PUD to vote on Northwest dams resolution

EPHRATA — The Grant County Public Utility District commission is scheduled to vote next week on a resolution supporting the Northwest's dams and hydrosystem.

The resolution, first recommended by Commissioner Tom Flint, states the PUD's support for the clean, renewable hydrosystem in the Northwest and opposes changes to dams or operations that are not science-based or cost-effective.

Benton and Franklin County PUDs already approved similar resolutions.

Flint, founder of the group Save Our Dams, asked PUD staff members to continue working to improve language in the resolution before next week, including gathering some outside input.

"I think we're on the right track," Flint said Tuesday.

Michael Garrity, American Rivers' associate director of Columbia Basin programs, said the resolution the PUDs are adopting is based on a resolution being pushed by Northwest RiverPartners, a partnership of large and small businesses, electric utilities, farmers and industry.

He said the resolution attempts to make American Rivers and other advocates of salmon recovery appear anti-hydropower.

American Rivers, Garrity said, understands dams produce most of the Northwest's energy. They support hydropower's role.

"We also support, however, removing the four lower Snake River dams, which are relatively minor power producers," Garrity said. "This resolution is primarily being designed to try and take removal of the four dams off the table."

Steve Wright, administrator for the Bonneville Power Administration, stated in a news release last month the four dams produce enough electricity to supply a city the size of Seattle at a very low cost.

"Their output cannot be replaced easily or inexpensively," Wright stated in the release.

The resolution proposed by Grant PUD states Northwest dams benefit the region's economy, supplying two-thirds of its energy and supporting future growth.

"Because the energy produced … is instantaneously available, it is needed to support other renewable energy sources when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine," according to the resolution.

"Any losses in hydrosystem capacity and energy will necessarily result in the development of more fossil-fueled generation, accelerating global warming and climate-change concerns."

The second half of resolution focuses on the relationship between Northwest dams and fish.

Salmon and steelhead, listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, can only be protected using a comprehensive approach, addressing harvest, habitat, hatcheries and hydro, the resolution states.

Significant investments were made to improve dams and hydrosystem operations, contributing to increases in salmon survival, it said.

Salmon runs vary widely from year-to-year and are heavily affected by ocean conditions. Between 2001 and 2004, the document states, some of the highest salmon runs in history occurred.

Sam Mace, Inland Northwest project director for Save Our Wild Salmon (SOS) in Spokane, said the high runs cited in the resolution are mostly hatchery fish.

"To sustain our runs long-term, we need wild fish coming back," Mace said. "To sustain our hatcheries we need wild fish coming back."

Fewer wild fish are to return this year, she said, than actually returned when the fish were first listed under the ESA.

Mace said SOS doesn't believe the various parties must choose to either restore wild salmon populations or maintain all the huge hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River and its largest tributary, the Snake River. Operators of hydroelectric dams and groups such as SOS should work together to have both, she said.

"We want to find a solution that works for those utilities as well," Mace said.

SOS's Web site states their current priority is to restore salmon and steelhead by partially removing four dams on the lower Snake River.

If Grant PUD passes the resolution, Flint vowed to take it to the Olympia-based Washington Public Utility District Association for their possible adoption. The association represents 28 member PUDs and Energy Northwest in legislative and policy processes at the state and federal level.

He hopes for a united front against dam breaching at both the state and federal level.

Flint expects a united front would help Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., in Washington D.C., battle with environmental groups seeking to remove dams.