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Dick Watson, Director Power Division 800-452-5161

• Adult salmon are more important biologically than juvenile fish because adult fish carry the seeds of the next generations.
• There is a perception in the region - which is not accurate - that adult passage has been "solved" when in fact it has not.
• While there is no reason to modify or delete any of the construction projects currently planned for the dams, in general the Corps of Engineers' program has focused too narrowly on juvenile fish survival. The Corps needs to step up research and spending on adult survival improvements.
• Counting fish as they swim up fish ladders at dams, which currently is the best source of enumerating adult fish, is inadequate for research purposes - PIT tag detectors are needed at every dam to get a more complete picture of survival.

The ISAB report on adult fish passage is the third in a series that will form the basis of a report by the Council, requested by Congress last year, on the effectiveness of fish survival improvements at the dams. The report can be obtained by calling the Council and requesting document ISAB 99-2.

II. ISAB points out agreements, disagreements among plans
The Independent Scientific Advisory Board, which advises both the Northwest Power Planning Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service, found substantial agreement - and also areas of sharp disagreement - among five plans for land use or fish and wildlife recovery in the Columbia River Basin. Reporting to the Council last week, the ISAB found consensus among the five plans - state, federal and tribal - on habitat improvements, harvest management and the need for new fish and wildlife management practices. The ISAB said the plans do not agree on how to use fish hatcheries, how to improve fish survival at hydroelectric dams, the effects of flow augmentation (boosting river flows during the spring and summer when juvenile fish migrate to the ocean), whether to barge juvenile salmon and steelhead past the dams and whether to draw down certain reservoirs.

The paper can be obtained by calling the Council and requesting document ISAB 99-3. Plans reviewed by the ISAB included Return to the River (Independent Scientific Group, 1996); Upstream (National Research Council, 1996), An Assessment of Ecosystem Components in the Interior Columbia Basin and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, 1997), Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit, Spirit of the Salmon, (Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, 1995), and Proposed Recovery Plan for Snake River Salmon (National Marine Fisheries Service, 1995).

III. Regional Technical Forum would advise on energy conservation
The Northwest Power Planning is seeking public comments on the structure, make-up and decision making processes of a proposed advisory committee, called the Regional Technical Forum (RTF), which would focus on helping secure energy conservation and renewable resources in the Northwest. Congress recommended the Council create the Forum to provide technical assistance and to track energy conservation acquisition by the region's electric utilities. But when the Bonneville Power Administration proposed a rate discount for its customers that pursue conservation and renewables, Bonneville turned to the RTF to assist that effort. As currently proposed, the RTF would make recommendations to Bonneville regarding conservation measures and programs, the estimated energy savings and value to the regional power system, and methods for measuring energy savings. It also would track conservation acquisition and develop criteria for renewable energy projects. The paper proposes that RTF members be chosen for their technical expertise from nominations by the region's utilities, the states and others. It would be supported by the Council, but its recommendations would be independent of the Council. Comments on the paper are due by March 17. The paper can be obtained by calling the Council and requesting Council issue paper 99-1.