P.O. Box 382
Trout Lake, WA 98650
info@friendsofthewhitesalmon.org
Trout Lake, WA 98650
info@friendsofthewhitesalmon.org
| Copyright Friends of the White Salmon River. All rights reserved. |
Friends of the White Salmon River
Nevertheless, the removal of this dam will be
historic and the thought of a free-flowing river only
one Columbia River dam (and a lot of sea lions)
away from the Pacific Ocean is thrilling.
It appears, from recent experience with the removal
of the Marmot Dam on the Sandy River, the removal
of the Hemlock Dam on Trout Creek in Skamania
County, that the rivers themselves move the
sediment along very quickly after dam removal, and
that the fish waste no time exploring and using the
new habitat.
Condit removal has one particularly interesting
feature. Rainbow trout, which are genetically
identical to steelhead, have been tagged above
Condit for research purposes. Two of those tagged
fish have been found downstream from Condit, one
dead in an area where a lot of tern feed near Astoria
Oregon, at the mouth of the Columbia, and one
moving upstream over Bonneville Dam, indicating
that it had made the trip to the ocean and was
returning to its spawning place. Condit was built
very rapidly in 1913, and presumable many salmon
were trapped above the dam. Some of these appear
to have adapted to a fresh water existence, but may
be ready to adapt once again to an anadromous life
cycle, thereby providing one of the few truly native
species not affected by hatchery work.
The best source for factual information about the
Condit Dam removal project is the website
maintained by PacifiCorp, the owner of the dam.
PacifiCorp has posted a large quantity of
information, including the Settlement Agreement, a
history of the project, sediment reports, all the
management plans that have been prepared as part
of the Environmental Impact Statement process,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
documents, and much more.
Here are the links for this information:
Overview of the relicensing/decommissioning
process and history:
http://www.pacificorp.com/Article/Article46835.html
Information regarding the Settlement Agreement,
including the text of the 1999 agreement, the 2005
update, background information, and a list of
signatories. Condit Settlement Agreement, which is
the agreement between PacifiCorp and numerous
other parties agreeing to dam removal.
http://www.pacificorp.com/Article/Article46830.html
historic and the thought of a free-flowing river only
one Columbia River dam (and a lot of sea lions)
away from the Pacific Ocean is thrilling.
It appears, from recent experience with the removal
of the Marmot Dam on the Sandy River, the removal
of the Hemlock Dam on Trout Creek in Skamania
County, that the rivers themselves move the
sediment along very quickly after dam removal, and
that the fish waste no time exploring and using the
new habitat.
Condit removal has one particularly interesting
feature. Rainbow trout, which are genetically
identical to steelhead, have been tagged above
Condit for research purposes. Two of those tagged
fish have been found downstream from Condit, one
dead in an area where a lot of tern feed near Astoria
Oregon, at the mouth of the Columbia, and one
moving upstream over Bonneville Dam, indicating
that it had made the trip to the ocean and was
returning to its spawning place. Condit was built
very rapidly in 1913, and presumable many salmon
were trapped above the dam. Some of these appear
to have adapted to a fresh water existence, but may
be ready to adapt once again to an anadromous life
cycle, thereby providing one of the few truly native
species not affected by hatchery work.
The best source for factual information about the
Condit Dam removal project is the website
maintained by PacifiCorp, the owner of the dam.
PacifiCorp has posted a large quantity of
information, including the Settlement Agreement, a
history of the project, sediment reports, all the
management plans that have been prepared as part
of the Environmental Impact Statement process,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
documents, and much more.
Here are the links for this information:
Overview of the relicensing/decommissioning
process and history:
http://www.pacificorp.com/Article/Article46835.html
Information regarding the Settlement Agreement,
including the text of the 1999 agreement, the 2005
update, background information, and a list of
signatories. Condit Settlement Agreement, which is
the agreement between PacifiCorp and numerous
other parties agreeing to dam removal.
http://www.pacificorp.com/Article/Article46830.html
Friends of the White Salmon (FWSR) has been
involved in the Condit Dam removal process since it
began in 1991, when PacifiCorp filed for relicensing
of the dam. FWSR has been involved as an early
commenter of the relicensing application, as a party
to the Settlement Agreement negotiations and as a
signatory to the Agreement. We have also made
numerous comments on agency actions through the
years since 1991.
We rely on and cooperate with other signatories,
such as American Rivers, American Whitewater,
Friends of the Columbia Gorge and others, but we
also represent a uniquely local perspective on
Condit issues. In particular, we are concerned
about two aspects not covered by the Settlement
Agreement but of great important locally – what will
happen to the land that is owned by PacifiCorp in the
area of the dam and what will happen with the very
large and very senior water right owned by
PacifiCorp.
Removal is planned to take place in the fall when
the smallest number of anadromous fish will be in
the river below the dam. Fish below the dam will be
trapped and held out of the river during the period of
highest flow following dam breaching. They will
then be returned to the river, probably within a day of
breaching.
Our current (November 2009) estimate is that dam
removal will occur in the fall of 2011. PacifiCorp
needs to have all permits in place nine months
before the removal date, which would mean having
permits in place by January 2010 for removal in fall
2010.
We are very much looking forward to the day the
dam comes out, although we understand that there
is some loss involved for the local community, such
as the loss of Northwestern Lake behind the dam,
and that there will be problems to be solved after
dam removal, such as how the very important river
recreation activities will co-exist with spawning
salmon. Removal will mean extra attention to water
quality and shorelines protection, which is not
always without controversy. We also have a great
deal of respect for the skill and energy that went into
building the dam, as seen through PacifiCorp
archival pictures. It was an amazing feat.
involved in the Condit Dam removal process since it
began in 1991, when PacifiCorp filed for relicensing
of the dam. FWSR has been involved as an early
commenter of the relicensing application, as a party
to the Settlement Agreement negotiations and as a
signatory to the Agreement. We have also made
numerous comments on agency actions through the
years since 1991.
We rely on and cooperate with other signatories,
such as American Rivers, American Whitewater,
Friends of the Columbia Gorge and others, but we
also represent a uniquely local perspective on
Condit issues. In particular, we are concerned
about two aspects not covered by the Settlement
Agreement but of great important locally – what will
happen to the land that is owned by PacifiCorp in the
area of the dam and what will happen with the very
large and very senior water right owned by
PacifiCorp.
Removal is planned to take place in the fall when
the smallest number of anadromous fish will be in
the river below the dam. Fish below the dam will be
trapped and held out of the river during the period of
highest flow following dam breaching. They will
then be returned to the river, probably within a day of
breaching.
Our current (November 2009) estimate is that dam
removal will occur in the fall of 2011. PacifiCorp
needs to have all permits in place nine months
before the removal date, which would mean having
permits in place by January 2010 for removal in fall
2010.
We are very much looking forward to the day the
dam comes out, although we understand that there
is some loss involved for the local community, such
as the loss of Northwestern Lake behind the dam,
and that there will be problems to be solved after
dam removal, such as how the very important river
recreation activities will co-exist with spawning
salmon. Removal will mean extra attention to water
quality and shorelines protection, which is not
always without controversy. We also have a great
deal of respect for the skill and energy that went into
building the dam, as seen through PacifiCorp
archival pictures. It was an amazing feat.
CONDIT UPDATE