NORTHWEST POWER and CONSERVATIOn council report

June 10-11 , 2008

 

With the Spokane River running unusually high a few blocks away, the Council began preliminary work on amending its fish and wildlife program.  The power industry, represented by PNUCC and the Public Power Council, encouraged the Council to rein in its program and focus on impacts of the hydro system.  BPA reported on the flurry of transmission activity in the region, and a NOAA scientist said look to sea lions to explain the disappointing spring chinook run.  Next meeting:  July 14-16 in Kalispell, MT.

 

IN THIS ISSUE                                       

Expand Grid and Purge Queue

Utilities Plugging Load/Resource Gap

Blubber Factor a Clue to ’08 Returns

Something Old, Something New for F&W Program

Breaking It Down on Amendments

Council High on Indicators

Toxics Take Toll  

 

FOR OPENERS                                  

 

Garry Merkel, chair of the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT), capped off a two-day visit with the Council that included a tour of Grand Coulee Dam, by presenting several ideas for future cross-border collaboration.  One project, which Merkel said is already under way, is a Columbia Basin Center for Information.  Bruce Measure said the Council has tentatively agreed to share funding, but further discussion is needed. 

Merkel suggested the Council and Trust work together on white sturgeon and bull trout recovery, and he invited the Council to consider joining in a journey by bus across the basin to visit communities and explore the basin’s culture.  He also suggested planning for the joint transboundary conference in 2010.  The Council authorized staff to work with CBT to flesh out funding requirements for the joint work and to report back in July.

THE AGENDA                                     

 

Expand Grid and Purge Queue

Brian Silverstein of BPA briefed the Council on regional expansion plans for transmission, opening with a statement that in 28 years, he has never seen so much planning activity.  BPA’s challenge is to ensure transmission facilities are in place to serve growing loads for “network integration” customers in the Northwest, he said.  Silverstein indicated that among the challenges is knowing where the generation will be located and interconnecting resources in areas like the eastern reaches of the Columbia River Gorge that are remote from load centers. 

At the same time, the agency must make transmission capacity available on a commercial basis to others who request “point-to-point service,” he explained.  Our job is to mix the two together to come up with expansion needed on the grid, Silverstein said.

Planning for resource adequacy involves both generation and the transmission to deliver it, he continued.  BPA is running out of transmission capacity on its system, Silverstein acknowledged.  “We’re pretty much sold out,” he added, noting that a lack of transmission can limit opportunities to develop the best generating resources. 

Silverstein pointed out that the east-to-west transmission paths across the Cascades tend to be heavily loaded in winter, when Northwest demand is highest.  The north-to-south paths, including transmission lines north of John Day Dam, tend to be crowded in summer, when power is sold to California, he explained.

As more wind generation is developed east of the Cascades, the lines are becoming more congested, Silverstein continued.  Wind development is concentrated east of the Columbia River Gorge, which is “a good, but not great” area for wind, he noted.  The wind projects are being built in proximity to transmission facilities that can deliver the power to customers in the I-5 corridor, Silverstein said.  Having these projects clustered together creates “balancing problems” on the system, he explained.  With all of the new wind that is proposed, we will be required to build new transmission facilities, Silverstein stated.

He said BPA’s Network Open Season (NOS) is a new concept that looks at the grid on an integrated basis.  It aligns new resource development with new transmission development, allows planners to do “cluster studies” rather than studies of individual transmission requests, and helps determine priorities for upgrades, Silverstein said.  “We’re saying, tell us what you need now, and we’ll see what needs to be built,” he elaborated.

BPA has concluded that it will borrow the money from the U.S. Treasury and third parties to expand the transmission system, Silverstein said.  If a customer signs a firm transmission contract during the NOS, and “the business case makes sense,” we’ll finance and carry out environmental reviews and construction, he said, adding that in the NOS agreements, BPA asks for a security deposit of one year’s transmission service.  BPA plans to offer an open season annually, Silverstein noted.

