After decades of arguments and court challenges, a landmark agreement supported by Pacific Northwest states, tribes, and federal agencies is expected to change how water is spilled at Columbia and Lower Snake River dams to boost the survival of young salmon while limiting the financial hit to hydropower.
The agreement recorded Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland is intended to be in effect for the 2019 salmon migration season, and remain in place through 2021. The pact addresses how water passes over the hydroelectric dams during the crucial spring period when young salmon migrate downstream to the ocean.
Under the agreement, spill would ramp up during the times of day when power is not in highest demand, and generating it is not as profitable. During the most profitable hours, typically during the mornings and evenings, spill would be reduced. The idea is to help salmon with higher spill, while keeping lost-power generation costs at, or potentially even below, current levels.
The agreement tracks with one of the recommendations from Governor Jay Inslee’s orca task force to boost spill as a near-term way to increase survival of chinook salmon, the preferred food of critically endangered southern-resident orca whales.
For the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets public power from Columbia River Basin dams, the agreement will give the administration more opportunity to sell electricity when prices are high. Greater revenues will help BPA pay for what is believed to be the most expensive fish and wildlife program in the world in the Columbia River Basin. (Seattle Times)
