April 18, 2012: 

The Bonneville Power Administration and the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority have signed a new long-term agreement that will allow additional flow shaping capability to provide safer flows for ESA-listed fish.  The new Non-Treaty Storage Agreement will use upstream reservoir storage in Canada to shape the release of water to aid migrating juvenile salmon.

The NTSA provides flexibility for BPA to reduce the flow of water from upstream reservoirs in the spring when flows are high and increase the flow of water in the summer when Columbia River flows are low.  In the spring this can help reduce flows and spill at federal dams at times when dissolved gas levels, which are caused by spill and can harm young fish, would exceed state standards at the federal dams on the Columbia.

In the driest water conditions, the agreement also allows BPA to release up to 500,000 acre-feet of additional water for fish in the spring. This water is in addition to the flows provided under the Columbia River Treaty.

BPA Administrator Steve Wright noted that the new agreement also helps produce electric power at times when it is most needed.

BPA and BC Hydro have coordinated use of non-Treaty storage space in Canada under a series of long- and short-term agreements since 1977. The term of the new agreement will extend to September of 2024.

See more about the NTSA at the BPA website.

Mica Dam and Reservoir in British Columbia, Canada.