OPINION: Secrecy on dam-breaching agreement doesn’t sit well

The headline of a Dec. 14 news release by Northwest River Partners reads, “Secret agreement between U.S. government and anti-hydro plaintiff groups ignores the public and invites more litigation.”

They are talking about a five-year stay in litigation on the issue of breaching the four lower Snake River dams, with an additional five-year option. The agreement was developed in six months of secret negotiations between the Biden administration and “The Six Sovereigns.”

Who are the mysterious Six Sovereigns? They are a group which includes the Nez Perce Tribe, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, and the states of Oregon and Washington. These are all very left-leaning states and organizations which strongly support dam breaching. Kurt Miller, executive director of Northwest River Partners, said of the secret agreement, “As written, it hands the key to anti-hydro parties whose stated objective is to dismantle the entire system.”

Recently, Northwest River Partners, Public Power Council and Pacific Northwest Waterways Association took a joint stand against the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative, questioning the transparency of the project and expressing great concern for the millions of Northwesterners who will be hurt by this project. They stated, “Our organizations have repeatedly looked for ways to find common ground with the plaintiffs’ concerns during the mediation process, submitting numerous inputs, documents, and studies. Instead of working with all in terests, the U.S. government chose for months to hold secret negotiations and refused to share any details with us, let alone allow our participation. It is not surprising, then, that this proposal turns its back on over three million electricity customers as well as the farming, transportation, navigation, and economic needs of the region. By purposely excluding our respective organizations from the negotiations, literally millions of Northwest residents were deprived of fair representation in this process.”

The state of Idaho and its citizens, who will bear a huge portion of the social and economic damage from breaching the dams, were also not invited to participate in the negotiations. The state of Idaho has since filed suit against CBRI, claiming that it effectively locks Idaho out of court and out of the fight to stop dam breaching.

The four lower Snake River dams that are being attacked have a 96% successful fish passage. There are thousands of miles of unused fish-spawning habitat in Idaho that are blocked by dams in Idaho with no fish bypass systems. And there are thousands of miles of unused spawning habitat behind Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams in Washington that have no fish bypass systems. The actual percentage of spawning grounds lost to these dams, according to government figures, are 80% for fall chinook, 70% plus for spring and summer chinook and 65% for steelhead. Why aren’t we talking about this?

The principle scientific issue in dispute regarding dam breaching is “latent mortality.” The latent mortality argument claims that dams cause stress in smolts when they are migrating to the ocean to such a degree that the smolts die shortly after entering the estuary/ocean. If latent mortality truly is a problem and causes extensive smolt mortality, the case to breach the dams is much stronger. The Six Sovereigns claim this issue has been scientifically resolved in a 2022 study named “Rebuilding Interior Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead,” by the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. However, this study doesn’t in any way provide guidance on latent mortality. NOAA substituted politics for science to make a case for dam breaching. NOAA was so secretive in preparing this study that not a single scientist’s name appears as an author.

In 2020, the Columbia River Systems Operation’s environmental impact statement was completed after four years of scientific study and millions of dollars spent. The study “did not recommend dam breaching” to save the fish. Three government departments signed off on this study including NOAA. Who should we believe?

According to a white paper (informational report) composed by two board members of Citizens for the Preservation of Fish and Dams Inc., using government figures, at no period of time since 1938 when Bonneville Dam was built have fish numbers even come close to matching the returns from the first 15 years of our present century. From 1938-47, with only one dam in place, 1,893,122 salmon and steelhead crossed Bonneville Dam. From 2000-09, after eight dams, including the four lower Snake River dams, were in place, 5,649,039 fish crossed the dam. That is more than a 335% increase in fish returns. How can the “breachers” explain that?

A highly successful system of hatcheries and fish barging created this phenomenon. If our four lower Snake River dams are breached, the funding for this system will end and the fish could go extinct. Why do we believe this? A member of our group, Citizens for the Preservation of Fish and Dams, with 36 years of experience studying anadromous fish and managing hatcheries, wrote a fantastic white paper on this issue. It studies the history and predicts the future of our fish. I encourage Eric Barker, the Lewiston Tribune’s Outdoors editor, to publish this white paper.

Brian Shinn, Asotin County commissioner, said, “Environmental activists want to return all of our rivers to their free-flowing state. They forget that mankind is part of the ecosystem. Removing our dams will totally destroy our economic infrastructure.”

Members of our organization have numerous degrees in fisheries and a combined 125-plus years of experience in this field. We support our dams and fish. Join us at cfpfd.org and see why.

Dugger retired as a journeyman carpenter from Clearwater Paper. He lives in Lewiston.