Dam-free future bright

Becky Kramer’s article in Monday’s Spokesman-Review reporting on combined efforts of many people to describe the economic, recreational and aesthetic benefits of a Lower Snake River without the four dams is excellent. People today cannot recall experiencing a free-flowing Snake River, absent the 17 dams listed in a Wikipedia article on the Snake; certainly, more than the 11 on the U.S. portion of the Columbia.

The Columbia-Snake river complex at one time was one of the three best Pacific salmon-producing regions in the lower 48 states. The other two are the Klamath and Sacramento river systems. All three have had their salmon populations decimated by habitat destruction, dam building and over-fishing. Millions of dollars have been spent to restore salmon, but positive results which should give sustainable wild salmon populations have been unachievable.

Now, finally, serious talk is taking place among major stakeholders about removing unnecessary dams in two of the three river systems. The Lower Snake River dams were never designed to be primarily power-producing. The relatively small percentage of Northwest electrical power they produce can be replaced by conservation and renewable wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. This is clearly discussed in the recent Bright Futures Report, www.lightintheriver.org.

Ron Johns

Spokane