News Release: Biden Administration Agrees with Northwest RiverPartners on Importance of Region’s Carbon-Free Electricity, Agriculture & Salmon (NW RiverPartners, Vancouver, WA)

(VANCOUVER, WA) - - Today, after 13 months at the negotiating table, the Biden Administration shared the next step in the process of seeking solutions in balancing our region’s energy, climate, salmon recovery, resiliency, food security, and economic goals as they relate to the ongoing operations of the Federal Columbia River Power System. In a Presidential Memorandum, President Biden acknowledged the region must meet its commitments for reliable carbon-free electricity, for agriculture, and for salmon:

“In recognition of these priorities, it is the policy of my Administration to work with the Congress and with Tribal Nations, States, local governments, and stakeholders to pursue effective, creative, and durable solutions, informed by Indigenous Knowledge, to restore healthy and abundant salmon, steelhead, and other native fish populations in the Basin; to secure a clean and resilient energy future for the region; to support local agriculture and its role in food security domestically and globally; and to invest in the communities that depend on the services provided by the Basin’s Federal dams to enhance resilience to changes to the operation of the CRS, including those necessary to address changing hydrological conditions due to climate change.”

These multiple objectives of fighting climate change, restoring salmon, and ensuring healthy agriculture through a robust hydropower system are at the foundation of Northwest RiverPartners’ goals for the region.

While we are encouraged by the Biden Administration's commitment to these multiple objectives made possible by the hydropower system, we are disappointed the Memorandum ignores the fact that much of the work has already been accomplished through the development of the 2020 Columbia River System Operation Final Environmental Impact Statement (CRSO FEIS) and corresponding Biological Opinion.  As the most robust multi-objective study the region has undertaken, the CRSO FEIS demonstrates the best ways to achieve the multiple objectives articulated by the Administration and should form the basis for any future decisions.

In response to today’s announcement by the Biden Administration, Kurt Miller, executive director of Northwest RiverPartners issued the following statement:

“Today’s announcement is bittersweet. Northwest RiverPartners applauds the Biden Administration for going on record as recognizing the unique and essential role the region’s hydroelectric dams, including the Lower Snake River Dams, play in helping us meet our clean energy, climate, economic, and salmon recovery objectives.  Unfortunately, the Memorandum released today builds on and extends a flawed process that has denied affected stakeholders and the public a meaningful role.  Any further effort to develop a plan to achieve the multiple objectives articulated by the Memorandum must allow for and facilitate greater involvement by affected stakeholders.

The issues of energy affordability, reliability, and decarbonizing our grid must be central to any plan development going forward.  We urge the Biden Administration to embrace the importance of affordable energy for the Pacific Northwest. Over 25% of our region qualifies as energy burdened. The Biden Administration should consider potential impacts to these people, including within the context of the Administration’s own Justice 40 Initiative as it considers plan development going forward. Multiple studies have shown that the energy replacement costs if the Lower Snake River dams were destroyed would be $15 billion or more. That doesn’t count the billions in additional costs for agriculture and shipping.”

Additionally, a more inclusive and science-based dialogue regarding salmon recovery standards and the timeframe for achieving them needs to be part of plan development going forward.  In a mid-May 2023 public interview, Richie Graves, NOAA’s Columbia Hydropower Branch Chief noted:

For every 100 young chinook and steelhead that head downstream and past the four dams every spring, about 75 survive.  “That’s pretty good,” said Ritchie Graves, Columbia Hydropower Branch chief for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “In a lot of river systems, that would be something they would shoot for.”  For each of the four dams, NOAA maintains a separate survival standard for juvenile salmon heading downstream. The agency wants 96% survival for yearling chinook and steelhead, and 93% for “subyearling” chinook less than a year old.  The dams are achieving those performance standards, Graves said.  For adult fish swimming upstream, the survival rate is above 90%.[i]

But in a separate, unauthored report that included inputs from plaintiffs to the litigation, others at NOAA defined the recovery standard differently.  And an increasing body of research is demonstrating that the greatest threat to salmon survival is climate change.  Before a plan can be developed, scientific metrics used to measure success must be established and agreed to.  Today they are not.

