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BPA Planning Budget for Next Year for Columbia Basin Fish/Wildlife Projects Set at $302 Million by Staff Columbia Basin Bulletin, December 9, 2024

Since 1981, Fish/Wildlife costs are over $1.33 million per day.
$21.37 billion / (2023 - 1981 year) x (1 year / 365 days) = $1.394 million / day

The Bonneville Power Administration plans to spend next year $41 million more in fish and wildlife projects in the Columbia River basin than it actually spent in 2023, and five million more than what was budgeted for 2024, for which actual spending is not yet available.

BPA, a federal power agency, by law is required to fund projects under the Northwest Power and Conservation Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. The Council's program takes up most of what BPA calls "direct program expenses" for mitigation of fish and wildlife losses due to basin federal dams. Losses to salmon and steelhead account for a majority of the expense.

The agency's planning budget to cover these direct program expenses for fish and wildlife programs in the region is rising in fiscal year 2025 to more than $302 million, says Jason Sweet, Executive Manager of the Bonneville Power Administration's Fish and Wildlife Program.

Sweet briefed the Northwest Power and Conservation Council at its meeting last month in Portland. Although the budgeted FY2025 direct expenses are just 2 percent more than FY2024 when the budget was $297 million, it is considerably more than what BPA had actually spent on fish and wildlife programs in FY2023. The power marketing agency actually spent $261 million in FY2023, according to a report to Northwest Governors released in November. BPA's Fiscal Year begins October 1.

For comparison, the FY2024 budget, according to Sweet, was $324,346,736, which included $297,474,498 for direct expenses and $26,872,238 for capital. Capital projects include purchases of land and infrastructure.

Adding it all up from 1981, the inception of the Council's Fish and Wildlife Program, to the latest actual expenses of FY2023, including all of BPA's costs (lost revenue and additional power purchases to make up for fish operations at dams), expenses total more than $21.37 billion.

In 2022, Sweet told Council members that BPA would raise its fish and wildlife budget by 8.7 percent or $21 million beginning in fiscal years 2024-25. In January 2018, BPA released a strategic plan with an objective to hold agency costs at or below the rate of inflation through 2028, including the costs of its fish and wildlife program. Therefore, the agency's fish and wildlife program expenditures had remained nearly constant.

Prior to Sweet's announcement, the Council had notified BPA that its flat funding plan was degrading the region's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife program and insisted that it address the issue to protect what it called "productive work."

In a letter to the Council dated Nov. 4 this year, Sweet said that "Consistent with past practice and experience, Bonneville uses a working budget that exceeds the start of year planning budget to ensure that, overall and across the F&W Program, as much of the available annual program budget is used for project implementation as possible."

See Nov. 5, 2024 Council Memorandum

The budget funds over 300 ongoing projects, most of which have been reviewed and recommended by the Council, according to the memo. They include projects that mitigate for the impacts of hydroelectric dams to fish and wildlife in the Columbia River basin.

"Mitigation also occurs via the Council's Fish and Wildlife Program through the reimbursable program which includes the capital construction and operations and maintenance occurring on-site at the dams, as well as through actions called for in the Program that are directly implemented by the agencies that manage and operate the federal and non-federal dams, such as actions related to flow management and water quality. Those expenditures are not addressed in the direct program start of year budget," the memo states.

In addition, BPA is funding $1.8 million to repair or replace fish screens in FY2025 based on the priorities recommended by an Asset Management Subcommittee made up of BPA and Council members. Based on BPA's FY2022 financial results, $50 million of the Rates Distribution Clause was allocated to non-recurring maintenance needs of existing Fish & Wildlife mitigation assets, such as at hatcheries and for fish screens throughout the four-state region.

The assets are those that:

1. BPA anticipates would otherwise need to be addressed during future rate periods, and; will result in avoidance of those costs in future rate periods.

2. The $50 million was split evenly between the Fish and Wildlife and Lower Snake programs and are a distinct funding source separate from the Fish & Wildlife Program.

