Columbia River System Operations Joint Record of Decision released
- Details
- Published: Monday, 11 January 2021 19:42
On September 28, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bonneville Power Administration signed a joint Record of Decision (ROD) that will support ongoing operations, maintenance, and configuration of 14 federal dams that compose the Columbia River System. The ROD memorialized the preferred alternative previously published in the nearly 5,000-page Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS also includes new biological opinions for species currently listed under the Endangered Species Act.
This is the culmination of a process triggered by a May 2016 federal court order that rejected the NOAA Fisheries 2008/2014 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion (BiOp) and ordered a new BiOp that included direction to complete a National Environmental Policy Act process for the Columbia River System Operations. The Opinion and Order stated the operation plan should “…evaluate how to ensure that the prospective management of the CRS is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species, or result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat.”
Reactions to the ROD are mixed
Reclamation Regional Director Lorri Gray said, “The selected alternative meets the purpose and need of the action and a majority of the EIS objectives, balancing the co-lead agencies’ abilities to meet statutory project obligations while also complying with the requirements of the ESA, Clean Water Act and other applicable laws.”
Said Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, “Based on the best available science, the Columbia River System Operations Record of Decision confirms what we already knew, our dams and river system are essential to our region.”
Environmental groups immediately voiced their concerns. Said the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition, “Salmon and fishing advocates are deeply disappointed by the Final EIS and the 2020 Biological Opinion.”
Said Todd True, the Earthjustice attorney who brought the original legal challenge on behalf of conservation and fishing groups and in conjunction with the Nez Perce Tribe and the State of Oregon, “This is the final step in a four year process that has failed our region in profound ways. The differences between the plan adopted by these agencies today and the plan the court rejected in 2016 are hard to discern.”
This fall, a new round of litigation began that included the State of Oregon filing a 60-day notice of intent to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. Two other 60-day notices of intent to sue were also filed. One by Earthjustice representing a coalition of 11 conservation groups and the other a tribe.
The Forum’s spring 2020 newsletter detailed expectations for the Columbia River EIS effect on Lake Roosevelt.