Rethinking Hydropower to Restore Northwest Rivers

The Department of Interior recently released the Tribal Circumstances Analysis, which acknowledged that the construction and operation of 11 hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers has had a devastating effect on eight Northwest Tribes and salmon runs. Before the dams were built, salmon in the Columbia River Basin were plentiful and a fixture of Tribes' diet, religion and commercial trade. Of the 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead with populations distributed entirely upstream of Bonneville Dam, four have been extirpated and seven are listed under the Endangered Species Act.

On the lower Snake River, which is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, four dams provide just four percent of the region's electricity supply. Yet they are pushing salmon runs to extinction-and threatening a vibrant ecosystem that depends on healthy, free-flowing rivers. With low snowpack and the ongoing drought in the West, challenges to the region's hydropower are growing.

The writing is on the wall. It's time to rethink hydropower on the lower Snake River.

Sockeye salmon. Credit: Natalie Fobes

Five reasons to rethink hydropower:

1. Got water?It's critical for a hydro system. Yet a drought emergency in Washington state drains the potential for energy generation from hydroelectric dams. In a recent article, "When Hydro Runs Dry," the New York Times prompted a question we need to consider-urgently. Without water in our rivers, how will we meet our energy demand?

Energy reliability is key to our economy. Northwest summers are our energy reliability stress period and when water levels in the rivers are at their lowest. The region will see an increase in electricity demand-rising from approximately 23% to 55% of total energy demand by 2050 under deep decarbonization scenarios as we electrify transportation and buildings. Dams will not be able to increase their generation much, if at all, to meet this demand. It's time to rethink hydro on the lower Snake River.

2.Clean energy isn't clean if it's killing wildlife. Migratory fish populations, such as salmon, steelhead and others have declined by 81% globally since 1970, according to a report by the Living Planet Index. Why? River fragmentation, which often results from dams, is a major factor. The Columbia River Basin was once home to the largest salmon runs in the world. Up to 16 million fish returned to reproduce in the Columbia River Basin each year before dam building began in the early 1900s.

Today, in the Snake River, the largest tributary of the Columbia River, almost half of spring and summer chinook salmon populations have reached near-extinction thresholds, according to a 2021 analysis by Nez Perce Tribe fishery scientists.

Salmon are a keystone species upon which over 130 plants and other animals depend. They have an essential role in the health and function of ecosystems. Leading scientists agree that restoring the lower Snake River and removing the dams is the only way we can recover these salmon populations. Thanks to the Endangered Species Act, our federal agencies are obligated to assist in the recovery of threatened and endangered species. It's time to rethink hydro on the lower Snake River.

3. Meeting climate goals with methane? Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, approximately 80 times more powerful for trapping heat than CO2 over a 20-year period. Decades of research suggest that methane production and hydroelectricity production go hand in hand and that dams have greater climate impact than previously understood.

Studies are pointing to the large quantities of organic matter, including vegetation, dead animals, and even fertilizer runoff, that backs up in the reservoirs behind the dams, rather than flowing to the ocean. Natural downstream processes are disrupted, and when the organic matter is blocked in the oxygen-depleted waters of a dam reservoir, the result is more methane.

A recent report found the same to be true for the lower Snake River dams. It's time to rethink hydro on the lower Snake River.

4. Treaty obligations are a moral obligation. In 1855, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Nez Perce Tribe-signed treaties with the United States government reserving hunting and fishing rights on and off reservation. However, as the Columbia River basin's ecosystem was transformed to serve industry, Columbia Basin Tribes-whose religions, cultures, traditions, and survival is inextricably linked to now-threatened and endangered salmon populations-have suffered disproportionately.

A recent Deptartment of Interior report recognizes that Tribal injustices too long have been ignored, highlighting the need for action from the federal government to address these longstanding and ongoing inequities.

We have an obligation and an urgent opportunity to recover salmon populations and make good on treaty obligations. The urgency takes on greater magnitude given the acceleration of climate change, the growing threat of salmon extinction, and our rapidly increasing energy demand. To meet Tribal obligations, we must recover salmon, and leading scientists agree (as noted in #2) salmon need a free-flowing river: It's time to rethink hydro on the lower Snake River.

5. Algal blooms are not pretty. They're pretty toxic. Fun on the river is a summer tradition. However, in recent years and with higher summer temperatures, the lower Snake River has developed a gravely concerning problem: toxic algal blooms.

Last year's unprecedented 30-mile algal bloom prompted public health warnings against drinking, swimming, fishing, wading, or boating in affected areas. In high concentrations, toxic blooms of blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) can cause liver damage and poison dogs and cattle.

What's brought on these blooms? Pools of warm stagnant water, like the reservoirs behind dams. The problem is expected to worsen as the climate continues to change. Removing dams and restoring the flow of cool water can return the river-and the ecosystem that depends on it-to health. It's time to rethink hydro on the lower Snake River.

We cannot miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead the largest river and salmon restoration in history and create a more resilient Northwest. Congressional leadership and action will be especially critical to take advantage of this historic opportunity to avoid extinction, honor Tribal reserved treaty rights, and invest in communities.

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