BPA will save water for electricity instead of helping salmon

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Power authority will save water for electricity instead of helping salmon

Associated Press April 04, 2001 07:36:00

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Bonneville Power Administration chose power generation over helping juvenile salmon on Tuesday, saying it will run water through power-generating turbines for a two-week period rather than spilling it over Columbia River dams.

"This was a very painful, difficult decision, but the drought has so depleted water supplies that the reliability of the region's electricity system is in peril," said Steve Wright, acting BPA administrator.

The BPA declared a power emergency Tuesday and said operating the system of Columbia River dams without spilling extra water for salmon would help avoid rolling blackouts, agency officials said. The decision could also save more than $1.4 billion the agency would otherwise spend to buy power, officials said.

The BPA had indicated over the past few weeks the step would be necessary and left open the possibility of spilling water later this year.

By declaring the emergency, the BPA is no longer bound by the rules of the Endangered Species Act, which protects 12 runs of Columbia River Basin salmon.

The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates that young salmon survival will decline by 15 percent or less without the extra water, which carries young salmon out to sea.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is required to spill millions of gallons of water over dams each spring and summer to give juvenile salmon a safe passage to the ocean.

Water spilled for salmon in one year can generate enough electricity to supply 660,000 homes.

BPA officials estimate the water saved during the two-week period will generate 1,000 megawatts - enough to light a city the size of Seattle for that time.

The corps said Tuesday it would not begin spilling at any of its eight Columbia and Snake river dams.

Doug Arndt, chief of fish management for the corps' Northwest Division, said he agreed with Bonneville's action.

"I hope everyone appreciates that there is nothing we can do," he said. "Mother Nature is running this one."

Bonneville officials said the hydropower system will be operated without spilling until at least April 13, when the federal government will release a full operation plan for the spring and summer.

For now, the total amount of water in the Columbia River Basin is forecast to be 57 percent below average, the second-lowest amount of water since record keeping began in 1929.

"When water levels get down to a certain level, we can't do much for fish at that point," said BPA spokeswoman Dulcy Mahar. "You have to meet power demands. We treat it as a health and human safety issue."

Meanwhile, Northwest tribes with treaty rights to Columbia River salmon said the BPA acted prematurely and should have first exercised other options, such as increasing conservation to cut power demand or postponing its annual payment of more than $700 million to the U.S. Treasury.

"BPA should in no way look upon their emergency declarations as a vacation away from treaty law," said Charles Hudson, a spokesman for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, which represents four tribes with treaty fishing rights. "We expect a full accounting of revenues saved, fish lives lost and damages to the tribal fishery. There will be a bill to pay."

The four-state Northwest Power Planning Council has determined that the region will be short of electricity this spring and fall unless steps are taken immediately to reduce electricity demand and conserve water in the Columbia River.

"The Northwest faces one of the driest years in over 70 years of record," said Wright, of the BPA. "Current estimates are that natural stream flow at The Dalles will be roughly half of average. Spilling water now will worsen the shortage and drive electricity prices up even higher."

Other steps are also being taken to reduce electricity demand. For example, the BPA is paying farmers not to irrigate, thus saving water and the electricity they would use to pump it to their fields.

http://www.arizonarepublic.com/arizona/articles/0404WST--BPA-Salmon-ON.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 04, 2001


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