Miller continued, “We have one shot at responding to climate change.  Our hydroelectric dams play an essential role in meeting the challenges we – and the salmon – confront with climate change.  This must remain a central pillar of the Administration’s efforts going forward.”

[i] https://www.capitalpress.com/ag_sectors/grains/amid-a-battle-over-snake-river-dams-a-look-at-how-the-salmon-are-doing/article_c76c740a-dadd-11ed-ad18-9fb96a214c52.html

News Release: Northwest RiverPartners’ Statement on Salmon Reintroduction in the Upper Columbia River Basin (Northwest RiverPartners, Vancouver, WA)

(VANCOUVER, WA) --The following statement can be attributed to Kurt Miller, executive director of Northwest RiverPartners:

“The announcement of an agreement between the US Government, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, and the Spokane Tribe of Indians shows we can work toward realizing both our clean energy and salmon recovery goals and solve problems collaboratively to benefit all of our communities.  

Taking this next step in studying salmon reintroduction above these blocked areas is the right thing to do. It lays the foundation for the possibility of sustainable salmon runs in the upper Columbia River Basin. Reintroduction has the potential to create hundreds of miles of upstream habitat for salmon, responds to important Tribal commitments, and does so without negatively impacting the hydropower our region relies on for carbon-free, affordable energy.

Northwest RiverPartners’ board of directors visited the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT) in Spokane in April to learn more about the UCUT Phase 2 Implementation Plan (P2IP) proposal. We appreciate the time UCUT took to educate us on P2IP and the foundation it provides to scientifically study the reintroduction of salmon above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams—two dams that were built without fish passage. Our board was unanimous in supporting P2IP. 

We also want to acknowledge the leadership and contribution the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) – and, ultimately, ratepayers – are making to accomplish these goals.  While we do have some reservations about the open-ended language in the Memorandum of Understanding presented by the US government, we look forward to partnering with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, the Spokane Tribe of Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and the UCUT organization to explore opportunities for additional non-BPA funding to fully implement this effort.”

Public Power Council, Inland Ports & Navigation Group, Northwest RiverPartners release joint statement on Biden Administration extension of Columbia River System Operations litigation mediation (NW RiverPartners)

Organizations Express Concern with the Process - Support More Transparency

August 31, 2023

(Vancouver, WA) -- Today, the Biden Administration requested [and secured] an additional 60-day stay extension to allow for continuation of the already two year-long mediation process regarding the Columbia River System Operations litigation. The Public Power Council, Inland Ports and Navigation Group, and Northwest RiverPartners did not oppose this limited further extension of the stay while we continue to review its longer-term implications.  Although respectful of the confidential nature of the substance of the ongoing mediation discussions, all three of our organizations nevertheless feel compelled to express their deep reservations and considerable disappointment regarding the overall process that has been followed in the mediation so far, and we intend to remain highly engaged on seeking to ensure that it is meaningfully modified going forward so as to become more productive, inclusive, and transparent during this latest stay extension.

 

Our organizations collectively represent millions of electricity customers, farmers, river-dependent ports, transportation, and export sectors across the region who to date have not had a true seat at the table in negotiations carried out pursuant to the ongoing mediation.  This is of significant concern to us because we feel strongly that major decisions about the region’s continuing ability to provide reliable, safe, low-carbon electricity and transportation should not be decided when directly and significantly impacted parties such as our organizations are not present in the room.

