Wishful thinking won't help salmon

There was a collective sigh of relief in December 2000 from supporters of the four federal dams on the lower Snake River when the federal government released its plan to protect Snake River salmon without removing the dams.

Now that a federal court has tossed out the federal plan after finding that it did not comply with the Endangered Species Act, stronger, effective salmon-recovery options must be found.

In the wake of the court's decision, the Northwest region's four governors met and issued policy recommendations for salmon recovery and management of the federal hydro dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. The governors reaffirmed their earlier commitment to recover Snake River salmon to sustainable and harvestable levels that meet federal laws and tribal treaty obligations, but pledged, again, to accomplish that goal without removing the lower Snake River dams, which, in their words, "must not be an option."

Setting aside the fact that the scientific evidence does not support the notion that the governors' recovery goal for Snake River salmon can be achieved with the dams in place, there is another problem: The major habitat improvements that are essential to the success of any non-dam-removal recovery plan are not happening.

Consider "flow" — a river's water, its most essential element. In the Columbia and Snake rivers, river flow has deteriorated. In 2001 and 2002, federal dam managers met the flow targets designed to protect migrating salmon and steelhead just zero percent and 40 percent of the time, respectively. And this year, the Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Council approved a modified dam operation that will further reduce the likelihood of meeting those flow targets. Never mind that a National Academy of Sciences panel has found that salmon survival decreases substantially when flow targets are not met.

And there is likely to be substantially less flow in the Columbia and lower Snake rivers in the years ahead. The state of Washington has announced its intention to withdraw up to an additional 2 million acre-feet of water (enough water to cover 2 million football fields with a foot of water) over the next 20 years from the Columbia and lower Snake rivers primarily for irrigation and municipal use, despite the fact that flows in those rivers are presently inadequate for salmon. Not to be left behind, Oregon is considering taking more water from the Columbia as well.

The situation in Snake River tributaries, where salmon and steelhead spawn and young fish rear, is not much brighter. Except for one stretch of the Lemhi River in Idaho, there has been virtually no progress in improving tributary flows to the levels necessary to meet water-quality standards and protect salmon and steelhead.

The National Marine Fisheries Service recently found that the Northwest Power Planning and Conservation Council's sub-basin planning process — through which needed habitat measures are to be identified and addressed — is behind schedule. The fisheries service also found that federal dam managers have failed to establish a method of determining whether habitat-restoration efforts are working, an essential piece of any recovery plan.

Money is another problem. Funding was insufficient to implement even the inadequate salmon plan rejected by the federal court. And there is no indication that a substantial infusion of salmon-recovery funds is likely anytime soon. Indeed, the Bonneville Power Administration is reducing its fish and wildlife funding.

Snake River salmon could get a substantial boost if fish passage were provided and dam operations improved at Idaho Power Company's massive Hells Canyon hydro project, which currently blocks salmon and steelhead from upstream habitat, including over 80 percent of historic fall chinook spawning habitat.

But those improvements will be much harder to get if Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, has his way. He is sponsoring an amendment to the Federal Power Act that would allow hydroelectric dam operators to avoid providing fish passage and do less to improve river flow. And Idaho Power has made clear its intention not to make changes at its dams in order to compensate for damage it claims was done by the four federal dams on the lower Snake.

The relatively strong salmon returns of the past few years have demonstrated the enormous value of salmon as an economic and cultural resource to the region, not to mention their importance to the ecology of the Snake River basin. Those runs, which were the product of exceptionally favorable ocean and freshwater conditions, will only become the norm in the Snake River if major improvements are made in river habitat.

The role model for those in charge of Snake River salmon recovery appears to be Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, who made her way back home by clicking her heels and repeating her wish over and over. Unfortunately, wishful thinking and repeating the mantra "we can recover salmon and keep the lower Snake River dams" is not going to work.

As long as there is no credible non-dam-removal recovery plan in place — and that is the case today — removing the four lower Snake River dams must be an option.

Rob Masonis is the director of American Rivers' Northwest regional office, with staff in Seattle and Portland. American Rivers is a nonprofit conservation organization.