185 



Conclusion 



So those who think salmon recovery is too expensive should ponder the 

 much higher cost of extinctions. The decline of scilmon in the Pacific 

 Northwest means doUar-and-cents losses in our commercial and sport 

 fishing industry, environmental degradation, bad faith in our treaty 

 obligations to Canada and to the region's sovereign Tribes -- possibly leading 

 to staggering reparations. The stakes around salmon extinction are very 

 high indeed. 



From this perspective, the greater danger to Bonneville's competitiveness as 

 a viable business enterprise comes from looming extinctions - not from 

 salmon recovery costs. The top priority for BPA should become saving the 

 Columbia /Snake salmon runs. The worst uncertainty for the agency and its 

 customers tlows from a Biological Opinion for federal hydropovver operations 

 recently released by the National Marine Fisheries Service -- computer 

 modeling of which shows a continued decline of the endangered salmon. 

 The best hope for BPA and the Northwest lies with fulfilling at long last the 

 promise of a Columbia hydroelectric system re-built to work for both power 

 and salmon. 



Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to testify before the 

 committee today. And I welcome your and your colleagues' questions. 



CHANGING THE CURRENT REPORT 



Good news for wild salmon 

 and Northwest ratepayers 



Energ)' aiid construction costs to modify hydropower dams — aiid give 

 wild salmon a fighting chance to survive natttrally in the Colimibia and 

 Snake Rivers — are far lower than originally thought. 



E 



ver since Snake River sockeye and chinook were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1991, the 

 debate over what actions to take to lessen the huge toll taken on these runs by the hydropovver 

 system has hinged largely on the issue of cost. For regional decision-makers this issue is a significant 

 one. They must weigh the political liability of higher utility rates to cover the costs of change in the 

 hydrosystem versus the legal and political liability of additional wild salmon extinctions, "on our 

 watch." 



Although ratepayers and regional decision-makers have a legitimate concern that a restoration 

 program be affordable, we must be able to fairly evaluate what the costs of salmon recovery mea- 

 sures are likely to be. Thus far, the agencies operating the dams have estimated how much salmon 

 measures would cost the region if imposed on an otherwise unchanged energy and water system. 



The federal hydropower agencies have ignored the great inefficiencies in the current system. 



They have not sought to identify ways that current electricity 

 marketing and water management could, and would, be 

 modified to create the most cost-effective match between the 

 needs of migrating salmon and other uses of the river. As a 

 result, they have greatly over-estimated the costs of modify- 

 ing Columbia and Snake River hydrosystem operations. 

 They have presented decision-makers with flawed informa- 

 tion that could rob this region of cost-effective solutions to a 

 higltly-charged public policy issue. 



The fact is that human use of water and energy in the 

 Columbia River system can be shaped to better match the 

 spring and summer flows that wild salmon need. This report 

 identifies affordable strategies for accomplishing this. 



Key Findings ol Report 



■ Cost increases tor average Northwest ratepayers 

 would be about $1 20 lo $2 a month— far lower 

 than initial estimates, and in line with what 

 ratepayers have said they would be wilitng to pay 

 to save endangered salmon runs from extinction. 



Shitting BPA hydrogeneraHon away trom winter 

 months into spring and summer lor the sake ol 

 water tlows tor salmon is an aftordable energy 

 strategy— one that matches the water needs ot 

 migrating tish with opportunities tor BPA lo market 

 excess summer capacity when power demand is 

 highest throughout the western power grid 



Scope of Rrport 



This report looks at real-world strategies for modifying 

 electricity marketing, water management, and construction 