 

We therefore strongly urge the Biden Administration and all other parties to the litigation to avail themselves of this new extension and join together at the mediation table to discuss our shared goals of salmon recovery within the context of maintaining grid reliability, energy affordability, access to irrigation, and low-emission transportation options, while also meeting the challenges presented by climate change.  We also urge the Biden Administration and plaintiffs in the litigation to acknowledge the many operational and financial concessions already made over decades – up to and including as recently as this year.  Our organizations, and each of our respective members, stand in solidarity behind the principle that this extension should be seen as an opportunity for truly comprehensive and productive negotiations among all major stakeholders and not used simply as a means to craft steep concessions to plaintiffs that will saddle even greater costs and burdens on ratepayers and river users, while not adequately accounting for their interests and values or ensuring that the full suite of critically important purposes of the Columbia River System are met.

 

Kurt Miller, NWRP Executive Director, released the following statement regarding the Biden Administration’s announcement today:

 

“Hydropower is the cornerstone of our region’s clean, reliable, and equitable energy future. Given the threat posed by climate change to people and to salmon, carbon-free hydropower is even more important. We can’t have salmon recovery without reducing emissions and lessening our dependence on fossil fuels.  Hydropower is our region’s solution to the climate crisis.”

 

Scott Simms, CEO & Executive Director of the Public Power Council, released the following statement:

 

“Hydropower is the backbone of this region’s energy supply while also being the largest, most consistent source of funding for one of the world’s largest fish and wildlife mitigation programs – bar none. Revenues from Northwest non-profit, community-owned utilities already fund the lion’s share of habitat, hatchery and hydro system improvements, all the while as robust fish harvesting activities continue year in and year out. We need others to join us in our efforts to help salmon, not look for ways to further hobble the very hydro system that currently provides a vast range of environmental and economic value to Northwest communities large and small.”

 

Neil Maunu, Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA) Executive Director, released the following statement on behalf of the Inland Ports and Navigation Group, a subset of PNWA:

 

"Low-cost, fuel-efficient barge transportation is one of the main reasons our region continues to be competitive in the global market. It keeps our products moving, our economy thriving and plays a significant role in our region's efforts to combat climate change,” said Neil Maunu. “The communities that rely on this river system, including farmers, farm workers, and transportation operators, support a collaborative, science-based approach to salmon recovery in the Columbia River Basin. We are committed to being part of the solution in these conversations going forward and to ensuring that we can continue to have a healthy river and a healthy economy in the Northwest.”

 

Background

The Inland Ports and Navigation Group (IPNG) is comprised of ports, farmers, pilots, transportation companies, terminals and water resources stakeholders who work to balance economic prosperity with environmental stewardship. They strive to protect inland navigation, hydropower, irrigation on the Columbia Snake River System, while supporting a healthy environment and robust fish runs in the Northwest. IPNG is a subset of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA), a broad regional trade group representing over 150 members from Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. www.rivervalues.com. 

 

The Public Power Council, established in 1966, is an association that represents over 100 consumer-owned electric utilities in the Pacific Northwest.  PPC’s mission is to preserve and protect the benefits of the Federal Columbia River Power System for consumer-owned utilities, and is a forum to identify, discuss and build consensus around energy and utility issues.  For more information, please visit us on the web at www.ppcpdx.org. 

 

Northwest RiverPartners is a not-for-profit, member-driven organization. Members include community-owned utilities, ports, and businesses from across the northwestern United States. The organization is focused on raising awareness about how the Northwest’s hydropower system betters communities and the natural environment and encourages science-based solutions that help hydropower and salmon coexist and thrive. http://nwriverpartners.org.

Ratepayer Owned Public Utilities Launch Ads to Protect Affordable, Reliable, and Clean Power for Communities (News Release: Northwest RiverPartners)

The Biden Administration’s consideration of a proposal to tear down dams public utilities in Northern Nevada rely on could raise electricity rates by up to 65%.

 

(VANCOUVER, WA) - - On behalf of four of its Nevada members, Northwest RiverPartners today launched ads that urge the Biden Administration to protect affordable, reliable, and clean hydropower.

There are four public electric utility cooperatives serving Northern Nevada which receive nearly 100% of their electricity from the Federal Columbia River Power System managed by the Bonneville Power Administration.  Nevadans affected by power rate increases would be customers of Surprise Valley Electrification Corporation in Washoe County; Harney Electric Cooperative in Humboldt County; Wells Rural Electric Company in Elko and Eureka Counties; and Raft River Rural Electric Cooperative in Elko County.

