nwcouncil.org home  Council Meeting # 283
December 5-6, 2000
Portland, Oregon
Approved Minutes 

Call to order

1. Briefing on Findings and Response to Comments for 2000 Fish and Wildlife Program Amendment Recommendations
John Shurts, Legal Counsel; John Ogan, Senior Counsel

Council legal counsel John Shurts described the role of "findings" in the fish and wildlife program. Findings are a statutory requirement and must be part of the program, he told the Council, adding that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has, in its opinions, made a point of that. The legal standard for rejecting a recommended amendment is limited by Section 4(h)(7) of the Northwest Power Act, Shurts said. He referred to the findings of the fish and wildlife program as "primarily a legal document, with a policy element." Under the statute, the Council must address the recommendations it receives to amend the program and explain its action if it rejects a recommendation, according to Shurts. The program amendment process is not complete without these findings, he stated.

Preparing the findings has turned out to be a bigger job than we expected, not only because the recommendations are voluminous, but also because of the way the program was developed, Shurts acknowledged. We are finding that the bulk of the recommendations are consistent with the program, but the route to that conclusion is not as direct as in the past, he said. We have to trace each recommendation into the program and show where it is - "any court will want to know that," Shurts added.

When will you have the findings completed? Cassidy asked. On the outside, sometime in February, Shurts responded. As a legal matter, the program is not adopted until the findings are agreed to and voted on, Bloch pointed out. Is there anything you are seeing in the comments so far that is inconsistent with the program? he asked. Shurts said he did not see a problem in that regard. We don't see it "on the ground" either, John Ogan said. We haven't heard that people are unhappy with what we've done, he stated.

Shurts briefed the Council on how staff is handling several major issues. Whenever we had recommendations for specific fish and wildlife measures, we have carefully pointed out that we are not adopting or rejecting the measures, but deferring them to a later part of the process, he explained. We make it clear that the Council set standards and strategies generally in the program, but is not making recommendations on specific measures, Shurts said. We also are not stating who will carry out particular types of work or how they will be funded, he added. Some people said recovery of ESA-listed populations should be the main point of the program, and we are responding that the program aims to create conditions that will lead to recovery, but also aims to meet a larger mitigation obligation, Shurts said.

We received a number of recommendations that said we should adopt selective fishing practices in the program, he continued. Our findings acknowledge that problem, but we indicate we've adopted general strategies to bring production and harvest into alignment and rejected specific harvest regimes, Shurts explained. Some comments say we should adopt the concept of a "normative river," but we've avoided that term because it means different things to different people, he continued. We've also gotten comments that say we need to take into account economic and human effects, Shurts said. Our response is that we have a direct statutory obligation to address a scientific foundation for fish and wildlife recovery, he said. The Columbia River Alliance advised us to redo our loss assessments, contending they are inaccurate, Shurts reported. We reject that recommendation in the findings, but acknowledge we need to get a better handle on mitigation and effects of the hydro system, he said. CRITFC offered specific detailed standards, and we said these are legitimate, but our approach at this stage of the program is more general, Shurts stated.

There were recommendations on subbasin planning that lay out specific responsibilities and duties, along with "who does what when," according to Ogan. We respond to those by saying that the program adopts the subbasin planning approach and identifies who will be involved, but does not set down specific roles and steps, he said. We acknowledge we need to provide consistent standards to guide subbasin planning, but we want to maintain flexibility on the specifics, Ogan said.

Rob Walton of the Public Power Council told the Council that copies of the final report from the October workshop on harvest, which the Council co-sponsored, would be available this week. The report will have a lot of good information if you favor selective harvest, and if you oppose the idea, it will raise a lot of questions, he said.

2. Presentation by System Configuration Team (SCT) on Recommendations for Fiscal Year 2001 Capital Improvements at Mainstem Dams
Bill Hevlin, National Marine Fisheries Service; John Kranda, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers

Bruce Suzumoto introduced two members of the System Configuration Team (SCT), for an overview of how the SCT prioritizes capital construction projects at main stem dams. The SCT was established in response to "the reasonable and prudent actions" outlined in the 1995 BiOp, according to Bill Hevlin of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), who has chaired the team from the beginning. The SCT originally focused on implementing the 1995 BiOp, but has since assumed a stronger and more collaborative presence, including a role in recommending how to expend funds under the region's Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on fish and wildlife funding, he explained.

In the early days of SCT, there were 30 items on the annual work plan and now there are about 100, Hevlin continued. Congress doesn't appropriate enough money for all of them, so we have to be prepared to prioritize, he said. Hevlin described how the SCT goes about its work, spending about six months of the year on setting priorities in what is currently an $81 million program. Our process is collaborative and involves the states, tribes, and federal agencies, he said. The team ranks projects on a point system based on already-established criteria, Hevlin explained. He noted that 75 percent of the funds in the SCT recommendations are dedicated to projects to enhance juvenile passage at dams.

