the Corps of Engineers be evalu- 

 ated tor consistency willi these 

 principles. 



• Protect and Expand Mainstem 

 Spawning and Rearing Habitat 



The operation of the iiydrosys- 

 teni should protect, and w here 

 possible, expand, mainstem 

 spawning and rearing areas. In 

 instances where this strategy con- 

 flicts with flows for juvenile 

 migration or temperature control, 

 the system operators should iden- 

 tity the potential conflict and seek 

 recommendations from state and 

 federal agencies and tribes on how 

 to best meet the two needs. 



• Inriver Migration and Transportation 



Because the existence of the 

 dams and reservoirs creates con- 

 ditions that are not natural, the 

 Council, while seeking to improve 

 inriver conditions, recognizes that 

 there are survival benefits from 

 transpoilation of migrating juve- 

 nile salmon. Therefore, the Coun- 

 cil 1 ) accepts juvenile fish trans- 

 portation as a transitional strat- 

 egy; 2) will give priority to the 

 fijnding of research that more 

 accurately measures the ctTect 

 of improved inriver migration 

 compared to transportation; 3) 

 will recommend increasing inriver 

 migration when research demon- 

 strates that salmon sur\'ival would 

 be improved as a result of such 

 migration; and 4) endorses the 

 strategy of "spread the risk" 

 which, depending on water and 

 environmental conditions, divides 

 migrating juvenile salmon and 

 steelhead between inriver passage 

 and transportation. 



Strateg) : Manage the hydrosystem 

 so that patterns of flow more 

 closely approximate the natural 

 hydrographic patterns, and assure 

 any changes in water management 

 are premised upon, and propor- 

 tionate to, fish and wildlife benefits. 



Balance Systemwide Water Man- 

 agement Among Different Spe- 

 cies and Life Stages 



Systemwide water management, 

 including flow augmentation from 

 storage reservoirs, should balance 

 the needs of resident fish with 

 those of anadromous fish, and the 

 needs of migrating fish with those 

 of spawning and rearing fish. In 

 instances where flow management 

 needs conflict with this program, 

 the system operators should iden- 

 tify the potential conflict and seek 

 recommendations from the Coun- 

 cil, fish and wildlife agencies and 

 tribes and other atTected entities 

 on how best to balance the dif- 

 ferent needs. Conflicts shall be 

 reported to the Council. 



Coordination 



In fulfilling the operating con- 

 ditions for the hydrosystem 

 established under the Endangered 

 Species Act and Clean Water 

 Act, the federal system operating 

 agencies shall, to the fullest 

 extent practicable, meet those 

 conditions in a manner which 

 protects other fish and wildlife 

 species affected by the operation 

 of the hydrosystem. In providing 

 infomiation on operations to 

 meet the needs of a particular 

 species or set of species, the 

 Fish Passage Center shall take 

 into account, through consulta- 

 tion with the fish and wildlife 

 managers, the needs of other 

 species and indicate how these 

 needs can best be balanced or 

 accommodated. The fish and 

 wildlife managers should indi- 

 cate to the Fish Passage Center 

 whether such conflicts among the 

 needs of different species exist 

 and, when present, recommend 

 remedies. On an interim basis, 

 the operating conditions needed 

 to meet the needs of these 

 other species are those that were 

 adopted by the Council in Sec- 

 tion 10 of its 1^45 program 



amendments. When the main- 

 stem coordination plan and sub- 

 basin plans are adopted by the 

 Council, the relevant conditions 

 will be included in the plans. 



Strategy: Assure that flow and spill 

 operations are optimized to produce 

 the greatest benefits with the least 

 adverse effects on resident fish while 

 assuring an adequate, efficient, eco- 

 nomical, and reliable power supply. 



The Council's program must be 

 consistent with "an adequate, effi- 

 cient, economical, and reliable power 

 supply." The Council will analyze 

 potential impacts to the power 

 system of different water manage- 

 ment and operation strategies, includ- 

 ing proposed federal operations to 

 meet Endangered Species Act and 

 Clean Water Act requirements, deter- 

 mine if the operations ensure an ade- 

 quate, efficient, economical, and reli- 

 able power supply, and recommend 

 operational changes if not. The 

 Council is particularly interested in 

 the efficiency and effectiveness of the 

 operations undertaken for fish and 

 wildlife. The Council will be pre- 

 paring recommendations that opti- 

 mize energy production, capacity and 

 especially reliability while meeting 

 diverse fish and wildlife needs. 



• In-season Changes 



The Bonneville Power Admin- 

 istration, in consultation with the 



Fast Fact 



/ our .species of Paci/ic 

 salmon — cliiiiii. chinook.ioho 

 ami sockeye — and two species j 

 of umidronioHS troiil^stecl- 

 hciul and sea-run cutthroat — 

 arc found in the Colund^ia . 

 River Basin. 



2000 Columbia river Basin Fish and Wildlife Program 



27 



