NOAA Fisheries released a final biological opinion on May 5, 2008, on the operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System for salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act.  

NOAA Fisheries finds that with the actions in the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA), the BiOp meets the law’s requirement to protect fish and improves their prospects for recovery.  

Salmon are endangered because of problems with habitat, harvest and hatcheries as well as the hydropower system. The solution must address all these problems as well.  The RPA: 

• Identifies high performance standards for survival of juvenile fish through the dams
• Specifies hydrosystem spill and operations timed to the needs of individual species
• Expands the habitat program
• Expands the predation-management program
• Sets specific commitments and timetables for site-specific hatchery consultations and reforms  

The BiOp analysis is based on the best available science and validated by independent science reviews.

Link to NOAA Fisheries webpage with information on the 2008 FCRPS BiOp

Link to NOAA Fisheries 2008 BiOp on operation of the FCRPS 

September 15, 2009
FCRPS Adaptive Management Implementation Plan (AMIP)

Backed by sound science, strong stakeholder support and extensive outreach, the federal government today filed with a United States district court a strengthened plan to implement NOAA’s 2008 biological opinion governing operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System. The plan bolsters protection for salmon and steelhead on the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest by adding contingency measures that provide extra insurance that the fish will survive with an adequate potential for recovery.