3. 8 . The short answer is “YES!” In the Northwest right now, generating “new energy” through investments in conservation is cheaper than generating new energy from coal or other fossil fuels. From 1994 to 2004, they ranged from 0.35 to 2.5 percent, exceeding 2 percent in just a single year. Box 67Spokane, WA 99210 Phone:  509-747-2030. 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. Since this time the Lower Snake River has been used as a means for getting products to markets. The Northwest would not be what it is today without hydroelectricity from the region’s dams. California Gov. Additionally, the federal government has ignored sound science. The four Snake River dams on the lower Snake in southeast Washington were completed in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Below is a list of commonly asked questions about Columbia and Snake River salmon and the four lower Snake River dams with answers from regional stakeholders. Advocates hope to have the dams out by 2024 . By investing money to help inefficient processes or machines become more efficient and use less energy, “new” energy becomes available that can then be used by others. Subject: President Obama: Protect Orcas by Removing Four Lower Snake River Dams Hi, President Obama is considering taking bold, needed action that would help to save orcas (killer whales) in the Pacific. Why do scientists support salmon and steelhead restoration by removing the 4 lower Snake River dams? The lower Snake River dams have enabled large quantities of grain to be shipped by barge from Lewiston, Idaho all the way to the mouth of the Columbia River, 465 miles away, making the ninth-largest city in the nation’s 39th most populous state the West Coast’s farthest-inland port. The difference lies in the number of mainstem dams they encounter. The dams became operational between 1961 and 1975. The Endangered Species Act lays out certain basic principles and requirements to ensure that we do not inadvertently allow species to go extinct. Each year, 3 million cubic yards of sediment enters the reservoir, raising the water level and increasing risk of flood. G�PA`7ͨ��̎��T�G��`. Our communities and future generations need and deserve both. Investments in a modern rail system and improved highways is not only affordable, it will provide far more benefits to the region’s farmers, businesses and communities that the lower Snake River barge system does. In an extended cold-snap or other power emergency, such as another power plant shutting down unexpectedly, these four dams can produce in excess of 2,650 MW over a sustained period of 10 hours per day for fi ve consecutive days. Today, dams play a far greater role killing salmon than fishermen. The cumulative effect of eight dams on the lower Columbia and lower Snake Rivers is too much for salmon survival and if the four dams on the lower Snake were removed (cutting the total number of dams Snake River stocks face in half), these salmon can rebound to healthy levels. Together, the four Lower Snake River dams have a “nameplate” (maximum) generating capacity of 3,000 megawatts. It is caught in the ocean and the lower Columbia River where it mixes with other abundant populations found on the lower Columbia River. The Obama Administration along with the 111th Congress can help by fostering a forward-looking dialogue that will serve as the foundation for a durable strategy to bring wild salmon back to the Columbia-Snake Basin, and to keep communities healthy and whole. The four Lower Snake dams were the last built in the federal Columbia hydropower system. More on Climate Change. However, there’s absolutely no conflict between fighting global warming and recovering threatened and endangered Northwest salmon and steelhead stocks. 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. If the dams are removed, how will farmers who use these dams’ reservoirs to ship in crops in barges deliver their products to market? The Corps admits that the volume of sediment is too vast for dredging to solve the problem. This would have a minimal impact on BPA - the agency responsible for selling power from the Columbia Basin federal dams. Yet one simple fact remains: Download the PDF on fishing and salmon numbers. Download the PDF on fishing and salmon numbers. Instead of following this species protection law, the federal government has ignored its requirements, reinterpreted them in inconsistent and dangerous ways, and attempted to rewrite them. Lower Granite Dam, one of the four dams on the Lower Snake River that are driving all remaining Snake River salmon toward extinction. In 2002, the General Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, released a report titled, “Columbia River Basin Salmon and Steelhead: Federal Agencies' Recovery Responsibilities, Expenditures and Actions” that stated there is no conclusive evidence that the last two decades of federal salmon recovery actions have succeeded in helping to restore these fish. How much will it cost to replace that power? 1. The answer is simple: The federal government’s salmon plans have failed because they circumvented legal requirements and politicized science. ?j�xO;"��!X��k����!�#k;��۲���QB(�,a� A8�j2�OFDS�P/�� ��h3�0���=Z�f��}I��R3~5�5��V,L=�R�p��uï�͝x��������,T��� ˆ&Q �Q��&�v����v94(���a�8%�R����0���B��A�j���ڇ�=��#��Ӱ����BRLvA>]Ae�Mx�G\Eɪ^5��4��>��Qq��龜�R�G�[\j���P�&���p���Y��q6���i����V�q��GDG�>��}n�j�%��p�ju�ϤKM�����8�M���q�Q�M Lower Granite Dam with Channel Bypass. The bottom line: the limited power produced by the four lower Snake River dams can be replaced without adding to our climate pollution, at little or no cost to consumers, and with great benefits to endangered salmon and the communities, businesses, and cultures that rely upon them. %PDF-1.4 %���� Arnold Schwarzenegger’s popular and successful “Million Solar Roofs” program could be instituted in the Pacific Northwest as well. In the early days skilled steamboat operators carefully navigated both the Columbia and Lower Snake rivers in order to transport wheat and other goods to Portland. The four lower Snake River dams are Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose, and