Spokane River and Waterfalls headed to Court
Sierra Club
Press Release
July 9, 2008
Subtitle: River Advocates challenge State for favoring Avista Corporation over River, community
Spokane – Sierra Club and Center for Environment Law and Policy (CELP) announced that they have appealed the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) 401 Certification for Spokane River dams as favoring Avista Corporation over the Spokane River. The 401 Certification, a special environmental permit, locks in management of four of Avista’s Spokane River dams for the next 30-50 years.“The State had years to study the impacts of the dams, but did almost nothing,” said Rick Eichstaedt, attorney with the Center for Justice, which represents Sierra Club and CELP. “The 401 Certification is a a plan to do more planning – to ‘kick the can down the road’ and abdicate its responsibility to the Spokane River, Spokane Falls, and our community.
The challenge of the State’s decision raises five major issues:
* Inadequate water flows for historic Upper Spokane Falls
* Failure to control in-river dumping of polluted sediment from behind Monroe Street Dam
* Inadequate water flows for the River’s native redband trout — descendants of the river’s historic steelhead populations that comprise Spokane’s unique urban fishery
* Failure to correct dissolved oxygen problems in Lake Spokane caused by Long Lake Dam
* Excessive reliance on future plans, studies and adaptive management without public oversight or assurance that water quality problems will improve
“The State has betrayed the public trust responsibility in the Spokane River,” said Rachael Paschal Osborn of CELP and Sierra Club. “Internal documents reveal that Avista Corporation actually drafted parts of the permit for the state. The real losers are the fish and wildlife, the beauty of Spokane waterfalls, and our community. We intend to fight this decision and defend the Spokane River and Waterfalls.”Under the federal Clean Water Act, states are authorized to impose mandatory conditions on federal dam licenses. Avista’s request for a new license to operate its Spokane River dams triggered the opportunity for Ecology to impose mandatory conditions to protect water quality, native fisheries, and the scenic beauty of the River.
The Spokane River was once one of the richest salmon fisheries in the Pacific Northwest. Spokane Falls was a gathering place for native peoples for thousands of years and the reason the City of Spokane Falls (now Spokane) was founded. Avista’s dams extirpated salmon and continue to harm remaining fisheries, aggravate pollution problems, and dewater Spokane’s signature waterfalls.
Avista’s dams on the Spokane River were built between 1890 and 1922, and generate only 137 megawatts of power (compared to 697 megawatts generated by Avista’s two Clark Fork dams). The adverse impacts of the Spokane River dams are far out of proportion to the benefits.
“The State of Washington had a choice between the Spokane River and Avista Corporation,” said Osborn. “The State clearly sided with corporate interests over the community.”
Sierra Club Upper Columbia River Group and the Center for Environmental Law and Policy are represented by the Center for Justice. This river and waterfall appeal is filed with the Washington State administrative court, the Pollution Control Hearings Board. The trial on the future of the Spokane River and Spokane Waterfalls will be held in mid-2009.