SPOKANE (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is opposing a bill in Congress that would reduce spill over Columbia and Snake river dams, and prevent the breaching of four Snake River dams in eastern Washington state.
In a letter to leaders of the House, the Democratic governor says the bill would harm ongoing efforts to improve salmon and dam management.
Inslee is urging lawmakers to oppose the bill.
The four dams are blamed for reducing the production of wild salmon and steelhead runs on the Columbia and Snake river system.
Introduced last summer, the bill would keep in place the Federal Columbia River Biological Opinion until 2022. The opinion is designed to protect salmon while continuing to operate the dams. But a federal judge has ruled that the biological opinion doesn’t do enough.
