What will the Obama conservation record look like ?

TODAY'S NYTIMES:

Editorial
Salmon Test

Published: August 11, 2009

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration must notify a federal court next month whether it will do what is necessary to save endangered salmon in the Pacific Northwest. The decision will tell us a lot about how the administration sees its obligations under the Endangered Species Act. The Bush team evaded its responsibilities with amazing acts of legal casuistry.

A dozen salmon species in the Columbia River Basin have been declared endangered or threatened — their spawning grounds destroyed by logging and commercial development, and their route to the sea made more arduous by a gauntlet of hydroelectric dams.

Over the years, the Bonneville Power Administration, which runs the dams, and other agencies have unblocked spawning streams and increased water flows over the dams to help young fish reach the sea. But that has not been enough to restore what scientists regard as sustainable fish runs. And it has not been enough for James Redden, a federal district judge in Oregon who has become the salmon’s most reliable defender.

Since 2003, Judge Redden has rejected two recovery plans devised in the Clinton and Bush administrations. Both promised further habitat restoration and further modifications in dam operations. Neither, in the judge’s view, did enough to ensure the fish’s long-term survival. And while the Endangered Species Act requires that every effort be made to ensure the recovery of a species, the Bush plan promised little more than allowing the fish to go extinct at a slower rate.

Judge Redden was about to toss a second Bush plan earlier this year on some of the same grounds when the Obama administration asked for time to review it. The judge said fine, while warning that he could not accept any revision that adopted the Bush administration’s misinterpretation of the law.

Significantly, he also said that any new plan should leave all recovery options on the table, including the idea of breaching four dams on the lower Snake River. We have long recommended such a course, which many scientists see as the surest means of restoring the fish.

The judge has now given the administration 30 days to get this right. The official who will ultimately make the decision is Gary Locke, the secretary of commerce and former governor of Washington. We would be surprised if he recommended immediate breaching. Ways must be found to replace the power that the dams generate, which amounts to 4 percent of the region’s total. But he has to do better than his predecessors, otherwise Judge Redden could well place the operations of the hyrdroelectric system under court order and devise a plan of his own.

This means that at the very least Mr. Locke must reject the Bush plan, promise to devise a new one in close consultation with regional interests and keep dam removal on the table as very real backup if all else fails.

TODAY'S NYTIME

Milltown Dam Breached - Clark Fork Flows Free

From the Clark Fork Coalition

The Milltown cofferdam will be breached March 28th at 11:30 and the river will flow free for the first time in 100 years. The exact timing of the breach may change depending on conditions, and may take some time to fully occur. Click here for a map to the Milltown Bluff Overlook.

The camera is located on the north side of the confluence and aimed at the cofferdam. In preparation for the breach, an excavator will dig out a pilot channel that will direct river flow toward the cofferdam. To initiate the breach, they will raise the level of the reservoir and water will start to flow down this pilot channel toward the cofferdam. The remains of the cofferdam will wash away, and the combined flow of both rivers will flow into a temporary channel that's built where the powerhouse used to stand. The remainder of the dam (divider block, radial gate and spillway) will be demolished in late 2008 and early 2009.

Since March 21st, most of the flow of the Clark Fork is being diverted into a bypass channel (upstream of this image). The bypass routes the Clark Fork River around the contaminated sediments and prevents them from washing downstream. The river will remain in this channel until 2010, until all the contaminated sediments are removed and a new natural channel is built through the old reservoir area.

The Clark Fork Coalition is proud to host the Milltown Dam Cam. We’re grateful for partial funding from sponsors Envirocon, Montana Rail Link and Modern Machinery, but we need your help to continue to operate the camera over the life of the project.