5 March
2002
Media Contact:
Charles Hudson, CRITFC,
(503) 731-1257
Bob Heinith,
CRITFC Hydro Coordinator
(503) 731-1289
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CRITFC Tribes Release 2002
Columbia River Operations Plan
Portland, Oregon
- Seeking to prevent
federal river managers from repeating their mistakes of 2001, the
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) today released
its 2002 Columbia River Operations Plan (Plan) for the Federal Columbia
River Power System (FCRPS), the Hells Canyon Complex and the Priest
Rapids Project.
Maximizing salmon survival through strategic water management and
acquisition to provide a more natural flow or "normative hydrograph"
is at the Plan's foundation. As the 2002 salmon migration nears, the
Commission is asking the federal operators for quick adoption and
implementation of the Plan's recommendations.
"2001 was nothing short of a salmon slaughter," said Donald Sampson,
CRITFC Executive Director, "Our recommendations can get decision making
out in front of a below-average water year. There's simply no logic
to inviting another crisis. Water being wasted right now will be at
a premium in April through September."
In 2001, the region experienced alarming conditions for anadromous
fish passage and survival. The Bonneville Power Administration's financial
and power emergencies and low runoff eliminated flow augmentation
and reduced fish spills to a fraction of those required under the
National Marine Fisheries Service's 2000 Biological Opinion for the
Federal Columbia Power System (FCRPS). Salmon and steelhead losses
were significant. For example, the Fish Passage Center noted that
only 4% of Snake River juvenile steelhead survived passage from Lower
Granite Dam to Bonneville Dam, and some 27% of Snake River juvenile
chinook survived to Bonneville.
Jay Minthorn, CRITFC Chairman and Chair of the Umatilla Fish and Wildlife
Committee stressed giving salmon a higher priority than they received
last year. "The Columbia River will give us more flexibility this
year to make up for significant impacts to last year's migrants,"
said Minthorn. "Our recommendations are a blend of foresight and renewed
commitments to previous agreements. Our management recommendations
pose no threat to power supplies or other river users, what we want
to do is eliminate wasteful water management and panic-button practices
to give salmon some security this year," he added.
The Commission's Plan responds to 1) 2001's historically low flow
and meager spill due to the Bonneville Power Administration's (BPA)
declared hydrosystem and financial emergency, 2) the inadequacies
of the National Marine Fisheries (NMFS) 2000 Biological Opinion for
the hydrosystem and 3) the inadequacies of the Technical Management
Team's 2002 Water Management Plan.
The Plan's key recommendations are:
- Extend and enhance the spill schedules of the 2000 FCRPS Biological
Opinion,
- Reduce severe power-peaking impacts to Hanford Reach juveniles,
- Reduce unnecessary flood control drafting of key reservoirs,
saving water for critical migration times,
- Anticipate a better, but below-average water year (95% normal),
- Recast "emergency" declarations to exclude BPA financial problems,
- Renew commitments to energy and water conservation,
- Reform decision-making procedures.
The entire CRITFC Columbia River 2002 River Operations Plan can seen
here.
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About CRITFC
The Portland-based Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is
the technical support and coordinating agency for fishery management
policies of the Columbia River Basin's four treaty tribes: the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes
and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Nez Perce Tribe.
CRITFC, formed in 1977, employs biologists, other scientists, public
information specialists, policy analysts and administrators who work
in fisheries research and analyses, advocacy, planning and coordination,
harvest control and law enforcement. |
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