Updated EIS sought for Columbia River dams

PRIEST RIVER — Government agencies are preparing an updated environmental impact statement on the system operation and maintenance of 14 dams in the interior Columbia River basin.

The analysis will include the Albeni Falls Dam on the Pend Oreille River and Libby Dam on the Kootenai River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation are conducting to the review under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The agencies intend to use the EIS process to assess and update their approach for longterm systems operation and configuration through the analysis of operational alternatives and evaluation of potential effects to human and natural environments, including effects to socioeconomics and species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

“You can see that this is a massive undertaking,” A. Scott Lawrence, a corps spokesman, said during a recent Albeni Falls operations update in Sandpoint.

The agencies will be hosting 15 public scoping meetings this fall and winter, two of which be held in the Panhandle.

One meeting is set for Wednesday, Oct. 26, in Priest River. It starts at 4 p.m. at the Priest River Event Center on U.S. Highway 2. The other is set for Thursday, Oct. 27, in Bonners Ferry. It starts at 4 p.m. at the Kootenai River Inn.

For those unable to participate, the agencies will be hosting an online webinar on Tuesday, Dec. 13. Instructions on how to participate can be found online (wwww.crso.info).

The deadline to submit written comments on the EIS is Jan. 17, 2017. However, the agencies will requests for comment period extensions if they are received no later than Dec. 1, according to a notice of intent to prepare the EIS.

Lawrence said the EIS will contemplate dam removal on the Snake River, although there are no removal plans on the Columbia.

The updated EIS will also consider the effects of climate change, such as warmer water temperatures, diminished snowpack and altered flows. The EIS will also identify measures to avoid, offset or minimize impacts to resources by system operations where feasible.

Written comments are to be directed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwest Division, Attn: CRSO EIS, P.O. Box 2879, Portland, OR. 97208-2870. Submit online comments to comment@crso.info. For further information, call 800-290-5033 or visit www.crso.info.