Contact
About

Integrating energy and the environment in the Columbia River Basin

About the Council
Mission and Strategy Members and Staff Bylaws Policies Careers / RFPs
News

See what the Council is up to.

Read the Latest News
Read All News Press Resources Newsletters International Columbia River

Explore News By Topic

Fish and Wildlife Planning Salmon and Steelhead Wildlife Energy Planning Energy Efficiency Demand Response
Fish and Wildlife

The Council works to protect and enhance fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin. Its Fish & Wildlife Program guides project funding by the Bonneville Power Administration.

Fish and Wildlife Overview

The Fish and Wildlife Program

2020 Addendum 2014/2020 Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program Subbasin Plans Project Reviews and Recommendations

Independent Review Groups

  • Independent Economic Analysis Board (IEAB)
  • Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB)
  • Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP)

Forums and Workgroups

  • Asset Management Subcommittee
  • Ocean and Plume Science and Management Forum
  • Regional Coordination
  • Science and Policy Exchange
  • Toxics Workgroup
  • Columbia Basin Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Workgroup
  • Informal Hatchery Workgroup
  • Strategy Performance Indicator Workgroup

Topics

  • Adaptive Management
  • Anadromous Fish Mitigation
  • Blocked Areas
  • High-level Indicators
  • Invasive and Non-Native Species
  • Lamprey
  • Predation: Sea lions, pike, birds
  • Protected Areas
  • Research Plan
  • Resident Fish
  • Resource Tools and Maps
  • Sockeye
  • Sturgeon
  • Hatchery Map
Energy

The Council develops a plan, updated every five years, to ensure the region’s power supply and acquire cost-effective energy efficiency.

Energy Overview

The Northwest Power Plan

The 2021 Northwest Power Plan 2021 Plan Supporting Materials Planning Process and Past Power Plans

Technical Tools and Models

  • Regional Portfolio Model
  • Generation Evaluation System Model (GENESYS)

Energy Advisory Committees

  • Regional Technical Forum
  • Conservation Resources Advisory Committee
  • Demand Forecast Advisory Committee
  • Demand Response Advisory Committee
  • Generating Resources Advisory Committee
  • Natural Gas Advisory Committee
  • Resource Adequacy Advisory Committee
  • System Analysis Advisory Committee
  • RTF Policy Advisory Committee
  • System Integration Forum
  • Resource Strategies Advisory Committee (Not Active)

Energy Topics

  • Energy Efficiency
  • Demand Response
  • Power Supply
  • Resource Adequacy
  • Energy Storage
  • Hydropower
  • Transmission

Energy Forums and Workgroups

  • Pacific NW Demand Response Project
  • Northwest Wind Integration Forum (Archive)
Meetings
See next F&W Committee Meeting and Council Meeting July 06 - 07, 2022 in Webinar › See all meetings ›

