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The Council has consistently advocated the creation of a reserve account to ensure 

 that Bonneville would not have to defer implementation of the fish and wildlife program or 

 the Northwest Power Plan. 



Protecting Columbia Basin fish and wildlife resources with the comprehensive 

 approach adopted by the Council may help forestall fiiture endangered species listings. A 

 strong, continuing commitment to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife while 

 pursuing financial efficiencies will reduce long-term envitonmental costs for the region and 

 moderate the impact on Bonneville's budget, as well. 



6. No sin^e forum exists to coordinate federal and state water management in the 

 region. State and federal water managers have taken important steps to provide and 

 protect increased flows for salmon, but changes in federal and state policy may be 

 needed in order to meet future challenges. For example, a broader role for the Power 

 Planning CouncU in regicmal watershed planning and policy development should be 

 explored. 



Water policy and administration in the Columbia River Basin is fingmented among 

 many state and federal agencies and private water users. Management of the Columbia River 

 has been dominated by federal agencies — the Bonneville Power Administration, the Army 

 Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation — whose primary missions are 

 hydropower generation, flood control, navigation and irrigation. On the Snake River, most 

 of the federal projects are operated by the Bureau of Reclamation for irrigation purposes and 

 in accordance with state water law. Water diversion permits are administered by each of the 

 states through their water agencies, each of whom has different rules and record-keeping 

 practices. There are also many public and private dams and diversions on the mainstems of 

 the rivers and on tributaries. In the area of water quality, there is a similarly complex 

 assortment of regulatory bodies. 



Since the demise of the Pacific Northwest River Basin Commission, there has been no 

 single forum to coordinate water management in the region. The Northwest Power Planning 

 Council, whose organic statute withholds any authority over water law, water rights or water 

 administration, has been woridng to coordinate water management activities of the federal 

 agencies (Bonneville, the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation) for more than 

 ten years. During the 1980s, however, state water management agencies were not active 

 participants in salmon recovery. While we have not taken a position on whether the 

 Council's role in watershed planning and poUcy development should be expanded, we 

 believe this concept should be explored further. 



In the Strategy for Sainton, the Power Planning Council sought to bring state water 

 policy into the salmon recovery process. The Council asked the states to protect instream 



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