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Show ability of local beneficiaries to pay.13 Nonreim- bursable costs should be met by Federal and other contributions to a multiple-purpose program ac- count. Every effort should be made to identify local beneficiaries of irrigation, as well as other water development projects. Responsible benefi- ciaries, from whom a share of repayment may be sought, include: Water users, or their legally recognized govern- mental unit, such as an irrigation district. Commercial interests, directly or through a legally recognized governmental unit, such as a con- servancy district. Counties or municipalities in the project area. States or groups of States. B. Conflicts in Beneficial Use 1. Weight To Be Given Fishery Production When It Conflicts with Construction for Other Pur- poses The Problem Can the Columbia River fisheries be maintained if the river is developed for other purposes, and if not, what policy should prevail in deciding upon future developments? The Situation The construction of large dams across the main stem of the Columbia River and lower reaches of its tributaries presents a problem for the passage of anadromous fish and in the inundation of spawning grounds. Studies by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Corps of Engineers, and the States have resulted in the formulation of the Lower Columbia River Fishery Plan to improve the lower tributaries of the Columbia River for salmon spawning. This plan proposes to develop the salmon runs in the lower tributaries to the highest possible level of productivity by the removal of obstructions, abatement of pollution, screening of diversions, fishery construction, transplantation of runs, extension of artificial propagation, and establishment of fish refuges. These improvements of the lower tributaries are intended to maintain insofar as possible the level of fish productivity in the basin, in the face of greater losses likely to result 13 See chapter 6. from the construction of large dams upstream. (See figure 2.) The Bureau of Reclamation in constructing Grand Coulee Dam, and the Corps of Engineers in building Bonneville and McNary Dams and recommending others on the Columbia River fish- migration routes, have provided means thought to be capable of preserving part of the anadromous fish runs, although the cumulative effect of a num- ber of dams may be very destructive. Years will elapse before the projects proposed for future development are constructed, which will provide time for the analysis of experience in the use of fish facilities, and the effects of the Lower Columbia River Fishery Plan should be ascertained. Some of the projects which will present problems with respect to the upstream and downstream pas- sage of fish are: The Nez Perce Project on the Snake River, with a dam over 600 feet in height, would block all anadromous fish populations, not only from the upper Snake River but also from the Salmon River spawning areas. Since additional study of this problem is needed, the Department of the Interior has withheld recommendation of this important project in order that the fish migration route into the Salmon River spawning area be kept open as long as possible. The Nez Perce installations would provide nearly 5 million acre-feet of active storage space and would have an installed generating capacity of 1,650,000 kilowatts. However, the De- partment has not opposed the Hells Canyon Project, an alternate to Nez Perce, since it is located up- stream from the Salmon River confluence. The authorized Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite Projects between the mouth of the Snake River and Lewiston, Idaho, will inundate all of the spawning area in that reach of the river. Each of the four dams, about 100 feet high, would take some toll of the migrating finger- lings. It is not clear how seriously the construction of these dams would diminish the yield of an- adromous fish in the upper Snake River. The Quartz Creek Project on the McKenzie River, a tributary of the Willamette River, is one of the best potential multiple-purpose develop- ments in the Willamette Basin. Although the proj- ect was authorized by Congress, it has been dis- carded by the Corps of Engineers in favor of three small projects on tributaries of the McKenzie River, because of the strenuous opposition raised by sports fishing advocates. The alternative projects are 45 |