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3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2017 Drainage tunnel near Mount St. Helens US to enter into Columbia River Treaty needs work to counteract flood risk renegotiation in 2018 Most serious threat is at Spirit Lake By EMILY SCHWING Oregon Public Broadcasting By HAL BERNTON Seattle Times Damian Mulinix/For EO Media Group Long Beach, Washington, fourth graders view a large tree trunk left behind during the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980 at the Johnston Ridge Observatory during their class trip this year. Since then, the nearly 1.6-mile-long tunnel has been subjected to repeated spot repairs. The most recent effort completed in March 2016 shored up a 30-foot section that had narrowed significantly due to ground pressures. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has worked on a long-term plan to limit sediments flowing into the Toutle, Cowlitz and Columbia. The Corps built the sed- iment retention structure, which resembles a dam, across the North Fork of the Toutle. In 2012 the spillway of the structure was raised by 7 feet, and it could be raised again in the future, according to Jeffrey Henon, a Corps spokesman in Portland. The academies scien- tists note that new engineer- ing projects have ripple effects throughout the drainage. While public safety remains a key concern, they say that other things should be considered, such as fisheries restoration and the intent of congressional legislation “to allow . geologic forces and ecological succes- sion to continue substantially unimpeded” in the 110,000- acre Mount St. Helens Volca- nic National Monument. The scientists also sug- gest re-examining the mind- set behind the human inter- vention. In the early years after the eruption, the big push was to try to keep as much sedi- ment as possible from mov- ing downstream. But they said this material — sooner or later — would make its way down- stream. So the focus might shift to trying to engineer an orderly and safe downstream movement of that material. Some of the biggest deci- sions involve Spirit Lake and the future of the tunnel, which has an expected life span of about 50 years unless major renovations — costing tens of millions of dollars — are made. The U.S. Forest Service participated in an emergency planning exercise in Cowlitz County this past spring that simulated flooding from Spirit Lake. In the meantime, the Forest Service’s work at Spirit Lake includes the installation of a structure to keep floating logs away from the tunnel outlet as well as sensors to help moni- tor flows. WANTED (2) (-) (-) (6) (-) (8) (9) (10) (12) (13) (-) (20) (-) (29) (30) (31) (32) (34) (35) (36) (38) (39) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54) (56) (57) (58) (61) (63) (64) (65) (162) KATU KOMO KING KOIN KIRO KGW KRCW KOPB KPTV KPDX KCPQ TBS KZJO ESPN ESPN2 NICK DISN FAM FMC LIFE ROOT FS1 SPIKE COM HIST A&E TLC DISC NGEO TNT AMC USA FOOD HGTV FX CNN FNC CNBC BRAV TCM SYFY RFD (2) (4) (5) (-) (7) (-) (3) (10) (12) (-) (13) (20) (22) (29) (30) (31) (32) (34) (35) (36) (38) (39) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54) (56) (57) (58) (61) (63) (64) (65) (162) 6 PM By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho — Author- ities have released recov- ery plans for federally pro- tected Snake River Chinook salmon and steelhead with the goal of making sure each species is self-sustaining in the wild. The plans released today by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- tration Fisheries include spring and summer Chi- nook, fall Chinook and steelhead. Authorities listed the three runs as threatened in the 1990s. Strategies in the 366- page fall Chinook plan include reintroducing them above Idaho Power’s Hells Canyon Complex of hydro- electric dams. The 284-page recovery plan for spring and sum- mer Chinook and steel- head include protecting existing tributary habi- tat and restoring degraded habitat. Salmon and steelhead are important as both a commercial and sport fish- ery, and are also important to tribes in the region that hold treaty rights concern- ing salmon and steelhead. Bethany Lutheran Church will sponsor a Live Nativity Saturday December 16 5-7 PM Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 On the Bethany Church lawn, across from Safeway BETHANY FREE LUTHERAN CHURCH 451 34 TH STREET ∙ ASTORIA 503.325.2925 SCHEDULE T UESDAY E VENING L Snake River salmon and steelhead plan released Acting out the birth of Jesus in a stable with animals Tiffany Ann Phillips Dec. 12, 1980 Jan. 4, 1998 THE DAILY ASTORIAN A The Forest Service also is considering opening up a route for all-terrain vehicles to reach Spirit Lake to assist with maintenance. That proposal has drawn concern from