In conclusion, I'd like to leave vou with the following points. Spill 

 has been shown to be consistently the safest route of passage past 

 a dam. The controlled spill for fish passage program was developed 

 on the basis of past research and monitoring. It was developed with 

 broad regional input by public and private entities. The spill for 

 fish program was developed using a conservative analysis of the 

 risk and benefits associated with spill and dissolved gas. An exten- 

 sive research and monitoring program has been implemented to 

 verify the program; a broad range of research and monitoring data 

 is being collected to evaluate the impacts and benefits of the spill 

 program; and all of the information collected will be incorporated 

 into analyses to evaluate the effects of recovery measures on Snake 

 River salmon. 



Thank you for this opportunity. 



Senator Kempthorne. Thank you very much, Ms. Filardo. 



Now we have Mr. Phillip Mundy. 



STATEMENT OF PHILLIP MUNDY, FISHERIES AND AQUATIC 

 SERVICES, LAKE OSWEGO, OR 



Mr. Mundy. Good morning. Senator Kempthorne. I appreciate 

 the opportunity to be here tooay. 



To put the spill issue currently before you into perspective, I'd 

 like to point out that nitrogen supersaturation is a phenomenon 

 that occurs extensively in the kinds of waters that salmon occupy. 

 In over 20 years of experience as a salmon biologist working with 

 healthy salmon populations in Alaska, I have never seen or even 

 heard of a fish kill of juvenile salmon that was caused by nitrogen 

 supersaturation. In Alaska, we have monitoring programs that at- 

 tempt to estimate the number of smolts leaving the major rivers, 

 so I believe if there had been such, we would have seen it. The nat- 

 ural falls and cataracts of the Columbia River system prior to im- 

 poundment produced nitrogen supersaturated environments that 

 must have been quite extensive. 



In moving into my commentary here, I would like you to bear in 

 mind that you're dealing here and talking about the recovery of a 

 species that has evolved over a period of at least 10 million years 

 to deal with situations in the natural environment and to overcome 

 those. So nitrogen supersaturation is definitely a phenomenon in 

 natural waters. 



Mr. Chairman, I believe that the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service has acted prudently in selecting spill as a recovery tool for 

 endangered salmon in the Snake River. As a matter of best profes- 

 sional iudgment, spill is the safest way to move juvenile salmon 

 past a hydroelectric project. Spill has been tested in a wide variety 

 of situations and has been found to kill smaller numbers than the 

 turbines and the mechanical bypass systems. 



Then why is there so much controversy over the use of spill as 

 a recovery measure for Snake River salmon? It appears that the 

 cost of spill combines with lack of knowledge about what happens 

 to the fish in the reservoirs to create the opportunity for yet an- 

 other distraction from the central issue of salmon recovery. The 

 central issue of salmon recovery is how to measure survival of juve- 

 nile and adult salmon through the hydroelectric system. If spill 

 were not so expensive, I do not believe we'd be here today. 



