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through juvenile bypass facilities, and specially designed tanks for 

 transport by barge or truck. Based upon juvenile passage studies, 

 projects are operated to provide optimum passage conditions. Sur- 

 vival numbers depend upon how many of the juvenile fish use each 

 passage route and upon conditions they encounter. Turbine passage 

 may disorient fish and allow predators to catch the fish. High lev- 

 els of spill result in gas supersaturation levels that can cause gas 

 bubble disease in fish. 



Under the Endangered Species Act, the Corps prepared a biologi- 

 cal assessment of the effects on listed species of the planned oper- 

 ation of Federal dams prior to the spring migration. Following con- 

 sultations between the National Marine Fisheries Service and the 

 Corps, NMFS issued a biological opinion. In its March 2 biological 

 opinion for 1995 and future years, NMFS found that the Corps' 

 planned operation of the Federal dams would jeopardize the contin- 

 ued existence of the listed salmon. Accordingly, the biological opin- 

 ion provided reasonable and prudent alternative measures to avoid 

 jeopardy. 



On March 10, General Harrell, Division Engineer, signed a 

 record of decision documenting the Corps' intent to fulfill the rec- 

 ommended actions in the biological opinion. In its decision, the 

 Corps has relied upon NMFS professional, scientific determination 

 that the reasonable and prudent alternatives and measures will 

 provide the necessary actions to halt and reverse the decline of the 

 listed Snake River stocks. 



The biological opinion has called for a variety of actions and 

 studies for salmon; flow augmentation, spills, juvenile transport, 

 lowered reservoir levels, improvements to existing passage systems, 

 and other actions are being implemented in the 1995 operating 

 year. Future improvements and alternative configurations of the 

 physical projects are being evaluated for the long term. 



One of these is the surface bypass system for juvenile fish. This 

 is a new technology whereby the juvenile salmon are collected in 

 the top 20 feet or so of the reservoirs where they usually migrate 

 and are passed through or over the dams. 



In 1994, NMFS requested and the Corps implemented an emer- 

 gency program of spilling at all eight lower Columbia and Snake 

 River dams. This request went beyond the spill measures in the 

 1994 biological opinion. In 1995, the biological opinion again called 

 for spill at eight dams, including the juvenile collector dams where 

 a majority of juvenile fish would normally have been collected and 

 transported. 



In its 1995 biological assessment, the Corps expressed concern 

 about exceeding current State water quality standards. In a prior 

 letter to Federal agencies, the States and other regional interests, 

 General Harrell had indicated the Corps would attempt to adhere 

 to the State water quality standards in operating its projects. For 

 1995, we asked NMFS to request those waivers and they did and 

 we have received waivers from the States of Washington, Oregon, 

 and Idaho. 



In consultation with NMFS, the agencies agreed to a well-mon- 

 itored spill program, managed in near real time. The monitoring 

 plan includes two components — physical monitoring which is being 



