103 



Second, spilling too much water can increase the risk of gas bubble disease in 

 downstream areas, and therefore the voluntary spill program must be — and is — 

 properly limited to minimize that risk. The NMFS and the Corps of Engineers have 

 implemented a comprehensive and largely successful monitoring and research pro- 

 gram that will both ensure that we are able to protect as best as possible against 

 undue risks, and that we generate important inwrmation about fish survivals that 

 will help us continue our efforts at improving survivals. 



Third, the spill program ought to serve as an interim program only. The Proposed 

 Recovery Plan instructs the Corps to modify the individual projects to reduce the 

 amounts of gas they create through the use of vertical slots and surface collectors 

 that would pass more fish over the spillways with smaller volumes of water. These 

 modifications hold the promise of improving substantially the efficiency of the fish 

 passage effort, and therefore save more fish and more money by reducing substan- 

 tially the costs of the spill program. I would encourage this Subcommittee and Con- 

 gress to support these efforts because they hold such promise. 



Finally, the I>rMFS remains committed to operations based upon the best science 

 available. It therefore intends to convene a group of operational experts and recon- 

 vene its gas technical working group this fall to review all components of the in- 

 season management process and the spill program. We will review the enormous 

 amount of data generated by it and we stand ready to make adjustments and im- 

 provements to the in-season management process and the spill program as the data 

 dictate, in consultation with the states and tribes of the region. 



This concludes my testimony, Mr. Chairman. I will be pleased to answer any 

 question that you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have. 



RESPONSES BY WILLIAM STELLE TO QUESTIONS BY SENATOR KEMPTHORNE 



1. How did the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) develop its 1994-1995 

 spill policy for the Columbia and Snake River hydropower facilities? 



The 1994—1995 spill program was developed in the context of, and is provided in, 

 the biological opinion on 1994-1998 on operation of the FCRPS and the Proposed 

 Recovery Plan for Snake River Salmon. It is peul; of the overall operation of the sys- 

 tem called for in these documents. The system operation proposed by the NMFS was 

 developed as a result of extensive discussions among the NMFS, the U.S. Fish and 

 WUdlife Service, the Federal operating agencies, the state fishery agencies and Na- 

 tive American tribes. These discussions took place primarily as part of the proceed- 

 ings in the IDFG v. NMFS litigation. The NMFS also held several meetings with 

 Recovery Team members and had public workshops with representatives fi-om the 

 power and environmental communities in attendance. The entire biological opinion, 

 including the spill program, was provided to the parties in IDFG v. NMFS for com- 

 ment prior to ite issuance last March. 



2. What scientific research supported decisions on the spill policy? What process 

 did NMFS use to reach scientific conclusions? How was the spill policy announced 

 to the public? 



The spill program was announced to the public through publication of the biologi- 

 cal opimon on the FCRPS in March, 1995 and through puDlication of the Proposed 

 Snake River Salmon Recovery Plan (also in March, 1995). NMFS provided notice of 

 the Proposed Recovery Plan through a press conference and a notice in the Federal 

 Register. 



The following excerpt from the 1995 biological opinion describes the rationale be- 

 hind the spin program. (See also first two paragraphs under "The Spill Program in 

 1995" section, previously.) 



After reviewing available information on dissolved gas exposure as well 

 as information and recommendations submitted by the parties during the 

 IDFG V. NMFS discussions, NMFS concluded that 115 percent total dis- 

 solved gas measured in the forebays was a reasonable interim measure to 

 adopt. Several commenters ar^ed that the Environmental Protection Agen- 

 cjr's recommended water quality limit of 110 percent represented an appro- 

 priate level and should not be varied. Stete and tribal entities developed 

 a risk assessment that suggested that long term emosure to 120 percent 

 did not pose significant risks to migrating fish and that the benefits of im- 

 proved dam passage outweighed these minimal risks of TDG exposure at 

 120 percent. Still otiier commenters noted the spill at collector projects re- 

 duced the numbers of fish transported and that any risk assessment had 

 to consider the benefits of transportation. The issue of transportation is ad- 

 dressed more fully in measure 3 below. 