Mike Field asked about surface bypass collectors, and Hevlin said major work on surface collection is going on at Lower Granite Dam. I've heard we could save $240 million annually in flows if we had surface collectors at all dams, Field said. The possibility exists you could spill less water and pass just as many fish, but I don't know about $240 million, Hevlin responded. Is there enough attention paid to monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in your process? Etchart asked. Do you select projects based on M&E and discard projects that are not working? he inquired. It takes a lot of research to get definitive answers about how well measures are doing, Hevlin replied. Management focus ought to be trained on M&E to detect if projects are giving benefits, Etchart responded. We have made great leaps with research and M&E in the last couple of years, Hevlin said. "The data from 2000 is incredible," and we're learning a great deal from it about individual juvenile behavior, he added.

John Kranda, Corps of Engineers, said because of the rules that govern Congressional funding, the region will get only about $68 million of the $81 million appropriated for 2001. We do have to prioritize, and we have had to defer some projects, he reported. The SCT process is not perfect; there are occasions when the Corps says it must do a project that is at the bottom of the SCT priority list, Kranda acknowledged. He provided the Council a list of the proposed 2001 projects with their SCT ranking.

M&E has been part of the process since the 1995 BiOp, and we are learning from it, Kranda continued. It will give direction to where funds are allocated in the future, he said. The research is coming together, and "tough decisions will have to be made about what to fund," Kranda stated. In the out years, we see needs of over $140 million annually, but Congress is unlikely to provide that level of funding, and we will have to make decisions about which projects to carry forward, he said.

Cassidy asked about the low priority SCT gave to tern predation studies in the estuary. Kranda said the Corp proposed estuary and avian predation studies in its 2001 budget. But these projects are ranked at the bottom by the SCT because some people want to focus only on the dams, Kranda said. Cassidy asked about the lack of emphasis in the SCT budget on adult passage. In focusing on the dams, adult passage was seen as less of a problem than juvenile passage, Kranda responded. A lot of the work that is needed relative to adults is basic research about where passage problems are occurring; once that is determined, the next step would be to test measures that might address the problems, he added. Radio telemetry technology is providing new information and opening avenues of research on adult passage, Hevlin pointed out. From the SCT standpoint, many adult measures are at the top of the list, Kranda concluded.

3. Update on Development of New Power Plan
Dick Watson, Director, Power Division

Dick Watson briefed the Council on what is in store over the next year and a-half on development of a new power plan. The Northwest Power Act calls for a new plan every five years, he explained. We put out a draft in 1996, but when the region's Comprehensive Energy Review got under way, the draft was put on hold, Watson indicated. We made amendments to the draft, based on the outcome of the Comprehensive Energy Review, and the plan was adopted in July 1998, he said.

The technical work in the current plan was done in 1996, and much of the information is becoming dated due to a number of circumstances, Watson continued. Technology is moving along, and the power markets have changed dramatically since then - "in ways we don't fully understand," he stated. Preparing a new plan will give us a chance to look at how the markets are developing with regard to reliability and price volatility, Watson added. He said work on a new plan could also tie in with the Council's consideration of fish and wildlife measures on the main stem of the Columbia and would be an opportunity to consider the long-term risks of relying too heavily on gas-fired generation in the future.

Staff took a look at what is "used and useful" in the current plan and concluded that most of the inquiries we get are for basic information on resources, costs, fuel and electricity price forecasts, and demand forecasts, Watson said. This type of information is in high demand, and "we need to freshen it up," he added. People see value in the plan "as a yardstick against which reality can be compared" in areas such as achieving conservation targets, Watson said. It can stimulate thinking about the barriers to achieving those goals, along with possible remedies, he stated.

As for ways to make the power plan more useful, Watson said "greater timeliness" to keep pace with change is a major consideration. To put out an entire plan every five years is not effective in keeping the plan timely, he indicated. Watson proposed going to a "rolling plan" or "loose-leaf binder plan," made up of blocks of content that are developed and completed separate from one another. As blocks are finished, the Council would adopt and make them available, he explained. Watson laid out the staff's preliminary view of the major blocks in the plan, including efficiency resource characteristics, fuel supply, generating resource assessment, and demand management. The last element is new and focuses on the ability of end users to shift their use during times of tight supply, he said.

Watson noted that the Council's Power Committee discussed co-sponsoring a workshop with the Bonneville Power Administration on demand management. It would help get information out and also give us a sense of what's available in that area, he said.

We are thinking of using the Aurora model to develop the price forecasts, Watson went on, adding that getting an accurate demand forecast, from which the conservation potential is determined, is problematic. The data is not available to run the same models we used in our last plan, he said. In the past, the region has spent millions of dollars to gather information about end uses, but I don't think the utilities will want to spend that kind of money now, so we will have to find ways to come up with the data, Watson stated. The staff is proposing to get at a reliability analysis via scenario studies, he reported. We would pose "what ifs" about how a resource mix would perform under various conditions, Watson explained.

