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No Guarantees with Dam Removal by Russ Treat Tri-City Herald, July 12, 2023

Ocean temperatures are spiraling upward,
progressively endangering salmon and other sea life.

Kudos to Rep. Dan Newhouse and the Tri-City Herald for their well-informed efforts to save the Snake River dams. Advocates for removing these dams are unrealistically arguing that salmon runs would be restored. Prospects for restoring salmon to pre-dam levels are exceedingly low, with or without dams.

Yes, dams have reduced salmon runs, as have ocean factors including over-fishing, pollution and warming. U.S. and Canadian studies of salmon returns on dammed and undammed rivers indicate ocean factors are the primary cause of poor returns. Poor returns of some salmon species have continued for more than a decade after dam removal with no clear evidence of future success.

Ocean temperatures are spiraling upward, progressively endangering salmon and other sea life. The world lacks the financial resources and proven technologies to quickly reverse global warming. Decades will be required to replace fossil fuels with alternatives that have serious technical shortcomings. Ocean warming, and its adverse effects on salmon, will continue indefinitely.

Pragmatic solutions are needed, not wishful thinking. Rather than remove essential dams, we should develop more-resilient strains of salmon and enhance land-based salmon farming. We should incentivize Native Americans to employ these technologies to augment depleted salmon runs.