| OCR Text |
Show on the Columbia, Libby on the Kootenai River, and Albeni Falls on the Pend Oreille River complete the list. These projects comprise the principal elements of the main control and subbasin plans as devel- oped in the interagency comprehensive plan for the Columbia. Special Developments for Other Purposes The related programs of water development and control going forward in the Columbia Basin at the present time have been described in chapter 3. The Department of Agriculture has just initiated a study of the Columbia River Basin with the objec- tive of developing a comprehensive plan for the conservation, use, and management of watershed lands. Plans are not presently available for a co- ordinated land program within the Columbia Basin. A major program of the Fish and Wildlife Serv- ice and the States is oriented around the problem of maintaining salmon runs in the Columbia. Though fish ladders are to be installed in all dams as far up the river as Hells Canyon on the Snake, it is believed that the effects of the dams will, never- theless, cause a serious deterioration of the 17.5 mil- lion dollar annual salmon run.2 By special agree- ment between the States of Washington and Oregon and the Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee, the lower Columbia-that is, all the tributaries be- low McNaxy Dam-are to be kept open for a period of 10 years following the date of the agreement in 1947. During that period the Fish and Wild- life Service and the States will build and maintain a 20-millic«i-dollar program designed to compensate for past losses of salmon in the headwaters by in- creasing production in the lower Columbia tribu- taries. Trie Lower Columbia River Fisheries Pro- gram calls for a series of fish hatcheries on the tributaries of the lower Columbia, and channel clearing and cleaning to permit better and easier access of trie salmon to the spawning areas. To offset loss of fish runs resulting from past construction of dams, the Fish and Wildlife Service * Value as estimated by the Fish and Wildlife Service. and the States have stream improvement projects under construction on nine tributaries of the Co- lumbia between the Cowlitz River and the mouth of the Columbia, and on the Glatskanie River and its tributaries. A group of 14 waterfowl conserva- tion refuges are under construction-three each in Montana, Washington, and Oregon, four in Idaho, and one in Wyoming. The Fish and Wildlife Service also is cooperating with the States in the construction of a large number of refuges under the Pittman-Robertson Act.3 Unified Operation Plan Control and utilization of the river in a manner to meet most effectively the diverse needs of power production, irrigation, flood control, fish conserva- tion, pollution abatement, and other purposes will require a single, fully coordinated operating plan. Without it, the maximum benefits cannot be obtained from the system of multiple-purpose storage developments which will be created. This has been recognized and steps have been taken to effect operating plans and operating ar- rangements to meet the increasingly complex prob- lems of river control in the optimum over-all in- terest which will be encountered as each new multi- pje-purpose reservoir is added to the system. In- terim plans are being made annually through co- operation of the Bureau of Reclamation, Corps of Engineers, and irrigation organizations for the use of irrigation reservoirs in the interests of flood con- trol to the extent consistent with refilling schedules which will assure the availability of irrigation sup- plies. Through the Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee, plans have been developed for coordi- nating the operation of Hungry Horse Reservoir with existing downstream developments when Hungry Horse storage space is placed in operation. Study is proceeding on other phases of future opera- tions, and the Committee has a task force giving consideration to a unified river control organization for the preparation and administration of future operating plans. "Act of September 2, 1937, 50 Stat. 917, as amended, 16 U. S. G. 669-669J. 20 |
