K.C. Mehaffey 
December 18, 2025

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council released a draft of its 2026 Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Program on Dec. 17 that includes more detailed objectives for hydropower operations than ever before.

The draft program, if implemented, would prioritize spill to 125 percent of total dissolved gas for 24 hours a day from April to the middle of June. It also calls for consistent spill operations from mid-June to Aug. 1 at the lower Snake River dams and through Aug. 15 at the lower Columbia River dams.

However, the draft program does not call for extending the summer spill season to the end of August, as some salmon managers had requested.

The draft document also proposes to minimize ramp rates and daily flow fluctuations on the lower Columbia and Snake rivers during the spring and summer salmon migration period but allows for fluctuations during times of the year when fewer juvenile fish are migrating downstream.

The draft document comes nearly a year after the NWPCC called for recommendations from the region’s fish and wildlife managers and the public on how to amend the 44-year-old program developed to “protect, mitigate, and enhance” fish and wildlife affected by the basin’s hydro system.

This part of the amendment process includes a 75-day comment period through March 2, along with public hearings in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

And while the section on main-stem hydro-system flow and passage operations is only part of a much larger document, it’s sure to be one of the best-read chapters, given the revived lawsuit over Columbia River System Operations, and a pending motion for injunctive relief (Clearing Up No. 2232).

Some of the same measures sought in the injunction are included in the proposed new program, while others are not.

“One of our big program goals is to improve juvenile fish passage survival and adult fish migration through the hydro system,” Patty O’Toole, director of the Council’s Fish and Wildlife Division, said during a Sept. 17 press conference announcing the release of the draft F&W Program, which is amended every five years.

O’Toole noted that—based on recommendations from the region—the hydropower system got additional attention during this program amendment process.

“What we have observed is that things change every few years either based on litigation or planning. And it’s really hard to get a long-term data series going to really understand—Are we having an impact? Is it headed in the right direction? So, consistency is something this program really calls for,” she said.

O’Toole noted that more attention was paid to the Council’s goal of keeping water moving downstream, through the hydro system and to the ocean, which is correlated with faster migration and higher survival rates for juvenile salmon and steelhead.

But in addition to protecting fish, another important role of the Council is to develop a Northwest Power Plan to ensure an adequate, efficient, economical and reliable power supply, O’Toole noted. “We work on both sides of the equation,” she said.

Jennifer Light, director of the Council’s Power Division, said implementing operations to benefit fish and wildlife while also making sure the region has a reliable and affordable power is “really the heart of where the Council’s work overlaps.”

She said implementation of the F&W Program has, over the years, reduced hydropower generation by about 1,200 aMW, or about 10 percent of the system.

That loss of power was incremental, and the power system adjusted largely with energy-efficiency programs. Light said the Bonneville Power Administration has acquired more than 2,500 aMW through efficiency since the 1980s, which has helped meet load growth and address the fish and wildlife mitigation obligation.

The next power plan seeks to incorporate some of the operations that some salmon managers believe will improve survival through the hydro system.

Light said that the draft 2026 F&W Program emphasizes the need to minimize fluctuations when juvenile salmon are moving through the system, but provides for more flexibility in fluctuations during other times of the year.

She explained, “Having the river bounce up and down isn’t great for fish, particularly as they’re trying to migrate downriver.”

While higher spill and reduced fluctuations were recommended by salmon managers from state and Native American tribal agencies, not all of their requests made it into the draft F&W Program.

At the NWPCC’s Dec. 16 meeting, Council member Margaret Hoffmann, who represents Oregon, said she was concerned that a key recommendation by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and other salmon managers to elevate levels of spill through Aug. 31 was not incorporated into the draft F&W Program.

“The Northwest Power Act directs the Council to solicit and give weight to comments from tribal, state and federal fish and wildlife managers,” she noted, adding, “I just want to state for the record at this time, as I did during the November meeting, that I fully support the recommendation from our fish experts.”

Washington state members KC Golden and Les Purce expressed support for her comments.

The draft calls for using in-season management to change when summer spill is reduced, based on when the bulk of subyearling salmonid juveniles have passed McNary Dam, or have yet to pass.

It also calls for implementing a consistent summer spill operation with elevated levels of spill from mid-June through Aug. 1 at the lower Snake River dams and through Aug. 15 at the lower Columbia River dams.

“The [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] and Bonneville can and should reduce spill to spillway maintenance levels when needed to avert significant power system reliability events, using existing power system emergency protocols,” the draft F&W Program says.

Light said operations for spill and reduced spring and summer fluctuations in the draft F&W Program have been included in planning for The 9th Northwest Regional Power Plan, a draft of which is expected by mid-2026.

The 2026 Fish and Wildlife Program is expected to be finalized prior to release of the draft power plan, she said. “We’re looking at how to make sure we meet all the future load growth needs while maintaining these operations going forward,” she said.

Once adopted, the final 2026 F&W Program will replace the 2014 program and the 2020 addendum.

The new hydro operations, if implemented, would begin in 2027, she added.

NewsData: Draft F&W Program Calls for Consistent Spill, Steady Flows