Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia Basin Project usa final Report: November 2000

GCD and CBP: Trade-offs Between Regional Development, Equity, and the 
Environment 
 
Trade-offs also exist between regional development and objectives related to equity and the 
environment. This is clearly shown by the way GCD affected indigenous peoples in the upper 
Columbia River Basin. In the view of many Native Americans and members of First Nations in 
Canada, GCD was nothing short of catastrophic. For them, the project had a disastrous affect on the 
continuance of their culture. In our interviews, Native Americans and members of First Nations 
highlighted the importance of Kettle Falls and other fishing areas as places where different tribes came 
together to enhance mutual understanding, share language and stories, and continue rituals and other 
traditions. These opportunities were lost after GCD blocked the runs of salmon to the upper Columbia 
River. 
 
There is no calculation procedure that allows a balancing of these negative social impacts and cultural 
losses against the substantial regional development benefits that the US Northwest has enjoyed as a 
result of GCD and CBP. Today, US citizens rely on an open planning process tied to NEPA to help 
decision-makers become aware of trade-offs: how much of one objective, such as the quality of the 
environment, must be sacrificed when attempting to augment another, such as regional development. 
However, nothing equivalent to NEPA existed at the time that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt 
and his administrators decided to proceed with construction of GCD. Moreover, even the open 
planning prescribed by NEPA has limitations. For example the NEPA process does not necessarily 
address the consequences of unequal power among stakeholders, a problem that still plagues the 
anadromous fish recovery and recreational jurisdiction issues associated with GCD and CBP. 
 
Effects on Native Americans and First Nations are not the only ones that would be questioned in 
gauging the development effectiveness of GCD and CBP using contemporary criteria. The effects on 
salmon and steelhead upstream of the dam would also be called into question, primarily because the 
placement of GCD constituted an irreversible commitment to eliminate anadromous fish in the 
hundreds of miles of habitat upstream of the dam. The fish mitigation programme implemented in the 
late 1930s and early 1940s also had an irreversible impact: the hatchery and transplantation elements of 
GCFMP constituted the irreversible elimination of the wild stocks of salmon and steelhead in the mid-
Columbia River tributaries. 
 
The observations in this section about the history of decision-making criteria used by federal resources 
development agencies during the 20th-century in America help put the discussion by stakeholders of 
the draft version of our report in perspective. After nearly 60 years of project operations, those who 
have benefited from GCD and CBP have, quite naturally, become focused on maintaining the 
advantages they have enjoyed as a result of the project — mainly low-cost irrigation water, low-cost 
electricity, and benefits from flood control and recreation. At the same time, groups that were 
disadvantaged by the project (ie, Native Americans and First Nations), are continuing their struggles to 
obtain compensation for what they perceive as broken promises and grave injustices of the past). It is 

Grand Coulee Dam and Columbia Basin Project 
 
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This is a working paper prepared for the World Commission on Dams as part of its information gathering activities. The views, conclusions, 
and recommendations contained in the working paper are not to be taken to represent the views of the Commission 
 
possible that individuals who gain or lose from future water resources projects will be just as tenacious 
in defending their gains or seeking compensation for their losses many years after basic project 
decisions have been made.
 

Grand Coulee Dam and Columbia Basin Project 
 
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This is a working paper prepared for the World Commission on Dams as part of its information gathering activities. The views, conclusions, 
and recommendations contained in the working paper are not to be taken to represent the views of the Commission 
 
