Lower Granite Dam is actually regarded to increase flood risk to Lewiston, Idaho. What would the removal of the lower Snake River dams and restoral of that river mean for Washington state?" 13. If expanded fishing business opportunities are included in the economic picture, lower Snake River dam removal could bring billions of dollars in increased economic benefits to the Northwest from expanded fishing (both sport and commercial), new river-based recreational opportunities, and non-recreational revenue. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A long-awaited federal report rejected the idea of removing four hydroelectric dams on a major Pacific Northwest river in a last … A new EIS released Feb. 28 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) … Twenty years. Simply ensuring that the current federal salmon plan is legally and scientifically sufficient need not have any impact on those regional agreements. It … Reality: Contrary to repeated statements from federal agencies, most wild Snake River salmon and steelhead returns remain at about the same levels as when they were first listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the early 1990’s. cause an increase in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. As a state work group continues discussions regarding the future of the lower Snake River dams related to salmon recovery efforts, a new study by an economic consulting group claims that breaching those dams could cost the country $2.3 billion over the next 30 years.. Anti-vaccine propagandist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., capitalized on the death of the 86-year old American... Did Bernie Sanders Sell Meme Sweatshirts To Raise Funds for Charities? Aug. 4, 2020 To Save Orcas, Removing Snake River Dams … Dam removal, however, must be part of a … The lower Snake River dams are all run-of-river dams, which means they don't store water, and thus don't provide any flood control. Did Trump Write ‘Joe, You Know I Won’ in Letter to Biden? However, that Corps analysis – as did the Council’s analysis attached to the 6th Power Plan – assumed power from the Snake dams is replaced with CO2-producing alternatives. But the problem now in the region is that we actually have an excess of hydro capacity at certain times of year that creates a limitation on how much wind we can allow onto the energy grid. The science is clear that lower Snake River dam removal is the best hope to restore salmon runs in the Basin. Reportedly, an elaborate “phishing attack” duped a famous reporter into quitting her job to accept... How To Interpret That ‘1 in 8 Recovered COVID Patients Die’ Study. By Rob Masonis, VP of Western Conservation. At the same time, the fishing industry has lost more than 25,000 jobs because of salmon declines in the Columbia- Snake Basin. FILE - In this April 11, 2018 file photo, water moves through a spillway of the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River near Almota, Wash. Some activists claim Snake River salmon are near extinction. Together, these four dams produce only 790 aMWs of firm power (i.e., the amount of electricity utilities can count on in a drought year). In Snake River by Jonathan Stumpf January 15, 2021 Leave a Comment. Yet NOAA and BPA have consistently downplayed those impacts and instead have attributed both good and bad salmon returns to ocean conditions. Conducted for the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA), the study’s conclusion reflects previous warnings … The Corps’ own conclusion: dam breaching is the best way to recover Snake River salmon, a conclusion that remains valid today. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A long-awaited federal report out Friday rejected the idea of removing four hydroelectric dams on a major Pacific Northwest river in a last-ditch effort to save more than a dozen species of threatened or endangered salmon, saying such a dramatic approach would destabilize the power grid, increase overall greenhouse emissions and more than double the risk of … The new plan says that’s the best option for fish – but too expensive in terms of irrigation, transportation and power generation. Myth 9: Lower Snake River dam removal will cause an increase in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Reality: Federal taxpayers and Northwest ratepayers have already spent upwards of $10 billion on salmon recovery efforts in the Columbia-Snake River Basin for fairly little in return. Did Trump Have a ‘Diet Coke’ Button in the Oval Office? Mace says. In addition, NOAA’s 2000 Biological Opinion concluded that dam removal was the most biologically certain way to recover Snake River salmon: “[B]reaching the four lower Snake River dams would provide more certainty of long-term survival and recovery than would other measures.” According to the American Fisheries Society, “[i] n contrast to the uncertainty of success from the removal of hydro projects in other portions of the basin, the benefits to Snake River stock survival and recovery would be assured with the removal of the lower four dams on that system...”. Because of the unreliability of these four dams, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s 6th Energy Plan shows that the region would only need to replace about 245 MWs of additional power to address the current output of these dams. While dam removal is not a silver bullet, with strong actions including dam removal, salmon populations will be better able to weather poor ocean cycles in good health and truly thrive when ocean conditions are good. Myth 6: The real problem for Columbia and Snake River salmon is not the dams, but instead climate change and ever-changing ocean conditions. Removing four dams on the lower Snake River in eastern Washington provides a once in a generation opportunity to recover endangered wild salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia-Snake watershed (including Idaho’s Salmon and Clearwater rivers, northeast Oregon’s Imnaha and Grande Ronde, and southeast Washington’s Tuccannon), while creating new economic opportunities and investing in a … Today, a significant portion of these products moves via barge from Lewiston, Idaho, or grain-loading facilities elsewhere on the lower Snake River. For more information, please contact Amy Baird amy@wildsalmon.org or 503.230.0421 ext. 13. The best science shows us that the most effective way to ensure strong salmon returns in variable ocean cycles is to fix their freshwater habitat — and that begins with the removal of the four lower Snake River dams. climate change and ever-changing ocean conditions. Myth 1:Northwest ratepayers will be devastated by the costs of replacing the power lost if the four lower Snake River dams are removed since these dams generate enough to power Seattle. The Council’s plan shows that the region can meet its growing energy needs almost entirely with energy efficiency and new renewables and with no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions. In 1999, activists bought an ad in The New York Times claiming that unless the dams were removed, “wild Snake River spring chinook salmon … will be extinct by 2017.” When 2017 arrived, the Snake River Chinook population was six times larger than in 1999. Suggs, a first-year council member and restoration planner for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, said Snake River dam removal … Did President Biden Remove Military Flags From the Oval Office? Regarding irrigators in the Columbia-Snake basin, removal of the four lower Snake River dams could actually take pressure off upriver irrigators in Idaho, who under an aggressive non-dam-removal plan would need to let more water remain in the river to mitigate for the effects of the dams. Reality: By far the biggest killer of endangered wild salmon and steelhead are the dams on the lower Snake and mainstem Columbia. PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A long-awaited federal report rejected the idea of removing four hydroelectric dams on a major Pacific Northwest river in a last-ditch effort to save more than a dozen species of threatened or endangered salmon, saying such a dramatic approach would destabilize the power grid, increase overall greenhouse emissions and more than double the risk of regional power outages. Myth 3: The lower Snake dams are necessary to ensure that wind power can be integrated into the power grid. Now, the operation of those four dams — Ice Harbor, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, Lower Granite — is under reconsideration. Facts about Lower Snake Dam Removal Click on the link for news, letters of record, archives, reports, documents, videos, presentations, and how to help. The proposed removal of four Lower Snake River dams has been the subject of legal battles since 1991. Did Hank Aaron Die From COVID-19 Vaccination? Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. The lower Snake River dams also contain a series of locks that provide a 465-mile navigable waterway from Lewiston, Idaho, to the Pacific Ocean. The only reason these agreements would be disturbed is if the federal government decided to abandon them. Fishing and conservation groups, along with the State of Oregon and the Nez Perce Tribe have argued in court that the projects identified in those agreements should continue to be funded – no matter what additional actions or changes may be found necessary to protect and restore salmon in the Columbia and Snake River Basin. Myth 1: Northwest ratepayers will be devastated by the costs of replacing the power lost if the four lower Snake River dams are removed since these dams generate enough to power Seattle. And while those numbers were predicted to be near or slightly below the 10-year average, they are less than half of the numbers we saw as recently as 2001 and 2002. 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