174 



Today, spring chinook, fall chinook, coho, and steelhead return 

 annually. This basin is a shining example in the Columbia that 

 salmon and the economy can thrive side by side, and we thank you 

 for your help. 



Many are concerned about the costs, but salmon costs pale in 

 comparison to the debt that BPA is saddled with due to failed nu- 

 clear plants, the WPPSS nuclear project. Now, BPA is burdened by 

 a $7.1 billion debt, which is growing every day. And what did the 

 BPA get in return, one nuclear plant that is too expensive to oper- 

 ate and too costly to shut down. 



Bear in mind that the Columbia treaty tribes did not ask for 

 WPPSS; the Northwest utilities did. BPA customers have enjoyed 

 the cheapest power in the Nation at the expense of salmon. 



All of BPA's major customer classes continue to enjoy huge sub- 

 sidies that keep BPA at the risk of failing to meet its Treasury pay- 

 ments. The annual subsidy to the Direct Service Industries, pri- 

 marily aluminum smelters, is estimated at $170 million, while rev- 

 enues to aluminum companies have recently increased over 400 

 percent. 



The annual subsidy to investor-owned utilities through residen- 

 tial exchange is estimated to be $210 million, and BPA is pre- 

 vented from competing on the open market through restrictions in 

 favor of the Northwest preference. 



BPA's lost revenues due to water withdrawals for irrigation are 

 approximately $300 million annually. All of these economic issues 

 should be put on the table for an independent review. 



Various interests have proposed auctioning BPA off to the high- 

 est bidder to pay off the debt. These are reckless proposals. 



The solution is to reform BPA, not sell off BPA. And the solution 

 must, consistent with the United States' promises to the tribes, 

 provide fiscal resources to protect salmon. 



Less than 2 weeks ago. Senate bill 481 was introduced. That bill 

 would cap the fish and wildlife costs BPA may incur in any fiscal 

 year. The bill would also prevent BPA from recovering fish and 

 wildlife costs through transmission charges. 



The bill puts BPA's WPPSS debt ahead of its fish and wildlife 

 obligations. These priorities are not consistent with the spirit in 

 which the tribes entered treaties, and the treaties were not made 

 subject to WPPSS debt and wholesale power subsidies. 



The Columbia River treaties were optimistic in 1980, when the 

 Congress passed the Northwest Power Act. It calls for protecting 

 the treaty rights of the tribe, improving salmon survival at hydro- 

 electric projects, and providing flows of sufficient quality and quan- 

 tity between dams, and to improve salmon production, migration, 

 and survival. 



Importantly, a section of the act provides that BPA shall use its 

 funds and authority to mitigate, protect, and enhance fish and 

 wildlife to the extent affected by the development. 



BPA has not asked the tribes for the interpretation of the cost 

 allocation provisions of the Northwest Power Act. I ask that the ad- 

 ministration and Congress seek the tribes' views on cost allocation 

 procedures before adopting any permanent changes. 



