A recent article, and an op-ed published two days later, describe opposing viewpoints regarding breaching the four Lower Snake River dams. One includes recycled misinformation that overstates the dam’s role. The other shows the science clearly supporting breaching and river restoration.

Fifty years ago, the four Lower Snake River dams were completed, ignoring outcry by many tribes (with over 10,000 years as conservationists) and government officials across the political spectrum. Today, the Southern Resident orcas that rely on Snake River salmon for food are on the brink of extinction. The hatcheries that were supposed to compensate for destroying the river ecosystem have failed to sustain wild salmon populations, many of which are almost gone. Hatchery fish currently play a critical role in feeding the orcas and preventing the collapse of the Columbia Basin ecosystem, but only wild fish can produce sustainable, plentiful runs.

Fifty years ago, we didn’t know climate change would turn the slack water behind the dams into death pools for salmon, who die in water above 72 degrees Fahrenheit. We didn’t know the slack water lakes behind dams would become methane factories or would waste 30,400-acre feet of water/year through evaporation. We didn’t know all mitigation efforts would fail, leaving salmon on the brink of extinction despite $26 billion in spending.

Fifty years after the Snake River dams were completed, can they continue coexisting with salmon? We now know the answer is a resounding “no.” The dams must go. Now.

Erica Tuell

Spokane

The Spokesman-Review: Breach the dams, save the ecosystem