Washington State’s Lower Snake River Dams Aren’t Going Anywhere

The decades long battle over the Lower Snake River Dams has had it's share of roller coaster moments.  The most recent development in the saga came on June 12th, when President Donald Trump withdrew a plan that eventually would have removed the dams.

Why Do People Want To Remove Them?

The primary goal stated by the groups seeking their removal is to make sure salmon population survive.  These groups believe dam removal is the only course of action.  Those that want to see the dams and salmon recovery coexist, have developed methods (like fish ladders) to help increase the success of migrating salmon.

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The Reasons To Keep The Dams Are Significant

Here are just a few things that would be impacted if the dams were removed from the Lower Snake River:

1. Around 2 million homes are powered by the energy generated
2. They are a crucial source for drinking water and water for agriculture
3. They are vital for crop transport.  Without them roughly 330,000 more trucks would hit the highways, and with them, added pollution.

The Latest Development Will Keep The Dams In Place

Washington State's 4th District Congressman Dan Newhouse has been fighting to preserve the LSR Dams since he arrived in D.C.  Newhouse was part of a House Natural Resources Committee field hearing in Richland 2 years ago focused on the dams.  It was there we found out that secret talks were in motion about the future of those dams.

The Biden Administration would then enter into an agreement (that bypassed Congress) which would eventually see the Lower Snake River Dams breached.  Renewed optimism about reversing course happened when President Trump was elected.  Yesterday (June 12th) that optimism paid off when the President withdrew the Biden plan and replaced it with "Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Generate Power for the Columbia River Basin".

Newhouse had this to say about the President's action

Today’s action by President Trump reverses the efforts by the Biden administration and extreme environmental activists to remove the dams, which would have threatened the reliability of our power grid, raised energy prices, and decimated our ability to export grain to foreign markets.

Not Everyone Is Happy

The Yakama Nation also released a statement with regard to the revocation of the Biden Administration's plan.  Yakama Tribal Nation Council Chairman Gerald Lewis had this to say.

The Yakama Nation is deeply disappointed by this unilateral decision to terminate the Resilient

Columbia Basin Agreement, particularly without prior consultation.