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Lowering John Day Pool — Page 2 



the Columbia watershed proper above its confluence with the Snake also merit protection under 

 the Endangered Species Act. 



Federal and state fisheries agencies and the region's Native American Tribes attribute at 

 least 95 percent of all human-caused mortalities upon these upper Basin fish to the mainstem 

 hydroelectric dams. The Bonneville Power Administration, which wholesales electricity gener- 

 ated at federal hydropower projects in the Basin, blames the dams for approximately 80 percent 

 of the human-inflicted mortalities on these fish. 



To restore sustainable salmon populations, federal, state, and Tribal biologists have stated 

 that the fish need minimum flows through the Lower Columbia River (measured at The Dalles 

 Dam) of 250,000 to 300,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). May 1 to August 31. in all water years. 

 BPA and the regional electric utility industry have agreed to provide flow augmentation with a 

 target of at least 200,000 cfs in the Lower Columbia during the peak juvenile salmon migration. 



This target clearly falls short of the biologists' minimum flow standards. Moreover, in 

 drought years such as the Northwest experienced in 1992 and will undergo this year, the flow 

 augmentation program does not even meet the utility industry's target. 



According to calculations by the Corps of Engineers, the lowering of John Day would 

 reliably speed up water velocity through the reservoir in dry years and wet. For example, during 

 drought episodes of low river flows, operation at minimum operating pool would cut 1 .8 days 

 from the current 1 1.2 for water particle travel time through the reservoir. So not only does the 

 lowering of John Day make the flow augmentation work much more effectively and efficiently 

 in the Lower Columbia's largest reservoir, it generates the most acceleration to the water when 

 flow augmentation can not — during a drought. 



Based upon this law and logic, the Northwest Power Planning Council incorporated the 

 lowering of John Day pool into its salmon recovery plan "to be fully developed, demonstrated, 

 tested, and evaluated for quick implementation, unless it is shown structurally or economically 

 infeasible, [or| biologically imprudent. . ." The Council called for implementation of the mea- 

 sure by April. 1994. 



In a November, 1992 report to the Council, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded 

 that the lowering of John Day pool meets these requirements of the Council recovery plan, and 

 can be accomplished with full mitigation of any and all impacts on river users. The Corps 

 estimated capital costs at $77 million, and time to install mitigation measures at 4-5 years — half 

 of which would be devoted to design and administration. 



Only two alternatives have been proposed to the lowering of John Day pool: collection 

 and transportation (trapping and barging) of juvenile salmon at McNary Dam, or more flow 

 augmentation. In December, 1992, federal, state, and Tribal biologists concluded that barging 

 may, in fact, inflict greater harm than does the currently perilous in-river migration corridor. In 

 any case, the best trapping efficiencies at McNary Dam run to 50 percent. So clearly in-river 

 improvements are necessary for the larger number of young fish which must run the gauntlet of 

 John Day and three other Lower Columbia mainstem dams and reservoirs. 



As for greater flow augmentation, the Northwest Power Planning Council staff has 

 calculated that to achieve the same increase in water velocity accomplished by lowering John 

 Day pool would require the additional release of some 4.3 million acre-feet from upstream 

 storage (see chart). For context, the entire storage behind Grand Coulee Dam is 5.19 million 

 acre-feet. Even if such a massive additional flow augmentation were structurally feasible, it 

 would carry a big economic "hit," especially on firm hydropower generation. 



