197 



The continuation of flow augmentation with upper Snake River 

 water through the four lower Snake River reservoirs and dams 

 must rank high as potentially expensive, speculative, and ineffec- 

 tive to save the salmon. 



Lack of Idaho water did not cause their near extinction that we 

 are witnessing, nor in my judgment, will more water from Idaho 

 significantly alter their further decline. 



PREPARED STATEMENT 



If flow augmentation is a political choice for sharing the burden, 

 then firm scientific data, supported by independent peer review, 

 must support this endeavor. The economic impact of long-term flow 

 augmentation would be horrendous to the State of Idaho. 



Again, thank you for letting me present my views. 



Senator Kempthorne. Mr. Moss, thank you very much. 



[The statement follows:! 



Prepared Statement of DeWitt A. Moss 



My name is DeWitt Moss. I am a farmer, a greenhouse owner and reside in Je- 

 rome, Idaho. I have degrees in Chemical and Nuclear engineering from schools in 

 Colorado and Tennessee. I have spent the past 21 years on our family farm and 

 spent the previous 15 years as project engineer and manager of nuclear reactor and 

 fuel development in DOE's civilian power reactor development program. I currently 

 serve as a director for the North Side Canal Company, a surface water delivery or- 

 ganization serving 165,000 acres, and holder of 869,000 acre feet of storage in the 

 upper Snake River (SR) basin. I also serve on the Boards of Directors of the Idaho 

 Water Users Association and the National Water Resources Association. 



I want to thank you for inviting me to testify today and providing me with the 

 opportunity to share with you my views on the salmon issue. 



There is a saying in my part of the country that goes along this line * * * "if 

 a little will do some good — a lot will do better." Usually this phrase applies to acqui- 

 sition of money to allow one to keep farming. However, I am becoming increasingly 

 concerned that the phrase has been inappropriately coined by the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service (NMFS) biologists when looking to my irrigation water for the so- 

 lution to their salmon recovery plans. 



The Columbia River (CR) and SR salmon have declined to less than one-half of 

 one percent (0.5 percent) of their historic abundance — this is the issue. 



The purpose of this presentation is to summarize my views on the potential im- 

 pact to Idaho of the current salmon recovery plan and, specifically, the recently re- 

 leased 1995-1998 Biological Opinion, dated March 2, 1995. 



The estimated annual cost for BPA's fish and wildlife mitigation is $350 million 

 with the majority of this allocated to salmon. The requirements of the newly revised 

 and recently released 1995-1998 Biological Opinion are projected to add an addi- 

 tional $148 to $228 million to the annual costs. With these projected increases, 17 

 percent of an REA's total cost of power purchase and distribution goes to fish. BPA 

 serves 15 percent of the Idaho population. This power burden is a liability to the 

 market value of served land and communities and affects taxes, real estate values 

 and crop value returns. The above numbers differ significantly from the environ- 

 mental groups' estimated effects of $1 to $3 per month, per northwest household, 

 for power rate increases to accomplish the proposed solutions for salmon recoveries. 

 This does not include any water purchase, dry year lease or idling of land estimated 

 costs. 



In our area, the Biological Opinion requires the upper SR to provide 427,000 acre 

 feet of flow augmentation annually, with a "high probability" of assurance by 1998. 

 "Additional water" is to be secured from Idaho and Oregon. Securing this water for 

 augmented flows is to be consistent with applicable state laws and from willing sell- 

 ers. If significant progress on securing the above, ill-defined volumes of water is not 

 accomplished, formal consultation will be initiated. Based on proposals considered 

 over the past two years, the "additional water" sought may result in flow augmenta- 

 tion requirements as high as 2.0 million acre feet from the upper SR. In addition, 

 Dworshak Reservoir in northern Idaho is expected to provide between one and two 

 million acre feet of water annually. 



