Retire the Four Lower Snake River Dams

Number: 1998-04

 

WHEREAS, coho salmon in the Snake River basin were declared extinct in 1988, sockeye salmon in the Snake River basin were listed as an endangered species in 1991, spring and summer chinook salmon were listed as a threatened species in 1992, and steelhead trout in the Snake River basin were listed as a threatened species in 1997; and

WHEREAS, only a few thousand salmon per year have been returning to their spawning grounds in the Idaho mountains, and their numbers keep dwindling; and

WHEREAS, only 7,000 wild adult steelhead returned to Idaho in 1996 making it the lowest run on record, down from 82,000 in 1968; and

WHEREAS, during 1997, Idaho experienced the lowest outmigration of wild salmon and steelhead smolts traveling to the Pacific Ocean since records were kept; and

WHEREAS, the construction of eight hydroelectric dams between Lewiston, Idaho and Portland, Oregon block salmon migrating to the ocean and again block each adult returning home to spawn; and

WHEREAS, these dams have created 347 miles of continuous warm water reservoirs; and

WHEREAS, these dams and their reservoirs cause up to 98 percent mortality of the migrating smolts annually because of disease, stress, predation from warm water fish, turbine blades, and nitrogen supersaturation; and

WHEREAS, the dams have increased the smolt migration time from as little as nine days to 90 days during the critical biological process called smoltification where the salmon and steelhead change from a freshwater fish to a saltwater fish; and

WHEREAS, the four lower Snake River dams in southeast Washington state were completed between 1961 and 1975 and have been documented to be largely responsible for pushing a healthy population of fish into a downward spiral toward extinction; and

WHEREAS, prior to the construction of the four lower Snake River dams, commercial fishing for salmon in Oregon and Washington was healthy, and Idaho still had a sport season on salmon — a huge economic event; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has, for the past 25 years, taken salmon smolts out of the water and put them in barges and trucks to get them around the dams, but this effort has failed miserably; and

WHEREAS, aluminum smelters, barge navigation companies, inland ports and grain shippers who benefit from the status quo have pressured the National Marine Fisheries Service and Army Corps of Engineers to continue the barging program as the U.S. Government’s solution of choice; and

WHEREAS, even though the barging program is currently promoted by the federal agencies and is currently on the table as a long term option to save salmon, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is actively considering retiring, or decommissioning, the four lower Snake River dams to restore salmon and steelhead populations and this decision is scheduled to be made by the end of 1999; and

WHEREAS, the retirement of the four lower Snake River dams would be accomplished by carving an earthen section around the dams to let the river run naturally and will accomplish what scientists say is a definitive need to restore the river to more normative or natural river levels; and

WHEREAS, this decision to continue the barging program or retire the four lower Snake River dams is scheduled to be made by the end of 1999, but may be postponed because of pressure from industry; and

WHEREAS, the Pacific Northwest is currently engaged in this debate and the general public needs to hear the facts about the positive socio-economic and environmental effects of retiring the dams; and

WHEREAS, the Bonneville Power Administration pays up to $400 million/year trying to counter the dams’ unwanted effects that kill the fish, but the fish continue to edge closer to extinction; and

WHEREAS, the retirement of the dams will help restore the salmon and steelhead to fishable levels and will yield a positive economic impact for the Pacific Northwest and the nation; and
WHEREAS, the commodities that are currently shipped via barge on the lower Snake River can be shipped by existing alternative methods, and those impacts that might raise costs to shippers can be part of a salmon restoration mitigation package; and

WHEREAS, only 14 irrigators use lower Snake River water to irrigate 35,000 acres of cropland, and their pumps can be modified as part of a mitigation plan if the river is lowered to natural river level;

WHEREAS, the power generated by the four lower Snake River dams is only about 1,000 average megawatts, less than 5% of what is generated in the Pacific Northwest, and this power can be saved through conservation;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in its Annual Meeting assembled March 19-22, 1998, in Alexandria, Virginia, supports the retirement of the four lower Snake River dams in southeast Washington state as an essential requirement to recover and restore Snake River steelhead trout and spring, summer, and fall chinook salmon stocks; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports educational efforts that inform the public of the economic benefits of retiring the four lower Snake River dams and of the vital role salmon and steelhead play in the cultural heritage of the Pacific Northwest; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports a mitigation plan that will help users of the waterway in a transition that will reduce the dependence of the waterway users on taxpayer subsidies.