BILL APPROVES BUREAU FISH FUNDING AT NON-FEDERAL PROJECTS
Posted on Friday, March 12, 2004 (PST)
Two bills that would authorize federal assistance to private irrigation facilities to construct fish screens, passage and other improvements benefiting endangered Columbia Basin salmon won approval this week from a Senate committee.
The Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the bills, both of which were sponsored by Oregon's senators, unanimously by voice vote on Wednesday. No date for full Senate action on the two reclamation bills has been set.
The most far-reaching measure, S. 1307, by Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to fund and construct fish screens and passage improvements at non-federal irrigation facilities in Oregon and Washington that would benefit endangered species. The ! Bush administration supports the legislation.
The purpose of the projects would be to help the bureau meet its obligations under the Endangered Species Act and the 2000 basinwide salmon recovery plan with respect to the impacts of federal reclamation projects in the basin excluding the Snake River.
In carrying out the new program, the bureau would coordinate with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and the appropriate state agencies and Indian tribes.
Funding would have to be provided separately by Congress in the annual budget process. Last year, the Bush administration budgeted the program to receive $4 million in 2004 if Congress passed the authorization bill.
The second reclamation bill, S. 1355, by Smith and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., would direct the bureau to participate in and help fund the rehabilitation of the privately owned Wallowa Lake Dam and in associated river flow enhancements in eastern Oregon. The proposed $38 million project would repair! an unsafe dam built in 1918 and owned by the Associated Ditch Companies and provide fish passage, improve water management and restore salmon in the Wallowa and Grand Ronde watersheds. The bill would authorize up to $32 million in federal funding, subject to separate appropriation by Congress.
Smith and Wyden said the Wallowa Dam Rehabilitation and Water Management Act would support several projects developed by local groups with the participation of numerous state and federal agencies and the support of local tribal leaders. Rehabilitating the dam, which cannot be used to full capacity because of its age and unsafe condition, would allow farmers to continue to use their water rights while enabling tribal fish restoration efforts.
The bill is backed by the Nez Perce Indian Tribe, which wants to restore sockeye salmon to Wallowa Lake, and by state and local government officials. Plans call for raising Wallowa Lake to 50,000 acre feet and providing fish passage faciliti! es to enable the Nez Perce to restore sockeye to the lake. Also, 4,000 acre feet of the increased storage would be set aside for a water exchange to reduce irrigation diversions and increase summer flows for bull trout and imperiled spring chinook in the Lostine River.