Annual water management meeting May 10

Libby area residents have until the end of the month to comment on a final environmental impact statement about a Libby Dam operation change, which includes spilling water.

However, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled its annual Libby Dam water management meeting for Wednesday, May 10, in the Ponderosa Room at Libby City Hall. The meeting begins at 7 p.m.

Late last fall, the Corps released a draft EIS on implementing VarQ, a water management regiment developed to increase the likelihood of Lake Koocanusa refilling every year and water being available for downstream endangered fish.

However, the EIS includes spilling 10,000 cubic-feet per second in addition to the full powerhouse releases of 25,000 cfs from Libby Dam for up to two weeks for endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon.

In the recently released biological opinion for the sturgeon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tells the Corps and the Bonneville Power Administration that the spill is needed in three out of the next 10 years and preferably three out of the next four years, if water conditions allow.

A handful of Libby residents are threatening to sue the Corps, as is the State of Montana according to Bruce Measure, one of the state's representatives to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. The state's concern is that the VarQ and the proposed spill identified in the EIS and the sturgeon bi-op would harm resident fish in both Lake Koocanusa and the Montana reach of the Kootenai River below the dam.

The final EIS lists the following "unavoidable adverse impacts":

* Possible flooding under any of the alternatives since Libby Dam cannot prevent flooding under all circumstances;

* Increased likelihood of forced spill because the VarQ operating calls for Lake Koocanusa to not be drawn down so low during the winter months;

* Reduction in recreational use and access along Lake Koocanusa, and reduction in swimming and shore fishing days on the Kootenai River downstream of Libby Dam.

* Spill from Libby Dam of up to 10,000 cfs for 14 days could cause total dissolved gas saturations up to 130 percent below the dam, which is in violation of federal and state clean water laws.

The sturgeon releases are triggered late in the spring when the river temperature reached 50-53 degrees and are designed to mimic the historic spring runoff before the dam was constructed in the early 1970s.

Following on the heels of the sturgeon flows, Libby Dam is managed for endangered salmon in the lower Columbia River system. Releases ranging from 16,000 to 19,000 cfs last until late August. The State of Montana has tried to argue to extending those releases at lower levels until the end of September to protect habitat for aquatic insects and fish, as well as make the river more approachable from shore to recreationists.

Property owners along the river are concerned about the increased likelihood of forced spill after it occurred in 2003. The Corps, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks have agreed to a 2,000 cfs spill as an experiment to measure impacts on downstream fish. Unexpected runoff from Canada forced the Corps to release 16,000 cfs from the spillway pushing the river to 41,000 cfs immediately below the dam. The river rose high enough to erode landscaped riverbanks and create seepage problems for some property owners.

Comments on the VarQ EIS may be mailed directly to Evan Lewis, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, P.O. Box 3755, Seatttle, Wash. 98124-3755 or fax him at (206) 764-4470 or e-mail comments to uceis@usace.army.mil no later than May 30, 2006.

Engineers, P.O. Box 3755, Seatttle, Wash. 98124-3755 or fax him at (206) 764-4470 or e-mail comments to uceis@usace.army.mil no later than May 30, 2006.