[8] Hydro BiOp Remand Extended At Least Through Next July

Oregon District Court Judge James Redden last week granted a motion by the federal government to extend the timeline for completion of the hydro BiOp from Feb. 7 to July 31, 2007.

Federal attorneys said the extra time was needed for action agencies to prepare a biological assessment, NOAA Fisheries to write the draft BiOp and share it with fish and wildlife managers before a final version would be completed. They said they might even need more time.

Plaintiff environmental and fishing groups did not object to the extension. In fact, they said it was likely that even more time would be needed for them to prepare an adequate response to the draft BiOp.

Redden also extended the timeline for the feds to complete their next status report on the remand process to Feb. 2, 2007. Last Friday, the judge issued a scheduling order that calls for any motions for injunctive relief to be filed by January 19. Some parties to the litigation have expected that plaintiff environmental and fishing groups would ask for more changes to hydro operations.

It was reported that some plaintiff groups may ask for changes to reservoir operations that lower elevations to improve water particle passage time, which they say improves fish survival. In June, 2005, they won a partial victory by getting Redden to agree to add $67 million in spill at dams to help ESA-listed fall chinook, but the judge balked at ordering more flow augmentation, saying that the science was still unclear about its benefits for fish. -B. R.

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