Barge Business May Be Hurt By Drawdowns

Reducing reservoir levels on the Snake and John Day rivers to help salmon could end upriver barge traffic, forcing an increase in trucking and air pollution, a Port of Portland study warns.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has proposed dropping reservoir levels to increase the flow of water past the dams in the spring and summer, helping young salmon on their migration to the sea.

Port of Portland commissioners were told Wednesday the result could be water levels too low for barge shipments.

Wheat shipments would be shifted from barges to trains and trucks, staff members told the commissioners in a report.

Shipping the wheat by truck would produce 20 times more nitrous oxide and 10 times as much carbon monoxide for each ton moved per 1,000 miles, the report said.

It also could mean a loss of business at the port, the report said.

About two-thirds of grain shipments that go through the port now arrive by train or truck; only a third are shipped by barge.

In 1994, about 5 million tons of grain were barged from upriver ports.