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Dams Along the Snake River
By
Jason Smith, Allegra Abramo,
Shira Bieler, Jeff Payne, Mike Miller
Lower Snake Questions:
 Who are the stakeholders?
 What rights and interests do they have?
 What role does each stakeholder play in the
region?
 What is the most economically viable
alternative?
 What is the ethical alternative?
The Current System
 The Lower Snake River Dams
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Ice Harbor
Lower Monumental
Little Goose
Lower Granite
The Columbia River Basin
Ice Harbor Dam
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River Mile 9.7
Completed 1962, 1976
Operate Pool 437-440
Purpose Power, Nav.
Other Fish, Rec.
Res:Sacajawea
Length 2822 ft.
N. Abute. 624 ft.
Lower Monumental Dam
 River Mile 41.6
 Completed 1969, 1981
 Operate Pool 537-540
 Purpose Power, Nav.
 Other Fish, Rec.
 Res:L Herbert G West
 Length 3791ft.
 S. Abute. 1075 ft.
Little Goose Dam
 River Mile 70.3
 Completed 1970, 1978
 Operate Pool 633-638
 Purpose: Power, Nav
 Other: Fish, Rec.
 Res: Lake Bryant
 Length 2655 ft.
 N. Abute. 879
Lower Granite Dam
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River Mile 107.5
Completed 1975, 1978
Operate Pool 733-738
Purpose: Power, Nav.
Other: flood, rec., fish
Res.: Lower Granite L
Length 3200 ft.
North Abute. 1435 ft.
The Fish
 Historic runs of 10-16 million fish are down by 90%.
 75-80% Remaining fish are from hatcheries.
 4 Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESU) listed under
ESA (13 total in CRB).
Dams and Fish
 Dams kill large numbers of juveniles
passing over or through them.
 Obstruct return of spawning adults.
 Make water too warm, too slow, and reduce
essential habitat (gravel and woody debris).
 Many improvements have been made to
dams, but fish numbers continue to decline.
 NMFS says science is still out on whether
removal is necessary--will try other
strategies for another 10 years.
Do Fish Have Rights?
 ESA: species must be
considered but allows for
balancing of human
economic interests.
 Do fish have intrinsic value
and right to continued
existence, no matter what
the costs to humans?
The Tribes
Industrial interests
 The Regional Economy
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10 PNW smelters
Annual income of ~$200
million
Consumption of
3,145MW at Capacity
 The Labor Force
 Subsidized?
Regional Economics
 Local significance
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Most smelters account for < 1% of local
employment
Klickitat and Wasco employment > 8%
 Regionally insignificant
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Direct employment – 10,000
Indirect employment – 40,000
0.65% of Employment PNW
Previous need for Aluminum
 Aluminum wasn’t internationally competitive
 Nearby stores of bauxite in Beautiful British
Columbia with oversized electrical
infrastructure
 Supportive industry: Boeing?
Future of industry in the PNW
 Aluminum is now International
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Globalized markets
Newer smelting technology
 Boeing bailed
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Chicago office detaches labor questions
Japanese bidding for wing manufacture
Assembly plant will remain, aluminum
manufacturing may leave
Agriculture
 The snake dams benefit agricultural
interests in two ways:
 Most importantly by providing low cost
transportation via barges
 And to a lesser degree by providing
irrigation to 13 large farming operations
Agriculture in the Modern World
 Regardless of what happens to the dams
farmers face an uncertain future due factors
such as:
 Increasing consolidation among farms
 Increased competition due to globalization
 Depressed wheat prices
Agricultural and Dams
Ethical Issues
 Turning rangeland into productive farmland via irrigation
 Subsidizing farms – at what cost?
 A way of life was created, now it is threatened
Municipal Impacts
 Four Municipalities
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Burbank
Asotin
Clarkston
Lewiston
 Population 36,500
 14 wells
Municipal Impacts Cont.
 Assume 70% - $100,000
 Energy cost
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50-foot loss of water table
100 gpdpc
$.10 / kilowatt-hour
90% efficiency
COST 80 cents per person per year
Navigational Impacts
 8 Dams
 4 Snake
Navigational Impacts Cont.
 Lewiston world’s most inland port 465 mi.
 Ocean to Portland/Vancouver
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106 miles
Dredge to 40-foot depth
 Portland to Lewiston
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359 miles
Minimum 14-foot depth
Navigational Impacts Cont.
 Cargo
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17 million tons enter from ocean
Agricultural harvest
 Federal Government - $43 million
Navigational Impacts Cont.
 Transportation Improvements
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Rail and Roadway - To Tri Cities
$260 million
75/25 split $200 million
 Grain Train
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1995 - 29 cars
1998 - additional 36 cars
Navigational Impacts Cont.
 Breach Dams
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Sediment load
Lower Granite and
Little Goose first
Lower Monumental
and Ice Harbor second
Alternative Actions
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Status Quo
Take them out
Phase them out
Terrorist attack: ELF
Advised Action & Effects
 Remove the dams
 Winners:
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Tribes
Fish
Recreation
Some industries & municipalities
 Losers:
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USACE
Agriculture
Some industries & municipalities