A3
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022
A federal agency contributes to salmon’s decline
BPA has prioritized business interests
By TONY SCHICK
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Crystal Conant was camped for the night on a bluﬀ over-
looking the upper Columbia River in northeast Washington
state, beading necklaces by the glow of a lantern.
The next morning, hundreds would gather at Kettle Falls
for the annual salmon ceremony, held since time immemo-
rial to celebrate the year’s ﬁ rst ﬁ sh returning from the ocean.
Conant and fellow organizers needed necklaces for every-
one who would come. Honoring the gift of salmon, she said,
requires giving gifts in turn.
Behind them, friends and family had formed a drum
circle inside the wooden husk of an old Catholic mission.
Kristyna Wentz-Graﬀ /Oregon Public Broadcasting
Although tribes from throughout the Northwest no longer ﬁ sh for
Back when the salmon were still running up Kettle Falls,
salmon at now-submerged Kettle Falls on the Columbia River, they
the sound of dozens of drum circles would have thundered
honored the spirit of the ﬁ sh by passing out canned and smoked
across the plateau.
salmon at the First Salmon Ceremony in June 2021.
But there is only one circle now. And there are no salmon.
The ﬁ sh cannot get past two federal dams, masses of
concrete each hundreds of feet tall. The construction of
additional dams later, the Snake River population had fallen
those dams, which began more than 80 years ago, rendered
to around 10,000.
salmon extinct in hundreds of miles of rivers and destroyed
In some places, like the Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph
the area’s most important ﬁ shing grounds.
dams in northeast Washington, there is no way for ﬁ sh to
“The salmon still keep trying to come, and they come
pass through at all, and the salmon are entirely gone upriver
and they hit their little noses on the dam, over and over,
from the dams. While the rest of the federal dams on the
‘cause they hear us calling,” said Conant, a member of the
Columbia and Snake rivers include ways for salmon to
Arrow Lakes and Sanpoil tribes. “So we’re going to keep
migrate past them, these passages still take a toll. Fish can
having our ceremonies and we’re going to keep calling the
get thrashed by turbines if they pass through the dam’s pow-
salmon home until they get here.”
erhouse. They suﬀ er in the warm and stagnant reservoirs that
After nearly a century without salmon, Conant and other
replaced free-ﬂ owing water when the rivers were dammed.
members of upper Columbia River tribes want to reintro-
And they fall prey to predators like sea lions, which have
duce the ﬁ sh into waters long blocked by the dams.
thrived in the conditions the dams created. Scientists say
But there’s been something blocking those eﬀ orts, too:
many ﬁ sh that pass through multiple reservoirs and dams
the Bonneville Power Administration.
end up dying later on from the stress of the journey.
The U.S. government promised to preserve tribes’ access
Faced with the possibility of federal agencies label-
to salmon in a series of treaties signed in the 1850s. Uphold-
ing salmon as endangered, Congress took action in 1980:
ing those treaties now rests in no small part with Bonne-
It passed the Northwest Power Act, tethering the fate of
ville, a federal agency little known outside the Northwest
salmon to that of the Bonneville Power Administration. The
that takes hydropower generated at Grand Coulee and other
act required Bonneville to fund a comprehensive ﬁ sh and
dams and sells it wholesale to electric utilities, primarily in
wildlife program, and to “protect, mitigate, and enhance
Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Decades ago, Congress
ﬁ sh and wildlife to the extent aﬀ ected by the development
placed the agency at the center of salmon recovery, giving
and operation of any hydroelectric project of the Columbia
it conﬂ icting mandates: protect ﬁ sh and fund their recovery,
River and its tributaries.”
all while running a business oﬀ the dams that have reduced
The new law established conﬂ icting mandates for Bon-
ﬁ sh populations by the millions.
neville: making money from hydropower while helping
For decades, judges have admonished the federal gov-
save salmon from extinction. And by the 1990s, it was clear
ernment over its failure to do more to protect Columbia
the measures were failing to rescue salmon. Several popula-
River salmon. Most recently, the Biden administration in
tions became listed as threatened or endangered and salmon
March took the unprecedented step of acknowledging the
advocates ﬁ led lawsuits over federal dam operations.
