May 2009 Issue

See all the presentations from the May 12-13 Council meeting.

Council Moves Chief Joseph Hatchery Program Forward

Council members recommended that the hatchery project proceed to the final phase of its design and construction. The project's goal is to increase the abundance, distribution, and diversity of naturally spawning summer/fall Chinook salmon in the Okanogan and Columbia rivers above Wells Dam. The project is sponsored by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.

Also approved were within-year funding requests (100k PDF) for the Bitterroot Watershed Subbasin Plan, the Yakima Phase II Fish Screens Operation and Maintenance project, the Dworshak Dam Resident Fish Mitigation project, the Willamette Basin Mitigation project, and the Habitat Evaluation project.

Development of the Sixth Power Plan

Council members reviewed several key areas of the draft Sixth Power Plan, including the approach and preliminary findings of the plan, achieving energy-efficiency improvements, potential generating resources, enhancing system flexibility, meeting carbon reduction goals, and the resource portfolio analysis. The draft plan is scheduled to be released in July. See presentations.