Schoesler: Funds To Study Removal Of Snake Rivers Dams Can Be Better Used

On Friday, the Federal government released its draft Environmental Impact Study, looking at the four lower Snake River dams. That draft found removing the dams would not be a good idea, creating economic and environmental problems for the region. Washington State Senate Republican Leader Mark Schoesler said Friday’s released affirms what many already knew.

“We know that clean, affordable hydropower is part of the solution, we know that flood control, navigation, recreation are all valuable, and there are quicker, more cost effective ways to help the orcas in Puget Sound.”

Schoesler said he thinks the state should end funding for a Governor Jay Inslee’s Snake River dam study.

"Diverting the money from a study that is irrelevant today, putting it in to hatchery improvements in Puget Sound, that’s a win for all of us," Schoesler noted. "That’s where we should be going.”

However that
proposal failed to gain traction with Democrats in Olympia.

The Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bonneville Power Administration issued the draft environmental impact statement. Comments on the draft report will be accepted now through mid-April, with a final report due out in September.

Click Here to make your thoughts known on the draft EIS report.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com