Shoshone-Bannock Tribes - Idaho Power

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Responses to CommentsIdaho Power CompanyRESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-63IPC is not suggesting that anadromous fish did not use the area currently blocked by the HCCand other dams. IPC in this section is stating that there is not a significant amount of writtendocumentation available that is specific to spawn timing for the fish that once occupied this area.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-64IPC does not understand this comment. This section is merely describing what is known aboutfall chinook life history and habitats.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-65Thank you for the comment. No response is required.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-66White sturgeon likely exhibited anadromy prior to development of dams in the mainstemColumbia and Snake rivers. IPC discusses this species in the license application,section E.3.1.1.3. and in Technical Report E.3.1-6. IPC acknowledges in section E.3.1.1. thatcoho salmon were in the project area downstream of the HCC. However, there is no cleardocumentation that IPC could find regarding the historical presence of coho salmon in the areanow above the HCC. IPC does not consider bull trout an anadromous species; however, IPCdiscusses this species in detail in the Exhibit E.3.1.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-67This section is referring to the historical area above the HCC, so the answer to the question is no,none of the four anadromous species are present above the HCC today. Access was blocked forthem by multiple tributary dams and the HCC. However, downstream of the HCC, all four ofthese species are present, but currently protected under the Endangered Species Act. There is noevidence that coho salmon existed upstream of the HCC.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-68This paragraph states that fall chinook were the only anadromous salmonid to spawn in themainstem Snake River, not that they were the only fish using the area.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-69The statement was specifically referring to the spawning and rearing life stages. It is realized thatthe fish used the entire river during some part of their life.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-70Comment noted.Page 58Hells Canyon Complex
Idaho Power CompanyResponses to CommentsRESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-71IPC believes that several factors preclude reestablishing fall chinook to the Snake River abovethe HCC. Much of the habitat will remain inundated by the reservoirs and is therefore no longersuitable for spawning, and the balance of the remaining habitat is highly degraded and, underpresent conditions, would not support high enough survival to sustain natural runs. In light of thepresent condition of upstream habitat and water quality, IPC contends that any efforts toreestablish anadromous fish above the HCC are premature. These habitat and water qualityconditions are the result of natural and anthropogenic influences. Efforts are underway toimprove water quality and IPC, through the draft Snake River–Hells Canyon TMDL and otherwater quality projects, is a participant in such efforts. While water quality and habitat above theHCC must improve before reintroduction of anadromous fish should be considered, it is not theonly variable that must improve before reintroduction makes sense. The populations ofanadromous fish that currently must negotiate eight downstream hydroelectric projects (ownedand operated by the federal government) and that use habitat below the HCC of good to excellentquality are exceedingly depressed and are not self-sustaining. Passing those same fish upstreamof three additional hydroelectric projects, into habitat of questionable quality, would not increasetheir abundance or sustainability or lead to recovery of the ESA-listed species; it would likelyonly complicate it. Moreover, available habitat downstream of the HCC is currently significantlyunderseeded.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-72This section is talking about historical abundance only. There is not enough information to havehigh confidence in an estimate of what historical abundance of steelhead was in the Snake River.IPC did provide an estimate based on some crude assumptions regarding steelhead.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-73This section is saying that part of the estimate for steelhead adult abundance before the HCCrelied on the return of adults to traps from juvenile outmigrants that migrated to the ocean priorto completion of the dam. It is not saying that the HCC did not impair the movements ofanadromous fish.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-74IPC has fully considered HCC impacts on anadromous fish. For a complete discussion ondevelopmental impacts of anadromous fish, see Technical Report E.3.1-2.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-75IPC relied on trapping data during the construction period of the dams to make estimates of whatthe abundance of anadromous fish was just prior to the construction of the HCC. Very littlerecords were kept on the abundance of anadromous fish in this area to make any other estimates.Hells Canyon Complex Page 59
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Shoshone-Bannock Tribes - Idaho Power

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