By Rocky Barker
rbarker@idahostatesman.com
October 07, 2017
 
STANLEY, ID. What is the future of the Columbia River and its salmon? Look to 2015.

That year’s extraordinary combination of overheated river water and low flows killed hundreds of thousands of returning sockeye salmon, devastating a run that had rebounded from near-extinction.

Millions of new sockeye and steelhead smolts migrating the opposite way, to the Pacific, died throughout the river system; only 157 endangered sockeye made it back to the Sawtooth Valley this year.

By the middle of this century, scientists suggest, the temperatures we saw in 2015 will be the norm. The low snowpack and streamflows were examples of what the Pacific Northwest should expect at the end of this century due to rapid climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels, climatologists say.

“2015 will look like an average year in the (2070s) and there will be extremely warmer years than that,” said Nate Mantua, a NOAA atmospheric scientist in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Scientists, politicians and energy officials have argued for decades over the best way to restore troubled salmon runs along the Columbia and Snake. Their focus has largely been on the dams and human development that reshaped the rivers. But regardless of what other steps we take for the fish, climate change could catch up with them in the coming decades and pose a major threat.

Already, scientists have seen regional snowmelt reach rivers an average of two weeks earlier than historical records indicate. The average temperature of the Columbia River and its tributaries has risen more than 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1960.
     
Climate modelers at the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group predict  <https://cig.uw.edu/resources/special-reports/> that the Pacific Northwest’s average annual temperatures will rise a total of 4 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050. High estimates suggest the increase could exceed 8 degrees, said Joe Casola, the group’s deputy director.

Salmon and steelhead that migrate in the summer and those that spawn and rear in lower-elevation tributaries to the Columbia may not survive these temperatures. In water of just 68 degrees, salmon will begin to die.

READ THE FULL STORY here.

Save Our wild Salmon is leading a coalition of conservation, fishing, clean energy, orca and river advocates to protect and restore abundant, self-sustaining populations of wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia-Snake River Basin for the benefit of people and ecosystems. Our coordinated legal, policy, communications and organizing activities focus on holding the federal government accountable by requiring Northwest dam agencies (Bonneville Power Administration, Army Corps of Engineer) and NOAA to craft and implement a legally valid, science-based Salmon Plan (or Biological Opinion/”BiOp”) for the Columbia-Snake Basin.

Since 1998, SOS has led a dynamic campaign to restore a natural, freely-flowing lower Snake River in southeast Washington State, expand spill on the federal dams that remain, and other necessary measures, based on the law and best available science.

Dam removal: Cornerstone of a lawful, science-based plan

The removal the four lower Snake dams must be a cornerstone of any lawful salmon restoration strategy in the Columbia Basin. Lower Snake River dam removal will restore 140-mile river and 14,000+ acres of riparian habitat and bottomlands. It will cut dam-caused salmon mortality by at least 50% and restore productive access for wild salmon and steelhead to 5,500+ miles of contiguous, pristine, protected upriver habitat in northweast Oregon, central Idaho and southeast Washington State. Much of this immense spawning/rearing habitat found above the lower Snake River is high elevation and thus provides a much-needed coldwater refuge as a critical buffer against a warming climate. Restoring a freely-flowing lower Snake River will deliver tremendous economic, ecological and cultural benefits to the tribal and non-tribal people of the Northwest and the nation.

Climate change increases the urgency to remove these four dams and restore this river. High harmful water temperatures in the lower Snake River’s four reservoirs are now routine. Their frequency, duration and intensity have been steadily growing in the last several decades – with increasingly devastating impacts on out-migrating juvenile fish and adults returning from the Pacific Ocean to spawn. In 2015, for example, just 1% of 4000 adult Snake River sockeye that entered the Columbia’s mouth reached their Idaho spawning gravels; others perished in warm reservoir waters impounded by federal dams on the lower Snake and lower Columbia Rivers. A restored lower Snake will dramatically lower water temperatures and again offer diverse habitats found in living rivers, including additional coldwater refugia currently lost as a result of these reservoirs today.

