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Grant PUD Commissioners Establish Habitat and Fish Survival Funds
Action Supports Biological Opinion and Salmon & Steelhead Settlement
EPHRATA – Grant County PUD moved one step closer in the relicensing process today when commissioners adopted a resolution that establishes a Habitat Conservation Account and a No Net Impact Fund (NNI). The annual contributions to these accounts total $2,624,974 for 2005 and 2006. Funding of these accounts is required by the Biological Opinion and the Salmon and Steelhead Settlement Agreement for the Priest Rapids Project.
“Grant PUD has a long history of sound environmental stewardship,” said Grant PUD Commission President, Randy Allred. “Contributions to these funds will allow us to further our on-going efforts in providing solutions for salmon and habitat protection.”
The Habitat Conservation Account fund will receive $1,451,716 in 2006 towards tributary or mainstem Columbia River habitat projects. Contributions to this account will be annually adjusted per the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for the Western Region.
Grant PUD’s efforts towards habitat restoration and conservation are intended to promote self-sustaining and harvestable populations of Upper Columbia River spring-run Chinook salmon and steelhead and to mitigate for a portion of unavoidable losses resulting from hydroelectric dam operations. Today’s Commission action supports NOAA Fisheries May 2004 Biological Opinion for the Priest Rapids Project, which in addition to the Habitat Conservation Account, calls for new downstream fish passage facilities, replacement of the turbines at Wanapum Dam with advanced models designed to improve juvenile survival, aggressive monitoring and evaluation and predator controls.
The No Net Impact Fund totals $1,173,258 for 2006 and is earmarked for measures that improve survival rates of spring, summer and fall Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon, steelhead and coho. Grant PUD will reduce the annual NNI Fund contributions as progress towards meeting performance standards established in the Priest Rapids Project Salmon and Steelhead Settlement Agreement are achieved.
The settlement agreement between Grant County PUD, State and Federal Agencies and Indian Tribes brings to fruition a comprehensive and long-term adaptive management program for the protection, mitigation and enhancement of protected species, which may pass or be affected by the Priest Rapids Project. Parties to the settlement include Grant PUD, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA Fisheries, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. The agreement became effective on February 9, 2006 and the parties intend that it remain in effect during the term of the new license for the Priest Rapids Project.
“Today’s Commission action formalizes Grant PUD’s efforts to begin implementation of the Salmon and Steelhead Settlement Agreement. The collaboration process to reach these agreements spans the past 20 years,” said Grant PUD General Manager Tim Culbertson. “Grant PUD is one step nearer in the process to relicense the Priest Rapids Project. We are pleased to be moving forward with the support of so many of our interested stakeholders.”
On October 29, 2003, Grant PUD filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a new license for the Priest Rapids Project. The Final License Application requests a 50-year license and includes nearly $800 million dollars in proposed protection, mitigation and enhancement measures for the natural and cultural resources affected by the project. The application was developed through a collaborative process that involved local stakeholders, federal and state agencies and tribes. The proposal is backed by the best science available. Grant PUD’s original project license expired October 31, 2005. The project will continue to operate under an annual license issued by FERC until a final decision is made on the new license.
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