Connection: Some Nw Dams To Come Down

A handful of dams spanning Northwest rivers are slated for removal. In each case, biologists hope the step will help restore beleaguered salmon.

PacifiCorp, a Portland utility, plans to remove a dam on the White Salmon river in Washington’s Klickitat County. Condit Dam is scheduled to fall in 2006 because its owners didn’t want to spend $30 million installing a fish ladder.

Portland General Electric announced in May it will remove two dams, on Oregon’s Sandy and Little Sandy Rivers, also to avoid costly renovations.

The federal government has purchased two decrepit dams on Western Washington’s Elwha River, and plans to dismantle one. Congress has not appropriated the money to remove the other, although there is widespread agreement that it should come down.

Environmentalists advocate removing two dams on Western Washington’s Skokomish River. They also seek removal of a long-mothballed dam on the Similkameen River in north-central Washington. In both cases, the dams’ owners oppose removal.

The biggest regional debate involves four massive hydroelectric dams on the Snake River in Eastern Washington: Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor dams. The federal government’s salmon restoration plan calls for trying less drastic measures for three to eight years before deciding whether those dams must be breached.