Clearwater Paper now ships 95 to 100 percent of its product by truck and rail. The four lower Snake River dams are a major cause.2 Recovery measures for wild salmon costing billions of dollars have failed. It is time for the lower four Snake River dams to come down. The Army Corps of Engineers recently acknowledged an annual cost of $7.6-$12.6 million just for operations and maintenance of the waterway. Shipping statistics from Ice Harbor indicate water-born commerce peaked on the lower Snake in 1995 and has been on a long, steady decline ever since. The four lower Snake River dams can generate enough electricity to power the entire city of Seattle. Changing electrical grid may make Snake River dams expendable – August 2017. A focus of the EIS will be the lethal warmwater reservoirs created by the four lower Snake River dams. Money is spent on all these strategies to get more salmon past the 8 dams in their way, ensure they can get through as quickly as possible, and that they have the highest probability of surviving, without negative effects (latent mortality). It rejects dam breaching arguing that such a dramatic approach would destabilize the power grid, increase overall greenhouse emissions and more than double the risk of … Congress did not authorize flood control as a purpose and the dams were not designed for it. The report is based on four sources of information: review of relevant reports and studies; interviews with stakeholders, jurisdictions and organizations that would … Sheldon told colleagues at a January 31 public hearing that agriculture in the basin relies on the irrigation provided by these dams, in addition to the Clarkston-Lewiston Port, for transporting their produce to market. Costs for operation and repairs currently exceed power revenues and economic benefits derived from navigation and irrigation. The dams are aging, and escalating costs of necessary maintenance—paid for with tax and rate payer dollars—are stressing already-tight federal agency budgets. We now have excellent examples of indisputably successful dam removal and river restoration projects: the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Elwha River of Washington state, Condit Dam on the White Salmon of Washington state, four dams on the Penobscot River in Maine and Marmot Dam on the Sandy River in Oregon. 3. The plan guides dam management on the Columbia River System, which includes the four controversial Lower Snake River dams — Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower … Four aging dams in Washington state block passage along the lower Snake River, a major migration corridor linking pristine cold water streams in central Idaho to the mighty Columbia River and out to the Pacific Ocean. The Lower Snake River Project's four dams and navigation locks have transformed this part of the Snake River into a series of reservoirs. Large public enterprises including Bonneville and the Corps would change how they do business. There are an estimated 37,000 acres of industrial farmland irrigated by the reservoir behind one dam, Ice Harbor. The Snake River basin and where the salmon (used to, and again, will) swim. The cost of maintaining the lower Snake River waterway is growing rapidly. The Snake River dams in Washington would remain in place under a final study released Friday, July 31, by federal agencies. Problems inherent in the huge slack water reservoirs created by the dams cannot be fixed. Look at real time amounts of energy being produced and sold on BPA’s website. Below are FOC’s comments. Sea lions gather at the mouth of the Columbia waiting for the salmon, and some are intelligent enough to detect the barges and trucks that will release their next meal. This is based on research and observation that birds and sea lions’ diet includes young salmon. Wild salmon and steelhead populations have tremendous historical, cultural, ecological, and socio-economic value as well. A reanalysis of the 2002 Lower Snake River Juvenile Salmon Migration Feasibility Report demonstrates the Army Corps’ Walla Walla District underestimated the average annual cost of keeping the lower Snake River dams in place by a staggering $160.7 million. The proposed removal of four Lower Snake River dams has been the subject of legal battles since 1991. It was removed during the 1970’s. The comment period closed on April 13, 2020. It keeps the controversial dams in place. Together, the four Lower Snake River dams have a “nameplate” (maximum) generating capacity of 3,000 megawatts. The current use of this savings figure by ports and special interest organizations is unsubstantiated propaganda. Today the lower Snake River dams (LSRDs) preform various functions; providing hydropower, navigation, irrigation and fish passage. The dams generate a negligible amount of power, and it will be cheaper to take them out than to update them to modern standards.” No fish= No orcas ! Judge rules federal government Columbia/Snake River salmon recovery plan illegal – May 2016. It’s simply a matter of time before the federal agencies admit it. Advocates hope to have the dams out by 2024 . About … tons shipped through Ice Harbor Dam trending down. The cost of mitigation hatcheries for lost Snake River stocks is rising a rate of 5 percent annually, and turbine rehabilitation over the next 15 years will require at least $775 million in today’s dollars. Fish passage at the dams can happen a couple ways. They are “run of the river” dams with very little storage capacity and are thus almost totally dependent on the amount of snowpack and rate of runoff. The Walla Walla District’s claim in its 2014 Lower Snake River sediment