Queue to Get Shorter

At one time, BPA had over 12,000 MW of requests for transmission, and right now, there are developers “parked in the queue” waiting for service, Silverstein said.  With NOS, BPA has a way to clear the queue, he said.  Customers have to agree to take service consistent with their request or withdraw the request, Silverstein explained. 

The deadline for the 2008 NOS is June 16, and the deposits are due June 30, he said.  So far, BPA has received signed requests totaling 1,200 MW, Silverstein reported.  My “best guess” is that we’ll end up with 2,000 to 3,000 MW of requests, he said, adding that this is the first open season of its kind in the United States. 

Silverstein noted that BPA may be able to offer some transmission service at the end of June.  “Folks have been held up by the huge queue,” and once BPA has seen the NOS agreements, it may open up some capacity – we can direct any available capacity to customers who are ready to take service, he added.

BPA has three major projects on the drawing board to relieve congestion on the transmission grid, including McNary to John Day, Big Eddy to Station Z (a new substation to be built in the John Day area), and the I-5 corridor, Silverstein said.  McNary to John Day will be the first to be completed, he pointed out. 

Silverstein showed the Council a map of major transmission projects proposed across the West.  The map represents about $10 billion worth of transmission facilities, he said.  There are strong cases to be made on some, and coordinated planning is needed to make the projects as efficient as possible, Silverstein stated.  Transmission planning entities need to work together closely to be sure they arrive at the best expansion plans, he said.

Silverstein also called for better linkage between utility resource and transmission planning.  If individual utility resource plans are on a parallel process with regional transmission planning, it would create efficiency, and we would have a truer picture of resource adequacy, he said.

Tom Karier asked if 1,200 MW was enough commitment to build a transmission project.  First, we need to see who is left in the queue after the NOS, Silverstein said.  But I think we will have “the critical mass” to build some of the projects, he wrapped up. 

Utilities Plugging Load/Resource Gap

Dick Adams of PNUCC explained how his organization prepares the Northwest Regional Forecast (NRF) and what it says about the current state of load/resource balance in the region.  This year’s NRF indicates a need for utilities to acquire resources and identifies how utilities plan to meet the growing need, he said.

Next year, the NRF will include a capacity analysis, Adams reported.  The region struggles to assess capacity needs for meeting future peak loads, he said, so PNUCC plans to analyze capacity.

The NRF has a long history, with earlier editions prepared by an assembly of utilities known as the West Group dating back to 1952, Adams said.  The NRF continues to evolve in terms of the way the analysis is done and presented, he added.  The planning horizon has varied from 5, 10, 11, and 20 years, and terminology and characteristics of the analysis have been updated to reflect changes in the industry, Adams said.

Back in the 1950s, the report was submitted to what was then the Federal Power Commission, and load growth was 5 percent to 30 percent annually, he said.  The load in the region then was about 5,000 average megawatts (MWa) compared with 25,000 MWa today, and the focus was entirely on hydro development, Adams noted.

The current NRF is the sum of utility load and resource forecasts looking out 10 years, he said.  It includes firm loads under normal weather and firm generating resources committed to meet utilities’ loads, Adams explained.  “We believe it’s an indicator of the need to acquire resources” and gives an aggregate perspective on utilities in the region, he said.

Adams walked the Council through a history of the region’s resource development, which was largely hydro until the 1970s, when some coal and nuclear facilities were built.  In the 1980s, combustion turbines, cogeneration, and other renewables entered the picture, he continued.  Loads generally tracked with resource development until the 1980s, when there was a period of surplus, according to Adams.  From 1990 to today, the load has continued to grow, but resources have not, he indicated. 

Loads dropped during the 2000-2001 energy crisis, but are now growing again, and the gap between available resources and need is beginning to widen, Adams said.  Loads are forecast to grow about 280 MW per year or 2,800 MW in 10 years, he pointed out.  The bottom line is that the Northwest needs to acquire resources, and utilities are taking action, Adams stated.

