Dear friends, the link above will take you to our Northwest RiverPartners Take Action landing page.
There you will find the different ways you can make a difference in the process to keep our energy future affordable, inclusive, and clean by saving the lower Snake River dams.
We especially encourage you to provide written comments on the federal website.
It is well known that building some Columbia River Basin dams resulted in the displacement and loss of important cultural sites for Native American tribes. This fact is deeply felt throughout the Pacific Northwest. the combination of the loss of these sites and the depletion of salmon continues to be of critical importance to tribal members.
It is also important to recognize that the dams’ construction did not precipitate the decline in the region’s salmon populations. The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has shown that massive amounts of commercial over-fishing in the late 1800's is widely acknowledged to have push salmon to the brink of extinction.
Data from the University of Washington’s “DART” Adult Passage Summary shows that since the first federal dams were constructed in the lower-Columbia and lower Snake rivers, respectively, adult salmon populations have trended up over time, whereas many other populations along the West Coast—including the Puget Sound—have not.
It’s also important to understand that communities across the Northwest have come to depend on dams to literally energize their communities, protect them from deadly flooding, provide irrigation for farming and jobs for agricultural workers, and afford gathering points for recreation.
At a press conference on Monday, March 2, Franklin Public Utility District public relations manager Mike Gonzalez stated that for his community of Pasco, Washington, “Keeping the [lower Snake River] dams is a matter of social justice.” Mr. Gonzales noted that approximately 70% of Pasco’s residents identify as Latino/Latina and nearly 30% speak English as a second language. He stated that if the dams were breached, the expected electric bill increase for Franklin PUD’s customers would be as much as 30% and described the potential impact as “devastating.”
Mr. Gonzales also noted that irrigation from the lower Snake River dams supports important agricultural jobs that many people in his community rely upon for a secure economic future.
Pasco, Washington is just one example the diverse communities that depend on hydroelectric dams throughout our region.
Without Ice Harbor Dam, and the downstream reservoir it helps form with McNary Dam, tens of thousands of acres of farmland could lose access to irrigation in the Tri-Cities region. It would mean the loss of jobs and homes, and it would deprive communities of a necessary economic base.
These dams are worth fighting for because the communities who rely on them are worth saving!
At the same time, we will not turn our backs on the people who depend on salmon for their culture, religion, and livelihoods. We are forming a coalition with our members to address a major factor threatening the future of salmon--avian predation (birds eating salmon and steelhead). A 2019 study showed that up to 50% of upper Columbia juvenile steelhead stocks were consumed by birds over an 11-year period. Look for more to come on this important issue!
Thank you!
Kurt