Recent and Upcoming Meetings

Swipe left or right
AUG 2021
TUE
31
9:00 am—2:45 pm
RTF Meeting
SEP 2021
MON
13
9:00 am—12:00 pm
Strategy Performance Indicator Workgroup
SEP 2021
TUE WED
14 - 15
Council Meeting
SEP 2021
TUE
21
10:00 am—11:00 am
Informal Hatchery Workgroup Meeting
SEP 2021
TUE WED
21 - 22
RTF Meeting
SEP 2021
MON
27
Power Plan Public Hearing Hosted by Montana
SEP 2021
WED
29
9:00 am—11:30 am
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Meeting
OCT 2021
THU
07
Power Plan Public Hearing Hosted by Washington
OCT 2021
TUE
12
Power Plan Public Hearing Hosted by Oregon
OCT 2021
TUE WED
12 - 13
Council Meeting
OCT 2021
THU
14
Power Plan Public Hearing Hosted by Idaho
OCT 2021
TUE
19
9:30 am—3:00 pm
RTF Meeting
NOV 2021
TUE
09
9:00 am—1:00 pm
RTF Meeting
NOV 2021
TUE WED
16 - 17
Council Meeting
NOV 2021
TUE
30
1:00 pm—3:00 pm
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Meeting
DEC 2021
TUE WED
07 - 08
RTF Meeting
DEC 2021
MON
13
9:00 am—11:00 am
Strategy Performance Indicator Workgroup
DEC 2021
TUE WED
14 - 15
Council Meeting
JAN 2022
TUE WED
11 - 12
Council Meeting
JAN 2022
WED
19
1:00 pm—5:00 pm
Ocean and Plume Science and Management Forum
JAN 2022
TUE
25
9:00 am—12:00 pm
RTF New Member Orientation: January 25, 2022
JAN 2022
WED
26
9:00 am—1:00 pm
RTF Meeting
JAN 2022
FRI
28
8:30 am—11:30 am
Power Committee Meeting
FEB 2022
MON
14
9:00 am—10:30 am
Informal Hatchery Workgroup Meeting
FEB 2022
TUE WED
15 - 16
Council Meeting
FEB 2022
WED
23
9:00 am—2:30 pm
RTF Meeting
MAR 2022
WED
02
9:30 am—3:00 pm
System Integration Forum: Scope of Work on Potential Lower Snake River Dam Analysis
MAR 2022
TUE
08
1:30 pm—2:30 pm
Public Affairs Committee Meeting
MAR 2022
MON TUE
14 - 15
Council Meeting
MAR 2022
FRI
18
9:00 am—11:00 am
Fish and Wildlife Committee Meeting
MAR 2022
TUE WED
22 - 23
RTF Meeting
MAR 2022
WED
30
9:30 am—12:00 pm
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Q1 Meeting
APR 2022
TUE WED
12 - 13
Council Meeting
APR 2022
TUE WED
19 - 20
RTF Meeting
MAY 2022
TUE WED
10 - 11
F&W and Power Committee Meetings
MAY 2022
WED
18
Council Meeting
MAY 2022
TUE
24
9:00 am—2:30 pm
RTF Meeting
JUN 2022
WED
08
1:00 pm—3:30 pm
System Analysis Advisory Committee
9:30 am—11:30 am
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Q2 Meeting
JUN 2022
TUE WED
14 - 15
Council Meeting
JUN 2022
WED
22
9:00 am—2:00 pm
RTF Meeting
JUL 2022
WED THU
06 - 07
F&W Committee Meeting and Council Meeting
JUL 2022
FRI
08
9:00 am—10:30 am
Resource Adequacy Adv Comm - Steering Committee
JUL 2022
TUE WED
12 - 13
Council Meeting
JUL 2022
TUE
19
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
JUL 2022
WED
27
9:30 am—3:30 pm
Resource Adequacy and System Analysis Committee Meeting
AUG 2022
TUE
09
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
AUG 2022
TUE WED
16 - 17
Council Meeting
SEP 2022
TUE WED
13 - 14
Council Meeting
SEP 2022
TUE WED
20 - 21
RTF Meeting
SEP 2022
WED
28
9:00 am—12:00 pm
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Q3 Meeting
OCT 2022
TUE WED
04 - 05
F&W and Power Committee Meetings
OCT 2022
TUE WED
11 - 12
Council Meeting
OCT 2022
TUE WED
18 - 19
RTF Meeting
NOV 2022
TUE
08
9:00 am—4:00 pm
RTF Meeting
NOV 2022
TUE WED
15 - 16
Council Meeting
NOV 2022
WED
30
9:00 am—12:00 pm
RTF Policy Advisory Committee Q4 Meeting
DEC 2022
TUE WED
06 - 07
RTF Meeting
DEC 2022
TUE WED
13 - 14
Council Meeting
View Council Meetings View All Meetings
Reports and Documents

Browse reports and documents relevant to the Council's work on fish and wildlife and energy planning, as well as administrative reports.

Browse Reports

REPORTS BY TOPIC

Power Plan Fish and Wildlife Program Subbasin Plans Financial Reports Independent Scientific Advisory Board Independent Scientific Review Panel Independent Economic Analysis Board

COLUMBIA RIVER HISTORY PROJECT

Protected Areas Amendments and Response to Comments

Council Document Number: 
88-22
Published date: 
Sept. 14, 1988
Document state: 
Published

Share

On August 10, 1988, the Northwest Power Planning Council adopted a proposal to designate some 44,000 miles of Northwest streams as "protected areas" because of their importance as critical fish and wildlife habitat.

The "protected areas" amendment is a major step in the Council's efforts to rebuild fish and wildlife populations that have been damaged by hydroelectric development. Low cost hydroelectric power has provided tremendous benefits to the Northwest, but those benefits have also imposed significant costs. The Northwest's fish and wildlife have suffered extensive losses; salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia River drainage, for example, are a fraction of their former numbers. The region's concerted efforts to restore these populations could not be fully effective without strong protection for fish and wildlife habitat. The Council's goal of doubling salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia River Basin will require hardy wild and natural fish populations, which rely on high quality habitat. To protect the ratepayers' investment in fish and wildlife restoration, it is necessary to protect the best remaining habitat.

