80 



Declining salmon runs 



Finally, by the late 1970s it became clear that our regional prosperity, which 

 resulted in large measure from inexpensive hydropower from the federal dams, had a 

 price on fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin. Just a century earlier, for 

 example, between 10 million and 16 million salmon returned to the Columbia each 

 year. But by the late 1970s, there were only about 2.5 million salmon, and most of 

 those returned to hatcheries. Environmental groups emd other advocates for fish 

 and wildlife considered filing petitions to protect dwindling fish populations under 

 the federal Endemgered Species Act. 



These pressures on our regional electiic power supply, which once seemed 

 inexhaustible, caused Pacific Northwest residents to question the institutions 

 governing the development, sale, and distribution of generating resources. Should 

 new preference agencies be formed to replace private companies in given eu-eas? How 

 would the supply needs of new preference customers be met? Should private 

 utilities undertake new generating projects in a hostile atmosphere of rapidly rising 

 rates and the threatened shift to pubfic power? How would large industrial 

 customers in the region be served? How should the public, and their elected 

 representatives, participate in decisions that were critical to the region's economy 

 and environment? Who ultimately would be responsible for plEUining emd acquiring 

 new resources to avoid impending electricity shortages? How would our region 

 protect the fish and wildlife that had been damaged over the years by the 

 construction and operation of hydropower dams? 



The region continued to work for a cooperative solution that preserved local 

 options while obteiining regional efficiencies of an integrated electric system. Several 

 alternatives were explored, but no agreement was reached. To avoid a court battle 

 over allocation issues, the region turned to Congress for a solution. 



Toward a Congressional Solution 



Revisions to the Bonneville Project Act were considered as early £ts 1975. The 

 legislation was prompted by Bonneville's Notice of Insufficiency in June of 1976, 

 coupled with the threat posed by Oregon's Domestic and Rural Power Authority. 

 However, it was not until 1977 that Bonneville and its customers, through the Pacific 

 Northwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC), drafted legislation to solve the 

 region's energy problems. Senator Jackson introduced the PNUCC bill in September 

 of 1977. but neither that bill, nor a less complex successor drafted a year later, 

 managed to progress very far by the time the 95th Congress adjourned in late 1978. 



When the 96th Congress convened in 1979. a coalition of Bonneville customers 

 was solidly behind a legislative solution to the Northwest's power crisis. Neither 

 Bonneville nor its customers wanted an administrative allocation of limited power 

 supplies, although Bonneville did propose an allocation scheme in October of 1979. 



