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Douglas Electric Cooperative

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Member Message

Fish Continue To Return In Record Numbers

It is difficult to take seriously those who claim salmon are sliding to extinction. For the fourth consecutive year, salmon and steelhead returned to the Columbia and Snake Rivers in record numbers. While there is still work to be done for fish in the region, clearly the citizen recovery efforts, combined with nature itself is producing results.

While the runs look healthier each year, some would have us believe that salmon recovery can be only achieved by removing dams on the Snake River, guaranteeing recovery and prosperity for all. But science says otherwise about the results of such a drastic action for fish, and the economics of this silver bullet approach don't pencil out.

A recent study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicated that dam breaching would result in the release of 75 million cubic yards of silt from behind the dams, increasing exposure to toxins and creating conditions unsuitable for fish. Since 2000, the yearly counts of adult Chinook salmon passing Ice Harbor Dam have been more than double what they were in 1964, the first year records were kept. Virtually all stocks of fish in the Columbia and Snake River basin have enjoyed similar returns in recent years. The effect of dam removal on fish is far from certain and may hurt them, but the impact of such an action to the region's economy is certain - and severe.

Dam removal advocates would have you think it is a simple process to uproot an economy built up over decades. But, the inland barge system supports almost $15 billion in international trade. The Columbia River, fed by the Snake, is one of the most important export gateways in the U.S., ranking first in the country for wheat and barley, second for corn, and first on the West Coast for bulk minerals, forest and paper products. It accounts for thousands of jobs that depend on the river in communities throughout the inland Northwest. Indeed, it is the family farms - the mom and pop businesses - that would suffer most if these dams were removed.

Our environment would also pay. Four million tons of commodities currently barged on the river would be shifted to other modes of transportation with five to nine times the harmful emissions. And the energy generation lost if the dams were removed - enough to light a city the size of Seattle - would have to be replaced, likely by fossil fuels, at a higher cost to ratepayers.

This is not a matter of fish versus the economy. Destroying dams would be extreme and risky to both.

Best Regards,

Dave Sabala
General Manager