|
Become a friend of the Klamath Bucket Brigade All donations are tax deductible |
|
This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Dam Removal to Cut Both Ways
By
KATHIE DURBIN
Columbian
A Portland utility's plan for demolishing Condit Dam on the White Salmon
River would be a death warrant for fish downstream and might violate the
federal Endangered Species Act, says a new study released by the
Washington Department of Ecology.
The 125-foot-high dam, owned by PacifiCorp, would be the highest ever
removed in the
blocked by the dam since 1913.
Fish advocates see the 92-year-old dam's demolition as an important
national precedent for returning other rivers to a free-flowing state.
But there's a downside for fish, too, according to the Department of
Ecology's new draft environmental impact statement.
PacifiCorp proposes to tunnel and blast a 12-by-18-foot hole near the
dam's base, drain
The massive plume would kill all fish and other aquatic species below
the dam and displace fish in the
"Because listed fish would be in the Bonneville Pool at that time,
they would be displaced by the heavy sediment plume, which would likely
be considered a 'take' under the Endangered Species Act," the EIS
says.
Some of the sediment flushed downriver would bury an American Indian
fishing site near the mouth of the White Salmon, according to the EIS.
Turbidity spikes in both rivers are expected to continue for up to five
years.
PacifiCorp has proposed lessening the impact by capturing returning fall
chinook salmon before the dam is breached and transporting them to a
hatchery for harvest of their eggs and milt to preserve the 2008 run.
That tactic is less likely to work with endangered chum: "It is
probably not feasible to trap (chum) for hatchery rearing," and
their spawning gravels likely would remain be buried under silt the
following year, the EIS said.
Few chum spawn above Bonneville Dam because the fish have difficulty
navigating its fish ladders, said Carl Dugger, a biologist with the
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. However, biologists found a
small number of chum spawning in the White Salmon River a few years ago,
he said. "These are more than likely just strays," Dugger
said. "We don't consider it significant."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries
Service are preparing biological opinions that will assess the impact of
the dam's breaching on threatened and endangered species.
The larger question is whether salmon stocks that are already depressed
by the effects of
"There's no question that removing a big dam is going to impact
fish and water quality, but in the long term, the benefits are going to
radically outweigh the short-term costs," Foster said. "Condit
Dam is a dam that is long past its useful life."
PacifiCorp has taken steps to work more closely with Klickitat and
Skamania county officials, who claim the "blow and go" method,
as they have dubbed it, would inflict unacceptable damage downstream.
The White Salmon River is the boundary between the two Columbia Gorge
counties.
The counties intervened in PacifiCorp's application for a federal permit
to remove the
aging dam in 2000. They remain opposed, and continue to retain
No second-guessing
Klickitat County Commissioner Don Struck said he isn't trying to
second-guess the utility's decision to demolish the dam. "We hate
to see it go, but we understand it's a corporate decision on the part of
PacifiCorp," he said. "Where we differ is in how much the
siltation released from behind the dam will affect the lower reach of
the White Salmon River. If the material behind the dam were to be
contained, dredged and properly disposed of before the dam is taken out,
we wouldn't challenge it."
PacifiCorp has rejected that option, which would cost an estimated $52
million in 1999 dollars, three times as much as "blow and go."
Struck said he worries about the impact of unleashing 92 years' worth of
debris that lies beneath the reservoir, from leaking batteries to a
submerged dump truck. "With as many residential home sites as there
are around the lake, it's going to be a nasty couple of months for those
people" when the dam is demolished, he said.
In 2002, the FERC gave PacifiCorp's plan a qualified endorsement, saying
it provided "the best balance of developmental and nondevelopmental
benefits." However, the agency's staff directed the company to
prepare plans to protect public safety, control pollution of the river
during dam removal and address the effect of falling groundwater levels
on nearby wells.
PacifiCorp announced last week that it had filed applications for
various county permits,
including a shoreline permit from
Seeks clarification
"We have had meetings with each one of the commissioners
individually to talk with them
about the project," said project manager Gail Miller of PacifiCorp.
"We have definitely tried to keep them up to speed."
At the same time, the company is seeking clarification from FERC about
whether local
permitting is required under the Federal Power Act.
"We have taken the position that we do believe the Federal Power
Act preempts the county permits," Miller said.
PacifiCorp began the process of renewing its license for the dam in
1991. In 1996, FERC issued an environmental impact statement that
required the company to provide fish passage at the dam at an estimated
cost of $30 million.
The company said such a large investment would make the dam too
expensive to operate. It offered instead to negotiate with all
interested parties to find a lower-cost alternative.
In 1999, the company announced that it had reached a settlement with a
dozen environmental groups, the Yakama Tribe, the state Department of
Ecology, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service
and other parties to breach the dam without dredging the sediment behind
it.
Under terms of the settlement, the cost of dam removal was frozen at
$17.15 million in 1999 dollars.
Critics said the Department of Ecology's status as a party to the
settlement created a conflict of interest because the department will
have to determine whether the project meets state water quality
standards before it can issue the permit PacifiCorp needs to
proceed.
At a hearing in July 2002, an attorney for the counties threatened to
sue the Department of Ecology if officials approved PacifiCorp's project
as designed, saying it would clearly
affect water quality in the short term.
Two months later, the agency ordered PacifiCorp to conduct additional
studies of how the sediment release would affect fish habitat and water
quality, saying the state needed more information than the utility had
so far provided.
Joye Redfield-Wilder, a spokeswoman in the Department of Ecology's
"There is no way under environmental laws that we can abdicate our
responsibility to protect the environment," she said.
PacifiCorp originally planned to remove the dam in 2006. But faced with
the requirement to conduct new studies, the company withdrew its FERC
application temporarily. The two-year delay will increase the project's
cost by about $3.3 million, Miller said. Revenue from operating the dam
for two additional years will help offset that additional cost.
To comment
The state Department of Ecology will host an open house in White Salmon
on Tuesday to receive comment on the draft EIS. The hearing will be held
from
[News clippings posted on this site are
copyrighted by the newspaper or magazine of
original publication. These clippings were
selected to further FWEE's not-for-profit mission
of providing balanced and informative views
concerning the sources, benefits and impact of
using water as a renewable energy resource in the Northwest.]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those
who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for
non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go
to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
Source: http://www.fwee.org/news/getStory?story=1432