Dredging on the lower Snake River can start as planned next week, according to a ruling Monday by U.S. District Judge James Robart at Seattle.
Robart rejected a request by the Nez Perce Tribe and a coalition of environmental groups to delay dredging until their lawsuit seeking to stop the work can be heard. The ruling allows plans to proceed to extract about 400,000 cubic yards of sediment clogging the navigation channel near the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers and berthing areas at the ports of Lewiston and Clarkston.
"It means the corps will begin dredging as soon as possible and we are glad to see that happen," said David Doeringsfeld, manager of the Port of Lewiston. "Next year we won't be light-loading barges, and more important is the safety issue. There has been six (barge) groundings in the last two years. You have experienced tug captains unable to safely navigate the channel. This will correct that problem."
Sediment carried by the two rivers falls to the bottom when their flow is slowed by the slackwater behind the four lower Snake River dams. Over time, that sediment has accumulated in the navigation channel and berthing areas and made the channel, authorized at 14 feet deep, as shallow as 7 feet deep in some places.
To compensate, barges shipping grain and other products haven't been filled to capacity, a practice known as light-loading. Some cruise boats have had to stop at the Port of Clarkston's industrial dock rather than calling on its passenger dock.
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan calls for contractor American Construction Co. of Tacoma to remove about 400,000 cubic yards of sediment and dispose of it in deeper areas downstream, where it will be used to create rearing and resting habitat for juvenile salmon and steelhead.
The tribe and environmental groups have argued the dredging poses a threat to juvenile Pacific lamprey and doesn't pencil out economically. On Monday, Kevin Lewis of Idaho Rivers United said despite Robart's ruling, salmon advocates will continue their campaign of shining a light on what they allege is a river transportation system that has never made economic sense.
"Obviously we are disappointed the corps is going to waste more taxpayer dollars supporting a barging system that provides very few benefits to society," Lewis said. "It doesn't diminish the strength of our case and we expect to prevail."
The tribe and environmental groups support breaching the four dams as the best way to recover threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead. In the past few years, the groups have increasingly employed economic arguments to try to sway public opinion in favor of breaching.
They contend the cost of dredging and dam maintenance far outweighs the benefits provided by the dams. The ports and other river users say the river system and hydroelectricity produced at the dams create jobs and are a sound public investment.
Dredging can start as soon as Monday and must be completed by March 1 to reduce harm to salmon and steelhead. Because of a contract dispute, the work was delayed by about a month, leaving only 47 days to complete sediment removal.
Corps officials have said the agency is working with the contractor to "accelerate" the pace of the work and are confident the goal of re-establishing the navigation channel to a depth of 14 feet will be met.
The agency has said it was tasked by Congress to maintain the navigation channel and dredging is the only short-term tool available to do that.
"We take this responsibility to the public seriously and we'll make every effort to fulfill this mission," said Lt. Col. Timothy Vail, commander of the corps' Walla Walla District.
The corps agreed to pay American Construction Co. $6.7 million to dredge the rivers. However, that cost is likely to rise based on the agency's request to accomplish the work in the shorter time frame available because of the delayed start.
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