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Dams are Integral Part of the PNW by Washington Wheat Commission Wheat Life, December 2006

The Columbia River is 1214 miles long and from its source at 2650 feet above sea level, the river falls an average of more than two feet per mile before reaching the ocean. The largest tributary is the Snake River, which is 1036 miles long. Average annual runoff at its mouth is about 198-million acre-feet.

A map of the Columbia Basin river system reveals dams throughout the Pacific Northwest on virtually every major river. Some dams have fish by-pass systems installed, while others do not. For example in Idaho, Brownlee, Oxbow and Hells Canyon erected in 1959, 1961 and 1967 respectively, do not; permanently blocking salmon from the upper Snake River Basin. Idaho's Dworshak Dam completed in 1973 also permanently blocks salmon and steelhead form the North Fork of the Clearwater River. Other dams on the Lower Snake River have fish by-pass facilities.

Washington's Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph Dams completed in 1941 and 1961 respectively permanently block anadromous fish from the upper Columbia River Basin. Built in 1932, Rock Island Dam was the first dam built on the mainstem Columbia River. The dam provides fish by-pass, as do the other dams on the Columbia below Chief Joseph Dam.

The Columbia River Basin's hydroelectric system is listed as the nation's most productive source of hydropower. The major dams have a combined potential capacity of over 2400 megawatts of clean renewable energy.

Capturing the power of falling water

While many regions of the country must rely on coal and natural gas power plants, the Northwest relies on hydropower for about two-thirds of its electricity. In fact, 40 percent of all U.S. hydropower comes from the Columbia Basin river system. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council notes that in an area considerably larger than the country of France, hydro power is crucial with 58 dams built exclusively for hydropower in the Columbia River Basin. Seventy-four percent of the power generating capacity in the four PNW states is hydropower (32,950 megawatts of the 44,350 megawatts total). In addition to the 58 hydropower dams, there are 78 multiple purpose projects in the basin that include hydropower. (See www.nwcouncil.org.)

BPA pays bill

In its responsibility to taxpayer investment in the Columbia River Power System, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) made an annual payment of $1.113-billion for FY2006 to the U.S. Treasury. The payment consists of $646.2-million in principal and $309.6-million in interest and $76.1-million in other obligations. BPA also paid operation and maintenance expenses of $217.2-million for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service projects directly funded by BPA.

Region moves forward on salmon recovery

While there are more than two dozen fish stocks listed as threatened and endangered up and down the Pacific Coast, within the Columbia River Basin there are 13 listed fish stocks. The Action Agencies report:

• Adult fish survival is about 98 percent or higher at each dam for salmon and steelhead.

• Approximately 98 percent of the transported juveniles survive to the point of release below Bonneville Dam. Research is underway to determine and minimize possible delayed mortality.

• In-river survival has averaged 50.2 percent using empirical estimates for survival from Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River to Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.

• Upper Columbia River juvenile spring/summer Chinook survival is about 75 percent with a performance standard of 55.1 to 74.9 percent.

• Juvenile fish survival past the dams is now comparable to that of the 1960s when there were only four dams in the lower Columbia and Snake Rivers.

• In-river survival through the eight dams for Snake River spring-sum- mer Chinook has ranged from 30 to 60 percent.

• Juvenile survival through dam by- pass systems is between 95 and 99 percent.

• Installation of fish slides and remov- able spillway weirs (RSW) have improved passage further at many dams ranging from 94 to 100 per- cent.

• In 2005, nearly 22-million juvenile salmon and steelhead were trans- ported; 99.5 percent by barge, and the remainder by truck.

• Caspian terns have been relocated reducing the number of salmonids consumed from 15-million in 1999 to 3.6-million in 2005.

• Double-crested cormorants consumed an estimated 6.4-million juvenile fish in 2005.

Complete progress reports are available at www.salmonrecovery.gov
Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration