Snake River Dams Face More Scrutiny Army Corps Of Engineers Studies Drawdown Of Reservoirs In Effort To Restore Salmon Runs

The Tri-Cities could benefit from breaching the four lower Snake River dams, a consultant said at a gathering to assess a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study.

But most of the people at Tuesday’s session seemed to fear the devastation such a move could bring to the rest of the region.

The corps still is trying to determine whether a drawdown of reservoirs would achieve its goal: restoring salmon runs.

The corps is evaluating three options designed to restore dwindling fish runs on the Snake River: Do nothing, make substantial salmon-friendly additions to the dams or return the river to its “natural” level by digging channels around the concrete plugs.

But river users from Boise to the Tri-Cities are focused on drawdowns, which would end barging and threaten upriver tourism, irrigation and recreation.

The corps study, mandated by the National Marine Fisheries Service, is due next year. Congress will decide if the dams are to be breached.

Peter Poolman, project coordinator for the corps, said initial results of economic studies should be made public in October.

But it already is clear who will bear the brunt of the transportation costs that are almost certain to increase without barges.

“The farmer will end up paying the bill,” said Jim Fredericks, corps economist. “It’s quite possible that some farms … would go out of business.”

The threat of limited transportation is making it tough to bring business to Whitman County, said port commissioner Gerald Druffel.

“We have built an empire based on slack-water transportation,” he said. When that is threatened, investors and insurance companies back off.

“We are having an awful time bringing industry into this valley,” said Rick Davis, of the Port of Clarkston, Wash.

While irrigators are worried about potentially costly alterations to their pump stations, project consultant Erik Nielsen said Tri-Cities ports would see increased truck and rail traffic if barges can’t go upriver.

“The (Kennewick and Pasco) ports might benefit quite a lot from the movement of products over land,” Nielsen said.

But Druffel said that boost would be short-lived because the road and rail systems in southeastern Washington would be severely bogged down trying to carry the loads of goods that barges now transport.

Another corps study group will send out 15,000 surveys in April to gather data about the future of Snake River tourism if the water is lowered.

William McLaughlin, a tourism professor at the University of Idaho, said a “natural” river might bring hordes of tourists eager to see the river as Lewis and Clark saw it.

“There might be lots of positive impacts,” he said.

The tourism study, however, also will show what happens when popular tour boats no longer are able to reach Lewiston.