207 



Ihc Columbia and Snake Rivers, dam 

 oporaiors inubl speed up waler move- 

 ment m ihe hydroeleclric reservoirs. 

 CBFWA recommended waler flows 

 during spring migralion of 140,000 cu- 

 bic feel per second (cfs) in Ihe Lower 

 Snake and 300,000 cfs in ihe Lower 

 Columbia which would effeclively re- 

 duce juvenile salmon iravel-lime lo 15 

 days — a compromise slill roughly 

 double ihe historic iravel-limes. 



The CBFWA recommendation is 

 especially importanl because it repre- 

 sents a unanimous consensus of the 

 region's biologists at federal, state, and 

 Tribal fisheries agencies. And it estab- 

 lishes a clear, measurable, biologi- 

 cally-based goal for modifying Colum- 

 bia and Snake River hydropower dams 



and operations in order to give migrat- 

 ing smolls Ihe necessary sale passage. 



How do you make 'a river 

 run through it' — faster? 



THERE ARE only two ways lo speed 

 up water and migrating fish through 

 the complex hydropower system that 

 has been built on the Columbia and 

 Snake Rivers. 



First, hydropower operators can 

 release waler from upstream storage 

 reservoirs. This greater volume of wa- 

 ler speeds up the flow through the 

 downstream reservoirs that pose such a 

 obstacle for migrating juvenile salmon. 

 The technical leim for these storage 

 releases in order lo make the river and 



Action Agenda 



FOR COLUMBIA AND SNAKE RIVER WILD SALMON 



KEEP THE nSH IN THE WATER!— We must get juvenile 

 salmon past the dams, power turbines, and slackwater 

 reservoirs safely — without barging or trucking them down 

 to the sea. 



RUN THE RIVER MORE LIKE A 'RIVER'— At peak spring 

 migration times we must manage the dams and reservoirs 

 so that young salmon are carried quickly to the sea. In- 

 creasing water speed during juvenile migration will 

 greatly reduce the death toll on fingerlings that now drift 

 slowly in the slack water of the reservoirs, falling victim to 

 predators, disease, and disorientation. 



SMART ENERGY AND WATER USE PLANNING ARE 'BEST 

 BUYS' — There are workable, cost-effective ways to make 

 the Columbia and Snake Rivers work for salmon and for 

 us. Energy efficiency, fuel switching, seasonal exchanges 

 on the regional power grid, and improved water conserva- 

 tion for irrigators are all smart investments and will help 

 bring back once teeming numbers of wild salmon. 



SAVE OUR WILD SALMON!— Hatchery fish are no substi- 

 tute for wild salmon. Healthy populations of wild salmon 

 are essential to maintain the genetic diversity and survival 

 instincts that will assure long-term success of salmon in 

 the Northwest. Maintaining and restoring fish habitat 

 and watersheds are clearly essential. 



the I'isli go faster is "flow augmenta- 

 tion." 



THE SECOND WAY to move water 

 and fish through slack reservoirs is to 

 lower Ihe water level and the vertical 

 elevation of those pools — in other 

 words, draw ihem down. Dam opera- 

 tors accomplish these reservoir "draw- 

 downs" by simply letting water drain 

 out so ihat the pools become less deep, 

 less wide, and more like a river again. 



Drawing down a reservoir in- 

 creases river speed withoul releasing 

 waier from upslream storage because 

 the natural run-off and river flow travel 

 more quickly in the narrower, shal- 

 lower channel. In effect, the draw- 

 down "squeezes" the flow lo move 

 much faster. 



In 1992, a lest drawdown of the 

 Lower Granite reservoir proved the 

 value of this technique: Water moved 

 five limes faster through the reservoir 

 during the drawdown of approximately 

 35 vertical feet. 



BOTH TECHNIQUES SPEED UP 

 WATER movement and fish migra- 

 tion. By analogy, you can make the 

 water run faster oul of the end of a 

 gardenhose in two ways. You can turn 

 up Ihe lap — flow augmentation. Or 

 you can put your thumb over the hose's 

 end — • reservoir drawdown. 



Restoring healthy populations of 

 wild salmon lo Ihe Columbia and 

 Snake Rivers will require both fiow 

 augmentation and reservoir draw- 

 downs. Hydrological studies by the 

 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and 

 others prove that fiow augmentation 

 alone can not provide the waler speeds 

 and fish travel-times recommended by 

 Ihe electric utility industry much less 

 Ihe CBFWA biologists. Tlie lap is 

 turned up all the way. 



'Go with the flow' will help 

 salmon in the Columbia 



IN THE UPPER reaches of the Colum- 

 bia River watershed. Grand Coulee 

 dam and other huge storage projects 



