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Commentaries and editorials

Why No Fuss About
Ten Idaho Dams?

by John Hanson
Tri-City Herald, November 8, 2021

Map: Columbia and Snake River dams (click for a map of Columbia River Basin). The four lower Snake River dams are the focus of state politics and environmental groups as a means to save the king salmon runs. which will save our Salish Sea orcas.

Using Google, I easily found the other dams blocking the salmon from reaching their spawning grounds. Ten dams are on the Snake and Salmon Rivers producing power for mostly Idaho Power blocking the salmon, since none have fish ladders or transport options.

(bluefish corrects: There are no dams on Idaho's Salmon River as can be clearly seen on the map at right.)
They are valued as an environmentally friendly, carbon free source producing a nameplate 2,157 megawatt for Idaho Power. There are other dams on the tributaries feeding into the Snake blocking salmon migration to the spawning grounds.

Why do the environmental impact reviews ignore the bigger picture and only focus on the four lower Snake River dams? It seems that politics dictate the decision, not science.

Related Pages:
Are there dams above the LSR and how does that effect the recovery of Chinook? by bluefish as answer to Gov. Inslee's Orca Task Force


John Hanson, Richland
Why No Fuss About Ten Idaho Dams?
Tri-City Herald, November 8, 2021

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