Utilities are planning to use natural gas-fired generation to fill 62 percent of the gap, he continued.  Power purchases will provide 16 percent, wind 11 percent, efficiencies 2 percent, and other renewables 9 percent, according to a chart Adams presented. 

PNUCC plans to survey utilities on the criteria they use to determine “need to acquire,” he said.  In addition, PNUCC will be working on a capacity analysis that will include “how much we can count on hydropower” to meet the hourly load shape, Adams said.  We are also trying to track and forecast conservation, he stated. 

Karier asked if the utilities’ plans for resource acquisition are consistent with the Council’s power plan.  Adams responded that utilities are planning to acquire 2,800 MW of generation over the next decade, but it’s hard to tell how that lines up with what is in the Council’s plan.  “Maybe that’s a message for the sixth plan – how do we align things a little better so we can tell,” he commented.

“That confirms my suspicion,” Karier stated.  There is confusion about whether the region is on track, and there shouldn’t be, he said.  If we are tracking with the power plan, everyone should be able to see that clearly, Karier added.

Dick Wallace asked whether the resource acquisitions will meet targets in the renewable portfolio standards (RPS).  Adams replied that the RPS don’t kick in until further into the future.  The amount of renewable acquisitions planned should be adequate to meet the targets, he concluded.

 

Blubber Factor a Clue to ’08 Returns

The NOAA Fisheries Science Center has the tagged smolts needed for its transportation study in 2008, John Ferguson of NOAA reported.  It’s not yet clear how things will go for 2009, but we’re trying to clarify that with the Corps, he said.  NOAA’s transportation study has been going on since 2000, and over time, the study design has changed, Ferguson explained.  We like to have three years of data for our analyses of any operation, he said, noting that NOAA has only two years of data with the new spill regime in place.  We need one more year, Ferguson stated.

With regard to ocean conditions, things are looking good this year, he continued.  NOAA research vessels have been checking indicators from Newport, OR to the Straits of Juan de Fuca and as far as 120 miles offshore, and “ocean conditions are phenomenally good right now,” Ferguson said.  There is a lot of food for salmon, and the ecosystem is very productive, he said.  This bodes well for 2009, Ferguson added.

Responding to a question about the disappointing 2008 spring chinook returns, Ferguson said the current count is 40 percent off the forecast.  The poor showing could be attributed in part to “the blubber factor” or the thousands of sea lions now grazing on Columbia River salmon, he stated.  There are currently 3,000 sea lions in the lower river between Bonneville Dam and Tongue Point and 1,000 below Tongue Point, according to Ferguson.  He also said NOAA is working on getting better estimates on adult returns – the predictions didn’t work for California either, he stated. 

Ferguson said NOAA submitted a comment letter on the fish and wildlife (F&W) recommendations, noting “it’s not common for us to do so.”  The key issues in our letter are toxics and climate change, he said.  We pointed out that in the next few years, much more will be known about these topics – a multitude of climate data will be available, and the Council needs to think about ways to assimilate and “move out with it” in the F&W program, Ferguson added. 

 

Something Old, Something New for F&W Program

The Council began its day-long consideration of F&W amendments with presentations by five groups that submitted recommendations.  Staffer Patty O’Toole noted that at the close of public comment on June 12, the Council can move into serious deliberations on the amendments. 

Sandra Hirotsu, an attorney the Council hired to help with the amendments, clarified that June 12 is not an absolute deadline for comments.  At some point, we’ll have to have a final deadline, but there is still time available, she added. 

A panel from the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUTs) led off, with comments from D. R. Michel.  He pointed out the power revenues from Grand Coulee Dam are $950 million per year, and yet after decades, the impacts have never been fully mitigated.  With construction of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams, 37 percent of all salmon and steelhead spawning habitat in the upper reaches of the Columbia was lost, and the upper river tribes lost their ability to harvest fish, Michel said.  The projects robbed tribes of their culture and spiritual life and changed the ecosystem, he said.

