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Question: Why are the Pacific Northwest Coordination Agreement and the 

 Canadian Entitlement Allocation Agreements involved with our ability to 

 implement the Treaty"^ 



Answer: The projects in the United States that benefit directly from the 

 operation of Canadian Treaty storage, and thus have shared the obligation to 

 deliver the Canadian Entitlement, are situated on the Columbia River downstream 

 of Treaty storage There are eleven dams located on the Columbia River 

 downstream of Treaty storage Six of the dams are Federally owned The other 

 five dams are owned by public utility districts in the State of Washington, and their 

 output is divided among a host of publicly-owned and investor-owned Northwest 

 utilities These non-Federal project owners generate approximately 25 to 30 

 percent of the Canadian Entitlement The Canadian Entitlement Allocation 

 Agreements are the agreements through which the non-Federal projects' shares of 

 the Canadian Entitlement obligation are determined and delivered to the United 

 States Entity 



Because the Treaty assumes a coordinated United States operation of 

 hydroelectric resources, the Pacific Northwest Coordination Agreement is an 

 important vehicle to fully realize the benefits envisioned by the Treaty The non- 

 Federal dam owners argue that they cannot realize the power benefits from the 

 Treaty unless operation of the hydroelectric projects in the United States is 

 coordinated through the Pacific Northwest Coordination Agreement or similar 

 agreement Without such coordination, these project owners assert they will not 

 agree to deliver approximately 30 per cent of the Canadian Entitlement that they 

 generate and will not sign the Canadian Entitlement Allocation Agreements, which 

 could increase the percentage of Canadian Entitlement which Bonneville must 

 deliver to Canada to satisfy the total obligation 



These contracts permit the harmonious and productive use of the freaty 

 benefits and they as.aire that the obligation of the United States to Canada is 

 appropriately shared between Federal and non-Federal beneficiaries 



Question: We have heard that legal challenges have been made to the 

 renegotiation of these proposed agreements Would you describe them please"^ 



Answer On December 22, 1994, a coalition of environmental groups led 

 by Idaho Rivers United, as well as the Yakima Indian Nation, served a 60 day 

 Notice Of Intent to sue under the Endangered Species Act against Bonneville, the 

 U S Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service The Notice of Intent states that Bonneville and the other 

 Federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act by, among other things, 

 failing to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service over effects on the 

 listed salmon of the delivery of the Canadian Entitlement, the renegotiation of the 

 Canadian Entitlement Allocation Agreements, the renegotiation of the Pacific 