“As a small, customer owned utility, we purchase power from the Bonneville Power Administration.  BPA power is baked into the economy of Northern Nevada.  Many of our co-op members may not even know that hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake River provide almost 100% of the electricity for our community. Without these dams, our rates would be forced to increase,” said Clay Fitch, CEO, Wells Rural Electric Cooperative.

A study commissioned by the Bonneville Power Administration in 2022 examined replacement resources and costs for impacts associated with the removal of the lower Snake River dams. Under a “deep decarbonization” scenario with no new combustion, the analysis identified cost increases of up to 65% for public power customers.

Losing the dams on the lower Snake River would not only hurt Nevadans by raising electricity prices, it would also hurt electricity reliability and Nevada’s ability to meet state greenhouse gas emissions goals in communities who have already seen the impacts of climate change from fires, heat domes, and even remnants of a tropical storm.

Utilities are already confronting unprecedented challenges in ensuring reliability of the Western grid due to extreme weather and the retirement of fossil fueled generation.  Policies aimed at electrifying transportation and home heating to fight climate change may double the demand for power by 2050. The Western Electricity Coordinating Council has forecasted that all subregions of the Western Grid will be at risk of blackouts as early as 2025.  In confronting these challenges, the United States can’t afford to lose any clean, reliable source of energy like the hydropower Nevadans depend on.

The public utilities at greatest risk of rate increases serve communities defined by the Biden Administration’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) “Climate and Economic Justice Screen Tool” as “overburdened, underserved, and disadvantaged.” 

Chad Black, General Manager of the Raft River Rural Electric Cooperative, “Many of our members find it challenging to carry the energy burden they already do, and it is these communities who will be hardest hit by massive rate increases if we are unable to meet our decarbonization efforts on schedule.”  

Guided by a stay order issued by the U.S. District Court of Oregon, The Biden Administration has entered into private meetings with plaintiffs to try to resolve the litigation related to the Columbia River System.  The stay order articulates a set of “Federal Government Commitments” which include: “The Administration commits to exploring lower Snake River habitat restoration opportunities, including but not limited to migration corridor restoration through breaching the four lower Snake River dams.”  The State of Nevada is not represented in the settlement discussions.

It is difficult for these public utilities to watch the federal government negotiating behind closed doors on something that is imperative to Nevadans. The Biden Administration owes the people of Nevada and these co-op members more answers on whether they intend to raise electricity rates and set back our nation’s clean energy goals.

Earlier this summer representatives from Harney Electric Cooperative, Raft River Electric Cooperative, and Wells Rural Electric Cooperative sent a letter to the Nevada Congressional delegation expressing these concerns. You can read the letter here.

You can watch an ad here: https://youtu.be/bBTxO5LETRw

 

About Northwest RiverPartners

Northwest RiverPartners is a not-for-profit, member-driven organization.

Members include community-owned utilities, ports, and businesses from across the northwestern United States. The organization is focused on raising awareness about how the Northwest’s hydropower system betters communities and the natural environment and encourages science-based solutions that help hydropower and salmon coexist and thrive. http://nwriverpartners.org

Anti-Hydro Interests Continue Attack on Pacific NW Clean Energy (Northwest RiverPartners, Vancouver, WA)

Removing region’s hydroelectric infrastructure is anti-science and would result in more fossil fuel consumption

(Vancouver, WA) - - A group led by anti-hydro and harvest interests, including the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, Idaho Rivers United, Columbia Riverkeeper, and Idaho Conservation League, on Friday announced their intent to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regarding water temperatures in the Snake River.

In the hottest year ever recorded on Earth, these special interests are ignoring science by asserting that Snake River dams—not climate change--cause water conditions dangerous to sockeye salmon.  If these groups are successful in destroying the Pacific Northwest’s hydroelectric infrastructure, the region’s biggest source of carbon-free energy, they would prolong the region’s reliance on electricity produced from fossil fuels.