harm dams have caused to Native American tribes and
As part of an ongoing court case that has lasted decades,
calling for an overhaul of Columbia River b asin manage-
judges have ordered federal agencies, including Bonneville,
ment. Bonneville, the government’s money making arm on
to improve special passageways that allow ﬁ sh to bypass
the Columbia, is the federal agency involved in every mea-
dams’ turbines. Judges also ordered the agencies to increase
sure the Biden team is discussing to save
their “spill,” meaning the amount of water
salmon.
they allow to ﬂ ow past a dam instead of
But an investigation by Oregon Public
into its powerhouse; young salmon on
‘THE SALMON
Broadcasting and ProPublica has found
way to the ocean beneﬁ t from that
STILL KEEP TRYING their
that Bonneville has, time and again, pri-
spill, traveling faster past the dam with
oritized its business interests over salmon
less likelihood of getting caught in a
TO COME, AND
recovery and actively pushed back on
turbine.
THEY COME AND
changes that tribes, environmental advo-
But for Bonneville, every drop that
cates and scientists say would oﬀ er the
didn’t go through turbines was also
THEY HIT THEIR
best chance to help salmon populations
wasted fuel and lost revenue — revenue
recover without dismantling the entire
it claimed it could hardly aﬀ ord to miss
LITTLE NOSES ON
dam system.
out on.
THE DAM, OVER
The agency said it has invested heav-
In 2008, Bonneville tried to halt bal-
ily in supporting salmon and sacriﬁ ced
looning
and wildlife costs and law-
AND OVER, ‘CAUSE suits with ﬁ sh
revenue to make dams safer for ﬁ sh. It
a series of funding agreements.
said any limitations on its ﬁ sh and wild-
The agency doled out $900 million over
THEY HEAR US
life measures are the result of ﬁ nancial
10 years to states and tribes for ﬁ sh and
CALLING.’
pressures.
wildlife restoration. But that money
In response to the news organiza-
came with a catch: Signing the accords
tions’ ﬁ ndings, Bonneville spokesperson
Crystal Conant | a member of the
required a promise not to sue over man-
Arrow Lakes and Sanpoil tribes
Doug Johnson said in a statement that
agement of the Columbia River power
the agency and its federal partners “will
system. The accords also required signa-
continue to participate in regional discus-
tories to aﬃ rm the adequacy of the fed-
sions on long-term strategies to address the protection and
eral government’s ﬁ sh and wildlife mitigation.
enhancement of salmon and steelhead,” including the White
Only the Nez Perce Tribe and the state of Oregon
House eﬀ orts.
declined the money. Along with a dozen ﬁ shing and envi-
“Ultimately, the region as a whole must continue to
ronmental groups, they continued the long-standing chal-
advance collaborative solutions to meet the needs of the
lenge of federal dam operations in court.
Paciﬁ c Northwest,” Johnson said. Two other federal agen-
As the case dragged on, Bonneville faced multiple pres-
cies that work with Bonneville to manage the region’s dams,
sures. It needed to raise its rates to pay for mounting ﬁ sh and
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Recla-
wildlife requirements ordered by the courts, but the Public
mation, issued statements identical to Bonneville’s.
Power Council, a coalition of consumer-owned public util-
In an interview, Johnson said the agency has had to con-
ities that buy the bulk of its electricity, pushed back. The
tain its ﬁ sh and wildlife spending at levels it could sustain.
power council warned Bonneville that it would lose custom-
“The statutes direct Bonneville to operate in a business like
ers if it didn’t curb its rising power costs, a third of which
manner,” he said. “Like any other business, we monitor
stemmed directly from ﬁ sh and wildlife measures.
projects in our budgets and make appropriate adjustments
Then, while Bonneville was struggling to improve its
as needed.”
ﬁ nances, salmon fell further into crisis. By 2018, declines
Columbia River salmon recovery is one of the most
in salmon populations triggered an oﬃ cial warning from
expensive endangered species eﬀ orts in the country, cost-
federal scientists. Scientists had set a threshold that, once
ing Bonneville more than $20 billion since it started in 1980.
crossed, was meant to put the government in urgent action
But while Bonneville’s net revenues have surpassed targets
mode to help the ﬁ sh.
in the last few years, it ﬂ atlined or reduced budgets for ﬁ sh
But at the same time, Bonneville was desperate to help
recovery at a time when, according to salmon advocates,
itself.
more money is needed than ever to prevent extinctions of
Shortchanging the ﬁ sh
more Northwest salmon populations.
