There is an ongoing debate within the Pacific Northwest round whether or not hydropower as an entire is “good” or “bad”. But this dialog misses vital element and nuance.
There are 1000’s of dams blocking rivers throughout the Northwest. Many dams present power, transportation, flood management, and irrigation. But many are inflicting extra hurt than good – and they’re falling aside. As a society we’re making decisions concerning the prices and advantages of dams: Which ones will be operated in a extra environmentally pleasant and economically viable means? And which dams have to be eliminated?
Dams hurt rivers. They can destroy fish and wildlife habitat, degrade water high quality, and switch free-flowing rivers into sluggish transferring reservoirs that emit methane, a potent greenhouse fuel that causes local weather change. Dams within the Pacific Northwest have been a major reason behind salmon extinction and a supply of painful injustice for the area’s Tribal Nations.
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American Rivers has all the time taken a realistic, solutions-oriented method to dams and hydropower. While we lead the motion to take away outdated dams, we’re additionally a founding member of the Hydropower Reform Coalition, working to enhance the operations of dams whose continued operation is vital for our power provide and economic system. For the previous a number of years, we’ve additionally been working with the hydropower trade within the “Uncommon Dialogue on Hydropower, River Restoration, and Public Safety” – discovering widespread floor on plans to retrofit and rehabilitate dams that also serve an vital goal and take away dams that pose a security threat.
Simply put: American Rivers is making certain our nation prioritizes wholesome rivers, whether or not that’s by making hydro dams extra river- and fish-friendly, maximizing the efficiency and effectivity of dams, and eradicating dams whose prices outweigh their advantages.
So, what does this appear like within the Pacific Northwest the place 50 p.c of our annual power era comes from hydro? Major dams, together with these on the Columbia River, helped build our world-class economic system and can proceed to help our vibrant area. But we should take a tough take a look at dams which might be inflicting much more hurt than good
The decrease 4 Snake River dams, which stretch between Tri-Cities, WA and Lewiston, ID, have been constructed between 1957 and 1972. These dams present round 900 common megawatts of energy — round 4% of the Northwest’s power era. They additionally present irrigation for crops grown across the Tri-Cities, in addition to transportation for barge visitors between the Tri-Cities and Lewiston. While the companies the decrease 4 Snake River dams present are invaluable to surrounding communities, these companies will be changed with various applied sciences. Breaching the earthen portion of the dams is the perfect answer we’ve to resolve the numerous impacts the dams are having on salmon, steelhead, killer whales, Tribal Nations, and economies that depend on these species.
Unlike the mainstem Columbia dams, the decrease 4 Snake River dams are “run of the river” tasks that don’t present flood management and retailer comparatively little water within the reservoirs behind every dam. In summer season months, these reservoirs bake within the scorching solar, elevating water temperatures and creating dangerous circumstances for chilly water dependent salmon and steelhead. In 2015, heat water within the decrease Snake was accountable for killing over 95% of the yr’s grownup sockeye salmon run. Impacts on juvenile salmon are more durable to measure, however conservative estimates are that upwards of fifty% of juvenile salmon die between Lower Granite Dam on the Snake and Bonneville Dam on the Columbia throughout their journey to the ocean, and that determine is probably going a lot larger in years when water temperatures rise above 70 levels.
As flows lower and reservoirs proceed to heat with local weather change, the incidence of poisonous algae outbreaks will improve as nicely, making a harmful and probably deadly risk for people, our pets, fish, and wildlife alike. When algae and different natural matter decays within the reservoirs behind these dams, it emits methane- a greenhouse fuel 80 occasions stronger than carbon dioxide. Further, as local weather change causes precipitation to shift to spring, with much less water within the river in winter and summer season months, the decrease 4 Snake River dams are offering energy after we want it the least- when all different hydro tasks within the Columbia Basin are producing most energy as nicely and demand is at a low level in the course of the yr.
The energy output from the decrease 4 Snake River dams can be comparatively minor in comparison with different hydro tasks within the Columbia Basin.
As we talked about earlier than, the decrease 4 Snake River dams mixed produce a mean of round 900 megawatts. Compare that with John Day Dam on the mainstem Columbia 50 miles east of Hood River, which by itself produces round 1,200 common megawatts, and also you begin to see why these 4 dams are the goal of a lot consideration. Four occasions the detrimental impacts from dams and their dangerous slackwater reservoirs, for much less energy than John Day Dam alone simply doesn’t make sense as we envision a brand new clear power future.
Finally, no type of power will be thought-about clear if it results in the extirpation of as many species because the decrease 4 Snake River dams proceed to trigger, significantly when you think about the worth these species have for Tribal Nations which have lived within the Columbia Basin since time immemorial. The American Fisheries Society, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Trout Unlimited, and plenty of different science-based organizations all acknowledge that breaching the decrease 4 Snake River dams should be the centerpiece motion for restoring salmon populations within the Columbia Basin.
Tribal Nations throughout the Northwest are main this initiative to breach the decrease 4 Snake River dams due to these detrimental impacts. The largest influence being to the salmon populations; their dwindling numbers straight influence the tradition and traditions of tribal members and their future generations. In addition, with the hurt placed on salmon by these dams, treaties made between the U.S. Government and the Tribes are being violated. We have a ethical and moral obligation to uphold our treaty guarantees and to avoid wasting Snake Basin salmon and steelhead from extinction.
As we work to develop a daring new clear power future for the Pacific Northwest, hydropower will proceed to be an vital a part of our era portfolio. When measured on the entire, it turns into clear that the decrease 4 Snake River dams can’t be part of that imaginative and prescient. We should build a system that’s dependable, resilient, and equitable. We should proceed working collectively to attain a way forward for wholesome rivers, ample salmon, and inexpensive, dependable clear power.
