Dam Review Coming (Politico)

(WASHINGTON, DC) — The Trump administration is expected to release today a new draft environmental impact statement for the system of federal dams along the Columbia River and its tributary, the Snake River. The dams produce nearly half of the nation's hydropower but also serve as major impediments for fish, including endangered salmon. Environmental groups have targeted four of the dams on the lower Snake River for removal — an option fiercely opposed by Republican lawmakers in eastern Washington, including Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse, who have won backing from the Trump administration.

Greens, who won the environmental review as part of a 2016 court ruling, are already panning the new environmental review. "At this critical point, when what were the world's most abundant salmon runs are nearing extinction, what we need are new solutions, not a repackaging of previous strategies that clearly haven't, and won't, deliver the recovery of salmon," said Tom France, the National Wildlife Federation's regional director for the Pacific Northwest.