The Wells HCP Coordinating Committee is composed of representatives of parties signatory to the Wells Anadromous Fish Agreement and Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), including Public Utility District No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington (Douglas PUD), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The Coordinating Committee oversees implementation of the HCP, functioning as the primary means of consultation and coordination between Douglas PUD and the other HCP signatories regarding the conduct of studies, implementation of fish-passage measures set forth in the HCP, and for dispute resolution. The Coordinating Committee is responsible for ensuring that Douglas PUD achieves and maintains the HCP standard of no net impact (NNI) to Plan Species (spring and summer/fall Chinook, Sockeye, and Coho salmon; and Steelhead) from the operation of the Wells Hydroelectric Project. This responsibility encompasses the implementation of the three component plans within the Wells HCP: the Passage Survival Plan, the Tributary Conservation Plan, and the Hatchery Compensation Plan, which describe the measures and activities by which Douglas PUD must achieve and maintain NNI. The latter two plans are administered by the Tributary and Hatchery committees, respectively, both of which operate in a generally autonomous manner but report monthly to the Coordinating Committee.
The Coordinating Committee oversees all aspects of standards, methodologies, and implementation.
Specifically, the Coordinating Committee:
- Establishes protocols and methodologies to determine whether or not Douglas PUD has achieved the survival standards contained within the Passage Survival Plan of the HCP for each Plan Species
- Determines whether the signatory parties are carrying out their responsibilities under the HCP agreement
- Determines whether NNI is achieved
- Determines the most appropriate standard in the HCP Passage Survival Plan to be measured for each Plan Species
- Approves all studies prior to implementation
- Reviews study results, determines their applicability, and develops an annual list of common understandings based on the studies
- Periodically adjusts the measures to address survival and project-related mortality
- Resolves disputes brought by the Hatchery and Tributary committees
- Adjusts (as necessary) schedules and dates for performance of HCP standards.
Committees do not necessarily meet every month.