Did You Know...

. . . the Rocky Reach and Rock Island Habitat Conservation Plans make two hydropower dams virtually invisible to fish by establishing a standard of 100-percent no net impact for salmon and steelhead? At the same time, flexibility in how to meet fish survival goals ensures that Chelan County PUD, in the state of Washington, can continue to generate power for the region at its two main hydropower projects.

The Rocky Reach and Rock Island Anadromous Fish Agreements and Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) were developed in cooperation with federal and state resource agencies and tribes. The HCPs established a standard of 100-percent no net impact for salmon and steelhead species migrating past the project.

The Rocky Reach and Rock Island projects on the Columbia River represent two of Chelan County's three hydroelectric dams (the third is on Lake Chelan). The Rocky Reach Project is approximately 1,280 MW while the Rock Island Project is about 624 MW. The dams are run-of-river projects. Electricity generated at the Rocky Reach Project avoids about 918,000 metric tons of carbon emissions that might otherwise be produced by fossil fuels; approximately half as much emission is avoided by Rock Island operations.

Source: National Hydropower Association, www.outstandingrivers.org.

(reprinted from the USSD Newsletter, July 2005, page 3)