management plan that the lower Snake River waterway provides cost savings of $8.45 per ton is false. Major regional industries have abandoned barge shipping. Today even this projection is proving too optimistic. Climate change is adding another challenge as warming water temperatures in the reservoirs behind the dams threaten salmon which depend on cold water and snowmelt. Generation is limited by both spill requirements and seasonal river flow. The confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers at Burbank, Washington is part of Lake Wallula, the reservoir of McNary Dam. The four Lower Snake dams were the last built in the federal Columbia hydropower system. “From 2015 to 2017, the Fish and Wildlife Service authorized the lethal removal of Doublecrested Cormorants in the Columbia River estuary. The 2002 economic analysis of transportation on the lower Snake violated Corps guidance regarding the use of rates rather than costs and was based on a highly overstated projection of future freight volumes. Interview with Jim Waddell, retired civil engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers and member of Dam Sense, about removal of the four lower Snake River Dams. “The science is clear that removing the earthen portions of the four lower Snake River dams is the most certain and robust solution to Snake River salmon and steelhead recovery,” Brown wrote. We can build new rail lines, new roads, and new water infrastructure. The cost-benefit analysis was controversial then, and still is today. Reality: The four lower Snake River dams are relatively unreliable sources of power compared to some other dams in the federal Columbia River system. LSR Freight Transport graph. Over the next fifteen years, all twenty-four turbines for the lower Snake River dams will need to be rebuilt. Lower Granite Lock and Dam is a concrete gravity run-of-the-river dam in the northwest United States.On the lower Snake River in southeastern Washington, it bridges Whitman and Garfield counties. “Extensive evidence indicates that breaching the four lower Snake River dams would provide more certainty of achieving the kind of long-term … The four lower Snake River dams are a major cause.2 Recovery measures for wild salmon costing billions of dollars have failed. They are “run of the river” dams, meaning they were not built to store water. They are “run of the river” dams with very little storage capacity and are thus almost totally dependent on the amount of snowpack and rate of runoff. • Breaching the four lower Snake River Dams per the Court’s strong admonition that such an alternative be considered in detail in the CRSO FEIS (MO3); • Maximizing spill for the benefit of ESA-listed salmonids (MO4); and • The Preferred Alternative, based on a flexible spill strategy designed to allow for adjusting operations to allow for achieving the best balance among the System’s many … The federal agencies rejected the removal of these dams, despite broad scientific and stakeholder consensus that doing so may be the only way to recover Snake River salmonids. Either option would cost far less than maintaining the salmon-killing dams. There is currently an energy surplus in the Pacific Northwest. The dams never delivered the economic prosperity that they promised. Topics: Hydropower, Navigation, Irrigation, Fish Passage, Costs. Most recently, in May 2016, a federal district judge ordered dam operators to put all options on the table to save threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead – including dam removal on the Snake River. Whether the dams … Together they create approximately 140 miles of slackwater, and made Lewiston, Idaho the “farthest inland seaport” on the west coast. The Lewiston Dam was built approximately 4-miles upstream from the confluence of the Clearwater River and lower Snake River in the 1920’s. The four dams in particular question are Ice Harbor, Little Goose, Lower Granite and Lower Monumental. Despite objections, Congress approved construction. The 2009 Washington State Marine Forecast projects the growth of freight transportation on the Lower Snake from 2003-2030 to be 0.3 percent. Economic Tradeoffs of Removing the Lower Snake River Dams. The lower Snake River project is economically unjustifiable and fiscally unsustainable. Lower Granite Dam is located approximately 40-miles downstream of Lewiston, Idaho. Barging on the lower Snake River from Lewiston through Ice Harbor Dam is in serious decline. Lower Monumental Dam on the Snake River in Washington is one of four dams considered for removal or breaching in a long-running debate. Problems inherent in the huge slack water reservoirs created by the dams cannot be fixed. Compelling evidence proves dams kill salmon. The four dams were built with six turbines each, a capacity to produce 3,033 MW of power. Irrigation pumps could be replaced and pipes extended to the Snake River for farmland irrigated behind Ice Harbor Dam. Two unit train grain terminals have come on line in eastern Washington in the last 11 years, and a third is being built west of Spokane and will be fed in part by short lines that penetrate the Palouse Prairie. Lower Snake River (LSR) Freight Transportation is in Long-term Decline. Update: Oregon governor who supports breaching Snake River dams invited to see them first-hand Oreg on’s Democrat Gov. The dams create an impediment to fish migration and worsen the warming of river water, which also inhibits migration. Wild salmon advocates, tribal representatives and renewable energy advocates, who support removing the four Lower Snake River dams in southeastern Washington, say this decision will