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Power supply outlook

Chelan County PUD
News Release
3/21/2005

The forecast for runoff into the Columbia River at Grand Coulee is now at 79 percent of average and forecasts for Lake Chelan runoff have continued to drop and are  at 36 percent of normal. The Lake Chelan runoff forecast is now the lowest on record, Chelan County PUD commissioners were told Monday.

Randy Lowe, PUD power management director, said the continuing decrease in the runoff forecast will require careful managing of the PUD’s power resources from now through early fall. Even so, the District will have enough power to meet local load, Lowe said. 

“We are, from a resource picture, fairly tight from now to August through September,” he said.

Operations of the Lake Chelan Dam will be especially challenging, Lowe said. The powerhouse will continue to generate several hours a day to provide water to cover Chinook salmon spawning beds in the tailrace until the young fish emerge. However, operations will be curtailed as soon as possible to help the District meet federal license requirements for lake level by July 1.

All precipitation is important, but last weekend’s storm added only 1 percent to the overall forecast for the Lake Chelan drainage, Lowe said.

Update on two fisheries programs

A new effort is yielding good results in further reducing the number of pikeminnow in the Rocky Reach and Rock Island dam reservoirs. And the District has reached agreement with agencies and tribes on how to manage and monitor endangered  bull trout in the two reservoirs.

PUD fish biologists Steve Hemstrom and Jennifer Schoolcraft provided the update on using longline fishing in the District’s pikeminnow control program. Pikeminnow are a voracious predator of young salmon and steelhead.

A test program started March 1 has already brought in 4,542 large pikeminnow. The new program concentrates on catching pikeminnow early in the season when they are wintering deep in the Columbia River. Originally budgeted for $50,000, Fish and Wildlife staff said they will ask commission approval next week to spend $100,000 through May 1.

“It’s a double good for us,” said Hemstrom. “We’re removing big fish and a lot of fish before the little fish are moving in.”

The longline method will be added to the program started in 1994 of using fishermen from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to catch fish with rod and reel at the dams in the summer and fall. Total 2005 costs are budgeted at $355,000

Last year’s effort removed 39,100 pikeminnow from the reservoirs. Since 1994, 171,260 pikeminnow have been caught.

Hemstrom and Shaun Seaman, PUD Fish and Wildlife director, also outlined how the PUD will manage and monitor bull trout over the next four years. Annual costs are expected to be about $312,000.

PUD employees help at car accident

Substation wiremen Brad Peterson and Jim Graves were honored for help they provided to a family involved in a car accident on Stevens Pass on March 15.

Peterson, an emergency medical technician, and Graves were returning from work on the Summit Substation when they came across the accident involving a grandmother,  daughter and granddaughter. The PUD employees used their training to assess the injuries and stayed with the three victims for an hour until the ambulance could reach them from Leavenworth. All three are expected to recover.

JC Blankenship, substation superintendent, read a letter of praise from Cascade Ambulance Service.

“These men should be commended for going above and beyond to make such a difference in these peoples’ lives,” the letter said. 

In other business, commissioners:

• Received a Tree Line USA Award from the national Arbor Day Foundation. Ben Thompson with the state Department of Natural Resources presented the award. PUD forester Bill Sanborn also outlined the District’s tree trimming program, which is a major factor in the award. For safety, to improve reliability and reduce fire risk, the PUD spends between $600,000 and $700,000 a year on keeping trees out of transmission and distribution power lines. The District also supports the annual Arbor Day tree distribution, which will be held this year on April 13.
• Heard from Debbie Litchfield, treasurer and finance director, about plans to finalize a bond sale for refinancing $34.8 million in debt at lower interest rates. The sale was initiated last year, but some of the bonds couldn’t be refinanced  until April of this year.
• The refinancing will save about $1.8 million in interest costs.  
  Discussed the agenda for the PUD commission retreat scheduled April 11 and 13. The sessions will begin at 8:30 a.m. each day in the PUD Headquarters Auditorium, 327. N. Wenatchee Ave. 

** *

The next regular meeting of the PUD commission is at 1 p. m.  on March 28, 2005, in the boardroom of the Headquarters Building, 327 N. Wenatchee Ave.

The April 4 meeting was canceled because three PUD commissioners will be attending the National Hydro Association conference in Washington, D.C. 

Most PUD commission meetings are recorded, and a link to the audio is available on the PUD’s home page at www.chelanpud.org.

Kimberlee Craig
Public Information Officer
661-4320, direct line
679-6858, cell
kimc@chelanpud.org