The designation of protected areas is also intended to playa positive role in the efficient development of environmentally benign hydropower. Development of the region's most critical fish and wildlife habitat is likely to generate divisive, time-consuming and costly controversy. By identifying this habitat as "protected," the Council hopes to point developers to less sensitive areas, where the time and cost of development will be lower. Ratepayers should benefit from both more productive fish and wildlife investments and from lower development costs.

While the Council does not license hydroelectric development, certain federal agencies have a legal obligation to take the Council's action into account in their decision-making. Those agencies include the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which grants licenses for non-federal hydropower projects, and the Bonneville Power Administration, which acquires and transmits electrical power from the projects. 
The final protected areas proposal, as adopted, is a formal amendment to both the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, which covers the Columbia Basin, and to the Northwest Power Plan, which covers the entire states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, and western Montana. The amendment is currently being revised to incorporate the changes made by the Council as a result of public comment. The final rule and the Council's response to comments on the proposal will be available in September. If you wish to receive these documents, please fill in and return the enclosed self-addressed, postage-paid postcard to the Council.

The following are the chief changes made in the final amendment:

  • The Council adopted a single standard of protection: no new hydroelectric development should be allowed in protected areas. The original proposal included a less stringent standard for non-wild resident fish and wildlife (a showing of "no net loss"). The category of non-wild (e.g., hatchery) resident fish was eliminated because the record indicated that all areas being protected for resident fish contained wild species and were deemed high-value populations. All wildlife in protected areas are threatened, endangered, or species of special concern and are entitled to full protection.
  • The Council reaffirmed its decision to designate protected areas in the Columbia River Basin under the authority of Section 4(h) of the Northwest Power Act, which deals with the Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program, and in other parts of the region under the authority of 4(e) of the Act, dealing with the regional power plan.
  • The Council clarified that the protected areas designation only applies to new hydropower projects. It does not apply to existing hydroelectric projects, relicensing of existing hydropower projects, or adding hydropower to existing non-hydropower projects.
  • The Council recognized that some applicants with projects pending before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have made substantial investments and have completed or nearly completed agreements with all interested parties. The Council recognized that the Commission may be obligated to complete its processes on these applications, but urged that, when possible, protected areas designation be taken into account to the fullest extent practicable.
  • The Council included the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (along with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Bonneville) among those agencies to be guided by protected areas in their hydropower decision-making.
  • The Council established procedures for reviewing exceptional projects that could provide exceptional benefits for fish or wildlife. (For example, a project that created upstream storage could improve flows for an entire stream.) Under these procedures, the Council could amend protected areas to allow projects that have exceptional benefits.
  • The Council provided that the Bonneville Power Administration's reliance on protected areas inside the Columbia River Basin to limit access to its intertie (transmission line to California) was consistent with the Council's fish and wildlife program and its power plan, and recommended that Bonneville also deny access to projects in protected areas located outside the Columbia Basin.
  • The Council also clarified the relationship between the "protected areas" amendment and the National Forest Management Act and the Federal Land Policy Management Act. The Council's proposal is not intended to address development other than hydropower.
  • The Council also changed the process for protected areas amendments. Proposals to add or delete an area will be referred to the appropriate state fish and wildlife agency for review and comment. Proposed changes will be considered by the Council on a regular amendment schedule. If a proposal requires faster action, the Council may initiate a special amendment process.
  • The Council also included a process to review state and tribal river plans.

The Council derives its authority from the Northwest Power Act of 1980 (PL 96-501) which required the Council to develop a program to "protect, mitigate, and enhance fish and wildlife, including related spawning grounds and habitat" that had been affected by hydroelectric. development in the Columbia River Basin. The Act also required the Council to develop an electric power plan for the entire Northwest that called for the development of resources that would be cost-effective and environmentally acceptable. The Council recognizes the enormous importance of hydroelectric power to the Northwest. Its intent is to focus developers on those areas with less critical fish and wildlife habitat. The protected areas mileage represents less than 20 percent of the Northwest's rivers and streams.

Topics: 
Fish and wildlife
Tags: 
Protected Areas

ISRP 2021-05 LibbyMFWPfollow-up1June.pdf

Download the full report

Sign up for our newsletter

  •    

Contact

  • Central Office
  • Idaho Office
  • Montana Office
  • Oregon Office
  • Washington Office
  • Council Members

Social Media:

Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn Vimeo Flickr

Copyright 2022

Privacy policy Terms & Conditions Inclusion Statement