The Mid-Columbia
Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs)
For the Rocky Reach, Rock Island
and Wells Hydroelectric Projects
100% Survival Standard
The Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) are unlike any other plans ever filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or NOAA Fisheries. They provide the highest level of anadromous fish protection ever established in the nation to date for a hydropower system. The plans commit the Public Utility Districts (PUD) of Chelan and Douglas Counties, Washington to a 50-year program to ensure that the hydro projects have 100 percent "no-net-impact" on mid-Columbia salmon and steelhead runs. The no-net-impact goal means that the effect of the hydro projects will be virtually invisible to the species migrating past the dams. This ambitious level of protection will be accomplished through a combination of measures. Project survival of both juvenile and adult fish would contribute 91 percent to the goal, while off-site hatchery programs and habitat restoration and conservation work conducted in mid-Columbia tributary streams would contribute 7 percent and 2 percent respectively. The agreements protect Upper Columbia River steelhead and spring Chinook, as well as other species of salmon migrating past the dams.

Collaborative Process
The HCPs are the result of an extensive collaborative process dating back to 1993, and represent the collective wisdom and professional judgment of scientists and regional policy makers from federal and state fisheries agencies, Native American tribes and environmental organizations, in addition to the PUDs.

$112 Million Fish Passage System
An innovative, $112 million fish bypass system at the Rocky Reach Hydroelectric Project was just completed by Chelan County PUD. The new system is a key component of the PUD’s pledge to meet the 95 percent survival goal in the HCP for juvenile fish passing the dam. Designed and built after 20 years of studying fish behavior – and seven years of research with a prototype fish bypass system – biologists and engineers worked together on this one-of-a-kind fish passage system, which is tailored to the shape of the dam and river flow. Juvenile salmon and steelhead enter the system through a large surface collector on the upstream side of the dam that appeals to the natural instincts of young fish to follow river currents. They are guided into the passage pipe for a 4,600-foot trip around the dam and are then returned to the deep, fast currents in the Columbia River below the dam and away from predators.

Preliminary results are good, showing that the new fish bypass system has increased passage for all species, ranging from an increase of 20 percentage points for yearling chinook to 13 percentage points for sockeye (compared to the prototype). Total passage using the new fish passage system exceeds 60 percent of the fish for steelhead and over 50 percent for yearling chinook, both listed under ESA. The PUD feels these numbers will enable us to meet our HCP survival goals. Further refinement and work will continue to increase these promising numbers.

Conservation Award
In April 2003, Chelan County PUD received the American Fisheries Society Western Division Conservation Achievement Award for construction of the $112 million fish passage system at Rocky Reach Dam. The award recognizes the PUD for making a "significant contribution to the conservation of fishery resources" and "demonstrates that the PUD is dedicated to the protection of the natural resources entrusted to it."

For More Information
If you would like more information about the HCPs or would like to see the plans and the environmental review documents, please visit Chelan PUD’s Web site at www.chelanpud.org and click on the HCP icon. You may also call Suzanne Bacon or Tracy Yount at (509) 663-8121.

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