He laid out a three-phase schedule that would extend into spring 2002. During this time, modules of the plan's content would be "adopted and endorsed as the Council's official view," Watson said. He listed a number of issues likely to surface as the plan is developed, including the value of and barriers to resource diversity, efficiency and demand management, and distributed generation; system reliability; and managing volatility in the market.

Is it too simplistic to view the current resource shortage as simple supply and demand? "Isn't it all explainable with Econ 101?" Chairman Larry Cassidy asked. That's the conclusion we came to, Watson responded. There was an impending scarcity, which was made worse by the California market, he said.

Watson explained that staff would convene advisory panels to develop the studies for the power plan, keeping the Power Committee apprised as the work proceeds. We would bring the public in to comment on elements of the plan as we move along, he added.

Todd Maddock observed that the Council has an important role to play as "an honest broker" of information in the region and in offering a view of how the hydro system could be managed in the future to deal with reliability and volatility issues. Rolling out the power plan in stages is an important aspect of the staff proposal, he said. There is great value to the region in the Council's work on adequacy and reliability, Karier said, and we have played a major role in educating the region on such issues as the effect of the market system on reserves. We are also looked to as a source of information on measuring the region's conservation and energy efficiency potential, he stated. The Council is in a position to objectively monitor the hydro impact of fish operations, Karier added. New models that measure the impact of fish operations on the power system are much better than in the past, Watson agreed.

4. Presentation on Power System Plan for Winter Readiness and Reliability
Dick Watson; John Fazio, Power System Analyst

Watson gave an overview of the Winter 2000-01 Energy Emergency Plan, the product of a joint effort to address the region's readiness to respond to a power emergency brought on by extreme cold weather. He thanked Shauna McReynolds of PNUCC, who chaired meetings and "drafted and re-drafted" the plan. The goal of the plan is to avoid a crisis, Watson explained, and it sets up a system to provide early warning that the region might be coming up on an emergency, improve coordination among power providers, and deliver clear and consistent information to policy makers and the public. The plan aims to promote actions in advance of a potential problem to try to alleviate the need for a National Energy Reliability Council (NERC) declaration of a level 1, 2, or 3 emergency, he indicated.

Our study last winter showed an increasing possibility that the region could not meet load in a severe winter weather event, Watson continued. BPA and the Northwest Power Pool have come to the same conclusion, and the implication is there is significant

probability for concern, he said. The Energy Emergency Task Force was convened in September to begin planning for what the region should do to be prepared for a winter emergency, according to Watson. He pointed out that restructuring in the industry and new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) standards of conduct related to competition have posed barriers to addressing a winter emergency in the same way it was done in the past.

The emergency plan kicks in if the region anticipates a problem, Watson explained. A number of factors in the region's ongoing planning and forecasting activities could forewarn of trouble, including weather forecasts and water conditions, he said. If the region anticipates a problem, the initial step in the plan is to call on the Northwest Power Pool to analyze the data to confirm the situation and convene the Emergency Response Team (ERT), Watson explained. The ERT will advise the Pacific Northwest's security coordinator if it determines a Regional Energy Emergency Warning (REEW) should be posted, he said. The warning triggers actions to avert the problem and mobilizes a communications effort, Watson continued. Actions could include moving water in the hydro system to prepare for additional generation, postponing scheduled maintenance outages, curtailing discretionary exports, and arranging imports, he said.

In describing how the procedures would work, Watson noted that day-ahead data on peak load and resource forecasts is collected by the security coordinator and must, due to competitive concerns, be treated confidentially. The Power Pool analyzes and verifies the data before convening the ERT, which again evaluates and fine-tunes the forecast, he said. We want to avoid the "crying wolf syndrome," Watson stated.

The ERT has members from control area entities, merchant functions, generating entities, and government, and it includes the security coordinators from the Pacific Northwest and the California Independent System Operator (ISO), he said. The ERT meets by conference call, Watson added. Restructuring complicates the way the ERT conducts its business, he explained. We have to have a two-tiered system in which the first meeting excludes representatives of the generating and merchant entities, so that transmission information can be posted on FERC's OASIS web site first; the second meeting involves the entire ERT, he said. Once a warning is issued, the ERT will continue to meet regularly until the warning terminates, Watson stated.

Phil Mesa of BPA explained how the system of warnings is structured. There are three levels to indicate the severity, which is similar to the California ISO's system, he said. The warnings are used so that "extraordinary action" can be taken, such as giving generating entities in the region the directive to operate outside normal bounds, Mesa continued. This is important for fish and wildlife considerations in the Northwest, he added. The plan provides objective criteria for the region's generating entities and a common denominator for triggering state and local emergency actions, Mesa said. He explained differences between an REEW and a NERC alert, noting that under an REEW, action is voluntary, but under a NERC alert, it is mandatory. The objective of a regional warning is to avoid the necessity of a NERC alert - "it is to flag that FERC standards of conduct may be suspended," Mesa said. The ERT will propose actions tailored to each emergency, and entities can offer up actions to prevent increases in the severity of the situation, he went on.

