Environment Seattle City Light and federal fisheries agency still at loggerheads over fish

After three years of negotiations, there remains some distance between Seattle City Light and state and federal regulators over what the utility must do to improve operations at its upper Skagit River hydropower dams to enhance conditions for salmon — including the threatened chinook species.

Empowered by law to enforce the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) wants City Light to do more to improve conditions on the Skagit River for fish. So far, City Light has held to its preference for the status quo, with dam operations continuing they were under the current license from 1995, which expires in 2025. Salmon runs in 1995 were already far below the averages before the three dams were built.

Meanwhile, it is possible that a lawsuit filed Aug. 2 by the National Hydropower Association against NMFS might offer City Light a bigger bargaining chip. The lawsuit, joined by the Northwest Hydropower Association, accuses the federal agency of creating a standard for ESA compliance that goes beyond congressional intent.

The hydropower associations say they are filing the lawsuit on behalf of their members. City Light is a member of both groups. A key point City Light noted in its March 15 response to a NMFS letter is that the federal agency has shifted the definition of what it considers “reasonable and prudent measures” to protect threatened fish species. City Light says the new standard is tougher to meet and that it exceeds what Congress intended in passing the ESA.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/08/22/seattle-city-light-and-federal-fisheries-agency-still-at-loggerheads-over-fish/