Contents 
 
Acronyms and Abbreviations ........................................................................................................... xxx 
1. 
The World Commission on Dams Global Case Study Programme ........................................1 
2. 
Context and Scope of the Grand Coulee Dam and Columbia Basin Project Case Study .....3 
2.1  Major Features of the Columbia River Basin ................................................................................3 
2.2  Objectives and Components of GCD and CBP .............................................................................3 
2.3  Major Design Characteristics and Time Schedule for Implementation.........................................7 
2.3.1  Attributes of the Grand Coulee Dam .............................................................................................7 
2.3.2  Description of the Columbia Basin Project ...................................................................................9 
2.3.3  Timing of Construction................................................................................................................11 
3. 
Projected and Actual Impacts of the Grand Coulee Dam and Columbia Basin Project ....14 
3.1 Irrigation ......................................................................................................................................14 
3.1.1  Predicted vs. Actual Area Under Irrigation .................................................................................14 
3.1.2  Predicted vs. Actual Agricultural Production..............................................................................15 
3.1.3  Predicted vs. Actual Farm Size....................................................................................................19 
3.1.4  Investment Costs and Cost Recovery ..........................................................................................20 
3.1.5  Secondary or Indirect Benefits ....................................................................................................23 
3.1.6  Negative Irrigation Effects ..........................................................................................................25 
3.1.7  Benefits from Small Scale Hydropower ......................................................................................27 
3.1.8  A Qualitative Benefit-cost Appraisal of CBP..............................................................................27 
3.2 Hydropower .................................................................................................................................28 
3.2.1  Projected vs. Actual Costs for Grand Coulee and its Powerplant................................................28 
3.2.2  Influence of World War II on Hydropower .................................................................................30 
3.2.3  Predicted vs. Actual Power Generation and Capacity .................................................................32 
3.2.4  Grand Coulee Dam in the Context of the Federal Hydropower System......................................34 
3.2.5  Power Demand and Characteristics of Power Users ...................................................................37 
3.2.6  Economic Benefits of Hydropower Production...........................................................................38 
3.2.7  Unexpected Benefits of Hydropower Production........................................................................38 
3.3 Flood 
Control...............................................................................................................................40 
3.3.1 Predicted Benefits........................................................................................................................40 
3.3.2  Flood Control Operations Before 1973 .......................................................................................41 
3.3.3  Flood Control Operations After 1973..........................................................................................42 
3.3.4  Unexpected Flood Control Benefits, Costs, and Impacts ............................................................43 
3.4 Recreation 
and 
Tourism...............................................................................................................43 
3.4.1 Predicted Benefits........................................................................................................................43 
3.4.2  Actual Recreational Facilities and Use........................................................................................44 
3.4.3 Recreational Issues ......................................................................................................................45 
3.5 Ecosystem 
Impacts ......................................................................................................................47 
3.5.1  Anadromous Fish and the GCD Fish Maintenance Programme..................................................48 
3.5.2 Resident Fish ...............................................................................................................................62 
3.5.3  Transformation of Ecosystems on CBP Land..............................................................................64 
3.6  Social Effects: Non-indigenous Peoples......................................................................................65 
3.6.1 Construction-related Employment...............................................................................................65 
3.6.2  Commercial and Sport Fishing ....................................................................................................65 
3.6.3  Displacement and Resettlement of Non-indigenous People........................................................66 
3.6.4  Development within the Columbia Basin Project Area...............................................................68 
3.6.5  Social Tension in the US Northwest: the Symbolic Value of Salmon ........................................68 
3.7  Effects on Native Americans in the US.......................................................................................69 

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This is a working paper prepared for the World Commission on Dams as part of its information gathering activities. The views, conclusions, 
and recommendations contained in the working paper are not to be taken to represent the views of the Commission 
 
3.7.1 Pre-Project Conditions.................................................................................................................70 
3.7.2  Centrality of Salmon to Economic, Cultural, and Spiritual Life .................................................72 
3.7.3  Pre-Construction Consultation with Tribes .................................................................................72 
3.7.4  Project Impacts on Native Americans .........................................................................................73 
3.7.5 Anadromous Fish.........................................................................................................................74 
3.7.6  Inundated Homes and Communities............................................................................................75 
3.7.7  Burial and Archaeological Sites ..................................................................................................76 
3.7.8 Riparian Habitat...........................................................................................................................77 
3.7.9  Loss of Access to Columbia Plateau............................................................................................77 
3.7.10 Tribal  Health................................................................................................................................78 
3.7.11 Timber and Mines........................................................................................................................78 
3.7.12 Modern  Tribal  Economies ...........................................................................................................78 
3.7.13 Claims  Cases................................................................................................................................78 
3.7.14 Benefits of GCD for Tribes .........................................................................................................80 
3.8  Effects on First Nations in Canada  .............................................................................................81 
3.8.1 Pre-Project Conditions.................................................................................................................81 
3.8.2  Project Impacts on First Nations..................................................................................................82 
4. 
Basin-Wide Impacts and Operations .......................................................................................84 
4.1  The 1932 Butler Report as a Plan for the Upper Columbia Basin...............................................84 
4.2  Influence of GCD on Decisions to Build other Water Projects in the Basin...............................85 
4.2.1  Effect of GCD on Projects in the US...........................................................................................85 
4.2.2  Influence GCD on projects in Canada .........................................................................................86 
4.3  Effects of the Treaty Dams on Canadian Resources and People.................................................86 
4.3.1  Environmental and Social Impacts of the Treaty Dams ..............................................................86 
4.3.2  Programmes to Compensate Communities Adversely Affected by Canadian Treaty Dams.......89 
4.4  Cumulative Impacts of Projects on Ecosystems ..........................................................................90 
4.4.1  Basin-wide Factors Affecting Anadromous Fish.........................................................................90 
4.4.2  Larger Ecosystem Effects ............................................................................................................93 
4.5  Cumulative Socioeconomic Impacts ...........................................................................................93 
4.6 System 
Operations.......................................................................................................................94 
4.6.1  Major Changes in Operations Over Time....................................................................................94 
4.6.2  Current GCD Operations .............................................................................................................96 
4.7  Evolution of Basin-wide Planning Institutions............................................................................98 
5. 
Distribution of Benefits and Costs..........................................................................................100 
5.1  Anticipated Beneficiaries and Cost Bearers ..............................................................................100 
5.2  Major Project Beneficiaries and Cost Bearers...........................................................................101 
5.2.1 Major Beneficiaries ...................................................................................................................101 
5.2.2  Major Cost Bearers....................................................................................................................102 
5.3 Stakeholder 
Perspectives ...........................................................................................................105 
5.3.1  Tribes and Environmental Organisations ..................................................................................105 
5.3.2  Cost Allocation and Repayment ................................................................................................108 
5.3.3 Cost Allocation ..........................................................................................................................108 
5.3.4 Repayment .................................................................................................................................109 
5.3.5 Basin-wide Accounting .............................................................................................................110 
6. 
Options Assessments and Decision-making Processes .........................................................111 
6.1  Decision to Build a Dam at the Grand Coulee...........................................................................111 
6.2  Early Attempts to Compensate Native Americans for Expected Losses...................................113 
6.3  Columbia Basin Joint Investigations .........................................................................................113 
6.4  Acreage Limitations and Anti-Speculation Statutes..................................................................114 

