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COLUMBIA BASIN SALMON BRIEFING PAPER 



LOWERING JOHN DAY POOL 



A Crucial Step toward Providing Safe, In-River Migration 

 for Columbia-Snake Basin Salmon 



Wild salmon runs are in peril throughout the Columbia River Basin, especially in its 

 upper reaches. Beginning in December. 1991. the National Marine Fisheries Service'listed wild 

 sockeye and wild spnng-. summer-, and fall-run chinook in the Snake River drainage for protec- 

 tion under the Endangered Species Act. Many salmon stocks in the Columbia above its 

 confluence with the Snake undoubtedly qualify for similar protective status. 



Without question, the predominant cause of human-inflicted mortalities on these wild 

 salmon runs in the upper reaches of this great watershed is hydroelectric development, mcluding 

 the four huge mainstem dams in the Lower Columbia built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

 without any provision whatsoever for passage by migrating juvenile salmon. Of these, the 

 massive 80-mile long John Day reservoir which can delay migrating smolts for several days is by 

 far and away the most lethal. 



At the regional Salmon Summit of 1990-91. all parties agreed to significant and expen- 

 sive increases in augmentation of Columbia flows in order to help flush juvenile salmon past the 

 mainstem dams. In 1992. the Northwest Power Planning Council incorporated these flow re- 

 gimes into its salmon recovery plan, and added a measure to lower the elevation of the John Day 

 reservoir to "minimum operating pool" at least from May 1 to August 31 — the peak juvenile 

 migration period in the Lower Columbia. This lowering of the John Day pool has the effect of 

 speeding up water movement in this slowest of reservoirs — without disruption of barge naviga- 

 tion or hydroelectric generation. 



Northwest conservationists, fishers, and salmon advocates, therefore, urge the Congress 

 to appropriate a total of $77 million — approximately half that amount, $38 million, in fiscal 

 year 1993-94 (FY94) — for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to mitigate all impacts (primarily 

 de- watering of irrigation pump intakes) so that John Day reservoir can operate at minimum 

 operating pool by May. 1995. Given that proper mitigation can and will successfully keep any 

 and all impacted river users whole, the lowering of John Day pool represents a "best buy" to save 

 endangered and declining wild salmon throughout the Columbia Basin. 



Background: Why lower John Day pool at all? 



In passing the Northwest Power Planning Act of 1980, the Congress declared the condi- 

 tion of upper Columbia watershed salmon an "emergency." The Act directed that "flows of 

 sufficient quality and quantity" be provided for salmon through the federal hydropower system 

 on the Columbia and Snake Rivers, and that fish be given "equitable treatment" with other over 

 uses. 



But neither sufficient flow nor equitable treatment have been provided. During the 

 1980s. Snake River coho salmon went extinct, and all remaining wild Snake Basin salmon have 

 been listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. A number of wild salmon stocks in 



