Council approves $19M in nonrecurring maintenance needs for FY2025-2027

At its Jan. 14 meeting, the Council voted to recommend that Bonneville fund $19M in requests for nonrecurring maintenance of fish screens in FY2025-FY2027. The $19M will come from Bonneville’s FY2023 Reserve Distribution Clause (RDC). Project Review and Implementation Manager Mark Fritsch presented the requests to Council along with Bonneville representatives Jason Sweet, Executive Manager of the Fish and Wildlife Division, and Fish and Wildlife Administrators Eric Leitzinger and Andy Traylor (video and slides).

Fish screens are a crucial part of the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program’s off-site mitigation. Screens help prevent fish from being stranded in irrigation ditches, channels, or canals when water is diverted or pumped from rivers and streams. There are about 1,200 fish screens from 18 projects across the region, and five screen fabrication shops that build screens for the Program. This funding recommendation includes fish screen materials and equipment for: Idaho Fish and Game; Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks; and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla. 

Ensuring that program assets are kept in good working shape was one of the top emerging priorities in the 2014 Fish and Wildlife Program. Since then, extensive collaboration has occurred between Bonneville, Council staff, fish and wildlife managers, and various committees to evaluate and prioritize needs for hatchery equipment and fish screens. In 2018, the Council developed and approved the Asset Management Strategic Plan to address non-recurring maintenance issues, including mitigation lands, hatcheries, and screens. In 2023, the Council approved funding for non-recurring maintenance for hatcheries and fish screens that is still being implemented. An update on the screens and hatcheries is expected in June 2025. 

Jason Sweet noted his appreciation for the groundwork that the Council and BPA have done in collaboration with fish and wildlife managers in order to be prepared to deploy funds quickly when available to address priority needs. Sweet said, “Between the Council and Bonneville, we’ve dedicated a lot of effort to lay out the needs of the programs on both the hatcheries and the screens. We had a 5-10 year body of work laid out in front of us. These funds that we [talked] about today, the reserve distribution clause funds, allow us to get after that list in a more timely manner. We can get ahead of things. And it won’t take us the ten years we anticipated.”

Council Chair Jeff Allen agreed, saying, “I was here when this was designated the number one priority in the Fish and Wildlife Program. And that’s not an easy thing for the Council to say. You have lots of people clamoring for resources, and we didn’t arrive at that decision lightly when we did. But in hindsight I’m really glad we did, because I don’t believe that, had we not done that, that when you guys had a rate distribution clause or others that we could have moved at this pace and responded this quickly.”