Background on the Columbia River System and Dams

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Background on the Columbia River System and Dams

Background on the Columbia River Dams and Systems John Shurts General Counsel Portland, Oregon April 2014 slide 2 Columbia River – Unregulated flows average unregulated flows at The Dalles 500000 375000 Natural 250000 125000 Cubic FeetperSecond 0 Jan Mar Jun Sep Nov Apr2 Aug1 River Flows and Energy Demand Did Not Match 500 Demand River Flow 400 300 200 100 0 River Flow Oct Sep Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Jul Jun May Aug 1948 Portland, Oregon slide 6 Columbia River Treaty 1964 Columbia River – regulated flows average flows at The Dalles -- natural and regulated 500000 Natural 375000 Regulated 250000 125000 Cubic FeetperSecond 0 Jan Mar Apr2 Jun Aug1 Sep Nov Nuclear Natural Gas 2% Wind Northwest Electrical 16% 10% Other Biomass 1% Generation Profile Hydro Coal 2% (Capacity) 57% 12% Columbia River Treaty Flood Control Benefits 1200 165 Maf Values of Maf are for The Dalles April- August Runoff 900 134 Maf Regulated 111 Maf Unregulated 600 The Dalles Flow (kcfs) The Dalles Flow 300 0 1997 1894 1996 Year Event The large Chinook populations in the Columbia and Snake … may have formed core populations for regional metapopulations … Most large mainstem spawning populations were extirpated, which drastically altered metapopulation organiZation. Return to the River, 2000 Photo: NOAA Fisheries “The elders told me what the resource had been. We had the word for salmon in our language, but we had no salmon. Grand Coulee Dam was the final blow to our salmon.” Chief Wilfred Jacobs, 1993 1934 Letter: Canada Department of Fisheries Fishing at Kettle Falls, circa 1900 Spokane 1929 (Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture) “My plea is this . .if a small percentage of that [fish production] could be made available to the watershed above this barrier, then I think everybody would be satisfied.” W.J.E. Biker, Nelson, IJC hearing Trail, Sept. 3, 1941 “The Indians used to come to our place to fish. They came from Montana and all over. It was one of the finest places to fish. Salmon. They kill enough fish in a month to last them a year. “I caught the last one here about 15 or 20 years ago. Weighed forty-five pounds. I Salmon at Brisco, BC, got him at the bridge at 1910s Fairmont. Courtesy Ede Family “I’d like to see them come back.” Collection – Kootenay Chief Martin Morigeau, Invermere, 1964 Kinbasket Lake (Mica Dam) slide 18 Revelstoke Dam slide 19 Libby Dam, Kootenai River slide 20 Hanford Reach Bonneville Dam Columbia River Estuary.

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