Federal authorities argue in court over its Columbia River Basin salmon plan

Federal authorities on Tuesday defended their latest plan to mitigate damage to salmon and steelhead endangered by hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin.

In US District Court, the government argued that its approach is resulting in more salmon surviving at dams, juvenile fish migrating faster to the ocean and record numbers of fish returning to restored habitat.

But the conservation and fishing groups, Oregon and the Nez Perce tribe, which challenged the plan in the court, said that it is completely flawed.

They argued that the plan is not good enough to allow the recovery of wild fish populations, because most of them have not achieved the promised benefits and are barely hanging on.

So far, thirteen species of salmon and steelhead are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act in the Columbia River Basin.

The plan’s various iterations have been litigated in court for more than two decades. The most recent plan known as the biological opinion was issued in 2008 to cover a 10-year period through 2018, and a supplemental plan was added in 2010.

Layer it was struck down in court in 2011 on the grounds that it depended too much on habitat improvements whose benefits are unknown.

The groups in court clashed over which standard of recovery should be used to measure success. The federal government argued it can't allow additional risks or harm to the fish, and it has met that standard.

Federal attorney Michael Eitel said the plan actually do not aim for recovery. It instead asks whether fish will be trending towards recovery.

But the plaintiffs argued that the government has set the bar too low. They said energy-producing dams are the main cause of fish mortality, and the plan must do more to protect and recover them.