A Working Paper Prepared By:
James J. Anderson
Columbia Basin Research
School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
June 2001
Flow augmentation and flow targets have been central programs in Columbia River salmon management for twenty years. Over this time, water requests have increased from 3.75 MAF in 1983 when the Water Budget was established (NPPC 1983) to between 13 and 16 MAF in the 1995 and 2000 NMFS Biological Opinions (NMFS 1995a; NMFS 2000a). Over the same period, the science on the effects of flow grew from a single graph between smolt survival and Snake River flow, to a body of information involving the entire life cycle of salmon. Whereas the scientific justification of flow augmentation has become more uncertain, the management policy has become more established and simplified. This paper reviews the history of the flow survival research to provide a perspective on the evolution of the flow policy.