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4 CapitalPress.com July 3, 2015 Drought Drought reduces hydroelectric output By ZANE SPARLING Capital Press A drought doesn’t just mean less water. It also means less power. On the Columbia and Snake rivers, where infrequent rains and an almost nonexistent snowpack have led to parched waterways and dangerous fire conditions, the amount of hydroelectric energy generated by government dams has dropped by almost one-third. Last May, 23 dams on the Columbia and its major tributaries produced 8.59 million megawatts of power, according to data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This year, during the same time- frame, the dams generated just 5.78 million megawatts. “Water is our fuel on the hydro sys- tem, and there’s just less of it,” Bonne- ville Power Administration spokesman Joel Scruggs said. “We’re prepared to handle the dry year and we’re hopeful that we’ll see more water. Otherwise we’ll manage accordingly.” The BPA, a federal agency in charge marketing electricity produced by the dams, provides almost 35 percent of the power in the region. The system’s portfolio includes ma- jor producers such as the Dalles Dam on the Columbia, where the water flow has dropped to roughly 145,000 cubic feet per second, from 235,000 cubic feet this time last year. That’s primarily due to the lack of snowfall, according to Bill Proctor, chief of hydrologic engineering and power for the northwestern division of the Corps. It’s not the snow you see on peaks — that sort of glacial ice is around all year. Instead, Proctor said, rivers are fed by runoff, usually rain or melted snow. And while precipitation fed the Pacific Northwest river system in the spring, the lack of snowfall at lower elevations has created the second worst runoff sit- uation here in the last 55 years. On the Snake, one of Columbia’s major tributaries, streamflow has dropped to an estimated 25,000 cubic feet per second, compared to a normal flow of 54,000. It’s expected to stay that way through the end of the summer. Both the Corps and the BPA say the drop in power production won’t lead to an immediate rate increase for consum- ers and businesses. “The BPA doesn’t change rates ev- ery day,” Proctor said. “Their purchase price doesn’t affect your price today. But the rates you’re paying now will af- fect the rates in the future… when (the BPA) recalculates rates.” Karl Kanbergs, team leader for the reservoir control center, agreed. “When resources are scarce, the price goes up. That’s true for anything.” Scruggs, the BPA spokesperson, said the agency sets rates every two years. He said a prolonged, multiyear drought is a possibility, not a certainty. “I don’t think we want to play with hypotheticals. We’re concerned with managing the system right now,” he said. “When you’re dependent on the weather, there’s always a lot of uncer- tainty.” Drought conditions take hold in W. Washington Hydropower of state challenge could One-third in ‘severe drought,’ impact irrigators including Olympic Oral arguments held in legal battle over 14 Northwest dams By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press The federal government’s operation of Northwest hydro- power dams is again under at- tack for allegedly jeopardizing fish, potentially impacting irri- gators who rely on the Colum- bia and Snake rivers. The most recent “reason- able and prudent alternatives” aimed at mitigating risk to threatened and endangered fish, issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service last year, were challenged as un- lawful during a recent court hearing. Critics of the agency’s plans claim that it’s overly confi- dent about the positive effects of restoring tributaries while downplaying the hazards of hy- dropower facilities in the main river channels. “We’re always looking to the future for benefits that ha- ven’t yet materialized,” said Stephanie Parent, an attorney representing the State of Ore- gon, during oral arguments in Portland on June 23. The plaintiffs also fault- ed the federal government for being ambiguous in its goals and time frames for increasing salmon and steelhead popu- lations, which they claim are killed at unsustainable levels as they pass through 14 hydro- electric dams. These species are still at risk of getting wiped out by a ca- tastrophe even if their numbers have improved due to natural conditions in recent years, ac- cording to the plaintiffs, which include tribes and environmen- talists. “A growing species is not the same thing as a recovered species,” said Todd True, at- torney for the Earthjustice law firm. If the case results in fur- ther revisions to the hydro- power system’s operations, it could affect irrigators on multiple fronts, said Darryl Olsen, board representative of the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association, which has been involved in the liti- gation. Environmental groups want to reduce water levels in stor- age reservoirs, arguing this will improve flow rates and thus en- hance fish survival, he said. The federal government has rejected this claim, finding that the main factor in fish surviv- al is temperature, which isn’t affected by lowering reservoir levels, Olsen said. “Much