The Biden Administration joined environmental groups, four tribal governments and the states of Washington and Oregon on Thursday in unveiling a $1 billion plan meant to halt salmon declines in the Columbia and Snake River system.
The Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative, which would stay a 22-year-long legal dispute over declining salmon populations, would fund fish restoration efforts and tribal clean energy projects, implement changes to federal hydropower operations, and look at how to offset the transportation, recreation, and irrigation impacts resulting from the potential removal of four dams on the lower Snake River.
The parties attached a memorandum of understanding explaining the plan to a joint motion asking a federal judge in Oregon to halt current litigation through December 2028. The stay could be extended for an additional five years with participant approval, the motion says.
"This agreement charts a new path to restore the river, provide for a clean energy future and the jobs that come with it, and live up to our responsibilities to Tribal Nations," Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory said in a release.
The White House said in a fact sheet that the federal government will fund studies looking at potential replacements for transportation, irrigation and recreation benefits from the four dams, should they be breached.
But the administration emphasized it was not "making a judgment" on dam breaching, which only Congress can authorize.
The Energy Department will work to develop renewable energy infrastructure to support "at least one to three gigawatts" for tribal nations to help offset potential energy lost by breaching of the dams.
The Bonneville Power Administration, under the agreement, would provide $300 million in funding over 10 years for fish restoration projects and hatchery upgrades. States and tribes would also be granted more control over these funds, according to the fact sheet.
The National Wildlife Federation, the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, the Institute for Fisheries Resources, Sierra Club, Idaho Rivers United, Northwest Sport Fishing Industry Association and the Northwest Energy Coalition joined in the agreement.
The joint motion also was supported by the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Spokane Tribe of Indians and the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association, but opposed by the state of Idaho. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe, the state of Montana, the Public Power Council and the Inland Ports and Navigation group said they needed more time to review it, according to the motion.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek and Washington Governor Jay Inslee, both Democrats, applauded the agreement in a release.
Shannon Wheeler, the chair of the Nez Perce Tribe, said in a release he appreciates the Biden Administration's "commitment" to partnering with the Nez Perce on salmon restoration and respecting a fishing treaty both governments signed, which he said is "the supreme law of the land under the United States Constitution."
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"The federal dams on the lower Snake and mainstem Columbia rivers have had – and continue to have – devastating impacts on the salmon and our people, burdening our Treaty partnership," Wheeler said. "So today, as Six Sovereigns joining together with the United States to advance salmon restoration throughout the Basin – including preparation for breach of the four lower Snake River dams – we are also witnessing the restoration of Tribal Treaties to their rightful place under the rule of law."
National Wildlife Federation CEO Collin O'Mara also welcomed the announcement, saying he was "grateful that the Biden Administration has declared that salmon recovery is a government-wide priority."
“Thanks to the leadership of Northwest Tribes, we have specific agreed-upon actions that move the Northwest region one step closer to saving Columbia River salmon and steelhead runs,” O’Mara said.
Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association board representative Daryll Olsen told Agri-Pulse that his organization supports the agreement, since it would halt litigation — and potentially hold off dam breaching — for five to ten years.
"We just see it as effectively pushing dam breaching off the table for any conceivable future," Olsen said.
Michelle Hennings, the executive director of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers expressed disapproval of the plan in a statement, saying "agriculture voices were largely excluded from the discussion of impacts and any commitments for funding and mitigation."
"Notably, throughout the entirety of the process, impacted stakeholders from agriculture have been ready and willing to share perspectives and insights to find a solution, but to this point have been largely ignored," Hennings said.
Pacific Northwest Waterways Association Executive Director Neil Maunu also criticized the plan, saying the administration ignored navigation and irrigation concerns as they crafted the proposal. He said the only language in the agreement that directly addresses navigation was language calling for the study of the transportation-related impacts of dam breaching.
"The needs of our members were overlooked and they continue to be," Maunu told Agri-Pulse. "We continue to be sidelined no matter what we say."
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Editors note: This story has been updated to include a comments from the Washington Association of Wheat Growers and the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association.