Proposals on the table, according to the White House and
In 2018, the same year salmon declines were trigger-
other participants in the talks, include breaching dams on
ing federal alarm bells, Bonneville adopted a new strategic
the lower Snake River in southeastern Washington, funding
plan meant to ﬁ x its ﬁ nances. It aimed to keep the agency’s
the reintroduction of salmon into blocked areas and remov-
ﬁ sh and wildlife spending from exceeding the rate of inﬂ a-
ing Bonneville from salmon management.
tion; in some years, this spending didn’t end up growing at
“We cannot continue business as usual,” the White
all. Electricity markets also improved; the agency sold sur-
House memo said.
plus power during times of peak demand like summer heat
But on each of those three issues, interviews and docu-
waves. And it kept expenses low.
ments show, business as usual is what Bonneville has tried
Since then, Bonneville’s net revenues have soared past
to preserve.
agency targets. Last year, the agency’s net revenues were
$360 million above its target. Halfway through 2022, it was
Building to a crisis
on pace for an even better year.
The Bonneville Power Administration began as a federal
“For the past four years, we’ve done fairly well ﬁ nan-
agency designed to run as a business. And, in many ways,
cially,” Johnson, the Bonneville spokesperson, said. “Five,
that has never changed.
six, seven years ago, our detractors were talking about the
The agency was created in 1937, when Paciﬁ c North-
potential for us to go bankrupt because we had so much debt
west hydroelectric dam-building had just begun and fed-
and we were doing so poorly ﬁ nancially. This found solid
eral oﬃ cials spoke openly about sacriﬁ cing salmon runs for
footing that we have ﬁ nancially is a recent development for
the sake of developing cities and farmland. Bonneville was
us.”
the government’s way to market the dams’ hydropower and
The agency used the unexpected revenues to shore up its
electrify the rural West.
cash reserves and lower rates for customers. It didn’t put any
Although the dams are owned and operated by diﬀ erent
of the windfall toward ﬁ sh and wildlife programs.
agencies, Bonneville co-manages them, covering construc-
In fact, after adjusting for inﬂ ation, Bonneville’s current
tion debts and operating costs with the proceeds from the
two-year budget for ﬁ sh and wildlife is down more than
electricity that the dams generate. Bonneville sells electric-
$78 million from what it was 2016-17, before the agency
ity to public utilities, which in turn sell it to homes and busi-
nesses. Today, Bonneville’s operating revenues are more
than $3.8 billion per year. It manages power from 31 dams
and owns about 75% of the Paciﬁ c Northwest’s power lines.
But what was good for generating power was devastat-
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ing for ﬁ sh. In the mid-1950s, when wild Chinook salmon
on the Snake River had to pass just one dam on their journey
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to the ocean, they numbered about 90,000. By 1980, seven
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adopted its new strategic plan. That came at a time when sci-
entists said signiﬁ cantly more investment has been needed
to give salmon a chance as the climate warms.
“Simply put,” Andrew Missel, an attorney for the Idaho
Conservation League, wrote in a 2021 brief to Bonneville
about its budget process, “in the face of declining salmon
and steelhead runs, BPA has decided to starve mitigation
projects of needed funds, and has failed to even consider
using an expected boon in revenue to help shore up those
projects.”
After ﬁ sh and wildlife agencies told Bonneville its bud-
gets were compromising their eﬀ orts, Bonneville announced
in June it would increase ﬁ sh and wildlife spending by about
8% in 2024 based on its assessments of what the program
needed to remain viable. That increase would still put it
below inﬂ ation-adjusted spending levels prior to 2018.
Jeremy Takala, a biologist and member of the Yakama
Nation Tribal Council, said the tribe has shovel-ready
salmon habitat restoration projects waiting for funding.
“It’s really frustrating,” Takala said in a July speech at a
save-the-salmon rally in Portland. “BPA basically managing
our funding source, it just does not make sense. It’s a really,
really huge conﬂ ict that frustrates the tribes.”
Bonneville and its spending have factored heavily into
negotiations between salmon advocates and the Biden
administration.
Jim McKenna, an adviser to Gov. Kate Brown who is
involved in the negotiations, said Oregon, tribes and salmon
advocates are asking the administration to greatly increase
funding for ﬁ sh hatcheries and habitat restoration, and to put
tribes and other local ﬁ sh and wildlife biologists directly in
charge of how to spend the money.
“The bucket of money is woefully inadequate,” McK-
enna said. “And, Bonneville is not the agency that should be
managing those funds.”
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