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Feds Put Review of Columbia River Hydropower System on Ice by Henry Brannan The Columbian, April 22, 2025

The environmental review is the most feasible path
to removal of dams on lower Snake River

A move by federal water managers to pause a landmark environmental review of the Columbia River hydropower system has become a Rorschach test that leaves utilities, salmon advocates, commercial shippers and Native nations, as well as Washington and Oregon officials guessing.

The pause could be routine, as officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation insist. Or, it could be the beginning of the end for the review -- the clearest path to removal of the lower Snake River dams, which salmon advocates say is the only way to save the prized Northwest fish.

The two federal agencies announced earlier this month an indeterminate pause on the supplemental environmental impact statement for the federal hydropower system. The move marks the second publicly announced delay since the review was started late last year.

The closely watched review came out of a 2023 Biden administration-brokered agreement that stopped litigation between environmentalists, fishing groups and Native nations on one end, and federal power and water managers on the other.

The resulting environmental review is significant because it could potentially lead to lower Snake River dam removal by acknowledging that the giant structures harm endangered salmon and steelhead runs.

The review functions alongside a 2024 federal report on the harms that U.S. government dams cause Columbia River tribes and a group of studies underway to calculate what it would take to compensate dam-dependent regions and river users if the four dams are removed.

Lower Snake River dam removal would have to be approved by Congress, making it unlikely while Republicans are in control.

A 2022 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report listed "restoration of the lower Snake River through dam breaching" as the first thing the region could do to help Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead survive despite climate change.

Dam advocates criticize the report and point to NOAA's 2020 biological opinion for the hydropower system, which does not call for dam removal.

Flood of speculation

According to the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation's April news release, the two agencies are pausing public scoping meetings that would help decide what issues the environmental review will go on to examine. The release cites recent rollbacks the Trump administration made to national environmental policies, and adds new meeting dates will be announced in "the next several weeks."

But many stakeholders have focused instead on what it doesn't say.

Kurt Miller, CEO of the Northwest Public Power Association, which represents regional public utility districts, immediately noticed the most recent pause didn't contain key details -- such as a firm timeline -- that were in the first announcement.

"That leads us to (ask), 'OK, well, what are we hearing behind the scenes?' " he said.

The answer, Miller said, was that the Trump administration "does not like" the broader salmon restoration agreement -- the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement -- that led to the environmental review.

He also pointed to a statement from the D.C.-based National Rural Electric Cooperative Association thanking President Donald Trump for the "indefinite pause," which amounted to what the association characterized as "meaningful steps to protect lower Snake River dams."

The association's president, Jim Matheson, met late last month with Trump's energy secretary, Chris Wright.

"Hydroelectric power generated by the Columbia River System is the foundation of the electric grid in the Northwest," Matheson said in a statement to The Columbian. "President Trump understands this. … We appreciate the administration's recognition of this critical energy resource and the steps it's taking to protect it."

Miller said he was surprised the announcement didn't declare the end of the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, an outcome he and many others in the utility industry would like to see.

"Everyone's in a wait-and-see mode at this point," said Clark Mather, executive director of Northwest RiverPartners, a regional association of public and cooperative electric utilities.

Amanda Goodin took a similarly reserved tone but from the other side of the issue. She's a lawyer for the national environmental law group Earthjustice, which represented the parties in the lawsuits that spawned the Biden-era legal stay.

"It sounds like the agencies are trying to think a little bit about what that regulatory change might mean," she said. "And, this is nowhere in the press release, but it's just my guess that part of what is also going on is a new administration coming in and trying to decide where it stands on various issues."

Some people are theorizing how the uncertain future of the Columbia River Treaty amid political clashes with Canada could impact the environmental review or even if it will be halted altogether, said Neil Maunu, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, an economic development-focused trade association of ports, businesses and public agencies.

"Given the plethora of changes, almost daily, coming from the administration and the agencies, it's just hard to say," Maunu said.

