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1994 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program |
| Council document 94-55 | |
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1.5 Other Responsibilities
The Council believes that the Northwest Power Act required changes in planning, operations, regulation and other decision-making processes to implement this program and fulfill the Act's fish and wildlife objectives. To address that necessity, the Council has adopted measures designed to ensure that program measures are viewed as hard constraints on the hydroelectric power system to the full extent required by the Act. Bonneville is to act in a manner that is consistent with the program when it signs contracts, grants billing credits, acquires resources and takes other action pertinent to this program. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is to initiate appropriate proceedings to implement program measures promptly at non-federal projects.
All federal project operators and regulators are to integrate program water flow measures into power system rule curves, consider the use of Canadian storage as a source of water for fish flows, and maintain all fish facilities at their projects in good repair. The Council also urges these operators and regulators to develop mutually satisfactory consultation and coordination arrangements with fish and wildlife agencies and tribes. Ultimately, the Council expects federal project operators and regulators to implement program measures or explain in detail why they cannot do so.
The Council is an interstate compact. Its members are appointed by the Governors of the Northwest states. The Council is not a federal agency. Its program is developed under the Northwest Power Act, not the National Environmental Policy Act nor the Endangered Species Act. However, most of the program's specific measures are implemented by federal agencies.
To facilitate federal implementation, the Council explores environmental impacts of its proposals as fully as possible within its amendment process. Federal agencies are encouraged to make use of the Council's evaluation so that the region can act promptly to protect salmon and steelhead while complying fully with National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act requirements. The Council commits itself to working with the federal agencies to integrate the Council's processes with the National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act processes.
In determining the sources of water for fish and power flows as well as protecting fish in and around storage reservoirs, the use of Columbia River Basin water stored in Canadian reservoirs, as well as such water stored in reservoirs in the United States, must be considered. In general, fish flows, as well as reservoir levels and nutrient retention times required to protect resident fish in and around storage reservoirs, should be accommodated in all planning, management and operations conducted under the Columbia River Treaty between the United States and Canada.