The four lower Snake River Dams:
No Flood Control, No Irrigation Storage
- The dams do not provide flood control, and were never authorized by Congress to provide flood control. They are "run of river" dams which kept full at all times.
- The dams offer no irrigation storage. However, 13 farms totaling about 35,000 irrigated acres pump water from the reservoir behind I(ce Harbor Dam. These farms could continue to irrigate once the dams are bypassed simply by extending their pipes to the new river level.
The four lower Snake River Dams:
No Flood Control, No Irrigation Storage
- Since the completion of the four lower Snake dams, Idaho's wild salmon and steelhead runs have plummeted 90 percent.
- Every existing run of salmon and steelhead in the Snake basin - sockeye(1991) spring/summer chinook(1992), fall chinook(1992), and steelhead(1997) - is now listed under the Endangered Species Act. Snake River coho were declared extinct in 1986. Only one sockeye returned to Idaho in 1998.
- Downriver stocks which do not have to pass the four lower Snake dams (e.g., Hanford Reach, John Day River) have held steady since the 1950s. These fish share the same life histories and deal with the sam threats that Idaho's fish face - the same predators, same commercial fishing, same lower Columbia River dams and same ocean environment. The difference is they only face four or fewer dams, while our fish face eight.
- The large amount of sediment trapped behind Lower Granite Dam is not expected to be a major problem for Idaho's salmon and steelhead once the dams are bypassed. The Arm Corps claims any adverse effects would last only 2-5 years. In fact, it will likely help out-migrating smolts by offering cover from predators.
- Overharvest is not limiting recovery of Idaho's salmon. In the 1950's and 60's, harvest rates of spring/summer chinook typically exceeded 60 percent, yet runs held steady at over 100,000 wild fish. Despite the fact that harvest has been cut to less than 10 percent, runs have plummeted by an additional 90 percent since the lower Snake dams were built.
Economics: Taxpayers and ratepayers are getting soaked
- While it is true that the seaport of Lewiston will be closed, the industrial park that is the Port of Lewiston will not. Barge transportation jobs could easily be replaced by the rail and trucking industry. Rail lines already exist along the entire lower Snake River. There are a number of businesses at the Port that in no way rely on the barge business. In fact, there is a $522,000 tax levy paid by Nez Perce County residents to support the Port of Lewiston. It can't even pay for itself!
- The construction of the dams was pursued as a boon to industry in Lewiston. It has failed. When the dams were built, Lewiston was the second largest city in Idaho. It is now the eighth. Lewiston has grown because of retirees and education, not enhanced opportunities created by the Port. This growth is at a rate much lower than other urban areas in the state. As shown by the tax levy, it has neve even held its own.
- Taxpayers are losing millions of dollars in subsidies to the barging industry. Taxpayers pay to dredge the river, maintain the locks and operate the waterway for the benefit of the barging industry. In 1996 dollars, the cost of barging one ton of goods down the river was $13. But barge shippers paid only $1.30. That's a 90 percent subsidy paid by taxpayers and electrical ratepayers!
- Railroads could replace barge traffic. A recent rail shipment of grain was done at a cost of only 1 cent per bushel over the cost of barging. There is no subsidization of the railroad. By shifting to rail, taxpayers would save millions annually while using a rail line that already exists. There are operational rail lines down the entire length of the lower Snake River.
Electricity: A small portion of the Norhtwest's electricity
- The four lower Snake River dams produce only 4-5 percent of the Northwest's power. They are the four least productive dams in BPA's Columbia hydropower system. According to the Northwest Power Planning Council, the lost power could easily be made up by simple energy conservation measures. We do not need to replace the lost power.
- According to the Bonneville Power Administration, the lost power would result in rate increases for BPA customers of 4-12 percent, depending on whether they spread the cost out over all of their clients.
- Most Idahoans get very little power from the lower Snake River dams. Idaho Power customers get only $1.23 worth of power from the dams each year. Pacificorps customers get $2.18. Avista customers get $8.64. Any rate increases for these customers would amount to pennies.
Treaties: We have legally binding agreements to assure
the survival of salmon and steelhead.
- The United States signed treaties with the lower Columbia (1855) and Shoshone-Bannock (1868) tribes guaranteeing the right to fish for salmon and steelhead in "all their usual and accustomed places." In return for this right, the tribes ceded 40 million acres of land to the government. If salmon and steelhead go extinct, we will be financially responsible not only for the lost fishery but to make up for the land as well. This compensation would likely amount to well over $10 billion! We cannot afford to let the fish go extinct.
- We signed the Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada in 1985. This treaty assures the continuance of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia basin. We are not upholding our end of the deal.
Treaties: We have legally binding agreements to assure
the survival of salmon and steelhead.
- More than 25,000 fishing jobs and $500 million in economic activity per year have been lost to dams in the Columbia Basin this century (Institute for Fishery Resources).
- Southeast Alaska chinook harvests have been cut by 40 percent since 1995 because of our jobs. Lewiston bargers never mention the thousands upon thousands of jobs lost because of their subsidized transit system.
- A restored fishery will bring much more economic benefit to the region than the lower Snake dams ever have. We will benefit the many, rather than just the few.
Idaho Rivers United
Talking Points
Pamphlet - May (?) 1999
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