Matt Winn of the Spokane Tribes stressed the importance of resident fish to the tribes.  We depend on those fisheries, he said.  Winn also urged the Council to be aware of the effects of reservoir drawdown on tribal cultural sites. 

Michel said the UCUTs recommend policies for the Council’s F&W program that focus on areas of the basin that have not been mitigated.  There is no clearer place for mitigation than the upper Columbia eco-region, he stated.  Michel also called for shifting monitoring and evaluation activities to the area.  He called on the Council to retain the resident fish substitution policy and to follow the UCUTs' recommendations for operations and maintenance, flow and spill, and in-lieu. 

Todd Heisler of the Deschutes River Conservancy briefed the Council on opportunities in the Deschutes basin that should not be overlooked.  He said the conservancy, a federally authorized organization to restore streamflow and water quality in the Deschutes basin, is the largest implementer of watershed restoration in the Northwest.

The Deschutes River Conservancy has put together a plan and is poised to do “a massive restoration” that will cost $100 million, Heisler said.  “We don’t expect this body to fully fund” our effort, but we’re putting together a partnership to fund the program in equal shares, he stated.

Heisler pointed out that the Deschutes is an anadromous basin in its entirety, and NOAA’s recovery plan calls for salmon and steelhead above Lake Billy Chinook.  Other funding partners are coming to the table, he said, and he suggested a 25 to 30 percent cost share for the Council. 

Jim Yost asked if any of the irrigation districts in the conservancy have low-head hydro.  Heisler said one district is putting in a three-quarters MW plant, two others are planning to do so, and they are negotiating power sales agreements with potential purchasers.  This is how the districts are bringing in their cost share, he added. 

Shauna McReynolds of PNUCC and Bo Downen of the Public Power Council gave comments on behalf of “the folks who foot the bill.”  Last month, Council staff summarized issues in the amendment recommendations, and there was an issue about the program framework, structure, and level of detail that “we feel was glossed over,” McReynolds said.

The program contains specific projects in some areas, and “the program and the projects get intertwined,” she stated.  We urge you to be clear about policy and guidelines and program goals, McReynolds said.  If the program is clear on these things, project selection will fall into place, she indicated.  We recommend that you have “a higher level” document that “keeps the details at bay” and provides a big picture for guidance, McReynolds stated.

We also want you to be clear about what part of F&W mitigation in the region fits for your program, she said.  Your program is to mitigate for the impacts of hydro, McReynolds said.  All human impacts need to be mitigated, but not in this F&W program, she stated.  We are looking forward to a discussion about the appropriate focus of the program, McReynolds concluded.

Utilities care about this program and are following its development, Downen said.  As BPA customers who pay the entire bill, we are committed to an effective and efficient program, he said.  We want to see that the dollars are well spent and assure there is independent science review of measures that are funded, Downen stated.  “There are lots of moving parts in this plan,” and we want to see that all are subject to independent science review to assure there are benefits for F&W, he concluded.

Jay Minthorn of the Umatilla Tribes led off a tribal panel by reminding the Council of what his tribe lost with construction of dams that destroyed fishing grounds like Celilo Falls.  He spoke of the success of restoring fish in the Umatilla River and bringing together three sovereigns “to negotiate, not litigate” to create the successful Umatilla basin project.  After 70 years, there are spring chinook salmon in the Umatilla, Minthorn said. We don’t need to litigate but continue to negotiate, he reiterated.

Jaime Pinkham of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission said several important agreements, including the Pacific Salmon Treaty and U.S. v Oregon, have come to a successful conclusion.  The tribes “footed a big bill” for F&W with the loss of their landscape and cultures, he added. 

A presentation by Brian Lipscomb detailed the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA) recommendations.  He commented that the region’s recent accords on F&W fit together nicely and all inform each other. 

