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Dam Breaching is Best Alternative for Salmon by Andy Munter Idaho Statesman, August 12, 2007

Thank you for the 10-year anniversary article on your advocating the breaching of four lower Snake River dams to save Idaho's salmon runs. It was those series of articles 10 years ago that made me start looking at breaching as a serious option. Since then, it has become increasingly clear that dam breaching is the best alternative if we are serious about recovering Idaho stocks of salmon and steelhead.

But, obviously, we are not serious about recovery. The federal government and the Bonneville Power Administration have spent billions of taxpayer money for Band-Aids but refuse to look at the cause of the injury.

What surprises me is why eastern Idaho farmers are not yet in support of dam removal. They must realize by now that with those four dams in place, one of the few things that will slow the extinction rate of salmon and steelhead is eastern Idaho Snake River water to flush smolts by the dams. They are subsidizing those dams with their irrigation water - and not solving the problem. Count on politicians and the courts to use that Band-Aid for decades to come.

Related Pages:
The Case for Breaching is Stronger than Ever by Editorial Board, Idaho Statesman, 7/22/7