See CBB, November 30, 2023, BPA SAYS FOURTH QUARTER BOOSTED 2023 REVENUES BEYOND FORECASTS, INTENDS TO "ACCELERATE FISH AND WILDLIFE MITIGATION"

The direct and capital expenses outlined in Sweet's letter to the Council are budgeted amounts for FY2025 and FY2024, while the Report to Governors by the Council of FY2023 direct and capital expenses contains actual amounts spent during the fiscal year.

See 2023 Report on Bonneville Power Administration's Fish and Wildlife Expenditures

This is the 23rd annual report prepared for Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana governors that reviews what BPA spends to implement the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program (https://www.nwcouncil.org/fish-and-wildlife/). The report provides information about the spending in FY2023, but does not assess or comment on the data, the report says. Data is provided by Bonneville and is not independently verified by the Council.

Some $260.9 million went to direct program expenses in FY2023, but, after adding in other costs, total spending was $1,430,100,000. Of that hefty amount, additional power purchases to make up for fish operations at 14 Columbia and Snake river dams was $879.3 million and foregone revenue for spill was $89.3 million.

Given this information, since 1981 through FY2023, the region has spent $21.37 billion for fish and wildlife programs including all BPA costs, but it has spent just $5.588 billion in Council program and Accord projects.

The report notes that forgone revenue, even though it is an estimate of lost revenue, it is not an actual expenditure. Forgone revenue is defined as forgone hydropower sales revenue that results from dam operations that benefit fish but reduce hydropower generation. Bonneville's Fish and Wildlife Division considers forgone revenue a cost attributable to fish and wildlife mitigation, the report says.

Other expenditures in FY2023 are:

• $46 million to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as "Reimbursable/Direct-Funded Projects." This includes the portion of expenses BPA pays to or on behalf of other entities that is determined to be for fish and wildlife purposes.

• $30.3 million in interest payments. These "Fixed Expenses" include depreciation, amortization and interest on investments on the Corps of Engineers' projects, and amortization and interest on the investments associated with BPA's direct Fish and Wildlife Program.

• $34.9 million for the Lower Snake Compensation Plan

• $6.5 million to the Bureau of Reclamation

• $5.9 million to fund the Council

• $77 million for amortization/depreciation

Overall, $144.4 million or 53 percent of expenses were for Accord projects, $101.6 million or 37 percent were for non-accord projects, $14.8 million or 5 percent for general administrative costs and $14.7 million or 5 percent for BPA overhead. The RDC accounted for $24.5 million.

The program category that accounted for the largest chunk of expenses was the habitat program with 39 percent of expenses ($108.2 million). Other high-spending categories are research, monitoring and evaluation with 27 percent ($75.1 million) and production/supplementation with $35.6 million, 13 percent of spending.

Taking another cut at expenses in FY2023, $176,625,976 went for programs mitigating anadromous fish, $40,237,684 for resident fish, $17,233,714 for wildlife, $11,970,873 for program support, and $14,782,774 for general administrative costs. On the capital side of the ledger, $2,758,400 was for anadromous fish, $1,175,889 for resident fish and $10,715,958 was for wildlife.

About $129 million in FY2023 went to support NOAA Fisheries' 2020 Biological Opinion.

Some $36.5 million was spent on middle Columbia River steelhead, listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. That's the highest amount spent on any of the 13 listed salmon and steelhead species in the basin. Also on the high side of expenditures is Snake River steelhead at about $25.2 million and spring/summer Chinook salmon at about $25.1 million, both listed as threatened under the ESA. About $17.5 million went to bull trout, also listed as threatened.

The three species listed as endangered are upper Columbia River spring Chinook, receiving about $16 million, Snake River sockeye salmon, receiving about $8.4 million, and Kootenai River white sturgeon at about $11 million.

Projects located in Washington spent $91,412,689; spending in Idaho was $55,867,487; Oregon was $83,256,599; the ocean was $1,099,980; and Montana was $5,248,937.

Related Pages:
Corps says Report on Greenhouse Gases from Lower Snake Reservoirs Misleading by Staff, Columbia Basin Bulletin, 4/5/24