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Cuddy Introduces New Bill to Study Effects of Hydropower on Salmon by Staff Lewiston Tribune, March 19, 2004

BOISE -- Rep. Chuck Cuddy, D-Orofino, introduced a legislative memorial Thursday that would encourage Congress to conduct a new study of the effects of hydroelectric power on salmon runs.

Cuddy said some of the information now being used by federal agencies is based on outdated information that supports flushing young salmon toward the sea by drawing down reservoirs in the Columbia River Basin.

"The water we are wasting amounts to $77 million a year for a return of something like 24 fish," Cuddy said.

His bill was printed by the House Ways and Means Committee, and now faces the daunting task of passing both the House and Senate within the few days left before the end of the session.

The bill asks the federal government to "conduct salmon survival evaluations in the 2004 spill year, the goal of which should be to determine if it is possible to achieve the same or greater levels of survival and biological benefit to migrating fish as is currently achieved while reducing the amount of water spilled, thus decreasing the adverse impacts on the region's power supply."

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