Issue 268, March 27, 2007
In this
issue:
PNWA continues
successful advocacy for Columbia
River Jetties
Independent Economic Advisory Board
Finds Save Our Wild Salmon Report
Flawed
PNWA continues successful
advocacy for Columbia River
Jetties
During
PNWA’s recent Mission to Washington, the ongoing repairs
and potential rehabilitation of the Columbia River Jetties was a
leading topic of discussion.
PNWA has been the leading advocacy organization for the jetty
repair project, and will also take the lead as the project moves
into the rehab stage in coming
years.
Repairs
to the
Jetties: Repairs on the North Jetty
(Washington side) were completed in
2005. The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers Portland District contracted with a local firm
for the placement of 58,000 tons of stone along the most severely
damaged sections of the jetty. The average size for individual jetty
stones was about 10
tons.
The
South Jetty (Oregon side) repairs began last
year, and should be completed by October 2007. The Corps contracted for
130,000 tons of jetty stone to be placed over the 5,300-foot-long
repair area on the South Jetty. In 2006, the inland reach of
the jetty was repaired, and the seaward reach will be repaired in
2007.
Long
term
rehabilitation: While the short-term repairs
have been underway, the Corps has been simultaneously studying the
long-term rehabilitation of the jetty system. Once a long-term jetty rehab
plan is approved, funding will also need to be secured from
Congress. Some portions
of the rehab report will be ready by late summer of 2007, and the
report should be finalized by early
2008.
Recent
developments and PNWA’s FY2008
request:
The President’s FY2008 budget included $375,000 to continue work on
the major rehab study of the jetties. While we are very pleased that
funding has been included in the budget, PNWA is leading the region
in advocating for an additional $1,145,000 in the Congressional
appropriations process for this
study.
PNWA
recently amended its FY2008 appropriations request to address a
portion of the North Jetty that is experiencing continued
erosion. It is the
portion of the North Jetty that meets the land, and was not part of
the 2005 repair work.
It is not an immediate threat to channel depth or safety, but
will need to be addressed in the next year. The Corps has estimated that
the repair will require $2M in FY2008 for sand placement, and $3-5M
in FY2009 for rock.
Armed with this new information, PNWA has reflected this in
its FY2008 Energy & Water Appropriations request. Please visit
www.pnwa.net
to see PNWA’s updated document. This request has been sent
to all Northwest Congressional delegation members who sit on the
House and Senate Appropriations Committees, as well as regional
members whose districts are near the
Jetties.
PNWA’s
record of
success:
PNWA has a long history of
success in advocating for the entire Columbia Snake River System,
including the Columbia River Jetties. Our most recent
accomplishment occurred with the FY2006 Energy & Water
appropriations bill.
PNWA successfully worked with U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA) to include an additional $17M in funding for repairs at the
South
Jetty.
Two
weeks ago, over 60 PNWA members spent several days on Capitol Hill,
speaking eloquently in support of the Columbia River Jetties. PNWA’s members advocated for the jetties in
meetings with every member of the House and Senate from Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and were united in telling
the Northwest Congressional delegation of the region’s support for
this
project.
PNWA
also advocates for the jetty repair and rehab project at the
District, Division, and HQ levels of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, as well as with the Administration, in the White House
Office of Management and Budget. PNWA’s relationships with the Corps, Congress
and the White House have translated into great success for this
project.
For more information on
the Columbia River Jetties, please visit PNWA’s website at
www.pnwa.net, where you will find an
informative fact sheet that is appropriate for distributing at
meetings and to colleagues.
PNWA will continue to speak with a strong regional voice in
support of the jetty repair and rehab project, and looks forward to
continued success in attracting the necessary funding to protect
these important federal navigation infrastructure
projects.
Staff Contact:
Kristin
Meira
Independent Economic
Advisory Board Finds Save Our Wild Salmon Report
Flawed
The Northwest Power and
Conservation Council, in its Monthly Spotlight published March 26,
issued the following report. In his presentation to the Council, Dr.
Joel Hamilton summarized the IEAB's review
of the report generated by the Save Our Wild Salmon organization. He
said the IEAB found several deficiencies with the report, titled
Revenue Stream. The report contends that removing the four
lower Snake River dams would result
in substantial benefits to a recovered salmon fishery and cost
savings to the region. But, noted Hamilton, the IEAB concluded that
because of flaws in the report's analysis and methodology, it was
not a credible alternative to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers'
environmental impact statement, released in 2000. See
press
release.
This conforms with PNWA’s review of
Revenue Stream. Dam
breaching has high economic and environmental costs and questionable
benefits for fish. Breaching the Snake River dams is simply not a
credible option for rebuilding salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest.
Staff Contact:
Glenn
Vanselow
Pacific Northwest
Waterways
Association
www.pnwa.net
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