CBFWA’s recommendations for the F&W program give the higher level framework, and the recommendations from local entities provide the detail, Lipscomb said.  CBFWA touched on every limiting factor in every subbasin with its recommendations, he said.  All elements of the CBFWA recommendations are important to the Council’s program because they give a comprehensive picture of the basin and create a linkage between regional goals and local subbasin goals, Lipscomb said.  He also pointed out the need to get BPA’s obligation for mitigation “ferreted out.”

All of the recommendations from CBFWA were contemplated in the Council’s 2000 program with the subbasin plans, Lipscomb continued, explaining an approach to mitigation that starts with identifying limiting factors and developing measures and strategies to fill the gap between status and biological objectives.  The next step is to do a targeted solicitation to get projects in place to fill the gap, he said.  Lipscomb pointed out that BPA is working on its 2010-2011 program budgets, and the Council’s amended program schedule doesn’t sync up with that process.

We’ve had seven years of assessment and planning since the 2000 program and now implementation plans are needed, Lipscomb said.  He also pointed out the need for a resident fish assessment to account for losses in the past.  And Lipscomb urged the Council to adopt wildlife mitigation that is consistent with the recommendations of the F&W managers.  We want to sit down with you and discuss how a comprehensive program can be built from the pieces that you have, he wrapped up.

We’ve never settled on a way to size the responsibility of the federal hydro system, Karier said.  How do you recommend we do that? he asked.

Lipscomb said it was a matter of the measures needed to fill the gap between the status of the stocks and the objectives.  He said the overall effects of the hydro system were analyzed using the All-H Analyzer (AHA) and in the Federal Columbia River Power system (FCRPS) Biological Opinion (BiOp), and the two analyses came up with comparable results. 

 

Breaking it Down on Amendments

Staff prepared summaries of substantive issues to begin the Council’s consideration of F&W amendments, O’Toole said.  She noted discussions would not be geared toward framing decisions or options until after the comment period closes June 12. 

Biological objectives are the first topic up for discussion, O’Toole said, listing objectives in the current program.  They include:  halt the declining trends in salmon and steelhead populations above Bonneville Dam; restore the widest possible set of healthy naturally reproducing populations; and increase the total adult salmon and steelhead runs above Bonneville Dam to an average of five million annually.  The objectives also address substitution for anadromous fish losses in blocked areas, as well as assessments of resident fish and wildlife losses. 

Joan Dukes suggested the program include an automatic check-in to gauge whether the region is achieving the goals.  Rhonda Whiting pointed out that CBFWA’s Status of the Resource Report is helping to fill in where information is lacking. 

O’Toole pointed out the “biological objectives for environmental characteristics” in Appendix D of the program and said the Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) reviewed the list.  The ISAB raised several concerns, she said, including that the objectives may need to be more clearly linked to other things in the program.  The ISAB said subbasin plans are a good way to make the link, O’Toole added.

She described recommendations the Council received on biological objectives, including those from CBFWA – a summary of objectives from subbasin and recovery plans – and from BPA, a call for incorporating objectives from the BiOp and moving away from numerical objectives.  There were a large number of comments supporting the abundance numbers, O’Toole said.  The power customer groups recommended getting away from such specific language and focusing on the impacts of the FCRPS, she added.

If we have a goal, such as five million adult fish, how do we partition the share for the power system and the share for other effects? Karier asked.  If we have a regional goal versus a specific FCRPS goal, then we are saying, if we do our part and others do their part, we may meet the goal, he commented. 

Mainstem Recommendations

Staffer Jim Ruff offered background on the 2003 mainstem amendments to the program and an overview of current recommendations.  The Council received many detailed recommendations for the mainstem, he said.  They include:

• spread the risk between transporting and keeping juveniles in the river to migrate
• spill 24-hours a day at all mainstem projects during the spring
• use a combination of juvenile bypass systems, spill, turbine improvements, and transportation to move juveniles
• assume dam breaching lacks feasibility and cannot occur within the life of the program
• include FERC mitigation planning for non-federal projects
• include all 2008 FCRPS BiOp and Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) measures in the program
• maintain sturgeon flows at Libby Dam
• develop information on the economic benefits of sportfishing
• evaluate migration of Columbia River stocks to partition survival rates between freshwater and the marine environment
• reintroduce salmon and steelhead into blocked areas.

