Following the Money – Hard Work pinning down huge amounts of money

by Carilynn Rummell

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is a federal agency operating under the U.S. Department of Energy. The BPA markets wholesale electrical power from 31 federal hydro projects, one nonfederal nuclear plant and several other small nonfederal power plants. About 40 percent of the electric power used in the Northwest comes from BPA. It also operates and maintains about three-fourths of the high-voltage transmission in its service territory. It is a self-funding agency that covers its costs by selling its services wholesale at cost. BPA funds regional efforts to protect and rebuild fish and wildlife populations affected by hydropower development in the Columbia River Basin. In doing this, the BPA directly funds the agencies enforcing and regulating fishing laws. BPA also funds the fish and hatchery programs as well as the studies conducted regarding the laws to protect the fish and the programs created to perpetuate the fish species.

In Fiscal Year 2004, the Bonneville Power Administration spent a total of $493.6 million, and in Fiscal Year 2005 a total of $576.3 million, to implement the Northwest Power Planning Council’s Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. The program is designed to protect, mitigate and enhance Columbia River Basin fish and wildlife that have been affected by hydroelectric dams, perhaps negatively impacting them.

The Council’s last report on Bonneville’s fish and wildlife expenditures was current through Fiscal Year 2003. The current report includes expenditures through Fiscal Year 2005. The grand total of Bonneville’s fish and wildlife expenditures, 1978-2005, now stands at $7.802 billion. Expenditures are provided by Bonneville for this report and are not separately verified by the Council. Here, in descending order, is a breakdown of the expenditures, which are detailed further in the Appendix of this report:

• $2,740,300,000 ($191.0 million in 2004 and 110.8 million in 2005) for power purchases to meet load requirements in response to required river operations that reduce hydropower generation.

• $1,571,700,000 ($137.9 million in 2004 and $135.8 million in 2005) for the Council’s direct program. The 2004 and 2005 totals are for direct expenditures only and do not include annual expenditures from the separate capital investment budget. With capital expenditures added, total direct-program spending for 2004 is $146.4 million, and for 2005 the total is $148.0 million.

For the period 2001-2004, direct program expenditures included a total of $16,000,000 ($400,000 in 2004 and zero in 2005) in one-time expenditures for “high priority” and “action plan” projects. These are included in the total above. The high-priority projects were intended to bring immediate benefits to all species listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act in advance of sub-basin planning (sub-basin plans were submitted to the Council in 2004 and adopted into the fish and wildlife program in 2004 and 2005). The “action plan” projects were intended to bring immediate benefits to ESA listed salmon and steelhead that were affected by altered hydropower dam operations in the spring and early summer of 2001, when the flow of the Columbia River was at a near-record low.

Sorted by type of species, total (1978-2005) expenditures to implement the direct program are $1,306,861,461 ($96,206,584 in 2004 and $101,172,351 in 2005) on anadromous fish projects; $219,612,570 ($18,899,368 in 2004 and $20,236,591 in 2005) on resident fish projects, and $175,567,671 ($10,659,908 in 2004 and $13,278,339 in 2005) on wildlife projects.

• $1,381,500,000 ($21.7 million in 2004 and $182.1 million in 2005) in forgone revenue, the calculated value of hydropower that could not be generated because of required river operations to assist fish passage and improve fish survival, such as water spills at the dams.

• $1,246,300,000 ($85.4 million in 2004 and $89.7 million in 2005) in fixed expenses for bonds issued by Bonneville to pay for capital investments in fish-passage facilities at the dams.

• $801,600,000 ($57.2 million in 2004 and $57.9 million in 2005) to reimburse the U.S. Treasury for the power-generation share of other federal agency expenditures to mitigate the impact of hydropower on fish and wildlife. Primarily these reimbursements are paid to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for efforts to improve fish and wildlife survival apart from the Council’s program, such as operation and maintenance of fish passage facilities and federal fish hatcheries.

Fishery Harvest

Enforcement has been the primary focus of the BPA-funded program. In 1978, the National Marine Fisheries Service, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon State Police, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Idaho Department of Fish and Game formed the Columbia Basin Law Enforcement Council (CBLEC). CBLEC was formed so the regional fisheries enforcement agencies would have a forum in which to coordinate fisheries enforcement on the Columbia River. CBLEC membership consisted of command personnel from each of the participating agencies. In 1983, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission’s Enforcement Department joined CBLEC. From 1978 until the fall of 1991, coordination and levels of enforcement were severely restricted due to a shortage of enforcement resources.
In the summer of 1991, CBLEC, working in partnership with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), collectively prepared and submitted law enforcement henadling proposals to the BPA. The impetus for initiating these proposals was to provide addendum tiding to participating CBLEC agencies for the purpose of enhancing enforcement capabilities throughout the Columbia Basin.

The BPA funding provided each participating agency with: sophisticated electronic and surveillance equipment (e.g., night vision, radio-tracking, and FLIR);specialized vehicles and boats; airplanes; weapons; data management systems; communications; back country gear; and field stations—that were not previously attainable due to inadequate enforcement funding.

In the fall of 1991, the BPA provided “startup” tinding that would initiate a three-year BPA funded, enhanced law enforcement program. This addendum tinding gave the law enforcement agencies the needed resources to significantly increase enforcement efforts throughout the Columbia Basin. The goal of the project was to provide additional protection for critically depleted stocks that were listed, or proposed for listing, under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The BPA finding has allowed agencies to significantly increase the numbers of personnel in the field, purchase needed equipment and initiate a proactive public education program for the purpose of increasing the overall effectiveness of enforcement throughout the Columbia Basin. The program was intended to provide a highly visible enforcement presence with the professional capabilities of deterring and detecting violations and arresting offenders. The BPA project was initiated on the premise of “preventative law enforcement” as the best possible methodology for protecting a depleted resource. The program was intended to be aggressive enough to prevent violations from occurring, and over a period of time, promote “voluntary compliance.”

Fifteen years later have the runs improved? Has a trend toward compliance happened? As more question arise this series continues, looking for answers and solutions to the depletion of fish and fisheries on the Columbia River.

Related articles: Fighting the Odds: Fishing on the Columbia River
Following the Money – Hard Work Tracking Down Huge Amounts of Money
$8 Billion for Fish, Fishing or the agencies monitering it all?

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