Mike Simpson (R-ID) Admits That Snake River Dams Aren't Working, W. BPA Deep In Debt

[hatrack]

EDIT

In his speech, Simpson said he wanted to study every possible salmon fix, including removing four dams on the Lower Snake River, just across the border in Washington state. But this is about a lot more than fish. The public power agency that sells electricity from the 31 federal dams in the Northwest, the Bonneville Power Administration, is in deep trouble. It’s paying billions to try and rescue salmon, which drives electric rates up, Simpson explained. As a result, utilities and rural electric co-ops are thinking about buying electricity elsewhere, especially now that the combination of natural gas and renewables is providing cheaper rates.

Simpson sees the BPA’s problem as an opportunity: Maybe there’s a way to fix the salmon runs and the BPA in one fell swoop.

Everyone knows the status quo isn’t working, Simpson said. After electricity-bill payers and taxpayers spent some $16 billion on salmon, the fish population is still dwindling. Farmers from Idaho are sending precious water downstream to keep water cool for salmon smolt without seeing any increase in the number of fish that come back upstream. The situation isn’t great for anyone, Simpson argued, but all parties are so focused on protecting what they have that they’re unwilling to consider big changes. “We’ve got to stop thinking that way,” he said.

Simpson’s appeal might just work because he’s dealing with a regional issue, where the tangible facts can replace the hallucinations that accompany partisan rage. While national politics might seem like it’s all about rooting your side on, Idaho is full of farmers, outfitters, fishers, and electricity buyers who are more interested in finding solutions, said Justin Hayes, program director of the Idaho Conservation League. And all these people can see that the status quo is failing.

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https://grist.org/article/republican-rep-mike-simpson-its-my-party-and-ill-fight-climate-change-if-i-want-to/

[2naSalit]

1. Yeah, it's about damned time.

There has been a push to breach those four dams since I first moved to Idaho in the early 1990s. By the time I started paying attention to it in 92, four species of salmon had already gone extinct.

And it's not just a use issue, who gets to benefit from the salmon, it's a matter of forest health. The salmon are the only way that certain nutrients (phosphates and nitrates) that the upland forests and wildlife need is transported from the ocean to the Rocky Mountains via the bodies of the fish. The decline in their numbers returning to the headwaters to spawn is one major cause of disease and decline of the upland forests. It's why the salmon were identified as a keystone species.

I could go on, used to participate in the process of trying to get those dams removed/breached (they are at least partially earthen dams and that portion of the dam can most easily be deconstrusted on each of them to allow anadromous fish to use their river) back when I lived in that state.

[Thunderbeast]

2. The powerful wheat farmers will never support the plan

Agriculture in the region has depended on cheap river transportation to get commodity grain to downstream elevators and to overseas customers. Lewiston Idaho is an inland seaport enabled by the Snake River dams.

This continues to be a heavy lift....but it should be done.