Mesa described the triggers and responses to each level of warning: an REEW of a NERC Alert 1 is triggered if the region forecasts cannot meet generating reserve levels. Entities would be asked to take all economic and discretionary actions, including curtailing non-firm energy sales. If forecasts show the region cannot meet firm load without extraordinary actions, an REEW at Level 2 would be posted. Entities could be asked to reduce demand and deviate from normal generating operations. Level 3 is declared when forecasts show the region cannot meet firm loads with extraordinary actions. According to Mesa, the emergency response would depend on the size of the forecast deficit, but could include running resources to maximum capability and calling for mandatory load reductions.

What is the ability of the federal hydro system to meet emergencies? Stan Grace asked. We work closely with the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation on that, Mesa said. In general, the status of the units is good, he added. In a recent winter-readiness presentation at PNUCC, we pointed out that severe cold snaps in February are the worst case since the reservoirs aren't as full at that point in the year, Mesa said. In that instance, there's a 98 percent probability of a shortfall, and restrictions on loads would likely be necessary, he indicated. The read on our current situation is that things are as they should be with the system, but it has been dry and there could be trouble, McReynolds added.

The REEWs call for voluntary actions, right? Karier asked. If, for example, a utility is making a profitable sale to California at the time, it would not have to curtail it, he observed. That's correct, but each utility has an obligation to operate prudently, Mesa responded. Is there a mechanism to resolve competing demands between the Northwest and California? Karier asked. "Price," Watson responded. If California is calling for conservation and we have a problem, I don't know what we could do to entice the generation up here, Mesa acknowledged. I see reliability in terms of a three-legged triangle, with transmission, generation, and load management, he said. We've done what we can with transmission and generation, and we need to do more with load management, Mesa explained.

Can BPA curtail out-of-region sales? Karier asked. BPA can curtail spot market sales, but contract sales usually require 90 days or up to five years notice, Mesa replied. But BPA might be able to buy power in California to meet contract obligations in California, Watson pointed out.

Mesa said the emergency setup includes a communications team, which provides the media with specific contact people, so "we can get out a clear and consistent message." The team is putting out a news release this week, he added. The communications to the public are a huge piece of this, McReynolds stated. This plan calls for taking actions across the region, and the communications team, headed by Dulcy Mahar of BPA, will be working for the region to put out a regional message, she said. McReynolds noted that educating the public about the possibility of an emergency is also part of the communications effort.

Don Sampson, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC), asked about the situation that occurred last summer during an emergency in California, when flows in the Northwest were reduced so power could be generated for export. BPA reportedly made a lot of money in the transaction, he said. If salmon are harmed as a result of the reduced flows and BPA has made a lot of money, how do you account for that? Sampson asked. We will expect reciprocity from California if we get into trouble, Watson responded. We took steps to help them last summer, and we expect they will reciprocate, he added. BPA also has to buy expensive power in bad situations - "the money is going both ways," Cassidy said. Whatever gain BPA made "was not a net gain in their pocket," he added.

This emergency plan is a work in progress, and we will learn a lot next week, when unusually cold weather is predicted, Mesa said. We are learning as we go along, he concluded.

5. Briefing on Bonneville Power Administration Plans for Resource Acquisition
Dick Watson; Steve Oliver, Bonneville Power Administration; Jeff King, Senior Resource Analyst; and Terry Morlan, Manager, Economic Analysis; and Bill Hannaford, Senior Counsel

Watson introduced Steve Oliver and John Pyrch of BPA, saying it is time to start a dialogue on BPA's plans for resource augmentation in the 2002 to 2011 period. The success of BPA's subscription effort means the agency will need to acquire more resources than anticipated in the rate case, he explained. There are a variety of ways BPA can meet its resource needs - purchases, conservation, or new plants - but the acquisitions must be consistent with the Northwest Power Act, Watson said. The details of BPA's negotiations with potential suppliers are confidential, he noted, and the Council and BPA are setting up a confidentiality agreement under which BPA would release details to Council staff.

Oliver, BPA's vice president of bulk power marketing and transmission, acknowledged there is a delicate line between sharing information with the Council to get input and dialogue going, and releasing details on various deals BPA is negotiating. Under critical water conditions, BPA will need to acquire 3,000 aMW to serve its 2002 to 2006 load, he reported. So far, we've acquired about 1,000 aMW, Oliver said.

In the rate case, we forecast we would need 1,400 to 1,700 aMW, he continued. We went to the market and found we could buy that amount at fixed prices, Oliver said. But in purchasing the larger amount forecast, we've looked at other options, including purchases for less than five years, prospects for buying out longer-term purchases, and using hedging tools, such as calls and puts, he explained. Oliver said he wanted to be clear that BPA's resource augmentation purchases wouldn't address reliability concerns in the Northwest. Without additional resources being built in the Western Systems Coordinating Council area, we can't solve the reliability problems, he stated.

