Surprising Research on Utility Companies that are Implementing Programs to Protect Fish (Salmon) on the Columbia River

Until now, I thought that all utility companies supported power generation regardless of its effect on salmon. However, in my research I have found a utility that is concerned about salmon and is currently implementing many programs to preserve and protect salmon so they can thrive in the same location humans do. The Grant County Public Utility District (PUD), located in Ephrata (Eastern) Washington, is making great strides to dissolve the nature-culture dichotomy by showing that humans have a responsibility to not only remain involved in the environment; they have a responsibility to protect it. This public utility is doing this by creating programs to protect salmon on the Columbia River.

In my research, I have been able to divide Grant County PUD projects into four main categories and several subcategories:

1. Projects that physically improve the structure and quality of streams and dams
• Funds habitat projects that benefit fish stocks on the Columbia
• Remodels stream culverts which are inefficient and harm fish
• Operates two fish ladders at each dam, to create a safe way for fish to travel upstream to spawn.
• Operates sluiceways (also known as spillways). Sluiceways allow for runoff of excess water, as well as another way for steelhead and Chinook salmon to pass through. Two sluiceways it maintains are at the Priest Rapids and Wanapum Dams.
• Runs four stations in the Priest Rapids Project Area to continually test the water quality and ensure it remains optimal for fish survival.

2. Projects that seek to maintain and increase the number of fish that live in the river
• Removes fish barriers as much as possible
• Conducts extensive research into fisheries to make sure correct and sustainable methods are being used
• Initiates a myriad of programs to protect and preserve fish, especially at their most delicate stages of life
• Currently co-funding a hatchery

3. Projects that monitor and record changes in fish populations for future reference
• Creates and assembles useful images of the upper Columbia
• Uses Passive Integrator Transponder (PIT)-tag detection equipment at fish ladders, specifically at Priest Rapids Dam, to make sure the fish ladders are operating correctly and survival rates of migrating fish are not decreasing.
• Counts the number of fish migrating through the fish ladders at the Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams. This critically important research helps Grant County PUD, Washington State, and other interest groups by providing knowledge about Columbia River salmon populations and how to better manage the river in the future.

4. Other projects
• Purchases land so it can be set aside for conservation
• Serves on the The Priest Rapids Coordinating Committee. This Committee has established objectives to increase fish populations back to sustainable harvest levels in the middle Columbia. It also brainstorms and initiates projects to combat fish mortality from pollution, overharvesting, and other causes.

My research both surprised and pleased me, because I previously thought utility companies were too invested in power generation to care about maintaining sustainable river environments for fish. But I was very wrong- Grant County Public Utility District has done just the opposite and made salmon conservation a priority. Despite all the environmental destruction going on, this one fact gives me hope that some citizens who do care about making a profit also care about preserving the environment.

Source:
Grant County Public Utility District's Website on Natural Resources: Fish, Water, and Wildlife. URL: http://www.gcpud.org/naturalResources/fishWaterWildlife/index.html

Thanks!

-Christina Heinlen