Ferguson, Kotek must focus on solutions, not uncorking more litigation

Recently, governors Bob Ferguson (Washington) and Tina Kotek (Oregon) asked the federal court to lift a stay (hold) on litigation primarily directed at tearing down the four lower Snake River dams.

President Trump’s executive order stopped federal agencies from taking part in litigation. It halted “behind the scenes” efforts to spend billions to tear down Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams.

Lately, breaching proponents switched their tactics to federal dam operations that curtail hydroelectric production and increase electric rates. Public power advocates, a main beneficiary of electricity from federal dams, fear that Washington residential rates, which jumped by 12.6% between May 2024 and May 2025, will skyrocket.

If breached, the incomprehensible challenge would be to generate enough greenhouse-gas-free electricity continuously with hefty new demands for electricity.

Without the dams, barging would cease, and an estimated 137,000 trucks or 24,000 railcars would crowd the roads. Not only would this add significant cost to the region’s products, it would also add substantial amounts of carbon emissions.

Author Chelsea Martin put the issue into perspective. Earlier this month she wrote a compelling article entitled: “More Dam Drama: But the Real Salmon Killer Isn’t in the River.”

After decades in court, it is a battle the fish can’t win because the litigation keeps circling the dams while the deeper danger lies in a warming ocean, Martin states. “Scientists have long known that ocean and climate conditions — not dams — are the biggest factors determining salmon survival.”

Martin notes that cooler ocean waters resulted in recent record fish returns. Northwest River Partners points out that in 1938 when Bonneville Dam opened, just over 456,000 adult salmon and steelhead were counted. In 2024, 1.77 million returned past Bonneville Dam.

Martin contends that perspective adds crucial context to the debate which too often is overlooked. Scientists continue to debate the amount of added spill or flow changes that can improve salmon survival at the dams, yet most agree that even the best river conditions can’t offset the larger forces of a warming ocean.

Warmer river waters hamper fish survival as well; however, Martin cites a 2020 NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) study that concluded water flowing from hydroelectric dams stays cooler than undammed portions of the Snake River Basin. Columbia and Snake River basins dams stabilize extreme water temperatures by redistributing summer heat into the fall.

Often soft-peddled in the debate is the impact of predators on salmon and steelhead.

For example, the sea lion’s population in the lower Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam is now estimated at 4,500. They feast on migrating adult salmon and steelhead and threaten the survival of 32 fragile salmon runs which spawn in the upper Columbia and Snake rivers.

The Upper Columbia River chinook runs are most vulnerable to sea lions and could undermine efforts by a consortium of intermountain Canadian and American tribes working to re-establish chinook runs above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams.

Meanwhile, predatory birds such as Caspian terns, double-crested cormorants and California sea gulls pick off more than 35% of the juvenile salmon and steelhead migrating to sea.

Martin correctly points out the impacts of non-native predator fish, such as walleye and northern pike, and pollutants, such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), drugs and mercury, need inclusion when considering fish survival.

As the debate reignites and intensifies, Kurt Miller, executive director of the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA) says it is time to move beyond the courtroom and focus on cooperation. Included in that call to action is the need to include ALL factors, not just dam removal.

Governors Ferguson and Kotek must bring people together to focus on solutions. Spawning more litigation is a waste of money and won’t solve the problem.

Don C. Brunell is a business analyst, writer and columnist. He is a former president of the Association of Washington Business, the state’s oldest and largest business organization, and lives in Vancouver. Contact thebrunells@msn.com.