of our water man- agement has nothing to do with empirical reality,” he said. Water rights may also be af- fected by the litigation. The flow rates in the Co- lumbia and Snake rivers al- ready preclude any new water rights from being assigned, but an eventual ruling could require even greater pressure to leave water in-stream, Olsen said. Also, any mandate that NMFS revise its plans for the hydropower will also be ex- tremely expensive and effec- tively raise the costs of electric- ity for pumping, he said. The recent court battle is part of an ongoing legal cam- paign against the hydropow- er system’s management that stretches back to 2001. A potentially important dif- ference is that the litigation is now overseen by a new federal judge, Michael Simon. U.S. District Judge James Redden, who previously pre- sided over the case, repeatedly found the federal government’s operation plans to be inade- quate and remanded them for changes. After recusing himself from the lawsuit, Redden said he be- lieved the government should require the removal of four hy- droelectric dams on the Snake river to improve fish passage. Another contentious point is how much water should be spilled over dams to prevent fish from passing through tur- bines, with the plaintiffs press- ing for increased spills. During the recent oral ar- guments, plaintiffs alleged that NMFS set a lenient standard for overcoming the “jeopardy” that hydropower operations impose on fish. The agency was also fault- ed for failing to explain how it arrived at certain conclusions about fish survival. “It’s impossible to follow the train of reasoning,” said True. The federal government argues that its “jeopardy” anal- ysis complies with the Endan- gered Species Act, which gives agencies with discretion in de- termining a species’ chances of survival and recovery. It also rejected claims that the “reasonable and prudent alterna- tives” were lacking, arguing that the plaintiffs cannot overrule the agency simply because they fa- vor a different policy. “The best available science shows that removing tributary habitat constraints through res- toration actions is reasonably certain to increase fish abun- dance and productivity,” NMFS said in a court document. Peninsula By DON JENKINS Capital Press The drought worsened Thursday in Washington, with 18 eastern counties declared federal disaster areas and the drought officially becoming more widespread and severe on the westside. The U.S. Drought Mon- itor reported for the first time that drought conditions prevail throughout Western Washington, with the Olym- pic Peninsula in a severe drought. Hot and dry weather — combined with the complete absence of melting snow — drove the percentage of the state in a moderate or severe drought from 63 percent to 90 percent over the previous week. The percentage in a severe drought increased from 25 percent to 32 percent, accord- ing to the Drought Monitor, a partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Nebras- ka-Lincoln. Drought conditions spread and grew more severe pri- marily west of the Cascades. A large swath along the Inter- state 5 corridor from Oregon to Canada was categorized for the first time as being in a moderate drought. Meanwhile, the drought status of all or parts of four westside counties — Clallam, Jefferson, Grays Harbor and Mason — were revised from moderate to severe. As a result, more counties August comes early for rivers and streams By DON JENKINS Capital Press A sharp, sudden and un- expected drop in rivers and tributaries are causing unprec- edented state-ordered shutoffs in June and July to hundreds of irrigators in Western and Eastern Washington. The Washington Department of Ecology says it has a legal ob- ligation to cut off farmers with junior water rights to preserve minimum flows for fish and irri- gators with senior rights. Some of the irrigators have lost their water before, but not until late in the growing sea- are on track to become federal disaster areas. The USDA on Wednesday declared a federal drought disaster in 18 Washington counties, the first such desig- nations in the state. “Our hearts go out to those Washington farmers and ranchers affected by recent natural disasters,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a written statement. Eight south-central and southeast counties — Adams, Benton, Columbia, Franklin, Grant, Klickitat, Walla Wal- la and Yakima — drove the declaration. They had been in a severe drought for eight weeks, the threshold for disas- ter designation. Because the drought has coincided with the grazing season, ranchers in those counties are eligible for pay- We offer competitive interest rates for your agricultural financing needs: • FSA Preferred Lender son. Rivers have fallen to levels typical of August or September, ecology officials say. “It’s just been a real dra- matic drop in the last week,” DOE spokeswoman Joye Red- field-Wilder said. “It’s just so widespread and indicative of a new day out there.” Beginning Monday, about 260 irrigators on the Methow, Colville and Little Spokane rivers will have their water shut off. They can call a DOE phone number daily to check whether the restriction has been lifted, but the answer will be no for