Kurt Miller, Northwest RiverPartners Executive Director said:

“It’s concerning that anti-hydro interests are taking a position to remove our most important carbon-free energy source when they say they are concerned about hot river temperatures.  Water is our power to fight climate change.  Study after study demonstrates that we can’t meet our clean energy goals without our existing hydroelectric infrastructure.

“Losing these dams inevitably means more years spent relying on fossil fuel electricity generation, increasing our carbon footprint, and making ocean and river temperatures more dangerous for salmon. Meeting our clean energy goals and continuing our salmon recovery efforts isn’t advanced by lawsuits from special interests. As recent investments have shown, we can move toward recovering salmon and keeping our clean hydropower infrastructure.” 

Northwest RiverPartners has closely followed the science on river temperatures.  Warmer air temperatures cause warmer river temperatures. There have been heat-related salmon die-offs in Canada’s undammed Fraser River and undammed rivers as far north as Alaska.

It’s also noteworthy that these groups filed a lawsuit over sockeye salmon, even though this year’s Snake River sockeye returns are some of the best in recent memory.

This fight is not new, similar anti-hydro and salmon harvest interests took out a full-page ad in The New York Times in October 1999 urging then Vice President Gore to make the decision to remove the four Lower Snake River dams or Snake River Chinook salmon “will be extinct by 2017.”  According to Columbia River Dart data, a project of the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences (Columbia River Dart), 15,783 total adult Chinook passed through Ice Harbor Dam in 1999, the lowest on the Snake River.  Thanks to federal and ratepayer investments in fish passage and salmon recovery, those numbers had jumped to 63,983 in 2017 and by 2022 (the last data set available on the Columbia River Dart website), that number had increased to 118,759.

Miller added, “For a quarter of a century, anti-hydro interests have ignored the facts and the science on climate change and the important role our region’s hydroelectric dams play in helping meet the challenge of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. By doing so, they hurt our efforts to reduce emissions and help salmon that are dying because of climate change.”

Key study reference sources below:

1. PNNL peer-reviewed study showing lower Snake dams help mitigate extreme river temperature
2. NOAA Fisheries peer-reviewed study showing undammed Salmon River is more at risk for extreme river temperatures than lower Snake River because the Salmon River doesn’t have dams to help maintain flows.
3. Three studies demonstrating prolonged reliance on fossil fuels if dams are removed: “Executive Summary: Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement,” https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll7/id/14957; “2019 Biennial Energy Report: Issues, Analysis and Updates,” Washington State Department of Commerce: http://www.commerce.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/COMMERCE-Biennial-Energy.pdf, states: “First, without explicit policy support, the electrification of the state's economy - in particular, the conversion of various transportation uses from gasoline and diesel – will likely not be served entirely with renewable energy. Hydro is the main source of power in the existing mix, but Washington cannot add new large hydro projects to meet growth in electricity demand. A likely scenario is that utilities would meet growing demand with a combination of natural gas generation and enough new renewables to comply with the 15 percent standard under the EIA.”;  https://nwriverpartners.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/EGPSC_LSRD-Power-Cost-Replacement-Study_6_29_2022_Final_1223.pdf: Due to existing decarbonization mandates all planned wind and solar generation is already spoken for. To keep the grid reliable without hydropower, we’d have to run more fossil fuel generation to try to meet energy demand equating to millions of additional metric tons of CO2.
4. Climate impacts on salmon:  The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate” noted that declines in ecosystem function and fish populations have coincided with “unabated” warming of the ocean since 1970 (https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/01_SROCC_SPM_FINAL.pdf): Similarly, a peer-reviewed study by Dr. David Welch in 2020 compared Chinook salmon survival along the West Coast of North America during the same 50-year period. His study concluded that these populations have experienced a 65% decline in survival rates.  Those figures apply to nearly pristine rivers in Southeast Alaska and Canada as well as more urban areas like the Puget Sound (“A synthesis of the coast-wide decline in survival of West Coast Chinook Salmon [Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, Salmonidae],” by David Warren Welch,Aswea Dawn Porter,Erin Leanne Rechisky; first published 30 October 2020); NOAA Fisheries Science Center published a peer-reviewed paper in 2021 showing that if ocean temperatures continue to warm at their current rate, key Chinook populations will be extinct within 40 years (“Climate change threatens Chinook salmon throughout their lifecycle,” by Lisa Crozier, Brian Burke, Brandon Chasco, Daniel Widener, Richard Zabel; published February 18, 2021). 
5. May 2020 EPA Total Maximum Daily Load for Temperature

