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Time is Running Out to Save the Snake River Dams. Let WA Gov. Inslee Know Your Thoughts by Editorial Board Tri-City Herald, July 6, 2022

If you are looking for fodder to support keeping the Snake River dams, there is plenty of it.

If Tri-Citians are feeling worn down by the continued push to breach the Snake River dams, we completely understand.

But it's time to rally once again.

The deadline to comment on the latest assault is fast approaching and it is imperative that as a community we respond in force.

But this latest strike against the dams is particularly alarming because it has the backing of Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray. While the Democratic leaders say they are keeping an open mind on the issue, their launch of yet another study is clearly catering to their base -- and it's bolstered the resolve of dam opponents throughout the state.

So those in support of the Snake River dams must reply in kind. Monday, July 11, is the last day to submit comments on the Inslee/Murray report, and they must be received by 5 pm.

Over the past several years, it has been one dam study after another. So far, the arguments for keeping the dams have prevailed -- largely because the data has supported the need for the clean power and other critical services they provide.

In addition, salmon runs on the Snake River have significantly improved the last three years -- contrary to predictions by environmental groups that they would decline.

But this latest strike against the dams is particularly alarming because it has the backing of Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray. While the Democratic leaders say they are keeping an open mind on the issue, their launch of yet another study is clearly catering to their base -- and it's bolstered the resolve of dam opponents throughout the state. So those in support of the Snake River dams must reply in kind. Monday, July 11, is the last day to submit comments on the Inslee/Murray report, and they must be received by 5 pm.

They can be sent online through the project website at lsrdoptions.org. Or, they can be sent by email to info@lsrdoptions.org with the email subject line "Draft LSRD Benefit Replacement Study."

Comments also may be mailed to Draft LSRD Benefit Replacement Study c/o Ross Strategic, 1325 Fourth Ave., Suite 1600, Seattle, WA 98101.

If you are looking for fodder to support keeping the Snake River dams, there is plenty of it.

For starters, the primary argument for taking down the dams is that it would improve fish runs.

But fish survival rates past the federal dams are between 95% and 98%. In May, Snake River Spring/Summer Chinook returns were double the levels of 2021, and are above the 10-year average.

This is great news. But instead of being encouraged by these numbers, anti-dam activists seem to be ignoring them.

A 2020 study led by Dr. David Welch, a Canadian expert on Pacific salmon, found that salmon survival along the entire west coast of North America has fallen by 65%. Welch met recently with the Tri-City Herald Editorial Board, and his work shows that it doesn't matter if a river has dams or not, or if it's in Northern British Columbia or in the U.S., the grim statistics are the same.

We are concerned about salmon survival rates as much as Inslee and Murray, and that's why we want to make sure that we are addressing the real problems. Breaching the Snake River dams is not the silver-bullet fix environmental groups say it is.

Focusing on the Snake dams takes attention away from other areas that need attention -- like pollution in Puget Sound.

Furthermore, those who actually work on the power grid have consistently said that the back-up electricity the Snake dams provide is essential to preventing power shortages when energy demand is high.

Getting rid of reliable hydropower reserves at a time when we need all the carbon-free energy we can get is counterproductive.

A report just released by Northwest RiverPartners determined that there is no way the state will meet its carbon-free, clean energy goals by 2045 if the dams are breached. And climate change is a true threat.

In 2021, a proposal by U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, estimated it would take $33.5 billion to replace or mitigate lost benefits of removing the lower Snake River dams. The Northwest RiverPartners' study puts the cost at $10.3 billion to $27.2 billion, plus possible other unknown costs.

It's a ton of money, regardless. And there is no guarantee it will boost salmon runs.

Murray and Inslee will use this final report to make a recommendation about the future of the dams. Please weigh in and submit your comments soon.

We know this is a tiring fight, but we must not let up.