||| FROM STEVEN HAWLEY for NORTHWEST RESOURCE ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT |||
On October 21, 2021 five experts, each with decades of experience as natural resource scientists and managers, provided expert declarations in an amicus brief filed with the Oregon U.S. District Court in the long- running court battle over the impacts of federal dams on endangered salmon, steelhead, and salmon-dependent orcas.
These five, Ken Balcomb, Jim Waddell, Dr. Deborah Giles, Rod Sando, and Dr. Chris Pinney, filed declarations in National Wildlife Federation, et al. v. National Marine Fisheries Service, et al. as “friends of the court,” advising the judge that the urgency of the extinction crisis facing these endangered fish and orcas requires a court order for immediate breaching of four federal dams on the lower Snake River in eastern Washington state.
The plaintiffs and defendants in the case, including conservation groups, the State of Oregon, the Nez Perce Tribe and federal agencies, recently announced that they have reached an agreement to “pause” the case through July 2022, and requested a stay from the federal court. Presiding Judge Michael H. Simon has not yet granted the stay.
Mr. Waddell filed an opposition to the proposed delay. “While it may be tempting for the Court to be hopeful that the parties may reach a long-term collaborative solution, history shows us otherwise. Government data and reports show that these four dams have little if any economic value. The endangered salmon, steelhead and southern resident orcas — who the Endangered Species Act is meant to protect — would not be requesting a stay. They simply do not have time to wait until July 2022. It might, at first, seem like just another year, but those years of more studies and more studies and delay upon delay have added up to over 20.”
Chris Pinney, retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fish biologist, describes the current “quasi- extinction status” of Snake River fish stocks, stating: “Without breaching, lower Snake River salmon and steelhead stocks will continue to extinction, most likely evident [for some stocks] in the next four to six years, or less.”
Dr. Deborah Giles, research and science director for the non-profit Wild Orca, writes “Unless the four lower Snake River dams are breached in in the very near future as part of the recovery measures, the Southern Resident orcas will not survive or recover.”
Rod Sando, states: “The Court needs to control the future survival of the ESA-listed species by ordering dam breaching….Anything less will guarantee the extinction of wild fish and the disastrous loss of a legacy resource that has existed for thousands of years.”
These declarations and supporting filings can be downloaded HERE.
The Northwest Resource Accountability Project (NWRAP) is comprised of natural resource and other professionals, with many decades of experience in science, policy, economics and law. NWRAP’s focus is on requiring accountability and transparency from government officials and agencies in the Pacific Northwest.
Brief bios of the five amicus filers:
Jim Waddell, retired engineer with 35 years that included high-level experience closely involved in dam operations with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mr. Waddell’s Declaration explains how “The Corps Has Inherent Authority to Place the Dams in Non-Operational Status and Breach Them.”
Kenneth Balcomb III, founder and senior scientist with the Center for Whale Research, who has engaged in research and studies on the SRKWs since 1976. After reviewing the SRKWs’ decline and starvation due to lack of their primary food, chinook salmon, Mr. Balcomb calls breaching the four Lower Snake River Dams “potentially the single most important measure we can take to get the SRKWs the quantity of food they need before it’s too late….Now is the time to act.”
Dr. Deborah Giles, research and science director for the non-profit Wild Orca and research scientist and lecturer for the University of Washington, who has conducted extensive research on Southern Resident Orcas. Dr. Giles’ opinion is that: “Unless the four lower Snake River dams are breached in in the very near future as part of the recovery measures, the Southern Resident orcas will not survive or recover.”
Chris Pinney, retired fish biologist with 28 years of experience in endangered fish operations with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. After reviewing why technological fixes like improved bypasses and increasing spill won’t recover ESA-listed fish, Mr. Pinney describes the current “quasi-extinction status” of Snake River fish stocks, stating: “Without breaching, lower Snake River salmon and steelhead stocks will continue to extinction, most likely evident [for some stocks] in the next four to six years, or less.”
