601 



System. The SOR Scoping Document (May 1991) states that "the results of those meetings were 

 compiled into a comprehensive data base for use by the agencies in developing the scope for the 

 review ..." (page 7, emphasis added). Compare this statement with Appendix 2: Summary of 

 Public Comments (page A2-1, Scoping Document) which states "Geographically, a three-to-one 

 majority of commentaries said an expanded focus was needed, that a comprehensive review of 

 system operations was impossible without looking at the entire system" (emphasis added). The 

 Shoshone-Bannock Tribes question whether limiting the geographic scope, despite the 

 overwhelming public and agency input to the contrary, constitutes pre-decisional bias and 

 determination of outcome. 



Groups such as the Committee of Nine (the nine major irrigation districts in the upper Snake 

 River) need to be reeled in. The supremacy of federal jurisdiction and inherent tribal 

 responsibilities to the natural resources need upheld over the state and private sectors. The 

 Committee of Nine appears at times to have the Idaho Water Resources Board and U.S. Bureau 

 of Reclamation tied around their fingers. The Committee of Nine attorneys are advising their 

 clients not to free up "even a cup of water" for flow augmentation, because it would indicate 

 that not all of the water they have water rights for is needed. And, if any water is to be left in 

 the river by the Committee of Nine, for salmon flow augmentations, the federal government 

 purchasing price will be astonishingly higher than what the same irrigators pay for it. 



The solution is really quite simple. Examine the upper and middle Snake River during 1992 - 

 the lowest water year on record. There was no widespread famine or economic collapse. In 

 fact, some crops supported record harvests. Examine how the irrigators, IDWR and BR came 

 up with creative solutions to provide irrigation water through the season. Use 1992 as a baseline 

 for irrigation, and any water above that amount could be left in the Snake River for the Ribbon 

 of Life the River once was. These flows will not just provide water for electricity production 

 and salmon flows in the lower Snake and Columbia rivers, but will also provide aquatic resource 

 protection in the middle and upper Snake Ri\er. 



Question 5 : Are existing institutions and institutional arrangements at the state and federal 

 level adequate to implement salmon recovery plans? What improvements should 

 be made to ensure better regional coordination among the many federal, state, 

 tribal and private entities that must work together to achieve salmon restoration? 

 In particular, the following alternatives have been suggested for better 

 implementing salmon restoration plans. Please comment on each: 



a) Providing additional public involvement in existing federal processes including 



rpvipu/ nf nnniii^I nrv^ration^! 



review of annual operations 



Response : 



The federal and state processes are mostly open to the public. The NPPC process is so open 

 to the public that the master planning process oftentimes puts fishery manager solutions on hold. 



Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Testimony P^g^ 7 



BPA Task Force Hearings 