Spill: A critical near-term measure to increase salmon survival

Increased spill at all federal dams is needed today as an immediate, interim measure to buy time for these endangered populations until a more effective and a lawful strategy is in place. Spill – water releases during the juvenile salmon out-migration to the ocean in the spring and summer - increases juvenile survival by reducing migration time, exposure to warm waters, predation and the overall numbers of barged (artificially transported) fish. Increased juvenile survival boosts adult returns in subsequent years – benefiting marine/terrestrial/freshwater wildlife and coastal/inland fishing communities.
 
These policies will substantially increase fish populations with corresponding impacts on the 125+ species that benefit from salmon. They will increase resilience for wild salmon and steelhead, the ecosystems they inhabit, and human communities they impact. And they will deliver critical economic, recreational and cultural benefits to the communities of the Northwest and the nation.

Salmon restoration requires community solutions

Our coalition recognizes that the removal of the four federal dams on the lower Snake River will affect the communities that currently use them – especially the communities of Lewiston (ID) and Clarkston (WA) and the energy, commercial and irrigation sectors. Based on the significant data on these dams, their modest services and the availability of efficient, cost-effective alternatives, salmon advocates are ready to sit down with both sovereigns and stakeholders to craft a responsible plan that removes these costly dams and replaces their services with alternatives.

The problem and the solution in five bullets:

• The federal government’s long-standing status quo approach to protecting wild salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia-Snake Basin has failed – five consecutive federal salmon plans have been ruled inadequate and illegal by three different judges across more than twenty years.
• During this time, federal agencies have spent more than $10 billion of public money, but have yet to recover a single salmon or steelhead population.
• The economics of these four dams have been in question since even before their construction in the 1960s and 1970s. Their always modest services – especially energy and transportation, - have been in steep decline as the dams’ maintenance and operations costs rapidly rise. Their benefits can be easily, cost-effectively replaced with reliable, effective alternatives like wind, solar and rail.
• Removing these costly dams and restoring this historic river and its wild fish is our nation’s greatest river and salmon restoration opportunity today.
• A restored, resilient lower Snake River will protect endangered wild salmon and steelhead facing extinction; save American taxpayer and Northwest energy consumer dollars; create thousands of jobs regionally; benefit struggling fish and wildlife populations including endangered Southern Resident Orcas; and help ensure that we meet our Treaty obligations to Native American Tribes in the Columbia Basin.

Return to Restoring the Lower Snake River Project Home

Dam removal must be the cornerstone of any lawful Columbia Basin Salmon Plan

A lawful federal salmon plan must restore a freely flowing lower Snake River by removing its four costly dams and increase water releases or ‘spill’ over the dams that remain.

In 2016, a federal judge rejected the federal dam agencies’ latest plan for protecting Columbia-Snake River salmon. This is the fifth plan rejected now by three judges over two decades. Our government has spent $15B+ but has yet to recover a single population. It’s past time for a new approach. A lawful, science-based plan must include the removal of the four costly federal dams on the lower Snake River. We need a Northwest plan that works for the region’s ecology and its economy, for fishermen and farmers, for taxpayers and energy bill payers.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT

Restoring the Lower Snake River Articles

Save Our wild Salmon co-leads the U.S. NGO Treaty Caucus – an alliance of Northwest-based civic, faith, energy and conservation organizations working for a modernized Columbia River Treaty that will better serve our region’s diverse needs now and into the future. The Caucus aims to sustain and restore the health and resilience of this international river system, support tribal and non-tribal communities, and recover its wild salmon and other fish and wildlife resources. Core members include Center for Environmental Law and Policy, Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power and Light, League of Women Voters of Washington, Natural Resources Defense Council, Northwest Energy Coalition, Save Our wild Salmon Coalition, Sierra Club, and WaterWatch of Oregon.

