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Issues >
Water
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Four federal dams on the lower Snake River in Washington State are the primary factor in the continuing decline of wild Snake River salmon. In an effort to meet legal and treaty obligations while keeping the lower Snake River dams in place, federal agencies have spent more than $3.5 billion on failing fish mitigation programs in the region, according to the 2000 Northwest Power Council's Annual Report. Despite the tens of millions of dollars that are spent every year on efforts to aid migrating salmon past these four dams, a 2001 study by Trout Unlimited estimated that, under current policies, one threatened stock of Snake River salmon could vanish from certain tributaries by 2007, and become functionally extinct by 2016. Several Native American tribes have treaties with the federal government that guarantee them the perpetual right to fish for salmon in the Snake River. If Snake River salmon are forced into extinction, the treaties will be violated and national taxpayers would likely have to pay billions of dollars in compensation payments to Columbia River Basin tribes. Green
Scissors Proposal Current Status After spending more than $20 million to study how to best protect and recover the endangered salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake River Basin, a joint agency federal salmon plan was released in December 2000. The plan postpones a decision on whether to remove the dams for five years, pending additional studies. In
July 2001, Representatives Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Tom Petri
(R-WI) introduced HR 2573, the Salmon Planning Act. The bill
would provide for the economic transition studies, scientific
review, and authorizations necessary to help ensure that the
partial removal of the lower Snake River dams could proceed in
a timely fashion if federal agencies determine that dam removal
is necessary to save Snake River salmon. The existing fish barging operations on the lower Snake River are not helping to recover imperiled Snake River salmon and steelhead. Should the fish go extinct, federal taxpayers could be liable for billions of dollars in compensation payments for abrogating treaties guaranteeing the region's Native American a perpetual right to harvest salmon. Taxpayers have already spent millions of dollars on a failing fish collection and transportation system. The Army Corps of Engineers is now asking for an additional $490 million dollars to spend on more of the same recovery efforts that have failed in the past. In
2001, Bonneville Power Administration neglected their salmon
recovery responsibilities and avoided $580 million dollars of
their federal Treasury payment. The Administration
has proposed an additional $700 million dollars in borrowing
authority for the Bonneville although they have not been complying
with federal law. Freely granting Bonneville this money puts
taxpayers and salmon at risk. The Columbia River Federal Power System, including the four lower Snake River dams, is the primary cause of decline of salmon and steelhead stocks, inflicting approximately 80 percent of human-caused mortality for lower Snake River runs. The costly 20-year experiment of barging fish around the dams has not stopped the decline of Snake River salmon. Federal documents state that partial dam removal would increase salmon survival rates by a cautious estimate of 5 to 6 times that of the non-dam removal alternative.
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