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CapitalPress.com
Friday, April 9, 2021
Ag groups say dam plan poses threat California likely to face
a critically dry year
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Representatives of Northwest agri-
culture believe U.S. Rep. Mike Simp-
son’s plan to tear down four dams
on the Snake River is unlikely to go
anywhere in Congress, but say that
it poses a particular threat to their
industry.
Simpson has fl oated a $33.5 bil-
lion plan to boost salmon recov-
ery, remove four dams on the lower
Snake River and impose a 35-year
moratorium on dam-related environ-
mental litigation. He said he would
incorporate feedback from farm
groups “where possible.”
No
legislation
has
been
introduced.
The plan has drawn opposi-
tion from agricultural stakeholders,
power companies and environmen-
tal groups.
When Simpson fi rst announced
the plan in February, he suggested
that it could be included in President
Joe Biden’s $2 trillion to $3 trillion
national clean energy stimulus bill.
“We believe the details of the
Biden plan will become more clear in
the coming months and it is too early
to make a determination of what will
be included in the fi nal bill,” a repre-
sentative of Simpson told the Capital
Press.
The Idaho Farm Bureau Federation
believes Simpson’s plan poses more
of a threat to agriculture because it is
a “very specifi c plan,” putting a dollar
fi gure and timeline on dam removal,
said Sean Ellis, the Farm Bureau’s
spokesman.
Simpson’s plan doesn’t appear to
have support in Congress, Ellis said.
“Idaho Farm Bureau hopes it fades
away for good,” he said. “We will con-
tinue to vigorously oppose this plan,
if it moves forward in the current lan-
guage or diff erent language.”
“Any time you have a leader in the
Northwest express openness to the
By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
Nicholas K. Geranios/AP File
This shows an elevated fi sh ladder designed to help migrating fi sh swim
through the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River near Almota, Wash.
idea of removing signifi cant pieces of
federal infrastructure, it gets people’s
attention,” said Kristin Meira, execu-
tive director of the Pacifi c Northwest
Waterways Association.
Meira agrees that Simpson’s plan is
not ripe for immediate movement this
year.
“Every line in (Simpson’s proposal)
represents either a signifi cant shift in
federal policy, funding or infrastruc-
ture,” Meira said. “Every single line
would need to have likely years of sig-
nifi cant federal study and likely major
changes to authorization before any-
thing new or diff erent would ever take
place. These are not small actions that
are being proposed.”
A moratorium on litigation would
require signifi cant changes to “bed-
rock” environmental laws, Meira
added.
“There is not a special set of laws
in the Northwest that provides exemp-
tions or special dispensation for our
projects when compared to other
regions,” she said. “That element of
the congressman’s proposal is one that
we feel is unlikely to be able to move
forward.”
The idea of dam removal has been
around for a long time and will likely
GMD 51 TL SERIES
continue, said Glen Squires, CEO for
the Washington Grain Commission.
Simpson’s plan may pose more of
a threat than other proposals, Squires
said, but “the underlying facts remain
the same, and even Rep. Simpson isn’t
sure the whole scheme will actually
recover salmon.”
Meira and Squires say some ele-
ments of the plan do need support,
such as predator control.
Simpson’s focus on increased fund-
ing for salmon recovery should move
forward “straight away,” Meira said.
“I think that’s something that
every single resident of the North-
west can support, as long as that fund-
ing and those actions are in pursuit of
science-based eff orts that will have
demonstrable benefi ts for fi sh runs and
the species that rely on our fi sh, like
orca,” she said.
Simpson’s plan ultimately pro-
vided a “unique opportunity” to bet-
ter explain to the region what the dams
mean for agriculture and hydropower,
Meira said.
A continued “very narrow focus”
on removing the dams gets the con-
versation off -track and ultimately
doesn’t help Northwest fi sh, she
said.
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Sierra Nevada snow-
pack at the end of March
remains 39% below aver-
age – the same as when the
month began – and Cali-
fornia farmers fear a drier-
than-usual summer.
Farmers had been hoping
for March storms, but the
month wrapped up unusu-
ally dry.
“Hopes for a March mir-
acle have dissipated,” Cali-
fornia Farm Bureau Feder-
ation wrote in a statement
this week.
According to a March
30 report from the Califor-
nia Department of Water
Resources, or CDWR, the
average statewide snow
water equivalent was just
17.1 inches. The Sierra
snowpack, according to
offi cials, normally supplies
about 30% of California’s
water.
CDWR’s recent man-
ual surveys show the state
had already faced fi ve con-
secutive months of below
average snow and precipi-
tation, so a dry March com-
pounded an already serious
problem. Farmers statewide
are bracing for a summer of
potential drought, limited
water supplies and another
fi re season.
CDWR Director Karla
Nemeth said in a statement
that unless a series of strong
storms hit this spring, the
state would end up with
“a critically dry year on
the heels of last year’s dry
conditions.”
“With back-to-back dry
years, water effi ciency and
drought preparedness are
more important than ever
for communities, agri-
culture and the environ-
ment,” said Nemeth of the
department.
According to CDWR,
California’s
reservoirs
are already showing the
impacts of a second con-
secutive dry year. Shasta
Lake, the state’s largest res-
ervoir, was at about 68%
of average for March and
Lake Oroville was at 55%
of average.
Availability of water will
impact allocations for Cal-
ifornia farms. Last week,
both state and federal water
projects announced they
would reduce or delay deliv-
eries due to the dry winter
and other restrictions.
In December, CDWR
had announced an ini-
tial allocation of 10%.
The department last week
amended its projected allo-
cation amount, saying it
expects to deliver only 5%
of requested supplies.
Scout to do environmental
study on wind, solar project
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
A renewable energy devel-
oper says it will prepare an
environmental impact state-
ment for a large wind and solar
power project in south-central
Washington.
Scout Clean Energy with-
drew Monday its application
for an expedited review by the
Energy Facility Site Evalua-
tion Council, a process open to
power projects without a sig-
nifi cant environmental impact.
The council had yet to
make that determination,
but the Colorado company
acknowledged in a letter to
the council manager, Sonia
Bumpus, that it would likely
have to address environmen-
tal impacts.
The 1,150-megawatt proj-
ect — by far the largest renew-
able energy plan ever pre-
sented to the council — would
disturb shrub-steppe habitat.
The company is confi -
dent the Horse Heaven Wind
Farm will pass an environ-
mental review, Scout spokes-
woman Javon Smith said. The
study will assure that the pub-
lic has a chance to comment,
she said.
“We want to make sure
people are involved and have
every opportunity to weigh
in,” she said.
Final approval, with or
without an environmental
impact statement, will rest
with Gov. Jay Inslee, based
on the council’s recommenda-
tions. Inslee has made renew-
able energy a pillar of his cli-
mate agenda.
Scout proposes to install
solar panels and as many as
244 wind turbines in Ben-
ton County, near the Tri-Cit-
ies. The turbines and panels
would help the state achieve
carbon-free electricity, accord-
ing to Scout.
Scout has leased thou-
sands of acres from farmers
and ranchers. The leases will
provide steady income, and
the project won’t take much
land, according to a wheat
farmer speaking on behalf of
landowners.
The proposal has run into
opposition from local offi cials.
Pasco port commissioners
passed a resolution opposing
the project, calling the Tri-Cit-
ies’ wide-open spaces and
unobstructed ridges “iconic
features.”
Almost all wind projects
are in southeastern Washing-
ton, but environmental justice
means no group should bear a
disproportionate share of neg-
ative environmental conse-
quences, the resolution states.
S228080-1
Cultivating the Future
S238187-1