Oliver went through a list of principles BPA is using to guide resource augmentation. We want to meet the future firm federal load at the lowest cost, he said. What that cost is likely to be depends on your view of a number of assumptions, Oliver indicated. According to the next principle, BPA plans to make forward purchases in the market to avoid the risk of rising prices and market volatility, he said, noting that the price "walking in" to a five-year bilateral contract can be high and is "a changing equation."

Another principle calls for leaving some portion of the augmentation to spot purchases, Oliver continued. He said BPA foresees gas and electricity prices being high over the next two years, but coming down after that. We think solutions will be forthcoming and prices will be lower in five years, which speaks to leaving some portion of the purchases to a later date, Oliver stated.

We also have a principle to maximize conservation, which we believe is consistent with the Council's power plan, he continued. We are counting on 100 aMW each of conservation and renewables over the next five years, Oliver said. Other principles call for meeting the hydro operations set out in the ESA biological opinions (BiOps), and assembling a diversified portfolio, he said. We are talking with developers of new resources and exploring various terms for securing fixed-price or indexed-price products, he explained.

BPA is focusing on purchases five years in duration or less, Oliver said of the next principle. He indicated that BPA's public power load is about 6,700 aMW. The PF contracts are 10 years long, but after 2006, we should be able to cover them with existing resources, Oliver said. He noted this leaves open the discussion of "where we go post-2006" with the allocation of federal benefits. If we find resources that are more advantageous as long-term acquisitions, we are interested in bringing them to the region as 6(c) resources, Oliver went on. Our thinking is to focus on the first five years, but that doesn't preclude longer-term purchases, he stated. A final principle states that BPA will contract only with parties of high creditworthiness, Oliver said.

I'm concerned about your focus on five-year contracts, Karier said. You are not creating a diverse portfolio, and you're putting a lot of weight on the first five years, he pointed out. Oliver acknowledged that much depends on the future allocation of benefits to the IOUs and DSIs. The federal system now looks like it will cover the preference load after 2006, he stated. We recognize the region is interested in the broader allocation of benefits, and we appreciate that, Oliver said. If there was a consensus about subscription, the situation would be more clear-cut, he added.

BPA may need to forecast the policy side of things, Karier responded. You've forecast no additional demand beyond the preference load, he said. We are in a volatile market and making long-term agreements is risky; we are concerned about saddling the region with stranded investment, Oliver responded.

Pyrch, acting vice president for energy efficiency, said BPA plans to meet or exceed the 166 MW of conservation the Council staff targeted for BPA during the 2002 to 2006 period. We realize that number is "a placeholder," and as you revise the plan, the number could go up, he acknowledged. BPA is committed to several conservation activities over the upcoming rate period, including a $60 million market transformation program; a $200 million conservation/renewables discount program; and $15 million in low-income weatherization funds, Pyrch reported. We also have $15 million per year budgeted for a renewable resource subsidy, he reported.

Another step BPA is taking toward conservation is the ConAug program, Pyrch continued. We have put out an RFP asking people to bring ideas to us for conservation, either "off-the-shelf" prescriptive measures or something custom designed, he explained. The window for ConAug closes on March 31, but we'll adjust that if we need to, Pyrch said. We are aiming for 100 aMW in ConAug, "but we will take all we can get - the door is wide open," he stated. We are also willing to consider conservation proposals that extend 10 years, something we have not offered before, Pyrch said.

What is the response to conservation in view of the high market prices right now? Etchart asked. There is a lot of talk, but we haven't seen a big response yet, Pyrch responded. We expect to, he added.

Pyrch described the renewable resources BPA has purchased, including 34 MW of wind power and 49 MW of geothermal. In addition, the agency is considering several other renewables projects. We have an aggressive program to capture conservation and renewables, Pyrch stated. By 2010, we plan to add 400 MW of renewables and 400 MW of conservation to our portfolio, he concluded.

Not everyone is as sanguine about BPA meeting its conservation goals, Bloch pointed out. How will we know if we're on the road to success? he asked. We believe we need to monitor our progress, and we will be reviewing ConAug at the end of March, Pyrch replied. The discount program requires an annual report, he added. Over the last few years, we have not had a comprehensive and cohesive plan for conservation and renewables, and we need to get better, Pyrch acknowledged. Have you gotten ConAug bids? Karier asked. Not yet, but there is a lot of talk about it, Pyrch answered.

Our initial look was that BPA should be responsible for 166 MW of conservation out of a 1,500 MW potential in the region, Watson pointed out. The next power plan is likely to identify new opportunities and the number will go up; I'm glad BPA is viewing our plan as a guide, he said. Council staff will meet with generating public utilities to talk about conservation potential and their concerns about the region's programs, Watson indicated.

