Condit Dam removal could
hurt fish downstream, state says
Seattle Times November 25,
2005
VANCOUVER,
Wash. — Fish advocates see
the plan to demolish Condit
Dam on the White Salmon
River as good news for
salmon everywhere, but the
state Ecology Department
says the project could hurt
fish downstream and might
violate the federal
Endangered Species Act.
Demolition of the
125-foot-high
hydroelectric dam, owned
by Portland-based
PacifiCorp, is proposed
for October 2008. The
project would open 33
miles of steelhead
habitat and 14 miles of
salmon habitat in the
area of the river
blocked by the dam since
1913.
The
river forms a
portion of the
boundary between
Klickitat and
Skamania counties
along the Columbia
Gorge.
After years of
negotiations and
talks with
regulators and
environmental
groups,
PacifiCorp has
begun filing
permit
applications to
remove the dam
that generates
14.7 megawatts,
enough power for
about 7,800
homes.
PacifiCorp
proposes to
tunnel and
blast a 12-
by 18-foot
hole near
the dam's
base, drain
Northwestern
Lake and
release more
than 2
million
yards of
sediment
that has
built up
behind the
dam.
The
sediment
plume
could
kill
fish and
other
aquatic
species
below
Condit
Dam and
displace
fish in
the
Columbia
River
downstream
to
Bonneville
Dam,
according
to
Ecology's
draft
environmental-impact
statement.
Officials
also
fear
the
sediment
could
wipe
out
a
population
of
endangered
chum
salmon
for
as
long
as
four
or
five
generations.
PacifiCorp
has
proposed
lessening
the
overall
impact
by
capturing
returning
fall
chinook
salmon
before
the
dam
is
breached
and
transporting
them
to a
hatchery
for
harvest
of
their
eggs
and
milt
to
preserve
the
2008
run.
But the statement said "it is probably not feasible to trap [chum] for hatchery rearing," and that species' spawning gravels likely would remain buried under silt the following year.
Few chum spawn above Bonneville Dam because the fish have difficulty navigating its fish ladders, said Carl Dugger, a biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. He said scientists did find a few chum spawning in the White Salmon River a few years ago, but added those fish were probably just strays.
The impact statement questions whether the fish population would be able to recover from the additional impacts of the sediment release. Environmentalists are optimistic.
"There's no question that removing a big dam is going to impact fish and water quality, but in the long term, the benefits are going to radically outweigh the short-term costs," said Brent Foster of Columbia Riverkeeper, one of a dozen environmental groups to formally endorse the project.
Seattle Times
Seattle, WA
October 25, 2005
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