667 



Cabinet Gorge Kokancc Hatchery on the Kootenai River in oortiieni Idaho. Wc have 

 completed resideni fish hatcheries on the Colville and Spokane Indian Reservations and at 

 Sherman Creek on Lake Roosevelt, areas in which salmon and steclhead runs were blocked by 

 construction of Federal dams. Boimeville b funding studies of resident sturgeon and 

 development of a low capital sturgeon hatchery facility in northern Idaho. In Montana, BPA 

 has funded research that lead to a mitigation plan for Hungry Horse Dam which was adopted by 

 the Council in March of 1993. We are currently funding inylementation of that plan. BPA is 

 also initiating the development of a mitigation plan for Libby reservoir in 1994. Although not 

 credited toward resident fish mitigation, much of the wildlife and anadromous fish habitat work 

 that has been accon^)lished since 1982 provides similar benefits to resident fish as well. 



Furtherrnore, we are iu3t confident about the amount of fimding whidi will be required for Phase 

 rV. The Council does not plan to adopt Phase IV until weD imo FY 1994, so the final dements of 

 Phase IV are not known. We cannot see any basis for the Council staffs opmion (expressed before 

 the comment period on the draft Phase IV proposal has closed) that the Phase IV program will 

 cost $5 million per year for resident fish, and another $5 million per year for wildlife in each of 

 fiscal years 1994 and 1995. 



In conclusion, we have expended agnificart efforts to work constiucdvdy with the Council, the 

 Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority, and other re^onal interests to identify solutions to 

 problems resulting fi'om our current financial condidoos. We hove offered to consider using 

 remaining faaadal flexibility to fimd those critical, time-urgent measures that all agree simply 

 cannot wait for two years. 



We recognize the importance of the Council's Fish and Wildlife Program as a comprehensive guide 

 to Bonneville and the Region. Wc also thought, prior to your August 12 letters, that the Council 

 recognized the serious financial and competitive pressures Bonneville is now fiidhg. These 

 pressures have required BPA to make tough decisions on prioritizing the timing of implementing 

 currently unfimded program measures. In response to our request for CouncS assistance in 

 prioritizing program measures, we essentially were totd that everything else in the Councfl's 

 program has a non-sdiedulable, number one priority. 



That sentiment is conveyed in the Council request that Congress direct BPA to provide the 

 additional fimding. Given the con^>etitive pressures that Bonneville &ces, there amply has to be a 

 b«ter. more thoughtfiil way to balance these often conflictirvg requirements. We would urge 

 Congress not to provide directive language in the FY 1994 Appropriations Act. but instead 

 challenge both BPA and the Council to resolve Ais issue ourselves. We should be able to identify 

 necessary near term funding for priority measures, and to provide BPA suffidem nnplementation 

 flexibility to phase in lower priority measures in a manner winch minimizes their finandal impacts. 



