07/25/05 Arguments on summer spill, Part two

Summer spill over some of the Columbia-Lower Snake River dams has occurred the last two years per court order. Summer spill by both federal agencies like N.O.A.A. Fisheries and environmental groups has been talked about for some time. So why has there been little action in that regard? To explain, some history is needed. Since the Year 2000 biological opinion, N.O.A.A. Fisheries has suggested that summer spill could be a viable option in helping increase juvenile fall Chinook salmon survival rates and passage to the Pacific. But some factors have delayed full implementation. Those were pointed out by Todd True, the attorney representing the lead plaintiff calling for increased summer spill, the National Wildlife Federation. TRUE: The first reason was the electrical grid is not stable enough to do this. And then, oh, we've got to put in these spillway weirs. And it was those delays coupled with what has been perceived as a low water year in the region that prompted the National Wildlife Federation and others to ask for a ten per cent increase in summer spill. But U.S. government attorney Ellen Durkee says N.O.A.A. Fisheries planned to begin summer spill testing in 2007, once new fish-friendly spillway weirs were installed and tested, and quantitative data gathered and analyzed. DURKEE: They were going to take a systematic approach to research. You design it and you go about it incrementally, and so on. Instead, what we have is this sudden shift. They've certainly tried to adjust the research that is on-going to take this into account but the ordinary plan, and the research plan, and to go about it incrementally. And the findings gathered would be used to determine how to efficiently use spill and transporting juvenile fish via barge downstream during the summer months & which is also a period of peak electrical use in the region. Currently, the federal government in its fish management policy implements what is now spread the risk. It is combining both methods to find the most effective way to increase survival rates. At this time, dam operators conduct spill for spring salmon species. But the questions remains, even with the debate, how effective is summer spill in juvenile salmon survival when put in balance with the economic impacts of power ratepayers. No matter the outcome of the recent case before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, answers are expected to be forthcoming over the next few years.