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govenunent, their "executive" compensation and sabbaticals, stands in stark contrast to their self- 

 styled quest for the "cheapest and best way" to further reduce fishing, and their complete insensitivity 

 to the plight of fishermen, fishing-dependent femilies, and the coastal and river communities whose 

 lives and futures they so cavalierly ignore 



The Columbia River is not a "migration corridor " It is a river , a complex ecosystem, and if 

 salmon stand any chance of being recovered, it can only occur if we treat them as living creatures 

 dependent upon a river with decent spawning and rearing habitat, and the ability to swin to sea and 

 return to spawn without experiencing 90+% mortality from the hydrosystem 



Flow augmentation programs are effective and have subsUntial scientific support 

 but are largely discounted by the Bevan Committee 



The Bevan Report does recommend drawdowns of the Lower Snake River Reservoirs to either 

 near spillway crest or to river level, and we support these recommendations In emphasizing 

 transportation, however, the Bevan Team de-emphasizes flow augmentation needs throughout the 

 rest of the system 



The principal concern with spilling water over the dams is the potential for superstaturation of 

 water with nitrogen. At sustained high levels, nitrogen supersaturated water can cause nitrogen gas 

 bubbles in the circulatory systems offish and ultimately impair survival - essentially giving them the 

 fish equivalent of what we call "the bends" in humans, and what is technically referred to as "gas 

 bubble trauma (GBT)" However, nitrogen supersaturation is usually not fatal to fish In fact, a 

 certain amount of nitrogen supersaturation occurs naturally, and fish have evolved mechanisms to 

 avoid it or to reduce its impact on their systems The eCFect is also diminshed as fish swim deeper, 

 since at greater depths the increased water pressure helps contain the excess nitrogen and allows the 

 fish to dissipate it naturally Most fish automatically dive deeper (or "sound") when they take on 

 excess gas as a natural mechanism to avoid gas bubble trauma. 



Studies have demonstrated a clear correlation between higher survival rates fi-om smolt to adult 

 and increased flow within the river When faster flows occur, outmigrating smolts avoid predators 

 better and reach the sea much sooner Furthermore, properly timed intentional spills over the dams 

 help outmigrants by flushing them around the turbines (thus avoiding 10-20% turbine mortality rate) 



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