NCWAS input letter to FERC regarding the Rock Island Dam hydropower relicensing project
A series of ponds and lakes (commonly referred to as Rock Island Ponds), lying a few miles southeast of Wenatchee, offer the possibility of a new high-quality birding site in North Central Washington. The ponds are not naturally occurring. They are the result of decades of gravel mining and increased elevations of the Rock Island Dam Pool. In 2016, North Central Washington Audubon Society (NCWAS) visited the area and concluded, that while current habitat conditions there are not ideal, it hosts a surprising variety of bird species.
In early 2016, NCWAS submitted a proposal to the City of Rock Island (click here to read it) laying out our vision for the ponds. In early 2017, the Rock Island City Council passed a resolution adopting the proposal’s central recommendations, and in 2018 folded them into its Comprehensive Plan.
As our vision paper illustrates, the building blocks for a better future for the ponds are already in place. Studies conducted there years ago revealed a variety of issues ranging from high phosphorus levels and summer water temperatures to occasional algal bloom outbreaks and stunted fish populations. What’s needed now are investments in a plan to transition them to a future that makes the most of their potential.
NCWAS’s primary goal is to see at least two of the ponds (Big Bow and Hideaway), which we think have the greatest value for birds, enhanced over the next decade or so to maximize their potential as nature reserves, along with compatible passive recreational activities. Beginning in October 2020, under an agreement with the Chelan County Public Utilities District (PUD) which owns substantial land adjacent to and under Big Bow and Hideaway ponds, NCWAS began a 2-year bird survey designed to confirm species currently using the area. The final report (click here to read it) documented a total of 118 species. Of particular note, the extremely high numbers of wintering Wood Ducks and Hooded and Common Mergansers the survey found point to the site being a significant regional resource for these species.
The City of Rock Island favors a more typical set of future recreational facilities and activities on much of the site. Fortunately, due to the size of the area and number of ponds involved (click here to view a map), we believe there’s room to support the interests of both NCWAS and the City.
We’ve been working on this issue since 2016. Progress over that time period has been slow and uneven at best. In 2023, the PUD announced that it was considering adopting an “off-license agreement” that would remove the ponds from Rock Island Dam’s project boundary. We considered this a positive development, thinking it would allow planning for the future of the ponds to go forward in coordination with the PUD, but now separate from its relicensing process. The PUD subsequently established a working group composed of various stakeholders including the City of Rock Island, PUD, NCWAS, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Douglas County, to discuss further. The group met 3 times over a period of several months, after which the PUD simply ceased scheduling the meetings and has since gone quiet on the issue. To us, all indications are that they are unwilling to continue discussing the future of the ponds while working on the Rock Island Dam Relicensing Process. Unfortunately, that process will not be complete until 2029 at the earliest.
Our work on this issue has been long and frustrating, but the ponds at Rock Island are simply too biologically important for us to throw our hands up and walk away. So, our work on their behalf continues. If we’re successful, North Central Washington will be the beneficiary of a much improved and regionally significant natural area tailored to the interests of birds and birders.