Corps/Washington State Sign Agreement To Study Impacts Of Snake River Dam Breaching To Transportation, Recreation
An agreement to study transportation and recreational services that would need mitigation if the four lower Snake River dams were breached to recover the river’s threatened salmon and steelhead was signed early last week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Washington’s Department of Transportation.
The four dams are federally-owned and operated, and the final decision of breaching would have to be made by Congress.
The partners in the two studies estimate they will cost up to $2 million and would be completed in 2026. The studies will look at lost recreation and the cost to add other recreational opportunities, and future transportation needs when the river is no longer available for tug and barge transportation from Portland, OR to Lewiston, ID.
Lt. Col. Katie Werback, Walla Walla District commander, digitally signed two separate agreements using the Planning Assistance to States (PAS) authority with Washington State’s Department of Transportation, and Recreation and Conservation Office, the Corps said in a news release.
The Corps says the studies are part of its broader commitments under the December 2023 Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, which secured a long-term stay of litigation in a federal court lawsuit, while “supporting the restoration of healthy and abundant wild salmon, steelhead, and other native fish to the Columbia River Basin.”
“We recognize we have an important job to do, and we will continue meeting all authorized project purposes at the dams in the Columbia River System as we implement these agreements,” said Werback. “Although these studies are purely exploratory and not linked to any immediate federal decision on dam breaching, they are essential for evaluating potential impacts and ensuring the Pacific Northwest is fully prepared for a range of future scenarios.”
The Biden administration, along with the governors of Oregon and Washington and leaders of four lower Columbia River tribes – the six sovereigns – formally signed an agreement in March 2024 that commits the federal government to as much as $1 billion to build infrastructure for eventual removal of four lower Snake River dams and to recover salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River basin.
Prior to that, on Dec. 14, 2023, the six sovereigns signed a Memorandum of Understanding that agreed to a broad recovery plan known as the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative and an agreement to stay long-running litigation in federal court for up to 10 years. The MOU was accompanied by a list of commitments and funding by the U.S. government designed to ensure the initiative would be successfully completed. Investing in these two studies for recreation and transportation is a part of that commitment.
The recreation study will identify the potential loss of existing recreation opportunities that will occur after the dams are breached and the drawdowns take place in the four reservoirs in the Lower Snake River. The study will also determine the investments needed to accommodate future replacement recreation opportunities under a dam breach scenario. Washington and the Corps expect to complete this study by 2026 at a cost estimated at $1.2 million.
“Recreation is a big part of Washington State’s culture and identity,” said Megan Duffy, director of the Corps’ Recreation and Conservation Office. “Not only does outdoor recreation improve the mental and physical health of our residents, but more than $26 billion is spent on recreation trips and equipment annually, supporting 264,000 jobs across Washington State. It’s important that we examine the potential impact to recreation in a scenario where the lower Snake River dams are breached.”
The transportation study will give to Washington $750,000 that will be used to enhance an existing $4 million Washington State study and expand the limits of the study into Idaho and Oregon, the Corps said. It will be completed in late 2026. The transportation study will analyze future transportation needs, volume estimates of goods to be transported, and evaluate changes in infrastructure that would be necessary to shift away from river-based transportation methods.
In April 2023, the Washington State Legislature approved 2023-25 transportation budget that included $8 million for studying what would be needed to maintain energy, transportation and irrigation services provided by the four Lower Snake dams should they be breached to recover Snake River basin salmon and steelhead. Some $4 million of that study is for transportation.
Werback signed the agreements using the PAS authority, which permits the federal agency to use its comprehensive planning expertise to supplement and support state and tribal efforts and is provided by Section 22 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1974 (PL 93-251), as amended, the Corps said.
“Planning Assistance to States studies are an important tool in our suite of Congressional Authorities that allows us to provide technical expertise and comprehensive planning assistance to State and Tribal planning efforts,” said the Corps ‘Tim Fleeger, Columbia River Basin Policy and Environmental Coordinator.
“It is important to recognize that these studies do not involve any implementation activities by the Corps of Engineers, but they do bring together experts from the Corps and our partners to provide data that can be critical to inform decision makers,” he said. “Only Congress can authorize breach of these dams. We will use all relevant data to inform our analyses, and we will continue engaging with our regional Tribes, partners, stakeholders and the public as we undertake these important studies.”
Breaching of the dams has been at the center of lawsuits for 24 years and the most recent iteration challenging the Corps’ operations at Columbia and Snake River dams, and NOAA Fisheries biological opinion on those operations, was by the National Wildlife Federation and others who challenged the federal government’s 2020 environmental impact statement and salmon and steelhead BiOp in the U.S. District Court of Oregon. However, on Nov. 1, 2023, the parties, plaintiffs and defendants asked the federal court to pause the lawsuit until Dec. 15. The lawsuit had been on hold for over two years in a series of stays with the court directive that the parties would hammer out a lasting agreement on how to operate a hydro system while recovering threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead.
In exchange for pausing the lawsuit for up to 10 years, the Biden Administration agreed to federal investments of $1 billion for measures that could, if it occurred, advance breaching. The pledge included studies by the Corps to study dam breaching and services needed if breaching occurred.
For more information on the PAS program visit www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Technical-Assistance/Planning-Assistance/
For background, see:
— CBB, March 1, 2024, Biden Administration, States, Tribes Formally Sign Billion-Dollar Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative To Recover Salmon, Steelhead, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/biden-administration-states-tribes-formally-sign-billion-dollar-columbia-basin-restoration-initiative-to-recover-salmon-steelhead/
— CBB, December 15, 2023, Biden Administration, Two States, Treaty Tribes Reach Mou On Columbia River Basin Salmon Recovery, Litigation Paused For At Least Five Years, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/biden-administration-two-states-treaty-tribes-reach-mou-on-columbia-river-basin-salmon-recovery-litigation-paused-for-at-least-five-years/
— CBB, April 26, 2023, Wa Legislature Oks Transportation Bill That Includes Millions For Analyzing Lower Snake River Dam Breaching Impacts On Transport, Energy, Irrigation, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/wa-legislature-oks-transportation-bill-that-includes-millions-for-analyzing-lower-snake-river-dam-breaching-impacts-on-transport-energy-irrigation/
— CBB, August 26, 2022, Inslee, Murray Release ‘Lower Snake Dams Benefits Replacement Report’; ‘It’s Clear That Breach Is Not An Option Right Now’, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/inslee-murray-release-lower-snake-dams-benefits-replacement-report-its-clear-that-breach-is-not-an-option-right-now/
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