Montana urges compromise on Libby, Hungry Horse Reservoir drawdowns for fish
by The Columbia Basin Bulletin, Weekly Fish and Wildlife News
June 7, 2008
Montana officials this week again pressed the state's long-running desire for changes to Libby and Hungry Horse dam operations which they say raise havoc with resident fish in reservoirs and the rivers downstream.
Northwest Power and Conservation Council representatives Bruce Measure and Rhonda Whiting joined consultant Jim Litchfield Wednesday in offering a "compromise" to members of the Technical Management Team. Litchfield normally represents the state at TMT, which is made up of representatives of federal, state and tribal fish and hydro system entities. The TMT helps guide hydro operations with an eye toward improving salmon and steelhead survival.
The compromise would not draw the reservoirs down as steeply or rapidly in summer as has been done in the past but represents something less than the considerable change Montana has long sought.
NOAA Fisheries biological opinions since 1995 for the Federal Columbia River Power System have called for the two northwest Montana reservoirs to be refilled by early July. Then reservoirs can be drawn down by as much as 20 feet by the end of August to meet BiOp flow objectives at the mid-Columbia's McNary Dam.
The intent is to augment flows in the lower Columbia for migrating salmon and steelhead. Outflows after September are dropped to bare minimums.
The state has campaigned for years to have the drawdowns limited to 10 feet by the end of September to allow the Kootenai and South Fork of the Flathead river ecosystems to retain their equilibrium during a short window of high productivity. The high flows expand the area of riverine productivity.
But, in September, "the bottom falls out and we dewater all of the habitat," Litchfield told the TMT Wednesday.
Montana has argued, citing more recent scientific reports, that the small incremental increase in flows provides little, if any, benefit for salmon downstream.
The state was joined in 2003 by the NPCC, which amended the "mainstem" portion of its fish and wildlife program to urge federal agencies to implement the Montana plan. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the dam.
Federal agencies, acknowledging the new scientific assessments, call for the change in their new action plan and a new FCRPS BiOp that took effect May 5. But implementing the scaled back drawdown could be stalled by an agreement made earlier this year.
The agreement -- signed by parties to litigation over NOAA's 2004 BiOp -- stipulates that 2008 hydro system spill operations will essentially mirror those established in a 2007 agreement. The BiOp judges whether the federal hydro system jeopardizes the survival of 13 Columbia River basin salmon and steelhead stocks that are listed under the Endangered Species Act.
"To the extent hydro-power operations are not specified in the 2008 Fish Operations Plan, Federal Defendants shall operate the FCRPS consistent with the 2004 Biological Opinion and/or other operative documents necessary to implement that Biological Opinion," according to a Feb. 25 court order adopting the agreement. The Libby and Hungry Horse operations would seem to fall into that category.
The 2008 BiOp supercedes the 2004 version, but the order is in place through the end of the summer.
The new BiOp says to implement an "Experimental draft to 10 feet from full by the end of September (except in lowest 20th percentile water years, as measured at The Dalles, when draft will increase to 20 feet from full by end of September)."
Litchfield says implementing the new BiOp would create "the best conditions both for anadromous fish and for resident fish in Montana."
Instead of ramping up Libby outflows to 17.2 kcfs in early July, Litchfield suggested a more modest number, 15 kcfs. The 17.2 kcfs is the most current estimate of the flow needed to draw 20 feet of water from Libby reservoir bythe end of August. A flow of 11.9 would drop the reservoir by 10 feet by the end of September, Montana's real desire.
Flows of 10-12 kcfs would be optimal for assuring the Kootenai's productivity through September, Litchfield said.
"We're willing to compromise," Measure said of the proposal to tap the reservoir at a rate somewhere between the 20-foot drawdown and that optimal level. He and Litchfield asked the other TMT members to consider the proposal and resume discussions June 18.
Last year the state of Oregon and Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission member tribes stalled a similar proposal in TMT, pushing a decision to the federal policy and executive levels. Federal executives ultimately said they had to abide by the terms of the 2004 BiOp.
"Oregon doesn't want to see the flows decline in the lower river. That hasn't changed" from last year, said Rick Kruger of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The state has argued that if flows from Libby and Hungry Horse re decreased, that water must be replaced from other sources.
Litchfield said if all sides remain entrenched "we'll continue to fight." He ncouraged compromise on both sides.
Kruger agreed that the operation involved policy choices more than technical nes.
"I'll take the information back" for consideration by policy makers, he said.
|