Read more about the current work by the U.S. NGO Treaty Caucus and how you can take action at ColumbiaRiverTreaty.org

Since its ratification in 1964, the Columbia River Treaty has played a significant role in the management of the Columbia River and some of its tributaries. In 1948, high spring runoff devastated the city of Vanport, Oregon, which was built hastily in the floodplain with insufficient infrastructure. Following this tragic but foreseeable event, much discussion focused on the need to “tame” the Columbia and it became the catalyst for Canada and the U.S. to craft an agreement intended to jointly manage the river for “the mutual benefit of both nations.”

Unfortunately for the river and many Basin communities, both in terms of process and substance, the Treaty’s language and its implementation have been damagingly narrow in scope. The original Treaty had – and still has today – just two purposes: maximized power production and engineered flood risk management. A creature of its time, the Treaty never considered coordinated management for the health of the river, its fish and wildlife populations, or its many human communities. Native American Tribes (in the U.S) and Indigenous Nations (in Canada) who have lived in the Basin and cared for its river ecosystems since time immemorial were never consulted during Treaty negotiations in the 1950s and ‘60s or its subsequent implementation. The two bodies responsible today for implementing the Treaty are called the “Entities”. The U.S. Entity is made up of two federal dam agencies: Bonneville Power Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers. Similarly, the Canadian Entity is BC Hydro — a provincial hydropower corporation.

The Northwest’s consensus: Ecosystem Function be added as new, co-equal treaty purpose

Fortunately, we now have an opportunity to address these significant shortcomings. In anticipation of changes to the flood risk management provisions of the Treaty that will take effect in 2024, the U.S. and Canada began reviewing the Treaty for potential modernization in 2014. Over the course of several years of discussion and meetings, regional interests in the Northwest including the U.S. Entity, Columbia Basin tribes, states and stakeholders (including non-governmental organizations) worked together to develop a consensus document. Known as the “Regional Recommendation”, it outlines a series of changes we agree are necessary for the Treaty to better meet the needs of the region as a whole and address future challenges such as climate change, endangered species, and shifting power markets. This consensus document serves as the guiding blueprint for the U.S. negotiators to ensure they do not lose sight of regional priorities as they work towards an agreement with Canada. The Regional Recommendation is built on nine general principles, which include that the new treaty must work to improve Ecosystem Function in addition to coordinating hydropower generation and flood risk management.

Formal negotiations between Canada and the United States began in May 2018 and are ongoing. Once negotiators reach an agreement, the revised Treaty will move into an implementation phase. The Regional Recommendation states that the composition of the U.S. Entity should be reviewed to ensure “it is best suited to effectively and efficiently implement the [revised] Treaty.” The existing members of the Entity, Bonneville Power Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers, do not have the mandate or expertise needed to implement Ecosystem Function as a third Treaty purpose. As a result, it is essential that additional member(s) suited to this task are added to the Entity.

An opportunity to right historic wrongs and involve and educate the public

Despite the tribes’ deep involvement in the Treaty review process and their expertise as stewards of the watershed since time immemorial, the State Department (which leads the negotiation) has chosen to exclude them from the U.S. negotiating team. Negotiators have requested that tribes present on specific topics and have consulted with them before and after negotiating sessions, but these limited steps are inadequate given their status as sovereign nations. In contrast, citing its commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples for historic and ongoing wrongs, Canada has granted official observer status to First Nations in its portion of the Basin and is greatly benefiting from their expertise in ecosystem and other matters related to the Treaty.

Treaty negotiations necessarily take place behind closed doors to protect confidentiality during the process. However, the State Department has made a series of choices that further distance the process from our region’s public. Since negotiations began, they have limited their public engagement to a series of quarterly 90-minute “Town Hall” meetings. These Town Halls have each been announced with only a couple weeks notice and include little genuine dialog between negotiators and attendees. The last town hall was over 2.5 years ago in December 2019. In contrast, responding to its history of ignoring local voices during the original 1960’s Treaty negotiations, Canada has held dozens of public sessions. They have typically been 3 hours long and have included significant open-ending dialog and facilitated brainstorming with multiple expert presenters. This disparity is even more significant because only about 155,000 people live in the Canadian side of the Basin compared with over 5 million on the U.S. side. The Northwest deserves more interaction with the officials that are shaping its future.

