A new federal study reiterates the overwhelming drawbacks of removing hydroelectric dams throughout the Columbia River System. Breaching four dams along the Snake River — as some have advocated — would be an extreme approach to improving salmon runs and would devastate the region’s economy.
On Friday, a draft report prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bonneville Power Administration highlighted the importance of the dams to the Northwest’s power grid and transportation system.
That importance is profound. The 14 federal dams along the Columbia and Snake rivers combine to produce 40 percent of the region’s electricity — enough to power eight cities the size of Seattle. Clean, abundant, reliable, inexpensive electricity has been essential to boosting Northwest’s economy while adhering to the region’s environmental ethos for generations.
The report asserts that removing the Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams along the Snake River would more than double the risk of regional power outages, and that the lowest-cost replacements for the electricity they produce would increase the wholesale power rate by up to 9.6 percent.
Inexpensive power is not the only benefit provided by the dams. A series of navigational locks allows for the transportation of agriculture products and manufactured goods between the Pacific Ocean and ports as far upstream as Clarkston. In 2018, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, 2.4 million short tons of wheat were barged on the waters of the Snake River — and that is only one commodity.
Removal of the dams would require increased train and vehicle traffic to transport those products. A previous report from FCS Group estimates that trucks would drive an additional 23.8 million miles annually, undermining regional efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
Despite the obvious benefits provided by the dams, critics offer strong arguments for their removal. The primary concern is declining numbers of salmon and other fish runs throughout the river system — and that decline’s impact on Pacific Northwest orca populations.
While being far from the only factors, the Snake River dams — constructed between 1961 and 1975 — have contributed to that decline. In 1991, Snake River sockeye were the first species in the Columbia River Basin listed by the federal government as endangered or threatened; now, 13 salmon runs are on the list, four of which return to the Snake River.
Billions of dollars have been spent trying to rejuvenate salmon runs, with success being middling at best. The primary recommendation from the latest federal analysis is to increase the spill of water over the dams, a strategy that has not been particularly effective in the past.
Indeed, strong measures are needed to improve survival rates for species that have inhabited the region for millennia. Improving water quality and enhancing fish ladders, protecting salmon from predators and even trucking fish upstream around dams should all be part of multifaceted efforts. So should further development of alternative energy sources that reduce reliance on hydroelectric power and allow for the eventual removal of the dams.
Removal of dams along the Snake River now, however, would be a reactionary response that would have adverse effects for the entire region. It also would provide unpredictable benefits for fish runs and the orcas that depend on them.
