of the Columbia Basin starting the second week of May and continuing into early June brought up the flows. As of ... Read More...

17. FEEDBACK Posted on Wednesday, October 01, 2003 (PST)

, hydro coordinator for the Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (Heib@critfc.org): You should avoid using the term NMFS' "Regional Forum" because it implies that the entire region participates in it. The treaty tribes and the State of Montana two years ago formally withdrew from participation in the process and the majority of the other tribes in the basin do not participate in the process. The more accurate term is the NMFS' "Adaptive Management Process". ... Read More...