6. Presentation by the Environmental Protection Agency on Incorporating Clean Water Act Requirements in Subbasin Planning
Mary Lou Soscia, Columbia River Coordinator, Environmental Protection Agency

Mary Lou Soscia, the Columbia River coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), told the Council cleaning up water in the Columbia River Basin would integrate well with subbasin planning efforts under the fish and wildlife program. There is a strong correlation between the ESA listings and streams that do not meet Clean Water Act (CWA) standards, she pointed out.

Under the CWA, states are required to identify waters that do not meet state water quality standards, including temperature, sediment, and chemical pollutants, Soscia said. The state then must develop a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for each pollutant identified in each impaired water body, Soscia explained. The TMDL is the amount of the pollutant a water body can contain and still be healthy, she clarified. The push to develop TMDLs for all listed waters is "a gigantic national program" and "there is a big push around the country," according to Soscia.

She went on to explain what is involved in preparing a TMDL, including the calculation of how much a pollutant must be reduced and allocation of the reduction to the polluters.

Implementation of the TMDLs can be achieved through state regulations, local programs, and voluntary actions, Soscia said. In the Columbia River Basin, there are thousands of streams that need attention, and TMDLs need to be developed for about 800 streams in each of three states (Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) over the next 15 years, she said.

There are a lot of parallels between the CWA work and what the Council is doing with subbasin plans, Soscia continued. Water quality is an important measure of watershed and ecosystem health, and it is important to fish and wildlife recovery, she explained. There are many opportunities to combine work in the subbasins, Soscia said, adding that integrating the ESA, CWA, and other mitigation activities could provide "one-stop-shopping" for local watershed groups that will be involved in all of the efforts. State, EPA, and tribal funds are being spent to develop and implement

TMDLs, and we need to be sure we are being efficient, she added. "It is good public policy" to integrate activities where possible, Soscia said. She outlined specific areas for integrating work, including pulling together the TMDL and subbasin processes to develop an overall ecosystem restoration strategy. Soscia also suggested adopting relevant water quality standards as the performance standards for Council-approved projects. EPA can serve as a partner with the Council in fish and wildlife restoration by convening watershed advisory groups, facilitating technology transfers, coordinating federal funding, and assuring that state and federal agencies interact and avoid imposing "overlapping regulatory burdens," she said.

There are 1,382 streams identified in Washington that need TMDLs, Cassidy pointed out. What if they don't get done? Do you move in? he asked. We are working closely with the states, and we don't want that to happen, Soscia responded. We want the agencies to be totally together on their plans, she added. Soscia said an EPA team is working with the states to develop TMDLs for the main stem of the Columbia, where nitrogen supersaturation has been a problem. Karier asked if EPA has flexibility with regard to combining certain activities with other entities and whether EPA has resources to bring to the table. The opportunities for consolidating are there, but we will need to figure it out, Soscia replied. She said EPA has already committed major resources toward the CWA work in each state. 

7. Council Decision on Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority (CBFWA) recommendations for fish and wildlife project funding in Fiscal Year 2001 
Bob Lohn, Director, Fish and Wildlife Division; Doug marker, Senior Policy Coordinator

Bob Lohn presented six fish and wildlife projects, which he said CBFWA requested be funded with reallocated 2001 funds. The fish and wildlife Committee recommends BPA fund five of the six, he said. The no-fund recommendation relates to a $2,500 watershed restoration project in which steelhead would be raised at a high school in Idaho, Lohn explained. The committee endorsed the project, but said the funding should come from some other source, he said.

Decision - Funding Bloch moved to recommend BPA reallocate funds to cover the five projects; Etchart seconded. The Council voted unanimously to approve.

Lohn also outlined a request to add $395,000 to already approved funds for a wildlife mitigation project at Eagle Lake near Grand Coulee Dam. If the money is reallocated, the total for acquiring a parcel of land at the lake would be $1.95 million, he said. The deal is structured so the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) would have full ownership of part of the parcel, and the rest would be a conservation easement, Lohn continued.

Decision - Reallocate Funds Bloch moved to recommend BPA reallocate the funds; Grace seconded. The Council voted unanimously to approve.

For FY 2001, the Council funded projects at a status-quo level to accommodate changes in the fish and wildlife program and the new rolling-review cycle, Lohn explained. In addition, a number of projects were held for future funding, he said. Over 30 of the projects approved with no increase in funding are before us now with a request to reinstate FY 2001-level budgets, Lohn continued.

Decision - Funding Bloch moved to recommend BPA reinstate the 2001-level funding for all but five of the projects, which, he noted, are marked on the list with an asterisk; John Brogoitti seconded. The Council voted unanimously to approve.

Decision - Funding Lohn said the fish and wildlife Committee also recommended using $15,000 from existing Methow Valley irrigation project funds to hire a facilitator. The Council approved the idea.

This situation has been going on for 10 years, and I challenge the Council to get on board and work things out in the Methow, Brogoitti said. This is an extremely good project and needs to be done - it's vital to the area, he added.

