In 2023 and 2024, the Washington State Legislature acted with clear foresight, directing state agencies to evaluate options for maintaining water, energy, recreation, and transportation services in the absence of the four lower Snake River dams.
With the dams’ future long the subject of debate, investing in these studies is prudent. It means the Northwest will be informed and ready to adapt with resilient alternatives should Congress decide the dams must be removed.
That remains a possibility, one that would honor tribal treaties, help restore the once-great salmon runs of the Snake River basin, and prevent the extinction of our region’s endangered Southern Resident orcas.
The four studies are underway, and they already show viable alternatives for continuing the services the lower Snake dams currently provide. Let’s begin with transportation. It turns out that ending barge portage of wheat, fertilizer, and some wood products along the lower Snake River could have surprising benefits.
A recent analysis by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) shows that shifting from barge to rail would reduce how far trucks have to travel from farms to rail terminals or river ports by about 18 million miles every year. That reduction would lower annual emissions by approximately 29,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Cleaner air and less road wear and tear are some of the other obvious benefits.
How much would this change cost? The same WSDOT analysis shows a total annual increase of $8 million to farming enterprises. Farm support to offset this amount would be justified, considering taxpayers are projected to spend $4.5 billion to $8.35 billion over the next 50 years to keep the four dams, and this eye-popping expenditure would no longer be needed.
The study by WSDOT is progressing on schedule, with a final report due to the legislature by this December.
On water supply, we know the reservoir behind Ice Harbor Dam irrigates up to 55,000 acres of farmland, and Lewiston and Clarkston use the reservoir behind Lower Granite Dam for municipal water. In their draft study last year, the Washington Department of Ecology and the Bureau of Reclamation found there will be more than enough water in a free-flowing lower Snake River to cover these needs. Ecology is expected to release the final study by early summer.
The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office and the Department of Fish and Wildlife are expected to analyze the business opportunities for recreational activities on 140 miles of free-flowing river. The possibilities here are exciting and endless, including increased fishing and the potential to create the state’s only multi-day rafting experience. The proposed study would generate hard economic numbers on the significant recreation jobs and revenue that would result for our local and regional economy. Globally, nature-based tourism generates more than $600 billion a year, and Washington’s unique river and mountain ecosystems offer us the chance to bite into a bigger slice of this pie.
Finally, we want to address the state study into the hydropower the four lower Snake dams produce. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) completed phase one of this study last year. It determined that the dams produce an average of 700 megawatts each year, far less than is usually stated. Water availability, grid constraints, and ensuring critical fish passage impact the dams’ energy production, which is less than 4% of the Northwest’s total average power generation.
The PNNL report shows the lower Snake River dams are not designed to significantly increase output when it’s most needed, particularly during extreme weather events. Further, their role is overshadowed by upriver federal storage dams. It also found that because the lower Snake dams are dependent on seasonal stream flows, their future contributions will likely be reduced as the region trends toward less snowpack.
Let's stay in touch!
We’re hard at work in the Pacific Northwest for rivers and clean water. Sign up to get the most important news affecting your water and rivers delivered right to your inbox.
PNNL acknowledged the local grid support that the dams provide to the Tri-Cities. Other national studies show that strategically placed battery storage can provide the fastest reactive power for communities and grid support. Governor Bob Ferguson has asked that the full energy study be completed by 2027.
These state studies are not authorized to decide the fate of the dams on the lower Snake River. Their power and purpose rest in preparing all of us for such an eventuality. American Rivers is grateful they are happening, so communities are ready, and so the intertwined environment and economy all life depends upon in the Northwest can continue to thrive into the future.
This blog was first published in the Tri-City Herald, Feb. 22, 2026 https://www.tri-cityherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article314580320.html