Grand Coulee Dam and Columbia Basin Project 
 
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This is a working paper prepared for the World Commission on Dams as part of its information gathering activities. The views, conclusions, 
and recommendations contained in the working paper are not to be taken to represent the views of the Commission 
 
7. 
Criteria and Guidelines: Policy Evolution and Compliance................................................116 
7.1 Columbia 
River 
Treaty ..............................................................................................................116 
7.2  Pacific Northwest Co-ordination Agreement ............................................................................117 
7.3  Authorisation and Construction of Third Powerplant................................................................118 
7.4  Environmental Impact Assessment Requirements ....................................................................118 
7.5  Northwest Power Planning Act of 1980 ....................................................................................119 
7.6  System Operation Review .........................................................................................................119 
7.7  Endangered Species Act Listings and NMFS Biological Opinions...........................................121 
7.8  Decision Not to Irrigate Second-Half Lands .............................................................................122 
7.9  Direct Funding Agreements between Reclamation and BPA....................................................124 
8. Lessons 
Learned ......................................................................................................................126 
8.1  Open Planning Process ..............................................................................................................126 
8.2  Managing Debates on Project Operations .................................................................................127 
8.3  Incorporating Changing Social Values into Operations ............................................................128 
8.4  Incorporating Changes in Science and Technology into Operations.........................................130 
8.5  Sensitivity Analysis of Economic Parameters ...........................................................................131 
8.6  Developing a Shared Conceptual Framework for Project Appraisal.........................................132 
8.7  Mechanisms for Ensuring Just Compensation...........................................................................134 
8.8  Limits to Government Planning in a Market Economy.............................................................135 
8.9  Centralised Versus Decentralised Basin Management Institutions ...........................................136 
8.10  Actions Having Significant, Irreversible Effects.......................................................................137 
8.11  Cumulative Impact Assessment.................................................................................................138 
9. 
Reflections on the Development Effectiveness of GCD and CBP........................................139 
9.1  Criteria for Gauging Effectiveness ............................................................................................139 
9.2  Temporal Shifts in Weights Ascribed to Different Effectiveness Criteria ................................140 
9.3  GCD and CBP: Trade-offs Between Regional Development and Economic Efficiency ..........143 
9.4  GCD and CBP: Trade-offs Between Regional Development, Equity, and the Environment....145 
References 147 
Interviews and Personal Communication........................................................................................162 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Grand Coulee Dam and Columbia Basin Project 
 
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This is a working paper prepared for the World Commission on Dams as part of its information gathering activities. The views, conclusions, 
and recommendations contained in the working paper are not to be taken to represent the views of the Commission 
 
List of Annexes 
(found in separate document) 
 
Annex 1:   Consultative Meetings and Comments 
Annex 2:   Columbia Basin Project Overview 
Annex 3:   Size of Columbia Basin Project Farms 
 
Annex 4:   Costs of Drainage on Columbia Basin Project Lands 
Annex 5:   A More Detailed Examination of Hydropower 
Annex 6:   Atmospheric Pollutants Avoided 
Annex 7:   Use of Statistics for GCD and CBP – related Recreational Facilities 
Annex 8:   Grand Coulee Fish Maintenance Program 
Annex 9:   Native Americans 
Annex 10: Negotiating the Columbia Basin Treaty 
Annex 11: System Operations – Hydropower, Flood Control and Anadromous Fish Management  
                  Activities 
Annex 12: Attempts at Comprehensive Planning for the Columbia River Basin 
Annex 13: Distribution of Benefits and Costs 
Annex 14: List of Stakeholder Interviews 
Annex 15: Shift from Low Dam to High Dam at Grand Coulee 
Annex 16: Decision to Construct the Third Powerplant  

Grand Coulee Dam and Columbia Basin Project 
 
xxx
 
 
This is a working paper prepared for the World Commission on Dams as part of its information gathering activities. The views, conclusions, 
and recommendations contained in the working paper are not to be taken to represent the views of the Commission