8. Presentation by CBFWA of Subbasin Summaries and Recommendation on Projects for the Columbia Gorge and Inter-Mountain Provinces 
Dr. Brian Allee, Executive Director, Columbia Basin Fish & Wildlife Authority

Tom Iverson from Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Authority presented the Council with subbasin summaries and project recommendations for the Columbia Gorge and Inter-Mountain provinces, the first two provinces completed under the new system of rolling reviews for fish and wildlife funding. There are 13 provinces in all, he noted.

According to CBFWA executive director Brian Allee, the summaries, which identify and address needs in the subbasins, were prepared in a collaborative way with other fish and wildlife interests in the region. The recommendations are consistent with NMFS and USFWS BiOps, but do not cover all of the needs, he said.

According to Iverson, CBFWA spent about nine months preparing the subbasin summaries and recommendations. BPA put out a request for proposals for the two provinces and received 30 submittals from the Inter-Mountain province and 32 from the Columbia Gorge, which CBFWA subsequently reviewed and shaped into a work plan, he said. The Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP) has also reviewed and reported on the projects, Iverson stated. He explained CBFWA's two-level review process and said the recommended subbasin projects have the support of all CBFWA members.

Review of the project proposals from the Columbia Gorge province began in April, according to Iverson. He gave an overview of each of six subbasins in the province, which included the major geographic features, land ownership, economic activities, fish and wildlife species present, limiting factors in terms of species recovery, and the existing fish and wildlife management plans. The total budget for the projects recommended for the province is $14 million for FY 2001; $15 million for 2002; and $15.1 million in 2003, he said.

At some point the Council will have to make funding recommendation on these projects, and it would be helpful to know which are designed to benefit ESA-listed species, Karier pointed out. Could you ask NMFS to identify which of these would benefit ESA? he asked. Karier suggested the Council write a letter to NMFS making that request, and staff agreed to do so.

Bloch asked how CBFWA came up with its goals and objectives in evaluating projects. Iverson said CBFWA used goals and objectives in the existing management plans for the subbasins. One intent of the summaries is to document those existing goals and objectives, he added.

The Inter-Mountain province is very different from the Gorge, Iverson continued. In the 1930s, this province had "a thriving salmon ecosystem," but the construction of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams changed that, he said. Almost all of the mitigation for the dams occurred far downstream of the province, Iverson explained. It was not until the 1980s that actions to mitigate locally were taken, and those actions gave birth to the resident fish program, he said. Hatchery programs in the province are aimed at resident fish populations, such as rainbow trout and kokanee, according to Iverson. The project recommendations for the province total $9.5 million in 2001; $12.1 million in 2002; and $11.9 million in 2003, he reported. I thought the subbasin assessments seemed very project driven, Cassidy observed. I had hoped to see some new projects proposed, he added.

Allee summarized the "lessons learned" from the first provincial and subbasin reviews. We needed a context for the projects, and the subbasin plans do that, he said. The information and technology exchange that occurs in this review process "is wonderful to behold," Allee stated. Creating a more inclusive process is an important consideration, and while it requires a lot of coordination and may take more time, it will create more buy-in in the subbasins, he said. "Stretching for regional collaboration is key to success," Allee concluded.

9. Presentation by Independent Scientific Review Panel on Project Recommendations for the Columbia Gorge and Inter-Mountain Provinces 
Dr. Rick Williams, Chair, ISRP

Dr. Rick Williams, chairman of the ISRP, said his panel was criticized in the past because we were not "on the ground," and our recommendations were viewed as coming from "the Ivory Tower." This time we spent several days on the road in the provinces, and the first-hand look was very helpful, he indicated. Williams said the ISRP reviewed two provinces and 62 project proposals. The ISRP's charge is to review each project on the following criteria, he said: Is it based on sound scientific principles? Does it benefit fish and wildlife? Does it have a clearly defined objective and outcome? And does it provide for monitoring and evaluation?

Williams recapped the ISRP's history, noting that the 1996 amendment to the Northwest Power Act formalized the process of peer review for fish and wildlife projects. The ISRP raised programmatic issues in 1998, he said, including the need for an integrated ecological framework; increased coordination for habitat restoration; a comprehensive review of artificial production; and an inventory of native resident fish populations. In our 1999 review, we judged many artificial production projects to be inadequate; found that habitat projects were not generally guided by a watershed assessment; expressed the need for multiyear funding; and pointed out the need for innovative proposals, Williams said.

The subbasin summaries and plans were very helpful in the 2001 project review process, but they need improvement, he reported. Projects need to be more effectively connected to the summaries, and the subbasin plans should be the leading document to establish goals and objectives to which the projects respond, Williams said. He said "the most egregious omission" in the process is the lack of planning at the province level. Everyone is now putting together subbasin plans without looking at things at the province level, according to Williams.

The greatest need is to develop province-level planning, he continued. Issues like stock assessment, supplementation, harvest management, and habitat restoration are province-wide issues, Williams explained. He suggested that province-level planning incorporate demonstration sites for such things as supplementation and watershed restoration, and laid out "a logic path" for province or subbasin plans to follow.

