Columbia Riverkeeper’s Analysis Finds: Lower Snake River Dam Removal Would Cool River, Help Salmon and Steelhead
Trump Administration’s Dams Study Not Supported by Science
On April 13, 2020, Columbia Riverkeeper submitted in-depth technical comments criticizing the Trump administrations’ most recent plan (called a Draft Environmental Impact Statement or DEIS) to operate the Columbia and Snake river dams and reservoirs. While Northwesterners criticized the plan for many reasons, Riverkeeper focused on how the dams and climate change make the rivers too hot for salmon and steelhead. You can read Riverkeeper’s whole comment, but here are three top messages:
- Without significant changes to the status quo, including dam removal, salmon and steelhead will likely go extinct from the Snake River in coming decades;
- Removing the four Lower Snake River dams would improve water temperatures and help Snake River salmon and steelhead survive, reproduce, and recover;
- The DEIS should have used climate models to predict future river temperatures and looked for ways to protect salmon and steelhead from rising water temperatures caused by the dams and climate change.
Riverkeeper’s comments set the record straight on the impact of Snake River dam removal on water temperature. Our combination of legal and technical work gets results, but we need one more thing: your voice. Please tell your Northwest elected leaders to find solutions that restore salmon, steelhead, and Southern Resident Orcas by removing Lower Snake River dams and reinvesting in river communities.
