Recreation in a post-dam era

If the lower Snake River dams are breached, the way in which people recreate in the 140-mile corridor from Lewiston to the Tri-Cities would change dramatically.

A free-flowing river would replace the existing slackwater reservoirs. Parks and boat ramps would be left far from water’s edge but long-inundated beaches would emerge. Opportunities for pleasure boating on flatwater would decline but be replaced by rafting and jet boating.

The ways in which people fish would change as well and the abundance of various fish species from salmon, steelhead and lamprey to smallmouth bass, carp and sturgeon could be altered.

Washington state and the federal government are in the early stages of a study examining those changes and how existing facilities could be altered to best support future recreation.

The study is an outgrowth of a settlement agreement between salmon advocates and the federal government involving litigation over existing plans to operate the dams in a way that considers the needs of threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead. The settlement calls for a 5-to-10-year pause in the litigation, during which studies looking at how services like recreation, tug-and-barge transportation, water supply and power generation might be replaced or altered if the dams are breached.

The players

The recreation study is a partnership between a state and federal agency. The Washington Recreation and Conservation Office has been tasked with measuring existing recreation on the 140-mile corridor, how that use would change if the dams were breached and what sort of facilities and management would be needed to support future recreation.

The state agency will then hand that information to the Army Corps of Engineers and officials there will use it to craft potential changes to facilities and an estimate of how much it will cost.

Ben Donatelle, a policy specialist for the Recreation and Conservation Office, said that agency is in the public outreach and information-gathering stage. It has done focused interviews with some stakeholder groups, such as people who own and operate marians along the river or otherwise are dependent on the river as it is now, people who like whitewater rafting or jetboating, and people and entities focused on recreational tourism.

The agency has also conducted an online survey to measure existing use and opinions about how recreation would change without dams. He said responses have been diverse.

“There are a lot of people we have heard from who have built their livelihoods around the reservoir system, or that have gone to a particular place with their family, or their parents, and now they have grandkids that they’re bringing.”

Others have expressed optimism about recreating on a restored river.

“We’ve talked to a lot of people who are interested in sort of multi-day river fishing trips, where you can float for three, four days along the way,” he said.

Donatelle said because they don’t know exactly what the river might look like, who might ultimately own specific pieces of property or where there might be important cultural resources that need to be protected, his agency isn’t necessarily going to propose recreation facilities in specific places.

“What we are really doing is looking at it from a system level, what do we expect the future demands to look like? What kinds of activities do we expect to be available? What are, in a conceptual way, the facilities, infrastructure and support services that you would need to enable a robust and thriving, diverse recreation spectrum along the corridor?”

He said neither his agency nor the Corps is likely to recommend new facilities that require significant access roads. Rather, in most cases they would examine extending existing facilities like parks and boat ramps so that people have access to the water and beaches.

A draft is expected to be released in October or November and a final of the study could be released at the end of the year.

Meeting

The agency will hold a public meeting 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Asotin County Library. Those who attend will be given an overview of the study, the results of the online survey and an opportunity to say how they use the river today, how it would change without the dams and what sort of facilities would be needed.

Space for that meeting is limited but those unable to attend have the opportunity to participate in an online version to be held from 5:30-7 p.m. Feb. 12.

An important thing to understand about the study is the people doing it aren’t making a recommendation to keep or breach the dams. Instead, they are looking at existing recreation and how it would change from the hypothetical position that the dams will be breached.

“We really just want personal experiences, hopes for the future, those personal stories and experiences and a little bit of imagining of what could be, even if it is different,” Donnatelle said. “We’re going to talk about what we’ve heard from the survey and then give people an opportunity to kind of talk about what they do and what they would like to see in the future.”

Space at the meeting is limited because of the size of the venue. As of Thursday, Donatelle said there were 10 to 15 slots remaining. More information about the meeting and how to make reservations to attend are available at snakeriverrecreation.com.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com.