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wildlife program "to the maximum extent practicable." as required under 

 the Northwest Power Planning Act. E^^de^tly competitiveness would 

 unleash Bonneville to ignore the Act more efficiently. 



Mr. Chairman, if BPA requires an overhaul as an institution, then let's 

 go the whole nine yards. Congress should write a whole new charter for the 

 agency, and upgrade the Northwest Power Planning Council from a de facto 

 to a full-fledged board of directors over BPA. Why do I suspect that neither 

 the agency nor its customers would welcome such an initiative? Because 

 BPA recently and once again unilaterally unveiled a chilling proposal to 

 convert the agency into a government corporation — one further step 

 removed from oversight by policy-makers and from participation by the 

 public — one further step advanced toward BPA and its customers free to do 

 whatever they please however misguided. 



BPA Should Elmhrace, Not Oppose, Reservoir Drawdowns for Salmon 

 Recovery 



Most misguided of all has been Bonneville's steadfast opposition to the 

 reservoir drawdowns of the four Lower Snake pools and the John Day 

 project on the Lower Columbia, which the Sierra Club and other fish 

 advocates have proposed, and which the Northwest Power Planning Council 

 incorporated into its strategy for salmon. Due to the technical complexity 

 of, and the overheated debate around, this issue. I have submitted with my 

 statement to the Task Force several background reports and position 

 papers, which provide detailed discussion. Here 1 will try to summarize the 

 justification for these proposed reservoir drawdowns. 



At the outset, I must address a couple bugaboos incessantly raised by 

 drawdown opponents. First, the Sierra Club and salmon advocates have 

 never promoted these drawdowns as the only — just the key — measure for a 

 successful salmon recovery. We recognize the need for. and advocate, other 

 changes in hydropower operations, habitat protection, hatchery practices, 

 and harvest mangement. 



Second, successful mitigation is feasible for the various impacts — 

 particularly outages of navigation locks and irrigation pumps — from 

 drawdowns. Therefore, far from inflicting economic damage, the 

 drawdowns themselves as well as the resulting salmon restoration would 

 actually benefit the local economy and create jobs for the people who 1 call 

 neighbors. Let me remind you. Mr. Chairman, that I live and work in the 

 affected community. If 1 believed even half of the draconian evils alleged 

 about the drawdowns. I would join the witnesses lined up here in opposition 

 to this crucial measure for salmon recovery. 



In reality, the proposed reservoir drawdowns promise several 

 compelling advantages: 



Sierra Club — Page 5 



