Search Results

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-WA, and other Northwest House Republicans have introduced a package of seven bills that, if signed into law, would make breaching of the four Lower Snake River Dams nearly impossible, develop alternatives to fish and wildlife funding to mitigate costs to Bonneville Power Administration ratepayers, and order the Army Corps of Engineers to acquire acoustic sound technology to deter pinniped salmon predators above and below the Bonneville Dam.

A new report says that the four lower Snake River dams are not as environmentally friendly as dam advocates tout.

Spilling instead of passing water through turbines at some Columbia/ Snake River dams to aid safe passage for juvenile salmon and steelhead began March 1, one month earlier than in past years, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) has introduced the Defending Against Manipulative Negotiators Act (DAMN ACT) to prohibit the use of federal funds from being used in breaching or altering the Lower Snake River Dams and to prohibit the implementation of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative.

A recent study funded by the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association concludes that breaching the four lower Snake River dams would impact the most vulnerable populations near the dams in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, leading to job losses, impacts to public services and degraded air quality.

The Washington State Legislature this week approved a $14 billion 2023-25 transportation budget that includes $8 million for studying what would be necessary to maintain energy, transportation and irrigation services now provided by the four Lower Snake dams should they be breached to recover Snake River basin salmon and steelhead.

Most of the 75 people testifying during their three minutes of allotted time at two White House-sponsored listening sessions advocated removing four lower Snake River dams as the only way to recover salmon and steelhead in the watershed, as well as to provide food for endangered Orca whales in Puget Sound.

U.S. House Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) have introduced the “Northwest Energy Security Act” aimed at prohibiting the breaching of the four Lower Snake river dams to restore salmon and steelhead runs.

Did last week’s release of the final “Lower Snake River Dams: Benefit Replacement Report” by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray move the needle in seeking regional consensus on a comprehensive plan to improve the condition of Columbia/Snake River salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act? If public reaction is any indication, the answer is no.

Breaching the four lower Snake River dams to improve salmon runs is only feasible after state and federal officials have replaced or mitigated the benefits of the dams, said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) in releasing Thursday the final “Lower Snake River Dams: Benefit Replacement Report.”

If not for the flexibility provided by the federal Columbia/Snake river hydroelectric system, including the four lower Snake River dams, it is not clear how the Northwest could have balanced energy supply and demand during an extreme low water event in February 2019, according to a recent study commissioned by the Public Power Council, an opponent of breaching the dams.

Washington state’s Gov. Jay Inslee and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray have released the draft “Lower Snake River Dams: Benefit Replacement Draft Report” that examines whether there are reasonable means for replacing the dams’ benefits so that breaching could be part of a comprehensive salmon recovery strategy for the Pacific Northwest. The report says ‘benefit replacement’ could cost as much $30 billion.

One week after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee released a package of salmon recovery strategies that includes proposed funding for a study of the impacts of removing the four Lower Snake dams, Northwest RiverPartners released the results of commissioned poll showing nearly 60 percent of respondents opposed dam breaching.

In an effort to recover salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia River basin, Washington Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee announced today a joint state and federal effort to determine the impacts and benefits of breaching the four lower Snake River dams.

Republican U.S. House members from eastern Washington and eastern Oregon are accusing Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of “in-depth coordination” with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown “behind the scenes” to “shepard” through Congress his proposal to breach the Lower Snake river dams to increase returns of salmon and steelhead to the Snake River basin.

Idaho Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson’s $34 billion dollar proposed framework for breaching the four Lower Snake dams in 10 years to aid ailing Snake River salmon and steelhead, while mitigating for impacts to river users, elicited a degree of interest this week from two Northwest governors, support from tribes, and a range of reaction from key interests.

Idaho Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson has been discussing with regional parties a $32 billion “Columbia Basin Fund” to finance the breaching of the lower Snake River dams, new energy technologies to replace the lost hydropower, and compensation to communities and businesses that depend on the dams.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration released this morning the final environmental impact statement for the Columbia River System Operations that includes as an appendix a new biological opinion for salmon and steelhead.

Biological opinions of the federal hydroelectric system’s impacts in the Columbia and Snake rivers on salmon and steelhead and the final 2020 Columbia River System Operations environmental impact statement released this morning, have benefited from NOAA Fisheries’ life-cycle modeling.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration said Thursday they are continuing to accept comments on the draft environmental impact statement for Columbia/Snake River dams through April 13. The agencies also made clear the comment period will not be extended, despite requests to do so due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Washington State’s final “Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Engagement Report,” a compilation of views and information about the dams, was released last week.

An industry group calculates that removing the four lower Snake River dams would cost the Northwest 80 percent more than a previous study had shown in power replacement costs alone.

Washington State’s draft “Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Engagement Report,” a compilation of views and information about the dams, has been released for public comment.

The Columbia-Snake River Irrigators have prepared a “Risk Mitigation Response Alternative” that would protect “Irrigation Sector assets from the adverse economic impacts that would be caused by Lower Snake River dam breaching and project pool drawdowns.”

The economic consulting firm ECONorthwest released a report this week analyzing the tradeoffs associated with removing the four lower Snake River dams in Washington, suggesting the benefits of removal exceed the costs by $8.6 billion, and thus the region would likely be better off without the dams.

Although a draft environmental impact statement for the Federal Columbia River Power System’s impacts on salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act won’t be complete until February, federal agencies are making public five alternatives, including a no-action or status quo alternative and an alternative that includes breaching lower Snake River dams.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill this week that provides $750,000 to study how the breaching of the four Lower Snake River dam would impact communities.

In a presidential memorandum released Wednesday, the Biden Administration emphasized salmon and steelhead restoration in the Columbia and Snake river basins and called for an all-hands-on-deck approach to recovery of the fish.