The ISRP has been very concerned about M&E, Williams said, and if they are to be accepted, project proposals must include it. We found that ongoing projects lacked summaries of monitoring data, he reported. The ISRP is not recommending major research-level data for all projects, but something appropriate to the scale of the project, Williams continued. Sponsors of related projects should work together to collectively design M&E activities, he recommended.

Williams said an ongoing problem is that sponsors don't report on past accomplishments. It is puzzling why we see so little of this, he said. As reviewers, we think continued funding ought to depend on reporting past successes and progress, Williams added. This is a chronic complaint, Etchart observed. The ISRP or the Council should demand such information or decline to fund projects, he said. If you continue to demur and recommend funding even if the information is lacking, you won't get it, Etchart stated. "It seems to me that somebody has to break the chain," he added. I agree with the thrust of John's comments, Bloch said. In the criteria we put out, we should do a better job of making it clear we want that information, he suggested.

Williams explained that the ISRP ranked projects as fundable, conditional fundable, or do not fund. The ISRP and CBFWA disagreed on some funding recommendations in the two provinces, he reported, detailing the areas of disagreement.

This was a great presentation, and it raised a lot of issues, Bloch stated. He said the Council should make sure projects "are aggregating into a coherent whole for each province" and that the plans "are not after-the-fact ratifications for existing projects." Marker said the Council is taking public comment on the reviews until January 12. The fish and wildlife Committee will then make funding recommendations on projects, which will come before the Council at its January meeting, he said.

10. Review by the Independent Scientific Advisory Board on the Role of the Columbia River Estuary 
Dr. Brian Riddell, ISAB

The Columbia River Estuary is as dynamic as any estuary on the West Coast, according to Dr. Brian Riddell of the Independent Science Advisory Board (ISAB). You have a relatively unmodified estuary and the opportunity to explore ways it can contribute to salmon recovery, he told the Council. Riddell, who reported on the ISAB's study of the estuary, explained that the estuary is a very large area, about 450 square kilometers, controlled by complex physical forces. The ISAB study covers the area from Puget Island west to the Pacific Ocean, a distance of 46.5 river miles, he said.

The estuary is made up of several types of habitats, including deep water, medium-depth water, tidal flats, marshes, and swamps, Riddell said. The ISAB looked at the changes that have occurred in these habitats over time, and concluded that about 25 percent of the total estuary habitat has been lost, he stated. Riddell described the changes in the flow patterns that have occurred since Grand Coulee Dam was built and substantial storage added to the hydro system decades later. There is a completely different flow profile from what existed historically, and that has changed the energy balance between tides and river flow, he pointed out. As an example of the magnitude of change, Riddell said winter flows have increased about 40 percent compared to what they were prior to 1968, when there was less storage in the system.

Today's hydro system operations also no longer allow for peak flow events, which create estuary habitat, he continued. There is a very different type of sediment available to the estuary, as well, and overall, the supply of sediment has gone down, Riddell explained. Diking has also led to changes in the estuary, he pointed out. You've lost 80 percent of the peripheral margins of the estuary to diking and reduced the volume of water that is flushed on a daily basis, Riddell said. There is reduced flow and flushing to side channels and peripheral bays, reduced saltwater intrusion and salinity, and increased water stratification and mixing, he reported. You can't talk about a single element - tides, flows, and habitat changes - this all works together, Riddell added.

The introduction of exotic species is another factor in estuary change, he went on. We know very little about these exotics, but almost always, they cause damage to native species, according to Riddell. For example, American Shad compete with chinook salmon, and they are now abundant in the estuary, he said. Some salmon species, including fall chinook, use the estuaries for rearing, Riddell noted. NMFS will soon release information on the level of pollutants in the estuary, including PCBs and diazinon, he said, adding that there is an accumulating literature on the behavioral effects of sub-lethal amounts of pollution.

Hatchery production has increased significantly in recent times and now rivals the numbers of smolts that were put out historically from wild stocks, Riddell said. A lot more smolts are going out at a time when the estuary marshes have been reduced by 80 percent, he reported. Riddell summarized the ISAB report with three points: there is no question there is change in the estuary; the hydro system has had an effect; and not enough has been invested in estuary research. The ISAB concluded that the impact of this change has been detrimental to salmonids and the rebuilding objectives of the fish and wildlife program, Riddell stated. As for recommendations, "you can go in and tinker, but it is complex," he said. The ISAB recommends an aggressive experimental program targeted to studying known changes in the estuary, Riddell concluded. Environmental monitoring is an important element, along with conducting manipulations of the estuary and habitat that could be assessed in the natural environment, he said. An action such as moving or removing dikes could re-create a connection between the estuary and river and tidal areas, Riddell concluded.

11. Council Business

Approved ____________________, 2001.

 

 

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Vice-Chairman

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