For years, U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-WA, has argued the Lower Snake River dams make up an important energy source for the Northwest and that they can coexist with salmon. He’s introduced a bill on the issue, which is now making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill, called the “Defending our Dams Act,” calls to ban the use of federal money to breach the four dams. It also would ban studies on the benefits the dams provide, including energy and barging.
“ These dams are essential for regional barge transportation and sustained irrigation infrastructure vital to numerous farmers and rural communities,” said Dustin Sherer, a senior adviser to the U.S. Department of the Interior, at a hearing for the bill on Wednesday.The bill would also put a stop to spilling water over the Lower Snake River dams, unless it was approved by the Secretary of the Army and the administrator of the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets power from the dams.
Spilling water is an effort to help more young salmon make an easier journey to the ocean but also means that water doesn’t generate power. Spilling water happens in the spring when rivers are full of extra water because of melting snow. Too much spill can increase dissolved gasses in the water, which can harm fish.
Tribes and environmental groups have pushed for breaching the dams to save endangered salmon runs. If the dams were breached, the energy, irrigation and transportation infrastructure would need to be replaced.
At the hearing for the House Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries, representatives and panelists went back and forth on whether the dams need to stay in place.
Clark Mather, the executive director of Northwest RiverPartners, testified that breaching the dams could lead to blackouts in the Northwest.
“ We have experienced several near misses and several public studies indicate a surge in load growth in the future,” Mather said at the hearing.
The four dams on the Snake are “essential to the country as a whole,” Mather added.
“ Losing these dams would jeopardize our regional agricultural sector, weaken American food security and jeopardize local essential services,” he said.
Nez Perce Chairman Shannon Wheeler testified the bill would place the burden of protecting salmon on the backs of tribes.
“ The bill would set the United States on an unambiguous course to destroy wild Snake River salmon runs,” he said at the hearing.
The Nez Perce have used these rivers since time immemorial, he said. And the salmon the waters support are vital to the tribe’s culture, health and economy, Wheeler said. He testified that wild salmon are in “dire straits right now.”
“We will no longer sit idly by and be taken for granted. For over 16,500 years, our people have been in the area,” he said. “We are people who fish. We need to be able to feed our people and to have a fishing economy.”
Rep. Val Hoyle, D-OR, said that the potential ban on using federal dollars to study the dams’ benefits could tie the government’s hands. She noted that the ban on research funding “seems like government overreach.”
“ The fact is, if the lower Snake River dams are truly irreplaceable, as some claim, then we should see the facts to prove it, and we would want the data that would help us effectively manage them,” Hoyle said.
When asked about federal funding for studies, Wheeler said losing the funding would “detract from the bigger picture.”
”As we look to grow the Pacific Northwest and the Nez Perce country, then we need to look at the full picture and this disallows that,” he said.
Newhouse, the bill’s lead sponsor, didn’t speak at the hearing.
In a news release, Newhouse said, "I have been working hard with allies of the Lower Snake River dams to ensure we do everything possible to protect them, and this hearing today marks another success in that effort.”
Breaching the four dams on the Lower Snake would require approval by Congress.
