Views on dams cataloged in study

LEWISTON — A report summarizing the views of Washington residents about the fate of the four lower Snake River dams was released Friday.

The report that grew out of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s Orca Task Force does not make a recommendation about whether the dams should stay in place or be removed to help restore Snake River salmon and steelhead and provide more prey for the whales. Instead, it lays out a wide variety of perspectives on a host of issues related to the dams, fish and whales, and also highlights key uncertainties that need to be resolved.

“I thank all the stakeholders from all over the state for weighing in on this crucial issue,” Inslee said in a news release. “I encourage Washingtonians to get engaged in the public comment period over the next month and share their input on what should be done. We need to hear from a variety of people from different regions and perspectives.”

Last spring, the Washington Legislature approved a $750,000 request from the task force to take an in-depth look at the dams in eastern Washington that provide hydroelectric power generation, inland barge transportation and a small amount of irrigation. But they also harm threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead that, among other things, provide a critical food source to orcas.

Three federal agencies — the Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — are writing an environmental and economic review of all eight dams between Lewiston and Portland and are expected to release their findings early next year. Inslee intends to use the report released Friday to help shape his comments on the federal process.

In the report, those supportive of keeping the dams tend to see the two-decade-plus, $17 billion effort to recover the fish as more successful than those who favor breaching the dams. They say breaching the dams would hurt farmers by making it more expensive to get their crops to market, eliminate a carbon-free energy source and make the power system less reliable.

People who would like to see the four lower Snake River dams breached say it is likely the only way to save both salmon and steelhead in the Snake River and Puget Sound orcas, and view the on-going efforts to save the fish as largely unsuccessful. They believe the federal government would save money by breaching the dams and diverting money that would have been spent to maintain and upgrade the structures to developing additional rail capacity and other alternative ways for farmers to get their crops to market. They also believe energy produced at the dams could be replaced largely by carbon-free sources.

The report does not judge the views of various stakeholders or attempt to discern which views may hold more waters than others. Because it doesn’t reveal much new information and instead serves as a collection of public opinion, some say it is a waste of time and money.

“What this report tells us is Governor Inslee spent three-quarters of a million dollars and a year’s time to conclude ‘there are differing perspectives’ and ‘more information needed’ on this issue,” said Reps. Dan Newhouse and Kathy McMorris Rodgers in a joint news release. “We had no idea a year ago when we said this study would be a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars just how accurate we’d be — imagine how far $750,000 could have gone to directly support salmon recovery efforts. Every taxpayer in our state should be outraged.”

Some stakeholders do see the report as useful and say it could spur more regional cooperation around the complex issues of salmon, dams, energy and transportation.

“My hope is that this is a first step to Gov. Inslee supporting a more robust conversation about what it’s going to take to recover salmon and steelhead and save orcas and support healthy communities on the west side of the state and rural farming communities and places like Lewiston on the east side,” said Sam Mace of the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition at Spokane. “That is new from the state of Washington, and Gov. Inslee and I find that encouraging.”

The report is available for review and comment through Jan. 24 at lsrdstakeholderprocess.org/. A meeting on the report will be from 6-9 p.m. Jan. 7 at Clarkston’s Quality Inn. A final report is expected to be issued in March.

Eric Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.