some research scientists who say it could disturb their studies within a sensitive area known as the Pumice Plain. Carri LeRoy, a freshwa- ter ecologist at The Evergreen State College, says the new route could seriously disrupt work there by her and other researchers. “I am incredibly disap- pointed to learn that the Forest Service . is continuing to push for motorized traffic across the Pumice Plain,” LeRoy wrote in an October letter to the agency. Her research examines the formation of streams in the post-eruption landscape, and she urged the Forest Service to consider an alternative route to the lake. Chris Strebig, the Spirit Lake project manager, said no final decision has been made on the motorized route. You have left footprints in many lives... We miss your laughter and your big heart. We love you! N36190DA SEATTLE — Long-term strategies are needed to deal with the risks of mudflows and flooding left behind by the 1980 Mount St. Helens erup- tion, according to a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The most serious threat is at Spirit Lake, which the vol- cano left plugged by an unsta- ble mass of debris that — if it gave way — would threaten some 50,000 southwest Wash- ington residents who live downstream. A drainage tunnel com- pleted in 1985 reduces the chance that the makeshift dam could fail. But the report found that the aging structure — despite repeated repairs — “is not operating optimally,” and is still in need of expen- sive maintenance. The scientists who put together the report suggest future engineering options, such as building a second tun- nel, cutting a spillway through the debris dam or finding a way to drain the lake. They propose a collaborative effort that brings together federal and state agencies, the Cowlitz Tribe, downstream communi- ties and others. The 1980 eruption killed 57 people when it blew away the top of the mountain and unleashed a massive avalanche of debris — the largest in recorded history. The resculpt- ing of the landscape prompted a $1 billion, decadelong effort to deal with the aftermath of the eruption. The work included mas- sive dredging and construction — on the North Fork of the Toutle River — of a sediment retention structure to slow the downstream movement of sediment. It also involved high-stakes work at Spirit Lake. The eruption raised the water level by 210 feet and blocked its natural outlet with a mix of ash, earth, rock and other materials. With no way to drain, the water level could climb still higher. This would increase the chance of a breach of the debris dam, a potentially cataclysmic event that could send some 314,000 acre-feet of water and 2.4 billion cubic- yards of sediment surging down the Toutle, Cowlitz and Columbia rivers. In 1982, a temporary pumping station was installed to lower water levels. This was followed by construction of the tunnel to divert water into South Coldwater Creek. The U.S. Department of State and the Canadian gov- ernment have announced that formal renegotiation of the Columbia River Treaty will begin in early 2018. Fish, electric rates and flood protection are all part of the 53-year-old interna- tional treaty between the U.S. and Canada. The headwaters of the Columbia are in Canada, and that country controls how much water is released downstream and when. In exchange for smooth- ing hydropower operations across the border, Northwest American electricity con- sumers pay Canada hundreds of millions of dollars annu- ally, under a provision in the treaty. In November, congressio- nal members from Oregon and Washington state sent a letter to David McNaughton, the Canadian ambassador in Washington, D.C. They argued those payments are too high. Separately, tribes and environmental groups are looking for an update to the treaty that includes goals for restoring salmon runs above the Grand Coulee Dam. Interested parties in the Northwest have been asking for a renegotiation for four years. The current Colum- bia River Treaty was ratified in 1964. Evening listings TUESDAY D ECEMBER 12 A - Charter Astoria/ Seaside - L - Charter Long Beach 6:30 7 PM 7:30 8 PM 8:30 9 PM 9:30 10 PM 10:30 11 PM 11:30 Jeopardy! (N) KATU News at 6 (N) Wheel Fortune (N) The Middle (N) Fresh Off-Boat (N) Black-ish (N) The Mayor (N) Saves the World "Probably" (N) KATU News (N) (:35) Jimmy Kimmel KOMO 4 News (N) Wheel Fortune (N) Jeopardy! (N) The Middle (N) Fresh Off-Boat (N) Black-ish (N) The Mayor (N) Saves the World "Probably" (N) KOMO 4 News (N) (:35) Jimmy Kimmel NBC News (N) KING 5 News (N) KING 5 News (N) Evening The Voice "Live Semi-Final Results" (N) Gwen Stefani (N) Chicago Med "Naughty or Nice" (N) KING 5 News (N) (:35) Tonight Show KOIN Local 6 (N) Evening News (N) Extra Ent. 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