the rest of the summer unless there’s enough rain to cause river levels to spike, Redfield-Wilder said. Another 80 irrigators in the Okanogan and Similkameen watersheds in north-central Washington were cut off June 23, while more than 40 irriga- tors on the Wenatchee River lost water June 15. In Western Washington, DOE plans to deliver shutoff notices by mid-July to about 70 irrigators in the Chehalis River Basin, an agricultural area in Southwest Washington. Those irrigators were last shut off in 2006, but not until September. Officials in the spring said Washington was experiencing a “snowpack drought.” Re- cord-breaking heat and an al- most complete absence of rain this month have made that de- scription incomplete. South-central Washington farmer Neal Brown said Friday that a week ago he still hoped his spring wheat would yield an aver- LEGAL In agriculture, nothing is certain. Your interest rate should be. • Amortizations up to 25 years CONTACT: Kevin Arrien, or Joe Lodge at Joyce Capital, Inc. Agricultural Loan Agents (208) 338-1560 • Boise, ID joe@arrien.biz Don Jenkins/Capital Press Hay bales sit in a field in Lewis County in southwest Washington June 25. Almost all of Western Washington is in a drought and several coun- ties are in severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Ecology to cut off irrigators in Western and Eastern Washington Joyce Capital, Inc. • Term agricultural loans (purchases & refinances) Don Jenkins/Capital Press A sprinkler waters a field in Lewis County in southwest Washington June 25. Almost all of Western Washing- ton is now in a drought and several counties are in a severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. 27-4/#17 PORT OF GRANDVIEW REQUEST for PROPOSALS The Port of Grandview invites proposals from persons or businesses interested in starting a business in the Ports Business Incubator Building located at 683 Wallace Way, Grandview, WA. The purpose of this RFP is to determine interest in locating and starting new businesses in the building. The type of business proposals selected will determine the interior construction required, rental rates and occupancy dates. All proposals shall include: • The type of business (manufacturing, wholesale or retail) • The area required (sq. footage) • Volumes of water and sewer necessary. • Natural gas and power requirements • Product(s) to be manufactured or created • Specific building requirements • Anticipated number of employees • Names and contact information of principals • Personal or business references. Persons interested in viewing the building or having questions should contact: Jessica Hansen, Executive Director, Port of Grandview, 509-882-9975 or jessica@portofgrandview.org. Proposals in sealed envelopes marked “Incubator Proposal” should be postmarked not later than Tuesday, July 28, 2015 and addressed to: Port of Grandview, PO Box 392, Grandview, WA 98930 Legal-25-4-2/#4 ments equal to 60 percent of their monthly feed costs, ac- cording to the USDA’s Farm Service Agency. Applications are due to the agency by Sept. 30. Producers in another 10 counties are eligible for low-interest loans because they border the most severely affected counties. The contig- uous counties are Douglas, Garfield, King, Kittitas, Lew- is, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pierce, Skamania and Whitman. Five northeast Washington counties have been in a severe drought since May 19. Unless the weather changes, they will become eligible for disaster relief in July. Loans may be used to restore or replace essential property, pay production costs and essential family living expenses, and reorganize a farming operation or refi- nance certain debts. Farmers have eight months from the date of the designa- tion to apply for emergency loans to help cover part of their actual losses. aged-sized crop. Amid a triple-dig- it heat wave and month-long dry spell in Klickitat County, he’s slashed his expectations in half. “It’s really quite remark- able,” he said “It’s degrading rapidly.” The Chehalis River relies on rain, not snow. DOE’s water resource manager for South- west Washington, Mike Galla- gher, said that two weeks ago he wouldn’t have predicted the basin’s irrigators would be shut off. “There’s been a remarkable drop in the last two or three weeks,” he said. “This is un- chartered territory for all of us.” Gallagher said water could be restored if there’s enough rain. But he said the chances ar- en’t good for relief this summer. “We need a wet and snowy win- ter,” he said. So far, only the Chehalis Ba- sin has been targeted for shut off notices on the westside. But oth- er Western Washington rivers are being monitored. “All across Western Washington, we’re seeing flows typical of August and September, not June,” DOE spokesman Chase Gallagher said. LEGAL SECRETARY OF STATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING Oregon Department of Agriculture, Plant Program, Administrative Rules Chapter #603, Sue Gooch, Rules Coordinator, (503) 986-4583. Amend: OAR 603-052-1300 RULE SUMMARY: Adds several species to the list of approved terrestrial invertebrates and removes the Monarch butterfly from that list. Last day for public comment is July 22, 2015. 27-2/#4