542 



Pari fie Northwest Region 



Reclamation's Pacific Northwest Region, headquartered in Boise. Idaho. 

 encompasses the lands within the Columbia River drainage and coastal streams 

 of Oregon and Washington. This area includes the States of Idaho. Washington. 

 most of Oregon, western Montana, and small sections of western Wyoming and 

 northeastern Nevada. 



Irrigated agriculture has been economically important in the Pacific Northwest 

 since the turn of the century, and Reclamation has been active in water 

 resource development and management in the area since the passage of the 

 Reclamation Act of 1902. Today. Reclamation project offices throughout the 

 region coordinate the operation of 54 Federal reservoirs with a total water 

 storage capacity of almost 19 million acre-feet, and through local irrigation 

 districts, coordinate the delivery of full and supplemental irrigation 

 supplies to nearly 3.2 million acres of cropland. Crops produced on Federally 

 irrigated lands within the region include a wide variety of cereals, forages, 

 field and vegetable crops, seeds, fruits, nuts, and other specialty crops 

 valued at nearly $2 billion in 1990. Reclamation also coordinates water 

 supply operations with numerous other Federal. State, and private entities for 

 power production, municipal and industrial supply, flood control, navigation, 

 and fish, wildlife, and recreation benefits. 



One of the most pressing environmental water issues facing the Pacific 

 Northwest today is the declining populations of wild salmon that once thrived 

 in the Columbia River basin. In 1900. an estimated 13 to 16 million wild 

 salmon and steelhead returned to the Columbia and Snake Rivers to spawn in the 

 streams where they were born. In 1991. only 2.5 million fish were expected to 

 return, and less than 500,000 of that number would spawn naturally in streams 

 and lakes. Many factors have contributed to the decline, but perhaps most 

 obvious are the physical and operational impacts resulting from dams built by 

 Federal agencies and public and private utilities over many decades. 



The Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980 attempted to address 

 the issue of mitigation on the Northwest's anadromous fishery. Programs 

 developed during the 1980 's addressed some of the physical and operational 

 constraints with programs directed at fish screening, habitat restoration, and 

 the establishment of an operational "water budget" to assist with juvenile 

 fish migration to the ocean. But despite the efforts of these regional 

 programs, low regional water supplies for 5 of the last 6 years have pointed 

 to the need for more dramatic and cooperative action. 



In the spring of 1990, several organizations petitioned the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service to list a number of wild stocks of Snake and Columbia River 

 salmon as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The 

 Snake River sockeye was subsequently listed as endangered in December of 1991. 

 and the Snake River spring/summer and fall Chinook were listed as threatened 

 in May 1992. Those actions have accelerated regional concern and program 

 action directed toward finding a regional solution. 



In response to Reclamation's redirected mission, as well as the renewed 

 commitment to recovery of the Northwest's anadromous fishery, the Pacific 



