As our governor put it; "The salmon fisheries of this state have, in the past, been wonderfully productive. Of late, however, evidence of a decrease in the run is apparent, and all are agreed that something ought to be done to prevent the final extinction of a great industry." This governor was John R. Rogers not our present governor Gary Locke and he said it in 1899, not 1999. Our Association thinks this puts the salmon restoration problem in the proper perspective, as we deal with it today. In our area there is strong support to increase the fish runs in our river system. There is also almost total agreement the breaching of the four lower Snake River dams will not be the answer to this problem.
The members of our association are growing increasingly frustrated as we have watched the ongoing analysis of salmon restoration in the Snake River System focus almost solely on dam breaching. We were told from the beginning that there were four H's to be considered: habitat, hydropower, harvest, and hatchery management. However, it has become increasingly clear that the federal agencies are only focusing on one of these H's, hydropower.
In the past few years of watching the process of salmon recovery efforts it has become apparent to us that this problem is one of the most complex issues of this score of years. It starts with the very definition of salmon species to continues on to include the variance of ocean temperature. A marine biologist expressed the belief that there weren't ten reasons for fish run declines or even a hundred but he thought a thousand reasons were more in the ballpark. I would submit to you that the problems we have with fish populations is not what we think we know but the many things we need to learn.
A computer model called PATH which stands for Plan for Analyzing and Testing Hypotheses is held up as a reason for dam removable. It is important to note that there is no empirical data to prove that destroying the four dams would lead to recovery of the salmon. It is simply a computer model. This model makes some assumptions that do not follow known facts. For example, according to the recent salmon tag studies, over 50% of the smolts moving in the river system reach salt water. However, one PATH model predicts only 20% and another PATH model predicts only 30%. Therefore, I would hate to base a decision as monumental as dam removal on a set of hypotheses that are in question.
The environmental effects of breaching are another matter. The Corps of Engineers estimates that there are 100-150 million cubic yards of sediment behind the four dams. This would create 30,000 acres of mud flats. With dam removal this material would move down stream for several years and this would cause much harm to the existing habitats as they are today. The use of this river system is also environmental choice because of emissions. Navigating the river system will use 40% less fuel per ton/mile than the rail system (assuming there would cars and power units available, which we highly question). And compared to trucks, the river system will use 110% less fuel per ton/mile. According to the Washington Wheat Commission, if grain barge traffic was halted, the industry would have to locate 120,000 additional grain cars, and some 700,000 semi-trucks. There is also the enormous cost (and environmental impact) of building the roads and rail necessary for infrastructure. All this will affect our grain industry by raising costs to an industry that is already suffering in an economic depression.
So, what should we be doing to increase wild fish runs in our river system? Continue to improve the transportation of smolt
Address and solve the predator harvest problem Modify hatcheries to improve there contribution to an overall solution Look into the commercial fishing harvest to better understand their impact on the fishery Modify turbine gaps, turbine blades, blade coatings, and hydraulic conditions into and out of the turbines Add surface collectors to move smolt around the dams Continue to pursue other technological alternatives that are scientifically sound
If we can get by the unfortunate notion that breaching of the four lower Snake River Dams is a possible solution to the problem at hand, we can then work together to solve the problem we all want to solve.
Thank you.