Effects of the BiOp

Staffer John Fazio and Ruff described power system impacts of the 2008 BiOp compared to 2004.  According to Fazio, the 2008 operations will cost more and change some flows and elevations.

Ruff pointed out that the BiOp incorporates the Libby and Hungry Horse summer flow operations that are in the Council’s mainstem amendments.  At both projects, the operation means less variation in reservoir elevations during August and stability through that month, he said.

With regard to the 70-year average elevations from July through September at the storage projects, there is little difference between 2004 and 2008 at Grand Coulee, Fazio continued.  Hungry Horse and Libby are higher in 2008 than 2004, particularly in the latter half of August and September, and Dworshak is unchanged, he pointed out.

As for flows at McNary, the 2008 BiOp moves a little water into the spring from the summer months, and at Lower Granite, there is considerably more outflow in spring and less in summer due to the shift in releases from projects in the Upper Snake, Fazio said. 

The 2008 BiOp means an increase in spring bypass spill at all Lower Snake River projects except at Lower Granite, where a removable spillway weir is in place, he said.  On the Columbia, the big change is at McNary, Fazio reported.  The 2008 BiOp calls for spill at McNary starting in June, even though transportation of fish continues; there was no summer spill at the project in 2004, he explained.

The 2008 operation increases generation in December and in April through June, and decreases generation in July, August, and September, Fazio went on.  He characterized the power impacts as minimal.  The 2008 BiOp operations could push the average regional cost of power upward about $10 million to $20 million annually, but depending on water conditions, the cost could be as high as $60 million, Fazio said. The cost difference is due largely to spill in the summer, he wrapped up.

R M & E

Staffer Tony Grover said the 2008 BiOps will drive research, monitoring, and evaluation (RME) in the Council’s program.  The BiOp calls for baseline monitoring, implementation monitoring, and effectiveness monitoring, he said.  “If we put these into our program, we will be speaking a common language,” Grover added.  He noted that NOAA Fisheries is concerned that too much monitoring will cause excessive “take” of fish and has put a 100-project limit on monitoring.

This is an area of major concern, Melinda Eden stated, adding that it isn’t clear how NOAA will count projects.  We need to be careful about not being overly limited – I view this limit as problematic, she said.

In some cases, the federal agencies have the wrong metric, Karier commented.  For example, a metric of 100 RME projects versus the number of fish that can be taken seems wrong, he said.  Ruff noted that the ISAB is doing an overview of tagging technology and the potential to mark one group of fish to provide answers to multiple questions. 

The BiOp will be a strong reference point for us, but we have our own effort going, Grover stated.  The next step is to look at the other recommendations that came in on RME and boil that down for the program, he said. 

Land and Water, Strongholds, and Warm Fuzzies

Staffer Lynn Palensky reported that 10 recommendations came in for land and water.  Among them are calls to integrate the Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program into the Council’s program and to seek closer integration of water and land acquisitions, she said.  There were also recommendations to expand the use of conservation easements and to fund deals in areas covered in BPA’s MOAs with states and tribes, Palensky said.

The idea behind salmon strongholds is “building from strength” to create wild salmon refuges, she went on.  The Wild Salmon Center recommends establishing a Columbia Basin Salmon Stronghold Partnership Fund and submitted a list of nine suggested stronghold basins, according to Palensky. 

Yost asked how the suggestions on the stronghold list relate to population goals established by National Marine Fisheries Service Technical Recovery Teams (TRT).  He pointed out that in one basin on the list, the TRT said we had to increase the population 200 percent.  “So how is that a stronghold?” Yost asked.  We need to reconcile the strongholds with  TRT recommendations, he stated.  “I support the warm fuzzy feeling of strongholds, but don’t mess up what we’re doing” to restore salmon in these basins, Yost said.