Lower Granite. How does global warming affect Columbia-Snake River salmon and steelhead survival? Global warming creates new challenges for recovering salmon and steelhead, and makes the impacts from the lower Snake River dams and their slackwater reservoirs even worse. Further, Northwest consumers should not bear even this minimal expense alone. Fishing takes between 0 to 10 percent of any given run. If we stay on the current path, taxpayers will not only continue to foot the bill for costly salmon recovery but will shoulder the massive cost of extinction. They cited modeling by the Environmental Protection Agency that shows that removing the four lower Snake River dams would reduce Snake River water temperatures by 6.3 degrees F, on average, during the summer and early fall. Scientists predict that the salmon and steelhead of the Snake River that are born at high altitudes where cooler temperatures will persist have the best chance of surviving the current warming trend. A key benefit for Snake River populations is the amount of high quality habitat they have that is not found in the other Columbia basins. The current recovery plan is too expensive and promises not fish recovery, but decades more in multi-billion dollar spending. Remove the Dams on the lower Snake River - “It’s not just a biological crisis we’re having out here. Replacing the dams’ power with energy efficiency (conservation programs) and truly clean, salmon-safe, renewable energy is estimated to cost between $80 million and $180 million a year – just 2-4 percent of Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) $4 billion annual budget. An independent economic analysis recently rein- … Seattle, WA 811 First Ave.,Suite 305Seattle, WA 98104 Phone:  206-300-1003, Spokane, WA P.O. 6. And it would devastate fishing communities from California to Alaska and into Idaho. 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 federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest are a major factor in the decline of these fish and yet the federal government continues to minimize the harm caused by these dams. 2. Are the 4 Lower Snake River dams next? Why Breach? They are “run-of-river dams,” which means they don’t store water. Lower Snake River dam removal is the surest way to recover all of these salmon and steelhead species so all anglers can again have an opportunity to fish. 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 … Federal agencies that manage the dams released their Columbia River System Operations Draft Environmental Impact Statement Friday morning. The draft EIS identifies and evaluates a no-action alternative and five alternatives, one of which includes breaching the four lower Snake River dams. The Lower Snake River Dams Power Replacement Study confirms that clean and renewable resources can provide a viable and effective energy alternative to the continued operation of the dams. Agriculture, Salmon, and the Snake River Dams . The shallow, slow-running river will become even warmer, further threatening salmon survival throughout the region. No. For five decades, the four dams on the lower Snake River have provided water for irrigation, emissions-free hydroelectricity, and 140 miles of flat water for barge passage from Pasco, Washington, to Lewiston, Idaho. 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. During the past few decades Inland Northwest local railroads—called short lines—have fallen into disrepair, with serious economic consequences for struggling farm communities, local business owners and manufacturers. What can Congress do to solve this problem and restore salmon and steelhead to abundance? Further downstream are Little Goose Dam, Lower Monumental Dam, and Ice Harbor Dam. Already we see the effects of climate change reducing the mountain snowpack on which Northwest hydropower production depends. Those populations, like the Snake, also encounter mortality as a result of habitat destruction, harvest, hatcheries, predators and ocean conditions, but they are not imperiled. H��WI�l� ��)� �EM$O`��W�lxU� ��W^��M2(��gë����8��]K=�{���P���t�y��_���_t��x y�y�c�?6o�~|�fy�FwBZ�Ĥ7�E�2�aS�F���M��]�w��]�C�8^g���M��?����o)r��n�t�S�N�����[�� �Ȝ����Sj���z�zW��P�����R( �����VN�[Ap��a6�k�\ qJ�\6���K���B��Õ5D�5 ����B�����w��� ��p�b����~=���5�M��Y�V��Q�$"^�<09Sgw�P�Ǥ�O���[Hp3w��g���B� N'1GDG�[��64���xedBqz�K@�8^ If we continue with the status quo, salmon will be driven to extinction and U.S. taxpayers will be left with an enormous price tag. The Pacific Northwest’s official power planning agency, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, recently prescribed making investments in conservation in order to generate 2,500 average megawatts (more than twice what the 4 lower Snake River dams produce) of “new” energy to help meet rising power needs, and could have called for hundreds more. Reality: The four lower Snake River dams are relatively unreliable sources of power compared to some other dams in the federal Columbia River system. Those benefits include increased commercial fishing, a resurgence of recreational jobs and businesses, and a substantial reduction in the expensive, wasteful (and largely ineffective) salmon programs now in place. 10. Further, cost-effective investments in conservation (efficiencies) that can generate an additional 850 average megawatts (enough for a city like Portland OR) are also clearly achievable. Compelling evidence proves dams kill salmon. The United States has largely failed in its obligation. 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. More recent studies also show that populations of other Columbia Basin salmon that migrate through four or less dams and reservoirs, such as those from the Yakima and John Day rivers are performing significantly better than those from the Snake river. Here’s how: The low-cost estimate ($80 million, see Question 2 above) for replacing the four lower Snake River dams’ power is based on creating 90 percent of this new energy through investments in conservation (efficiency) and 10 percent from new, truly clean, salmon-safe renewable energy like wind or biomass. 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