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Other Factors More Damaging than Dams by Darrell W. Brock Idaho Statesman, August 12, 2007

The Statesman recently published an article supporting the removal of the four lower Snake River dams to help the salmon. This article included a graph that showed the number of salmon crossing the Lower Granite Dam over the last 10 years. In 1999, only 9,990 salmon crossed the last dam in the Columbia/Snake River system. In 2001, the number of salmon crossing the last dam jumped to 194,608. The four lower Snake River dams had been in place for many years, and we saw a 19-fold increase in the number of returning salmon over a two-year period. This strongly suggests that there are other factors that are primarily responsible for determining the number of salmon that return to Idaho. Some experts say the conditions in the oceans is a major factor. Others blame over-fishing of fish returning to Idaho.

According to the Bonneville Power Administration, the utilities would need to build "two to four combustion turbine plants" to replace the lost power. We need to re-think the dam-breaching issue.

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