hurt salmon and the orcas that depend on them for food. Free-flowing … and at anytime may contribute to the  ~8,000 MW surplus sold  on secondary markets – also known as interchange or tier 2 power sales. The Army Corps of Engineers built the four lower Snake dams mainly for barging transportation and for some energy production. Wind energy in the same region has blossomed, and now triples the nameplate capacity (maximum energy produced) of hydropower. A free-flowing river could greatly improve wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Clearwater Basin, and deposit nutrients throughout the basin’s ecosystem. The four Snake River dams on the lower Snake in southeast Washington were completed in the 1960’s and 1970’s. At the heart of this issue are the cumulative, negative impacts of the four dams on the lower Snake River, a major Columbia River tributary, which has severed fish passage to rich spawning habitats in Idaho. The transportation economics part of the 2002 study was so flawed the Walla Walla District itself stated the results should not be used again without further refinement. The department of fish and wildlife manages the 26 facilities that release millions of salmon a year. This does not include the millions for annual operations and maintenance on the dams, along with other major repairs, over that same time period. According to the U.S. Army … In 1995 freight transportation on the lower Snake River peaked at 9.16 million tons. More than 5,000 cormorants were removed and more than 6,000 nests were destroyed.” – Letter from NPCC to U.S. Further mitigation: In the past few years, BPA has begun culling and disturbing sea lion and birds. By 2000 that volume had dropped to 4.52 million tons, and in 2014 the lower Snake waterway transported only 2.8 million tons. Earlier today, a long-awaited federal report on the prospect of removing the four lower Snake River Dams was released, offering little hope for the watershed’s endangered wild salmon and steelhead. With several large sawmills in the region, the Port of Lewiston has not shipped any lumber for at least seven years. In fact, the Port suspended 100 percent of its container traffic indefinitely in April 2015. Janet Higbee-Robinson, Bellingham Its six dams on the main stem of the Columbia River provide all the electricity its contracted customers need; the electricity generated by its 25 other dams, including the four lower Snake River dams, is all surplus. Economic benefits of the dams are far below the costs (benefit to cost ratio of .15, meaning 15 cents in benefits to every tax dollar spent). The federal government wants to keep the Four Lower Snake River Dams in place. The four lower Snake River dams are important to the Northwest’s power needs, provide important support for the transmission system and help keep our system low in carbon emissions. Though they have a high capacity, it is seldom realized. The proposal to build the four lower Snake River dams drew strong opposition, particularly from state and federal fish biologists. The Port of Lewiston’s container shipments peaked in 1997 with 17,611 TEUs and have been on a long, steady slide ever since. Reality: The four lower Snake River dams are relatively unreliable sources of power compared to some other dams in the federal Columbia River system. Wind and solar are a growing part of our clean energy system and hydropower from dams works together with them to meet demand and provide reliable carbon-free power when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. Or, the land could be converted to non-irrigated farmland or pasture. To make up for the declining runs, hatcheries are subsidized, and this is another large expense for BPA called “mitigation”. Washington State is investing in bridge improvements so these short lines can service heavier cars at higher speeds. The Snake River basin and where the salmon (used to, and again, will) swim. Birds like double crested cormorants nest on shorelines and islands while they feed, only to be killed, chased away or have their habitat destroyed. Lower Granite Dam is located approximately 40-miles downstream of Lewiston, Idaho. Study suggests breaching the lower Snake River dams benefits the economy – February 2016. The rapidly rising costs of maintaining the lower Snake River system are presenting significant challenges to the federal agencies that manage the dams. For more graphs, click on the below headline. Despite these factors and hundreds of thousands of voices supporting the removal of the four lower Snake River dams, including Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown, the three federal government agencies (Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bonneville Power Administration) rejected dam removal altogether in their draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). We can redevelop and create new economic opportunities for our state and the … On a broader scale, such consideration lays the analytical groundwork for potential later consideration of a determination to breach one or more of the four Lower Snake River dams. Tell our Northwest congressional delegation that we need them to lead on a robust economic development package that takes down the lower four dams and rebuilds our northwest economy. This is because no power plant is running at 100% capacity all of the time. Lower Snake River Hydropower Has Already Been Replaced. Due to sediment build up, Lower Granite Dam actually creates a flood risk to Lewiston, Idaho and requires conveyance dredging to mitigate this risk. The nameplate capacity of the 4 lower Snake dams totals 3,033 Megawatts, but