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Possible Dam Removals Along the Snake River in Washington Could Heavily Impact Grain Exports by Ariana Schumacher Ag Weekly, August 6, 2024

The Pacific Northwest is the largest exporter of wheat.
However, closing these dams could impact that.

The Biden administration and other federal agencies are looking to possibly remove four of the dams in the Snake River. The main reason activists and tribal communities are pushing for the dam closures is to protect the salmon populations in the area. Both government and academic studies point towards these dams being an issue to the endangered salmon population.

In 2021, the federal Council on Environmental Quality, the Biden administration's environmental advisors and parties represented by the nonprofit Earthjustice sued the federal government over the dam operations in the Snake River.

The Pacific Northwest is the largest exporter of wheat. However, closing these dams could impact that.

"About 45% of all the wheat that comes down the river originates in the Snake," Rob Rich, vice president of marine services, at Shaver Transportation. "Activists say that without the navigational locks, we can just shift to other forms of alternate transportation."

The two other forms of transportation options would be rail and truck; however, inland barging is the most fuel efficient.

"Trucking can move a ton of cargo on a gallon of diesel 151 miles. Rail is the big dog in the country at 476 miles, three times what trucking is. Inland barging is 675 miles," Rich said.

"The point I am making is this: if you are going to be environmentally responsible, if you are going to burn the least amount of fossil fuels, if you are going to have the least amount of congestion in your rural communities, as well as your urban communities where these transportation hubs are, you are going to retain and even shift as much to water-borne cargo as you possibly can."

Removing the dams would also impact power.

Related Pages:
I struck the 2000 BiOp, and the 2004 BiOp, and the 2008/2011 BiOp by James A. Redden, Letter to Counsel, 11/22/11