Shoshone-Bannock Tribes - Idaho Power

Idaho Power CompanyResponses to CommentsRESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-95This comment refers to juvenile salmon and steelhead distribution dating back to the 1960s.Regardless of whether or not these past decisions to relocate fish to various drainages werecorrect, it is too late to revisit those decisions now. IPC is proposing no further fish relocation aspart of the new license application.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-96IPC does not understand the comment and therefore cannot provide a response.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-97The Snake River white sturgeon is a concern of IPC. IPC has developed a White SturgeonConservation Plan (WSCP), which is intended to serve as a master plan for guiding theimplementation of feasible mitigation measures for Snake River white sturgeon populationsimpacted by IPC’s hydroelectric projects. These measures are designed to help ensure their longtermpersistence and restore opportunities for beneficial use where feasible. This plan outlinesIPC-proposed measures and strategies for Snake River white sturgeon, from Shoshone Fallsdownstream to Hells Canyon, that IPC would implement once the WSCP were accepted and newproject licenses issued by FERC.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-98The Snake River white sturgeon is a concern of IPC. IPC has developed a White SturgeonConservation Plan (WSCP), which is intended to serve as a master plan for guiding theimplementation of feasible mitigation measures for Snake River white sturgeon populationsimpacted by IPC’s hydroelectric projects. These measures are designed to help ensure their longtermpersistence and restore opportunities for beneficial use where feasible. This plan outlinesIPC-proposed measures and strategies for Snake River white sturgeon, from Shoshone Fallsdownstream to Hells Canyon, that IPC would implement once the WSCP were accepted and newproject licenses issued by FERC.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-99A description of habitat use and suitability criteria is presented for all life stages of whitesturgeon in Technical Report E.3.1-6, Chapter 2.RESPONSE TO COMMENT SBT1-100Downstream passage of white sturgeon at several Snake River dams has been documented byrecovery of individuals (marked with PIT tags) that had been previously captured or stocked(i.e., hatchery fish) upstream. IPC has proposed translocation (i.e., capture and transport) as aneffective means of passing sturgeon upstream to reaches to rebuild population numbers indepressed reaches and/or to provide access to suitable spawning habitat. A similar approach(i.e., trawl and haul) has been used successfully by the ODFW for transporting white sturgeonamong lower Columbia River reservoirs to mitigate for lost recruitment and upstream passage.Hells Canyon Complex Page 63