“Even if all the allocations in this TMDL are implemented and the temperature reductions envisioned are fully realized, it is unlikely that the numeric criteria portion of the WQS [Water Quality Standard] will be met at all times and all places. Sources outside the allocation structure of this TMDL contribute to warmer temperatures. These sources include increased air temperatures throughout the study area and upstream human activities in Idaho and Canada, resulting in Columbia and Snake River water temperatures that already exceed the numeric criteria portion of the WQS when those rivers enter the geographic area covered by this TMDL.” (Emphasis added)

Public Power Interests Should Be Heard in FCRPS Mediation Talks (Northwest RiverPartners, Vancouver, WA)

By Kurt Miller

I had a boss once tell me, “I like that you know when to raise your hand.” She appreciated I flagged the big issues for her and asked for help when needed. This is one of those issues.

Northwest RiverPartners is actively participating in the Federal Columbia River Power System litigation mediation talks. These talks are led by the Biden Administration’s White House Council on Environmental Quality and the overtly biased process to date has not been good.

Mediation Talks – Brief Background

In early 2021, plaintiff groups, led by the State of Oregon, filed a motion in U.S. District Court seeking immediate injunctive relief against FCRPS operations.

This motion was in response to U.S. government studies, which concluded that planned FCRPS hydropower operations were aligned with the social, environmental, and economic well-being of the region. They also found these operations did not pose a threat to endangered salmon and steelhead populations.

Oregon’s motion for injunctive relief had potentially dire implications for the region’s grid reliability and ratepayer costs. Ultimately, Oregon and other plaintiff groups are trying to force the beneficiaries of the FCRPS to acquiesce to some plaintiffs’ long-held desire to remove dams on the lower Snake and Columbia rivers.

On Oct. 21, 2021, plaintiff groups agreed to a pause in litigation through July 31, 2021. That stay was extended though last-minute negotiations on Aug. 4, 2022, and is set to expire by Aug. 31, 2023.

A One-Sided Negotiation

The concerning part—the part I’m raising my hand about—is CEQ’s approach to the negotiation process. Northwest RiverPartners has legal standing as an intervener defendant. That standing gives us a right to be included in mediation negotiations.

However, despite this legal standing, Northwest RiverPartners and other defendant intervener groups representing millions of ratepayers and residents throughout the West have not been granted a meaningful say in the negotiations from their outset, which I’ll demonstrate below.

Unfortunately, due to confidentiality requirements, I am only allowed to share information from publicly available documents, but even within these limited parameters, one can see a very troubling pattern emerge.

The Three-Legged Stool

In a highly orchestrated effort, CEQ has constructed a proverbial three-legged stool that is being used as a barrier to prevent meaningful input from public power interests.

Leg 1: NOAA Report Reverses Decades of NOAA Science

On July 12, 2022, CEQ released a draft report entitled “Rebuilding Interior Columbia Basin Salmon and Steelhead” produced by NOAA Fisheries. The report was disappointing for numerous reasons. First, the report was co-written by two long-standing plaintiff groups in the ongoing litigation against the dams—the State of Oregon and the Nez Perce Tribe.

