Our network of dams in the Pacific Northwest is more extensive. There are 60 in the Columbia River watershed. Without that network, we’d be in the same fix.
It wasn’t always that way.
For example, on May 30, 1948, a levee on the flood-swollen Columbia River ruptured and within a few hours a 10-foot-high wall of water reduced Vanport, now North Portland, to a shattered, muddy ruin. Sixteen people died and Vanport — at the time, Oregon’s second largest city — disappeared forever.
President Harry Truman flew west to see the water-logged mess. Speaking to an audience in Portland, Truman said the flooding could have been averted if the string of dams along the Columbia, Snake and Willamette rivers were in place. He scolded Congress and told them to get off the dime and fund the Bureau of Reclamation to complete its flood control projects.
Over the next 20 years, the McNary, Dalles and John Day dams were constructed on the lower Columbia, and Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams were built on the lower Snake. They added flood control capacity, generated much-needed hydropower and established a 465-mile water transportation network from the Pacific Ocean to Clarkston.
Meanwhile, undammed rivers, such as the Chehalis and Snoqualmie, often flood and drive people out of their homes, force livestock to higher ground and close roads.
Too often during discussions over dam removal, particularly on lower Snake and Columbia rivers, important aspects such as flood control, barging and irrigation are minimized. The main focus centers on hydropower and fish.
Gov. Jay Inslee, who supports breaching of the lower Snake River dams, added $750,000 to last year’s state budget to take stakeholder input on breaching the four dams. That discussion must be inclusive and comprehensive.
A study commissioned by the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association found that removal of barging from the lower Snake would cost $4 billion over 30 years.
The Columbia-Snake River system is the top wheat export gateway in the nation and it would take 135,000 semi-trucks and 35,140 rail cars to move the cargo currently barged on the Snake River alone in a year. Breaching the dams would cause diesel consumption to increase by 5 million gallons a year and increase CO2 emissions by 1.2 million tons a year.
The problem is complex and not simply one between dams and fish. We need to remember that network of “flood busters” is saving our bacon.
