Columbia and Snake River Salmon Recovery Project
Contact: Diana Cross, (208) 378-5020
The Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) is a group of 14 hydropower projects operated and maintained by Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a coordinated system. The Bonneville Power Administration markets and distributes the power generated from these dams. These three agencies are collectively known as the Action Agencies for compliance with Endangered Species Act (ESA) requirements for the FCRPS.
FCRPS operations affect fifteen species of fish listed by the ESA. The 2000 and 2006 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) FCRPS Biological Opinions require that the Action Agencies ensure that two listed species of resident fish (white sturgeon and bull trout) and their designated critical habitats are not adversely affected by the operations of the FCRPS. NOAA Fisheries has listed 13 separate populations of anadromous salmon and steelhead in the Columbia/Snake River Basin as threatened or endangered under the ESA. Previous NOAA Fisheries FCRPS Biological Opinions have been found to be inadequate by the courts.
In response, the FCRPS agencies have participated in a collaborative process, as directed by the Judge, with the four northwest states and seven sovereign tribes to develop a new proposed action. Reclamation's FCRPS actions focus on enhancement of tributary spawning and rearing habitat in the Columbia Basin as well as flow augmentation. The proposed action for the upper Snake remand is identified in the Nez Perce Water Rights Settlement.
On May 5, 2008, NOAA Fisheries issued final biological opinions on both the operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System and Reclamation's upper Snake projects, along with a supplemental comprehensive analysis of the combined effects of both sets of agency actions. NOAA Fisheries found that, with the actions in the FCRPS Reasonable and Prudent Alternative, operation and maintenance of the FCRPS does not jeopardize the continued existence of listed salmon and steelhead nor adversely affects their critical habitat and that these salmon and steelhead are on a trend to recovery. Reclamation and the other Action Agencies expect to release decision documents in June 2008.
Reclamations Congressional appropriation funds the implementation of actions required for compliance with these Biological Opinions. The President's FY 2009 budget request for implementation of the Biological Opinions for the FCRPS is $18.0 million.
Updated: May 20, 2008