373 



STATEMENT OF DON GODARD 



Mr. GODARD. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the opportunity to be 

 here today. I am Don Godard, I am manager of tiie Grant County 

 PubUc Utility District. With me here today are Jim Davis who is 

 president of the Washington PUD Association and Sonny Smart, 

 manager of Chelan Coimty Public Utility District. Between the 

 three of us, we own and operate five Columbia River dams down- 

 stream of Grand Coulee and upstream of the Tri Cities, generally 

 centered on Wenatchee. 



We are part of the hydroelectric system that was created by Sen- 

 ator McNary, Senator Wa5aie Morse, Senator Warren Magnuson 

 and Senator Scoop Jackson. The stewardship of that legacy now 

 rests with you. Senator Hatfield and Speaker Foley. The system 

 was originally created to provide hydroelectricity and other multi- 

 purposes sucn as transportation and flood control. Power fi'om our 

 dams is shared tlu-oughout the Northwest, including Spokane, Se- 

 attle, Tacoma, Kelso-Longview, Portland, Forest Grove, 

 McMinnville, Milton-Freewater, Eugene and other areas served by 

 Pacific Power. 



The hydroelectric system that we are a part of was part of a so- 

 cial contract that said the Columbia River would be developed to 

 grovide economic prosperity to the Northwest and that commercial 

 shing would be sustained by hatcheries on the lower Columbia. 

 This contract has served us well. 



In the Northwest, we have relatively inexpensive power that 

 compensates for our disadvantages, such as our remoteness fi'om 

 the markets. And we have economic activities occurring here that 

 would not otherwise be possible. 



We have also maintained a commercial fishery. More salmon 

 pass our dams today than when they were built. 



To describe the current situation as doomsday ignores the fact 

 that we have 2V2 million salmon entering the Columbia River after 

 harvest in the ocean. Fall chinook in the mid-Columbia stretch of 

 the river are healthy, and we have over 90,000 sockeye crossing our 

 project each yesir. 



Nonetheless, the contract has had a deirk side. Grand Coulee 

 Dam, Idaho's Hells Canyon Dam and other dams have blocked 

 salmon fi-om their spawning habitat. The American Fisheries Soci- 

 ety report, however, notes that other streams, particularly coastal 

 streams that do not have dams, have equally depressed runs. 



The second part of the dark side is that the river has been man- 

 aged to produce meat and not protect wild stocks. Examples are 

 that the wild Columbia River Coho are probably extinct because of 

 the way we have run our hatcheries and the mixed stock fishery. 

 Also, wild sockeye have been poisoned in Idaho, so that a trout 

 fishery could be sustained. 



Now the Endangered Species Act has turned the social contract 

 on its ear. The Coliunbia River will be managed for wild salmon, 

 above all else, above harvest and above power production. 



Now the power system has already changed in response to the 

 Endangered Species Act. Over the past 10 years, we have spent a 

 billion dollars and that is largely for flows to help the downstream 

 migrating smolts. People fi'om the Northwest have paid that one 

 billion dollars and the purchasers of our power, including those in 