Second, the report inexplicably reverses decades of NOAA Fisheries’ own scientific research showing that breaching (i.e., removing) the lower Snake River dams may provide minimal benefits to salmon.

Third, NOAA Fisheries would only allow feedback on its draft report from states and tribes, purposely leaving out the public and organizations like Northwest RiverPartners and the millions of public power customers we represent.

Unsurprisingly, when the final report was released on Sept. 30, 2022, its conclusions remained largely intact. Most importantly, the report calls breaching the lower Snake River dams a “centerpiece action” for achieving “healthy and harvestable” levels of salmon.

The non-scientific underpinnings of these recommendations are exposed in the report when NOAA and their plaintiff co-authors admit to a “lack of precise measures or quantitative estimates of the magnitude of biological benefit expected from large-scale management actions,” and that, “not all restoration actions will achieve their intended benefit.”

Leg 2: New Unscientific Salmon Recovery Standard Adopted

The Biden administration, under the auspices of the U.S. Department of the Interior, released an announcement on Aug. 4, 2022. That announcement, like the draft NOAA report, adopted a new, non-scientific standard for salmon recovery in the region.

The announcement stated, “The Administration is committed to supporting development of a durable long-term strategy to restore salmon and other native fish populations to healthy and abundant levels.” As noted above, the NOAA report translates this description into a new “healthy and harvestable” standard.

While having “harvestable” salmon populations is an admirable goal, the Biden administration’s statement shifted salmon recovery from a scientifically quantifiable goal that has been used as the legal standard for decades to one that is ill-defined, not scientifically based. The new standard also lies outside the scope of the legal proceedings the mitigation is addressing.

This change also provides cover for a shift from NOAA’s prior statements warning of the limited benefits of dam breaching for salmon. The new narrative is that dams must be breached because the administration has a new, higher standard for salmon recovery.

Leg 3: Stay Agreement Excludes Input from Public Power Groups

Also on Aug. 4, 2022, the U.S. government released Exhibit 2 of the extended stay agreement with the plaintiffs. Importantly, even though Northwest RiverPartners and other intervener defendants have legal standing in the case, we were purposely excluded from negotiating the terms of the stay.

Unsurprisingly, the terms of the Exhibit 2 commit the U.S. government to the following condition, “The Administration commits to exploring lower Snake River habitat restoration opportunities, including but not limited to migration corridor restoration through breaching the four lower Snake River dams.”

This stay stipulation runs against the desire of a clear majority of the residents of the Greater Pacific Northwest and could only have been arrived at in closed-door negotiations.

While Northwest RiverPartners remains committed to salmon recovery and meaningful dialogue with people and organizations with diverse views, we are quickly losing faith in this CEQ-led process.

We know from independent analyses that dam removal will raise rates, cost ratepayers billions of dollars, and set us back years in our effort to decarbonize our economy. While the administration officials have also committed to ensuring the existing hydropower system can still function in “delivering affordable and reliable clean power,” every action taken in the CEQ-led mediation has been at odds with achieving that objective in the Pacific Northwest. 

Clearly, it’s time to raise our hand. We believe we can recover salmon while preserving the hydropower system’s many needed benefits. Those benefits include clean, reliable, and affordable energy and critical infrastructure for agriculture, like irrigation and barging. If you believe as we do, please raise your hands with us.

Kurt Miller is the executive director of Northwest RiverPartners. He can be contacted at kurt@nwriverpartners.org.

Joint Statement by President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau – Including Columbia River Treaty Priorities (White House, Washington, DC)

“…The United States and Canada will intensify their work over the coming months toward an agreement on a modernized treaty regime that will support a healthy and prosperous Columbia River Basin.  We will focus on flood risk management, power generation, and environmental benefits that are shared equitably by both countries and the Indigenous peoples and Tribal nations, communities, and stakeholders in this watershed.  The Columbia River is a vital shared resource that underpins many lives and industries on both sides of the border and the watershed requires our attention and prompt coordination…”

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/24/joint-statement-by-president-biden-and-prime-minister-trudeau/