Potential outcomes

The Columbian reached out to the six main parties -- Oregon, Washington and four Native nations -- that signed the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement about their knowledge on where the hydropower system environmental review stands. Only Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek provided a statement.

"The state of Oregon is committed to full implementation of our agreement over the next decade," she said.

What that will look like, and if there will still be an agreement to implement in the future, however, remains to be seen. Privately, even well-connected people on all sides of the issue acknowledge no one in the region seems to know what the Trump administration has planned.

Meanwhile, this year's endangered Snake River spring chinook are heading upriver to traverse the dams at the heart of this debate. That run, along with 11 other salmon and steelhead runs, is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. It's also considered "in crisis" by the state of Washington.

"While the (Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement) may not be perfect, it's a big step forward to better meet the needs of endangered salmon and the needs of communities," said Joseph Bogaard, executive director of Save Our Wild Salmon. "This is a huge opportunity for our region, and I hope that we can all work together to move it forward quickly and successfully."

But back in D.C., the Associated Press reported last week the Trump administration plans to eliminate habitat protections for endangered and threatened species.

Related Pages:
Feds to Update Columbia River Dams' Environmental Guidelines by Henry Brannan, Big Country News, 12/21/24
PNWA Reacts to Biden Administration Announcement to Launch a Columbia River Task Force by Staff, Big Country News, 6/18/24

Redundant Environmental Review is Unlawful, Misleading,
and Jeopardizes Services to Millions

Portland, OR - A coalition of regional leaders calls on the federal government to withdraw its decision to initiate new environmental reviews of the Columbia and Snake River dams. The coalition contends that a new National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis would be both premature and unlawful, warning that it would be incomplete and could mislead the public about these dams' vital role in supporting the region's economy and environment.

Given the sharp rise in energy costs and the notable improved recovery of salmon and steelhead returns, the coalition urges the federal government to withdraw its intent to pursue new environmental analyses on the operations of federal dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. This diverse group, representing millions of electric customers, businesses, farmers, and river commerce leaders, is concerned that additional reviews are unnecessary at this time.

The coalition argues that any supplemental NEPA analysis would be fundamentally flawed and misleading. There are significant concerns regarding the Co-Lead Agencies' proposal to base the analysis on interim reports from the 12/14 Agreement studies and unscientific policy documents, which lack conclusive findings. Relying on these incomplete studies undermines the integrity of the NEPA process and risks rendering the Final NEPA document unlawful, as NEPA is designed to promote informed decision-making. According to the coalition, proceeding with a NEPA analysis based on such interim reports does not fulfill this essential objective.

The proposed environmental review could lead to breaching federal hydropower facilities that serve as the largest source of affordable, reliable, clean energy for millions of people in the region while also providing world-class, clean river transportation for the regions and nation's economies.

The coalition responded to the Biden Administration's decision to move forward with a "Notice of Intent" to redo an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) completed in 2020. That study–just four years old–cost regional electric customers more than $55 million and considered more than 400,000 comments before concluding that our hydropower dams need to stay in place.

The 2020 study concluded that federal hydropower dams and locks are essential to maintaining affordable electric rates, reliable energy service to homes and businesses, and lower carbon emissions. Hydropower is the largest source of affordable, renewable, dispatchable generation in the Pacific Northwest.

Since that time, energy load forecasts have exploded. According to a 2024 report from the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee, "Demand for electricity is projected to increase from about 23,700 average megawatts (aMW) in 2024 to about 31,100 aMW in 2033 (an increase of 7,400 aMW), which is an increase in demand of over 30% in the next 10 years."

The federal government's decision comes as electricity cost increases in the Pacific Northwest far outpace the national growth rate. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail electric rates across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana increased between 5.9-11.4% between 2022 and 2023 -- doubling (or far more) the 2.6% average rate of increase across the U.S. during the same period. The decision to proceed with additional environmental studies ignores publicly available data showing significant, sustained increases in fish returns.

