Drought dangers to fish aired

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Federal officials yesterday briefed state and tribal leaders on the tightrope effort to manage Columbia River dams in the midst of drought, regional power shortages and the downstream migration of young endangered salmon.

Federal officials hope to provide some help to salmon heading downstream by spilling some water rather than running it through dam turbines that are key to regional power production.

But the drought forecasts keep getting worse, so even if no water is spilled to help salmon, the region still could face blackouts and huge rate increases to help keep Bonneville Power Administration financially solvent, reports released yesterday show.

The mood of the meeting was tense, at times emotional, with tribal officials fearful that salmon would be sacrificed for power.

"The decisions made here will affect us for years," said Randy Settler, chairman of the Yakama Nation Fish and Wildlife Committee. "We want to have a voice."

Curt Smitch, a Washington state official attending the meeting, said Gov. Gary Locke will watch the decision-making process closely.

Federal officials released some statistics that sketched the stakes involved in management decisions.

• The severity of the drought is gauged by the amount of water that flows past The Dalles dam between January and July. During the past 20 years, the flow has averaged 105.9 million acre feet. The minimum required to meet BPA's regional power commitments is 53 million acre feet. The current forecast for the six-month period is 57.5 million acre feet but could drop as low as 51.3 million acre feet.

• The Columbia River salmon are the focus of a multibillion-dollar restoration effort, with numerous runs protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The National Marine Fisheries Service has released a plan to spill water to help nine Columbia River salmon and steelhead runs.

If no water were spilled over the dams to help fish get past them, survival rates would decline. The greatest impact would be to the endangered Upper Columbia River chinook. For these young fish, survival rates would decline from 47.1 percent to 41.6 percent.

• The less water sent through turbines, the more BPA may be forced to deplete reserves to buy high-priced power. Come Oct. 1, the federal power-marketing agency could increase rates to the region by up to 260 percent. But through conservation and other steps to reduce demand, the agency officials hope to get the rate increase into double digits, possibly as low as 60 percent.

Hal Bernton can be reached at 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com.