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shared by (he U S. and Canada, hold 

 millions of aere-feei of waier. Hydro- 

 power operaiors currenlly use ihese 

 upsiream storage dams lo store up wa- 

 ter for release during the winter to 

 maximize electricity generation. 



By releasing just some of this vast 

 stored water in the upper Columbia 

 River, dam operaiors can provide al- 

 most enough flow augmentation each 

 spring to meet the water speeds recom- 

 mended by the CBFAVA biologists for 

 the Lower Columbia ponion of the 

 salmon migration corridor. To meet 

 the travel-time goal requires only one 

 drawdown at the John Day reservoir. 



Because this is the longest, fattest, 

 and slowest reservoir in the Lower Co- 

 lumbia, even a modest drawdown sig- 

 nificantly improves water speed and 

 fish travel through the pool, and makes 

 the most efficient use of increased fiow 

 augmentation from upstream storage. 



Biologists and conservationists 

 propose that the John Day reservoir 

 operate at "minimum operating pool" 

 — approximately 10 vertical feet be- 

 low its normal elevation. At "mini- 

 mum operating pool," the dam is fully 

 functional for hydroelectric generation 

 and for barge navigation. 



Drawdowns are a must to 

 save salmon in the Snake 



IN THE DRIER SNAKE RIVER, fiow 

 augmentation alone would drain all the 

 stored water in the watershed, and still 

 fail to provide the water speed that mi- 

 grating juvenile salmon need! 



That is why conservationists along 

 with the State of Idaho have advocated 

 drawdowns for the four Snake River 

 reservoirs. Funhermore, stored water 

 in the arid Snake Basin is vital for irri- 

 gation and hydropower production. 



To meet the CBFWA travel-time 

 goal in the Snake portion of the migra- 

 tion corridor requires drawdowns of all 

 four Lower Snake reservoirs below 

 their minimum operating pools by ap- 

 proximately 40 venical feet. As pro- 

 posed by conservationists and biolo- 

 gists, the drawdowns would last for the 

 10-week period of peak juvenile 

 salmon migration — beginning April I 

 with reservoir re-fill on or before June 

 15 each year. 



According to the U.S. Army Corps 

 of Engineers and the Northwest Power 

 Planning Council, such drawdowns 

 would meet or exceed the CBFWA 

 goal for water and fish migration speed 



in the Snake River, and would do so 96 

 percent of the lime without any addi- 

 tional flow augmentation. 



Changes that work for 

 people and for salmon 



FIXING THE HYDROPOWER SYS- 

 TEM in the Columbia and Snake Riv- 

 ers for wild salmon through fiow aug- 

 mentation and drawdowns does require 

 changes in ways of doing business. 

 But these changes are both workable 

 and affordable. Tragically entrenched 

 commercial users of the river have re- 

 sisted any change whatsoever, plung- 

 ing the Northwest into a bitter crisis 

 around salmon recovery. 



Impact: Releasing water from up- 

 stream storage dams in order to pro- 

 vide flow augmentation for salmon 

 shifts hydropower generation to the 

 spring and summer when demand for 

 power is low in the Northwest. 



Change: The Bonneville Power 

 Administration has existing contracts 

 to sell surplus power in the spring and 

 summer to California (via the regional 

 power grid) in exchange for electricity 

 shipments back to the Northwest in the 



How to Fix the Columbia and Snake 

 Hydropower System for Salmon 



1 Increase flow augmentation, especially in 

 the Columbia River This requires the spring 

 and summer release of water from upstream 

 dams in order lo speed up water movement 

 — and migrating juvenile salmon — through 

 the four Lower Columbia River reservoirs. 



2 Lower the vertical elevation of the John 

 Day reservoir by 10 feel lo 'minimum operat- 

 ing pool.' At this level the dam remains lully 

 functional, but the reservoir moves faster, 

 and becomes less lethal to young salmon. 



3 Drawdown the four Lower Snake River 

 reservoirs by 40 vertical feel below minimum 

 operating pool for 10-weeks from Apnl 1 lo 

 June15 each year. This provides the faster 

 river speeds that migrating fish need, and 

 without draining very limited upstream water 

 storage in the Snake Basin 



