The long-simmering debate about Northwest dam breaching has regained its intensity, just a few days before the deadline for settling a lawsuit filed by environmental groups.
Earthjustice, on behalf of several conservation groups and tribes, claims in its lawsuit filed in 2021 that the federal government is mismanaging the Columbia and Snake River system, leading to the potential extinction of salmon.
House Republicans frame the issue differently. Yesterday, a House subcommittee, led by Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-Oregon), held a hearing to examine what Republicans see as an attempt to hamper the region’s ability to create hydropower. The title of the hearing was “Left in the Dark: Examining the Biden Administration’s Efforts to Eliminate the Pacific Northwest’s Clean Energy Production.”
In his opening statement, Bentz zeroed in on the talks held to settle the lawsuit.
“The so-called ‘negotiations’ were closed to the public. The parties were bound by gag agreements and the group was designed to leave out ratepayers, irrigators, navigational interests and communities dependent on the flow of commerce up and down the 465 miles of Columbia and Snake Rivers,” he said.
A draft of the lawsuit’s settlement was recently leaked. House Republicans have categorized the agreement between the Biden administration and the plaintiffs as a move toward breaching four lower Snake River dams.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) scoffed at claims about the secrecy of the negotiations and Republican claims that the Biden administration is making plans to remove dams.
“It is important to point out that these leaked documents were drafted in early November and may not even reflect the current state of the negotiations,” he said. “My colleagues know that breaching those dams requires an act of Congress. They’re not going to just go around us and somehow make this happen,” he said.
Huffman accused Republicans on the committee of making the documents public and trying to sabotage the settlement talks. He also argued it’s time for the federal government to modernize its management of the Columbia River system to balance the needs for all users, including salmon.
Republicans, such as Idaho’s Russ Fulcher, argued that federal agencies that may say dam breaching is a viable option for salmon recovery now have expressed different opinions in recent years, before President Biden took office. He said the strategy for considering this issue is based on “a sue and settle mediation process.”
“Yes, it is designed to bypass Congress,” he said. “It may not be a traditional breach of the dams or removal, but in how the water is managed in controlling the flow or bypassing, going around.
“This is, in my view, another attempt by the current administration to promote an unreasonable and irrational agenda for their energy policy. The problem with this one is that it would gut the Pacific Northwest economy as we know it,” Fulcher said.
Friday is the deadline for forwarding a settlement to the Earthjustice lawsuit to federal court. If it is not submitted, the lawsuit may more forward.
