Andrus Says Snake River Faces Serious Problems

The heavy runoff that has filled Idaho’s rivers and streams this spring after nearly a decade of drought should not be allowed to mask the serious problems facing the Snake River and so much of the state that relies on it, former Gov. Cecil Andrus says.

In releasing a white paper Monday to follow up on the symposium The Andrus Center For Public Policy held last fall, the former Interior Department secretary recalled that for the previous seven years the Middle Snake River was little more than a slow-moving, algae-filled body of water unsafe for human contact.

“In all candor, the river in some places is sick and needs life support,” Andrus said in making the 20-page assessment public.

“In other areas, our well-intentioned zeal to use the river has kept us from taking a long and wise view of how best to use the river.”

Breaking down the problems into water quality, hydropower, recreation and developing community-based councils to solve river issues, the assessment said a blue-ribbon commission could help protect Idaho interests in the federal relicensing of the 11 Idaho Power Co. dams on the river.

A consensus within the state about how best to deal with the dams will help persuade the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to follow suit, the report said.

Barring some extraordinary effort to develop and articulate a state position on relicensing, the commission will decide and Idaho will accept.

The citizen panel could provide a “thoughtful, public clearinghouse to give adequate voice to hydropower, recreation, water quality, irrigation and downriver interests.”

The report cited the Legislature’s approval of local option regulation of jet skis in urging their banning from key waterways to protect recreational values.

But it took a more diplomatic stance on the conflict between jetboaters and float boaters in Hells Canyon, suggesting good will can solve many problems while leaving the door open to more concrete action.

“Courteous jetboaters are compatible with float boaters and fishermen on most stretches,” the report said, but “that doesn’t mean they have to be in all parts of the river together all the time. We hope the Forest Service efforts to limit jetboat numbers will allow more peaceful stretches of the river.”

Andrus said state leaders addressing any river issue should follow the example being set by the Henry’s Fork Watershed Council, a consensus-building group of irrigators, conservationists and agency experts that meets monthly to address issues facing the Henry’s Fork.

“Once you bring people to the table, they recognize and admit that we have a problem, and then we’re moving on to a solution,” he said.