dam removal

Legislation introduced by eastern Oregon’s Cliff Bentz, protecting Klamath Basin users from being charged for maintenance and upgrade costs attributable to the Link River or Keno dams was signed into law by President Biden earlier this month.  Ben...

In late September, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a study looking at meeting electrical needs in the event that the four lower Snake River dams were removed.  This news comes of the heals of a variety of studies and proposal looking at removing the dams that are so important to the farming community across the Northwest, and across the nation.  Michell...

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a study on replacing the Lower Snake River Dams.  DOE said the Pacific Northwest Regional Energy Planning Project will be an 18-month study, exploring how utilities in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana can deal with future power needs in the event that the Snake River dams are removed.  The stu...

NOAA Fisheries Wednesday announced $105 million in funding for 36 new fish passage projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  The announcement includes significant funding to implement fish passage projects that meet tribal priorities and build tribal organizational capacity to support their role as stewards of tribal resources.    ...

Plans to remove four Pacific Corps hydro-electric dams in the lower Klamath River made a big step Friday.  Pacific Powers’ Tom Gauntt said the environmental impact statement released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission provides guidance for the future.   “It sp...

Thanks to the recent announcement by the Biden Administration, as well as Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Senator Patty Murray, conversations over removing the Snake River dams have intensified.  Michelle Hennings, Executive Director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers said breaching of those four dams would be detrimental to local wheat growers, and the American ag industry as a who

Oregon State University begins a unique partnership this month, joining a local tribe to study the impact of removing four Klamath River dams.  Removing the dams built between 1918 and 1962 will be a massive undertaking. “By a number of measures, it is the largest restoration, the largest dam removal in history, globally.” Water...

On Tuesday, Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Idaho senator Jim Risch sent a series of letters to ten federal agencies involved in looking at plans to breach the Lower Snake River dams. The agencies, which include NOAA Fisheries, the U ...

Last week, Representative Dan Newhouse served as a keynote speaker at the Andrus Center for Public Policy’s 2021 Environmental Conference at Boise State University. The Conference, “Energy, Salmon, Agriculture and Community” focused on the survival of salmon, energy production and economic development across the Pacific Northwest. Other key note ...

How much would it cost to remove the Snake River dams?  According to a recent report, more than you might think.   A recent study commissions by the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association said removing the four Lower Snake River dams to improve salmon runs would cost $2.3 billion...