NGOs advocating for the changes needed to meet future challenges

Some interests in the region are focusing overwhelmingly on securing low prices from Canada for services relating to the original two purposes of the Treaty (hydropower and flood control). However, SOS and its allies in the U.S. Caucus are working closely with Tribes and others to ensure that these negotiations also lead to a modernized Treaty that includes a new third co-equal purpose of Ecosystem Function. While the Treaty has certainly provided some economic benefits over the last 55+ years, its too-narrow focus has severely harmed the Basin’s fish and wildlife populations and many indigenous and non-indigenous communities. A modernized Treaty must address these critical shortcomings and right these historic wrongs.

We also face new challenges today that were unimaginable in the middle of last century. Climate change is already here - disrupting energy systems and significantly impacting the ecological health of the Columbia River and her tributaries: raising temperatures, shifting seasonal flows, increasing the incidence of and susceptibility of its fish populations to disease and predators. At the same time, Indigenous Nations and the governments of Canada and British Columbia have committed to work towards restoring salmon to the Upper Columbia Basin past Chief Joseph, Grand Coulee, and other dams that currently block their migration. Parallel efforts led by tribes in the U.S. are also gaining traction. As efforts to advance these initiatives through scientific review and bureaucratic approval continue, tribes have already held symbolic ‘cultural releases’ of salmon into areas where they have not swam in over 80 years.

Helping these fish return home to their ancestral spawning grounds will give them access to portions of the watershed projected to strongly resist the deadly warming impacts of climate change. While salmon restoration need not necessarily proceed through the Columbia River Treaty framework, a modernized Treaty that manages river flows to support the long-term health of fish populations will be crucial. In addition to the climatic rationale, twelve varied perspectives on the social, cultural, spiritual and ecological benefits of salmon restoration can be found alongside images of the river from source-to-sea in photographer Peter Marbach’s book “Healing the Big River: Salmon Dreams and the Columbia River Treaty”.

A modernized Treaty with a new co-equal purpose of Ecosystem Function and appropriate Entity membership to implement this expanded mission will enable the two countries and their people to work together to adapt dam operations and regional energy conservation and production strategies to increase resilience for the river, the watershed and all of its communities.

Read more about the current work by the U.S. NGO Treaty Caucus and how you can take action at ColumbiaRiverTreaty.org

The U.S. and Canada need to right historic wrongs and honor the Northwest’s consensus to restore the health of the river.

Negotiations over the future of this transboundary relationship began in May 2018 and are ongoing. The final agreement must make Ecosystem Function - the health of the river - a new primary purpose and include Columbia tribes and Northwest citizens in its implementation.

Read more about the current work by the U.S. NGO Treaty Caucus and how you can take action at ColumbiaRiverTreaty.org

In 1961, the United States and Canada signed an agreement to jointly manage a natural shared, transboundary resource – the Columbia River. A creature of its time, the Treaty excluded all values except power production and engineered flood control. As a result, Treaty dams failed to consult the public, excluded affected Tribes (U.S) and Indigenous Nations (Canada), displaced many rural communities, entrenched salmon barriers, degraded river flows and water quality, and drowned ecologically rich habitats.

Today, the Treaty continues to control river flows only for hydropower and flood control. With the ongoing renegotiation of this agreement, our two countries have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to right historic wrongs and develop new tools and priorities to help us navigate the challenges we face in the 21st Century and the era of climate change. SOS is working with other NGOs and in coordination with Indigenous sovereigns to advocate for a better future.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT

Modernizing the Columbia River Treaty Articles