over the past 11 years they have only produced an average of 961 aMW (annual Megawatts), or 33% of nameplate capacity. The dams do not provide flood protection or any meaningful amount of irrigation. Because these dams can’t provide flood control and have virtually no storage capacity, they can reach that maximum for just a few days in any year (during a rapid spring snowmelt for example). The four dams on the lower Snake River are part of a vast and complex hydroelectric power system operated by the federal government in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Over the past 18 years, freight volume has declined 69 percent, and container shipments from the Port of Lewiston, the only port on the river that ships containers, had dropped at least 82 percent by early April 2015—and 100 percent by late April 2015. Lower Granite Dam is actually regarded to increase flood risk to Lewiston, Idaho. https://earthjustice.org/features/remove-four-lower-snake-river-dams “Even PacifiCorp now supports dam removal. If the open market price for this power is below the tier -1 guaranteed power rate of $36MWh, money is being lost. Restoring the lower Snake River by removing the four dams that block its flow would precipitate changes in the region’s physical infrastructure, electric grid operations, carbon emissions, grain transport, irrigation, recreation, fish habitat, and riverine and marine ecosystems. Each year, millions of tons of grain make their way along what was once one of our wildest river systems, the Columbia-Snake River. Geology. Data source: Port of Lewiston (portoflewiston.com). Over the span of fifty years, wild Chinook salmon populations virtually ceased in the basin, while wild steelhead struggled to navigate the fish ladder(s) and populations plummeted. Cost estimates for replacing this aging infrastructure are $775 million dollars (today’s costs). They are economically unsustainable now. A growing set of cost indicators suggest the government can’t continue propping up the system. For more graphs, click on the above headline. Flows in the lower Snake River are highest in the spring (average annual peak of approximately 165,000 cubic … A 2014 study by the Lewis Clark Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization cited rail improvements and construction of a unit train loader at the Port of Lewiston as the number one priority for improved transportation in the Lewiston area. Containers shipped to ports on the lower Snake River are measured in TEUs, which means Twenty Foot Equivalent Units, a standard global measure for sea freight. These dams will be breached in the future due to the economics. The Snake River basin and where the salmon (used to, and again, will) swim. container shipments down drastically at Port of Lewiston. Large public enterprises including Bonneville and the Corps would change how they do business. A high use waterway produces 300-500 billion ton-miles each year. Beginning with the 2002 Lower Snake River Juvenile Salmon Migration Feasibility Report, all projections of future levels of freight volume on the lower Snake River have been vastly overstated. These improvements have not worked. Study suggests lower Snake River dams not critical for Pacific Northwest energy capacity – June 2015. The debate regarding the potential removal of the four Lower Snake River dams in Washington has been ongoing for over two decades, but much of the existing information is either outdated or incomplete. In addition to normal maintenance and operations, and sediment management planning costs, dredging recently cost more than $23 million for the upper part of the Lower Granite pool, with more implementation costs to follow. The lower Snake River dams produce roughly 1,100 average megawatts of carbon-free electricity compared to the Klamath River dam’s 78 average megawatts. When demand for energy is high in summer and winter, the dams only contribute small amount of power, as shown for Lower Granite Dam, it’s potential is reached at 100-200 MW. The four lower Snake River dams are Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite. The Army Corps of Engineers has spent $600 million dollars over the last thirteen years for System Improvements, intended to improve fish passage for imperiled wild salmon and steelhead populations. The Army Corps of Engineers can no longer afford, nor justify, the continued operation of the four lower Snake River dams. With the support of elected officials, the Corps has the authority and the time to update the 2002 EIS now and still act this year. Lower Granite Lock and Dam is a concrete gravity run-of-the-river dam in the northwest United States. It is time to breach the four lower Snake River dams. Opened 45 years ago in 1975, the dam is located 22 miles (35 km) south of Colfax and 35 miles (56 km) north of Pomeroy. Most of the power generated by the dams occurs during the spring (snowmelt) when demand and prices are low. “The region can remove the four Lower Snake River Dams and replace the power they provide with a portfolio of conservation and renewable energy resources while maintaining grid and transmission reliability at levels equal to or better than the current system and with little or no issions.” Energy Strategies, Power Replacement Study (April, 2018) “The study shatters the myth that replacing the … You can read more about it. For example, Clearwater Paper, Lewiston Idaho’s largest employer, is located 2 miles from the Port of Lewiston and exports paper and paperboard. Kate Brown advocacy for the removal of four dams on the Lower Snake River has caused consternation and anger among a coalition … It is time for the lower four Snake River dams to come down. Corrected Cost and Economic conclusions based on Corps data and planning processes show breaching via channel bypass has benefits ranging from 4 to 20 to 1 with Regional effects adding more than 5K jobs in E. Washington and Lewiston. Freight volumes on the lower Snake have declined 69% over the last twenty years, and container freight shipped from the Port of Lewiston in Idaho has declined 93% over the last sixteen years. Its first 50 miles (80 km) run through Jackson Hole, a wide valley between the Teton Range and the Gros Ventre Range. By the 1990’s, lower Snake River Coho were extinct, and lower Snake River spring Chinook, fall Chinook, and steelhead were listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. FOC comments on Columbia Hydropower EIS-4-6-20. It receives the Hoback and Greys Ri… Further downstream are Little Goose Dam, Lower Monumental Dam, and Ice Harbor Dam. Since 2000, container-on-barge traffic on the lower Snake River has declined by 82 percent, with more than half of that decline occurring prior to the great recession, which commenced in fall 2008. Whether the dams … The plan guides dam management on the Columbia River System, which includes the four controversial Snake River dams. Free-flowing … The 2009 Washington State Marine Forecast projects the growth of freight transportation on the lower Snake from 2003-2030 to be 0.3 percent. We can build new rail lines, new roads, and new water infrastructure. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers uses ton-miles to represent the value of a waterway for commercial navigation. Are the 4 Lower Snake River dams next? The four dams generate less than 3% of the power produced in the Pacific Northwest. The four Lower Snake River hydroelectric dams are the low cost, carbon-free backbone of Oregon’s power supply and essential to meeting our region’s renewable energy goals. Lower Snake River Dams Stakeholder Engagement Final Report — March 2020 2 which perspectives carry more weight than others. Study suggests costs outweigh benefits for maintaining navigation on lower Snake River – September 2015. So, the question is will salmon and Southern … The four dams on the lower Snake River are part of a vast and complex hydroelectric power system operated by the federal government in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. 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. The judge’s order led to federal hearings throughout the region, ending earlier this … The plan guides dam management on the Columbia River System, which includes the four controversial Snake River dams. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has developed and constructed fish cooling systems at Lower Granite and Little Goose dams to alleviate warming water concerns. As the federal agencies become more desperate to recover salmon, we must hold them accountable to stop the use of this method, and start seriously considering breaching. The Columbia River flows about 325 miles (523 km) further west to the Pacific Ocean near Astoria, Oregon. Increased rail fuel efficiency and the growing use of unit trains in Montana, Idaho and Washington have contributed to a shift from truck-barge to truck-rail for the shipment of grain to Pacific Northwest ports. They are part of the problematic aging U.S. infrastructure that requires more money for maintenance every year. Restoring the lower Snake River by removing the four dams that block its flow would precipitate changes in the region’s physical infrastructure, electric grid operations, carbon emissions, grain transport, irrigation, recreation, fish habitat, and riverine and marine ecosystems. Due to the lack of water storage, the dams also don't offer much in the way of irrigation. In fact actual generation data shows they average 930 MW of power per year (2010-2015). The four dams in particular question are Ice Harbor, Little Goose, Lower Granite and Lower Monumental. As a result, salmon populations have declined by more than 90%. Ice Harbor Dam is lowermost of the four lower Snake River dams and therefore offers the best indication of the entire waterway’s economic viability. They are particularly valuable in times of extreme hot and cold weather, when demand for electricity peaks. Wild salmon advocates, tribal representatives and renewable energy advocates, who support removing the four Lower Snake River dams in southeastern Washington, say this decision will hurt salmon and the orcas that depend on them for food. The Four Lower Snake River Dams Improving Salmon Passage, February 2002 Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District; The Snake River is the principal tributary to the Columbia River, draining approximately 109,000 square miles in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon. The Clearwater Basin of North Central Idaho provides excellent habitat for wild salmon and steelhead. The American taxpayer continues to heavily subsidize operation, maintenance, and repairs on the four lower Snake River dams. The four Lower Snake River Dams are man-made structures with a finite lifetime. (Watch the crash course on energy here). Formed by the confluence of three tiny streams on the southwest flank of Two Oceans Plateau in Yellowstone National Park, western Wyoming, the Snake starts out flowing west and south into Jackson Lake. The four Snake River dams on the lower Snake in southeast Washington were completed in the 1960’s and 1970’s. None of this includes the $782 million the Bonneville Power Administration spends annually on fish mitigation (hatcheries, barging smolts, etc.).