Average salmon and steelhead returns have more than tripled at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River and more than quadrupled at Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River during the last 15 years when compared to the first adult fish counts at those facilities, according to data sourced from the University of Washington College of the Environment's Data Access in Real Time (DART) website.

Further, a peer-reviewed study commissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2021, "Climate change threatens Chinook Salmon through their lifecycle" provided the following conclusions:

• "Survival through Columbia and Snake River dams generally now meets recovery targets (>96%), and cumulative mortality over 500 km of in-river migrating fish (~50%) is similar to that estimated for unregulated rivers of similar length (i.e., Fraser River)."

• "Our analysis showed relative resilience in freshwater stages, with the dominant driver toward extinction being rising SST (sea surface temperature), which tracked a ~90% decline in survival in the marine life stage."

• "Our results indicate that as one symptom of a changing ocean, rising SST (sea surface temperature) puts all of our study populations at high risk of extinction, despite actions within the hydrosystem to speed juvenile travel and increase in-river survival."

  (bluefish notes: speaking to "actions within the hydrosystem" to-date, Fish Passage Center's 2024 Draft Comparative Survival Study points out what remains "undisputed" in biostatistics "Discussion" page 300:

  The impact of hydro system development on WTT (Water Travel Time) and migration conditions for salmon and steelhead are undisputed. In addition, the importance of WTT (flow) for the downstream migration survival and adult return is undisputed. Although this is understood, the region has not changed hydro system operations to provide WTTs needed to meet regional salmon and steelhead survival goals. The region still relies on the climate, run-off volume and system flexibility to meet needed WTT for downstream migration. The measures implemented to date, the Water Budget and the Biological Opinion, seasonal average flow target measures have not resulted in WTTs needed for improved survival.

  Because changes in hydro system configuration and operation have not been implemented to provide migration WTT, the provision of WTT migration flows is dependent on run off volume. Favorable migration conditions only occur when run off volume is above average. WTTs, flows for downstream migrating salmon and steelhead are dependent upon the climate. Historically, prior to development of mainstem hydroelectric projects, even low run-off volume years provided adequate WTT for successful downstream migration of salmon and steelhead. The development of mainstem hydroelectric project impoundments increased the cross-sectional area of the migration corridor and slowed WTT. Recent years and predicted climate change conditions indicate that below average run-off volume years will occur more often. Particularly for the Snake River Basin, run-off volume is unlikely to provide required WTTs, in the future, which indicates that cross-sectional area of the migration corridor should be reduced to provide migration WTT for Snake River populations.

This diverse group of power, navigation, and agricultural users in the Northwest has a strong demonstrated history, and a continued commitment, to engaging when appropriate in proper reviews of programs and policies impacting the Columbia River Basin, its citizens, economies, and the environment. To that end, this coalition will continue to carefully monitor developments on this proposed environmental review and potential impacts to the Northwest.

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The Columbia Basin Regional Alliance for Transparent (RAFT) is a coalition formed by the Public Power Council, the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, Northwest RiverPartners, Northwest Requirements Utilities, and other concerned stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest who are dedicated to safeguarding the value of hydropower and preserving the vitality of river commerce activities in and along the Columbia and Snake rivers.

Media Contacts:
Kurt Miller, Executive Director, Northwest Public Power Association
Zabyn Towner, Executive Director, Northwest Requirements Utilities
Clark Mather, Executive Director, Northwest RiverPartners
Neil Maunu, Executive Director, Pacific Northwest Waterways Association
Scott Simms, CEO & Executive Director, Public Power Council
Michelle Hennings, Executive Director, Washington Association of Wheat Growers

Additional Supporting Organizations:
Association of Washington Business
Idaho Consumer Utilities Association
Idaho Wheat Commission
Montana Electric Cooperatives Association
Oregon Municipal Electric Utilities Association
Oregon People's Utility District Association
Oregon Wheat Commission
Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Washington Public Utility Districts Association
Washington Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Washington State Water Resources Association