Idaho Power Co. has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to compel the federal agency to act on the utility's request to allow warmer water temperatures in the Snake River near the company's Hells Canyon hydroelectric complex.
The area of the Snake River below the Hells Canyon dam is an important spawning area for fall Chinook salmon, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The EPA set a lower water temperature in that stretch of the river to protect the fish during their spawning period; the state of Idaho in 2012 proposed a new temperature standard for the area that would allow warmer water in the spawning grounds for a brief period during the fall months and is still awaiting a response from the EPA.
The temperature of water coming out of the dam is a key hurdle remaining in the company's quest to secure a new long-term license for the Hells Canyon hydroelectric complex, Idaho Power said on June 7.
"The EPA has intentionally delayed action on Idaho's site-specific standard as a means of delaying and effectively disapproving the standard for reasons that Congress did not intend EPA to consider when acting on state water quality standards," the lawsuit filed on June 6 with the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho said.
The Hells Canyon complex comprises three hydroelectric projects spread over 38 miles of the Snake River: the 744.6-MW Brownlee, 221.5-MW Oxbow and 447-MW Hells Canyon facilities. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued the original license, which lasts for 50 years, for the three dams in 1955, and the last dam went online in the late 1960s. The original license expired in 2005 and the Hells Canyon complex has been operating under annual licenses since that time.
Two warmer weeks
The IDACORP Inc. subsidiary said the lawsuit is necessary to preserve its legal options concerning specific temperature standards for water coming out of the Hells Canyon dam. Under the EPA regulations, the water temperature falls each year from Oct. 23 through mid-April, while the fish are spawning, from 19 degrees C, or 66.2 degrees F, to 13 C, or 55.4 F. Under the proposed change filed by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality with the EPA in 2012, the temperature standard would drop from 19 C to 14.5 C, or 58.1 F, on Oct. 23 each year and then to 13 C on Nov. 6.
Idaho Power spokesman Brad Bowlin said the change could save an estimated $50 to $100 million over the course of 50 years while still ensuring the health of the native fish. Idaho Power must also obtain water quality certifications from Idaho and Oregon in order to renew the operating license. As part of that effort, the company has developed a mitigation program to reduce the impacts on aquatic wildlife. The mitigation measures include narrowing and deepening key stretches of the River, allowing the water to run deeper and faster — and thus stay cooler — and enhancements along tributaries to plant native trees and re-direct livestock to reduce the degradation of the watershed.
While the company takes seriously its responsibility to protect the fish, Bowlin said, the 13 C standard is more restrictive than required, and Idaho Power also has an obligation to shield customers from unnecessary costs. Idaho Power said the Clean Water Act requires the EPA to respond to the state's proposal within 60 days if approving or 90 days if denying the standard. The agency has yet to act on the proposal.
A representative for the EPA did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