Human Population Growth

Population growth is widely recognized as an important factor in salmon recovery, but it’s not clear how our program should address the issue, Palensky continued.  A recommendation came in that urges the Council to study ways to protect against human population growth, she said.

Palensky summarized the list of population-related recommendations, many dealing with habitat protection.  One recommendation is to dedicate 2 percent per year of the budget for the Lower Columbia Province “considering that population, economic, and industrial growth are due at least in part to hydropower,” she said.

At the close of the work session, Council chair Bill Booth said the Council would now be moving into the next phase of the amendment process, with staff bringing alternatives and options and the Council considering side-by-side comparisons.  He noted that the Council’s F&W program subgroup would meet again in Portland later in the month.

 

Council High on Indicators

Karier explained a draft list of high-level indicators the Council could use to measure the success of its F&W program.  The indicators are divided into two categories, he said:  biological and implementation.  The biological indicators include such things as total abundance, life-cycle mortality, harvest and hatcheries, hydro survival, and habitat. The implementation indicators would gauge measures such as number of passage barriers removed, acres of land acquired for habitat, and number of screens installed. 

The list was developed in meetings with F&W managers, and there was good participation; the indicators were well accepted, Karier stated.  He said next steps would be a 30-day comment period – to end before the Council’s July meeting – and additional work to define indicators more precisely.

We also need to identify the sources in the region for the data, Karier added.  Once we collect the data, we can incorporate it and include the results in reports to Congress and the governors, he said.  I would hope that within a year we’d have data available on all of the indicators, Karier stated.

The Council approved a motion to send the list of indicators out for public comment.

 

Toxics Take a Toll

Ann Williamson of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported on progress to prepare a State of the River Report for the Columbia River.  EPA Region 10 pushed to have the Columbia River made a part of EPA’s national strategy because of the level of toxics found in the river, she said.  EPA has three targets in its strategy to address toxics in the Columbia River:  reduce toxics in wetland habitat, target superfund sites, and reduce the mean concentration of toxics in water and fish tissue.

Mike Cox of EPA reported that DDT, PCBs, mercury, and PBDEs, which are contained in flame retardant, are the contaminants on which EPA is focusing its efforts in the Columbia.  He offered a rundown of the concerns about each contaminant, as well as how pervasive each has been found to be, and said EPA hopes to have the State of the River report done by the end of December. 

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a program for monitoring stream quality and is also involved in the effort in the Columbia River, according to Greg Fuhrer of USGS.  He said USGS has been studying 20 small agricultural and urban basins that drain into the Willamette River.  Fuhrer pointed out Council funding has helped in the USGS effort. 

Wallace noted that the toxics, other than PCBs, appear to be non-hydro related.  Ruff said the Council received recommendations for its F&W program related to water quality and toxics.  The research is showing that smolts from above Bonneville Dam are less contaminated than those found below the dam, he said.

If it’s an issue below Bonneville Dam, we have to be concerned about the source of funding for the research, Booth noted.  For our program, there needs to be a clear correlation with the hydro system, he indicated.

END NOTES_______________________

 

House Testimony:  The Council was invited to testify on the topic of hydropower at a June 12 hearing before the House Subcommittee on Water and Power.  Booth said Eden would present testimony at the Washington, D.C. hearing on behalf of the Council.

Marotz Appointed:  The Council voted to appoint Brian Marotz of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to a vacancy on the Fish Passage Center Oversight Board.

F&W Expenditures Tallied:  The seventh annual report to Northwest governors on BPA’s F&W expenditures has been released.  According to the report, BPA spent $716 million in fiscal year 2007 to address the impacts of the hydro system on F&W, bringing the grand total to $9.378 billion from 1978 through 2007.