Coalition approves plan for fish habitat on EWEB dam project

Relicensing settlement likely to move forward in 2010 with new measures to protect endangered fish.

Threatened fish will get a shot at almost eight miles of prime habitat on the upper McKenzie River, thanks to an agreement signed Tuesday by the Eugene Water & Electric Board, a bevy of state and federal agencies, three Indian tribes and a handful of conservation, fishing and hunting groups.

The agreement outlines $135.5 million in improvements the utility promises to make on the Carmen-Smith Hydroelectric Project, a cluster of dams and reservoirs on the river that provide about 9 percent of the electricity for Eugene. The work will mean a 5 to 7 percent rate increase for customers, but not until 2012, when construction probably will begin.

Located 71 miles east of Eugene, Carmen-Smith was completed in 1963 and must be relicensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. EWEB’s current operating license expires in November.

In an effort to ward off potential legal challenges to the renewed license, EWEB negotiated the scope of environmental, structural and recreational improvements in private meetings with representatives from groups such as Oregon Wild, the Cascadia Wildlands Project, Trout International, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Oregon Hunters Association. Also at the table were the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and natural resources agencies including the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the state Department of Environmental Quality and the state Parks and Recreation Department. All told, 16 groups participated with EWEB in the meetings, which lasted two years.

Among the most significant changes will be modifications at the Trail Bridge Dam to allow fish above it to safely bypass the turbines when heading downstream, and a fish ladder for upstream passage.

Screening fish away from the turbines will cost the utility $44 million. The fish ladder will cost $15 million.

Allowing Chinook salmon — listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act — to move upstream of the dam will give them an additional 1½ miles of access on the Mc Kenzie River and a half-dozen miles of Smith River and Sweetwater Creek, EWEB spokesman Lance Robertson said.

Those improvements and others will also help threatened bull trout, he said.

Before unanimously voting to sign the agreement, utility commissioners raised a few questions about the project. The most pointed came from John Brown, who worried that salmon might not actually use the expensive new fish ladder.

It’s not an idle concern. The Pelton Round Butte Project on the Deschutes River was built between 1957 and 1964 with a complex fish passage system that confounded salmon.

But EWEB staff biologist Andrew Talabere said the two dams are significantly different. He considers the possibility that salmon might not use the Trail Bridge ladder remote.

At a signing ceremony, the parties involved hailed the agreement as a collaborative effort that will continue to provide electricity at reasonable rates while mitigating the effects on threatened species.

Suzanne Knapp, natural resources policy adviser to Gov. Ted Kulongoski, acknowledged that getting 17 groups with a range of interests to agree had not been easy.

“We secured a settlement that provides reliable generation of power and environmental protections,” she said.

While approving the fish mitigation efforts, Cascadia Wildlands Project also wanted EWEB to set up a fund for the future decommissioning of the dams, said Josh Laughlin, conservation director for the nonprofit group.

“We all know that dams aren’t forever, so why not start setting up a fund now?” he said.

Relicensing also will include $48.5 million in powerhouse and other improvements that will extend the life of the hydroelectric facility.

The project also will improve campgrounds, boat ramps and day use areas at popular recreation spots around the reservoirs, with additional water flows on the Smith River to improve boating conditions for kayakers.

While the dams provide only a fraction of the community’s daily power needs, EWEB draws on it during heavy-use morning and evening hours to avoid purchasing power during the higher-cost peak usage periods, utility spokesman Robertson said.

Tuesday’s agreement moves EWEB one step closer in a lengthy process. It will submit the agreement to FERC as part of its final application for a new license in November and anticipates approval by spring 2010. The license expires next month, but the utility probably will be granted a one-year extension while the regulatory agency reviews the application.