Rod Sando, who headed state fish and wildlife agencies in Minnesota and Idaho, and served as Executive Director of the Columbia Fish and Wildlife Authority. After reviewing 30 years of the federal agencies’ failed management of endangered fish, and contentious regional politics preventing their best ecological recovery measure, dam breaching, Mr. Sando states: “The Court needs to control the future survival of the ESA-listed species by ordering dam breaching….Anything less will guarantee the extinction of wild fish and the disastrous loss of a legacy resource that has existed for thousands of years.”
Do they have a plan to bring in energy generation from somewhere else? Wouldn’t put it past them in today’s climate to breach the Dams without a backup plan…
Don’t panic Mr. Verbano, everyone knows that electricity comes from a wall outlet. ; -)
Federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers store power from thousands of wind turbines now producing carbon-free electricity in the Columbia River Basin, extending the carbon-free electricity the river itself produces. Not a word about this in the plaintiffs’ briefs. Not a word about the impacts on salmon or steelhead of the Hell’s Canyon Dam complex owned by Idaho Power Company, which has no fish ladders and completely blocks salmon access to the upper Snake River Basin. That’s the primary lost habitat. It’s just not addressed. Sen. Simpson’s proposal would take out the federal lower Snake River dams in return for a free ride for other dams in the basin, including the Hell’s Canyon complex; it may be the most cynical proposal I’ve ever seen. J Pod is doing much better this year after a year and a half of no whale watching tours. Orca world-wide are doing fine.
In short, I believe the environmental benefits of the carbon-free power from the federal Lower Snake River Dams, plus the low-carbon barge transport they provide for Washington and Idaho, outweigh any speculative environmental benefits of breaching those dams.
Lynn W. Baker, I would recommend reaching out to Jim Waddell and the others who wrote declarations in support of his amicus. Or to Steve Hawley at Northwest Resource Accountability Project. You can request copies of the amicus brief to read what’s behind their expert conclusions, and have a discussion about your concerns. There are cogent responses to all of them. They will likely provide you with source information that you can further scrutinize, as we all should. -I- First acquaint yourself with the actual generation data of those dams output, compared to claims. They don’t line up. And consider, you don’t just snap your fingers and “store power from thousands of wind turbines” in the Snake. You can’t just stop that river, fish need flow. There are already a lot of constraints on their operations. They’re run-of-river dams, not storage dams. Also, here’s a big point. Retiring LSRD means opening up that transmission for renewables. Renewables have had a hard time finding a place in BPA transmission, this would help. -I- These amicus experts are calling for an order to breach the dams because those salmon are about to disappear. Simpson has thrown the kitchen sink in, and I think he’s aware it’s a different approach. -I- How orca are doing worldwide has no bearing on how the Southern Residents are doing here, in this case. They depend on their food source. SRKW are missing their food source. The biggest food source in their neighborhood by far, has been from the Snake/Columbia. -I- With climate change, the salmon need a restored river in the lowlands to survive, big time. And the high elevation Snake Basin habitat is a haven, but they need access in and out. -I- Hydropower, and specifically LSRD hydropower is not clean. It emits significant methane. It’s also not green. It kills salmon, is preventing thriving riparian areas, and starves inland forests of marine derived nutrients, thus carbon sequestration. -I- This amicus brief concerns the Lower Snake River dams, not Hells Canyon. Waddell’s expertise deals with the LSRD, as you can see in his short bio. But I encourage you to do something about Hells Canyon, please do. -I- If you do a little research, you’ll find there’s a lack of data to support the idea that Snake dams power would have to be replaced. The NW power planning agency refuses to run the model on retiring Snake dams. The staff would do it, but the council members will not let them. A sign that pro-dams wouldn’t like the answer. -I- Get in touch with folks and have dialogue. There are answers and solutions. It’s not speculative. We know with certainty, fish are being extinguished by those dams. And breaching would instantly stop killing all those out migrating juveniles.