Don’t let Snake River dams be a coronavirus casualty. Call in to save them | Editorial

In our community-wide effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus, we must not become so focused on the pandemic that we neglect other, critical issues facing the Tri-Cities.

Of upmost importance is protecting the Snake River dams, which continue to be in jeopardy.

Last week’s time for phone-in comments on the recently released, federal draft Environmental Impact Statement has come and gone, but there are three more scheduled over the next two weeks, and Tri-City participation is crucial.

Considering many people have hunkered down in a semi-quarantine, this could be a good way to spend some time. Why not prepare a statement and send in your testimony, either online, by mail or by calling it in?

Knowing you are helping to protect reliable power production and the region’s economy could be invigorating. And it could take your mind off the disease for a little while.

Initially, there were going to be public hearings. But the coronaviurs scuttled those plans. Instead, organizers have scheduled teleconferences.

Callers can listen to other comments and provide their own testimony, with a 3-minute limit.

The next teleconferences are Wednesday, March 25; Thursday, March 26 and Tuesday, March 31. All start at 4 p.m. and are scheduled to end at 8 p.m.

People can call in at any time during the conference. The toll-free number is 1-844-721-7241. The access code is 5998146#

For many Tri-Citians, this may feel a bit like déjà-vu. A workshop for the Governor’s Snake River dam report was held in Pasco last January, with many Tri-Citians in attendance.

This federal study is significantly more important that the state report, however.

U.S. Judge Michael Simon in Portland ordered the federal EIS over concerns that not enough was being done to protect endangered or threatened fish in the region’s hydro-power system.

That system includes the four lower Snake River dams that westside environmental groups will never stop attacking.

This 5,000-page draft report released by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration has been anticipated for years.

It rejects dam breaching as a viable option, and instead recommends spilling more water at the dams for fish passage when less power is needed in the region, and spilling less water when power is needed more.

Not surprisingly, the draft report has been heavily criticized by those groups who want the dams gone. This is a battle that has gone on for decades.

Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have concluded time and again that breaching the dams would boost salmon runs only slightly. These are the scientists charged with protecting salmon, as well as the orca that feed on the fish. So you’d think their opinions would be the most respected.

But because those conclusions counter their agenda, certain environmental groups dismiss the NOAA recommendations and instead promote their own privately-funded studies that come up with results they agree with.

We want to see more fish in our waters and we truly want the orca to thrive. But there are many factors contributing to their demise that breaching dams won’t fix, including pollution in Puget Sound and rising temperatures in the ocean.

The draft EIS concluded that breaching the dams actually would harm fish in the short-term as reservoirs are drawn down and sediment is moved.

The report also rejected dam breaching because it could cause electric rates to rise up to 50 percent, risking power shortages.

Transporting goods by truck and rail instead of by barge could increase costs by 10 to 33 percent, according to the draft report, and family farms could be ruined without irrigation water provided by the dams.

These are the frightening outcomes.

The coronavirus eventually will pass, but the future of our region depends on what happens to the Snake River dams.

Participate in the teleconferences, or send comments online to comments.crso.info, or mail to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: CRSO EIS, P.O. Box 2870, Portland, OR 97208-2870. Deadline is April 13.

This story was originally published March 22, 2020 at 4:00 AM.