Hydroelectric Power - The Risks:

The Salmon Problem:

• Extremely Emotional Issue --> icon of the PNW
• Some Federal Dam Licenses can now be lost because of salmon migration problems
  • Some studies suggest Federal dams are mostly resonsible for drop from 16 million to 300,000 wild fish per year
  • Actual Salmon Count data is available for these dam sites:
    • John Day Dam
    • Bonneville Dam
    • Lower Monumental Dam
    • McNary Dam
    • The Dalles
    • Ice Harbor Dam
    • Lower Granite Dam
    • Little Goose Dam

• Estimated that to improve migration, utility rates will rise in the PNW by 8%
• There are lots of other factors at work as well:
  • El Nino
  • Agressive Fishing
  • Poor logging practices and increased soil erosion

  Note that reservoirs offer expanded habitat for geese, pelicans, eagles, osprey. They also help with flood control thus minimizing soil erosion in the watershed.

Adverse effects of dams on salmon:

• migratory barrier
• killed in turbines (especially young ones swimming downstream)
• supersaturation of air in water (high pressure of water falling down forces air into the solution)
• reduced oxygen content if river flow is reduced (summer) due to separation of warm and cold water; cold water doesn't mix to be aerated (this is mostly a problem in the Tennesee Valley)

Solutions:

• Build fish "passages" to direct them towards tributaries --> this has proven successful for trout in Oregon
• Better turbine design and screen systems can help eliminate fishkill on the downstream migration
• Minimize turbulence in the operation of the turbine
• Have better flow control

How will potential lost power be compenstated for?

• energy conservation?
• sale of hydro to the US by Canada?
• Coal-fired plants?

Read More About it (note: this document will take a few minutes to load)

The Columbia River Salmon Passage model (CRiSP)

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