4 CapitalPress.com Friday, June 17, 2022 SNAKE RIVER Ag stakeholders: Draft dam report leaves questions unanswered By MATTHEW WEAVER Capital Press Agricultural organiza- tions say a draft state-federal report examining the poten- tial costs and other impacts of replacing the benefits of four dams on the lower Snake River raises more questions than it answers. In fact, the report may take dam breaching off the table completely, one organi- zation’s spokesman says. The Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams on the Snake River have been the target of environmental groups that say they are hin- dering salmon recovery. The report estimates it would cost between $10.3 billion and $27.2 billion to replace the dams’ bene- fits, which include barging, energy, irrigation, recreation and economic develop- ment. Anticipated costs are not available for several other projects that would be required. Kramer Consulting and Ross Strategic were com- missioned by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Wash- ington Gov. Jay Inslee to draft the independent report. Report sources include the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers’ 2020 final environ- mental impact statement and Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson’s proposed $33.5 billion plan for salmon recovery. “While the (dams) cer- tainly are not the only cause of this decline, their impact on salmon outcomes is sig- nificant,” the report states. Replacement of the dams is possible, the report states, “at significant cost and with a major infrastructure program.” “Given the potential mag- nitude of these costs, signifi- cant federal investment will be needed,” the report states. “Funding from the recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, for example, could be applied to defray the costs of road, rail and water infrastructure, and provide economic develop- ment through improvement of broadband services.” “For the folks that want to make a decision based off of this, I think it raises more questions than it actu- ally answers,” said Heather Stebbings, executive direc- tor of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, a nonprofit trade group that supports regional economic development. LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 06/20/2022.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2015 TOYT 4RN UT VIN = JTEBU5JR3F5205083 Amount due on lien $1515.00  Reputed owner(s) MARIO ALCARIO REYES RIVERMARK COMMUNITY CU LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 06/27/2022.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2008 CHEV SLV PK VIN = 1GCEC19078Z223374 Amount due on lien $1535.00  Reputed owner(s) VIKING ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION PUBLIC LIEN SALE U-STORE SELF STORAGE Auction Starts June 14, 2022 storageauctions.com Ends Friday, June 24, 2022 10am 1668 Industrial Way SW Albany, Oregon Rabecca Beach, H095; Katrina Briones, A008; Brandon Hayes, Y013; Julia Horton, G054; Grace Moller, G002; Lisa Moore, A031; Dale Morford, G045; Nathan L. Reed, H103; Samantha Reid, Y004; Salvador Sepulveda, A024 1501 Hawthorne Ave NE Salem, Oregon Michael Barlow, 1D17; Kristen Blyeth, 2C03; Joseph A Craigmyle, 2B37; William P Floyd II, 1C44; Nicole Haynes, Y1-3, Randall Jordan, 2A77; Anntara Martin, 1C18; Quanne Monette, 1F41; Armando Ochoa Quintero, 1G20; Ember Reed, 2B09; Caitlin Roney, 2A62; Nikki N Roque, 1D14; Elisha Severson, 1E38; Ashley Smaw, 1F35; Troy Vanscoter, Y4- 5; St Jon Wilson, 1A01 COMMENT ON THE REPORT The draft report will be available for public review through July 11. Comments on the draft report can be provided through a form on the project website, via email, or by mail. Online comments can be submitted through the project website: https:// www.lsrdoptions.org/. Emailed comments can be sent to info@lsrdop- tions.org with the email subject line “Draft LSRD Benefit Replacement Study.” Written comments can be sent via mail to: Draft LSRD Benefit Replacement Study c/o Ross Strategic 1325 Fourth Ave., Suite 1600 Seattle, WA 98101 Associated Press File All comments must be submitted by 5 p.m. PST on July 11. Ice Harbor Dam, one of four dams on the lower Snake River. According to the report, breaching the dams would eliminate all commodity barging between the Tri-Cit- ies and Lewiston and Clark- ston, causing that transporta- tion to shift to railroads and trucks. Barging could con- tinue between the Tri-Cit- ies and downriver Columbia River ports. The report calls for a more thorough analysis from the Washington State Department of Transporta- tion regarding the move from barges to roads and railroads, Stebbings said. “That’s a significant miss- ing piece that would have a lot of associated costs with it, to get that true picture of what would need to be accomplished,” she said. “Realistic” elements are also missing from the draft, Stebbings added, such as the costs involved with permit- ting, particularly when cre- ating additional rail lines, or building new roads and facil- ities needed to mitigate the impacts of dam breaching. “The reality of mak- ing that happen is a real unknown,” Stebbings said, noting that the new infra- structure would be need to be built near water and on cultural and historic lands. “To build railroads or high- ways in some of these areas could be very difficult.” Breaching the dams would permanently drain the four lower Snake River res- ervoirs and create “substan- tial benefits” for area tribes, the report states. “It would allow tribal peoples to renew their close religious and spiritual con- nection with approximately 34,000 acres of land where their ancestors lived and are buried — and allow them to properly care for their grave sites,” the report states. “They could return to more than 600 to 700 locations where they were accustomed to live, fish, and hunt; har- vest plants, roots and ber- ries, conduct cultural and religious ceremonies, and pursue other aspects of their normal traditional lives.” Restoration of salmon abundance would also greatly benefit tribal fish- eries, both commercial and subsistence, the report states. Salmon and steelhead are the primary food sources for Columbia Basin tribes today, and have been for thousands of years, with many eat- ing fish at rates higher than non-native populations. Matt Harris, director of governmental affairs for the Washington Potato Com- mission and chairman of the Columbia Basin Develop- ment League, said the $27 billion price tag doesn’t nec- essarily cover ecological damage from removing the dams, including the cost of dredging and maintaining sediment on the river and the impact on salmon recovery “if you displace or change the environment in such an erroneous fashion.” Harris also wants to know about the higher energy costs consumers and irrigators would pay. He cites reports estimating residents could see a 23% increase to their energy bills. The report talks in regional fashion, Harris added, but doesn’t address the broader impact beyond Washington on the Western Interconnection power grid, which extends from south- ern Canada to Mexico. Nor does it address the effects of increased atmospheric car- bon due to more truck traf- fic. Also, the roads are not designed to carry the num- ber of trucks that would be needed to replace the barges, he said. “There’s a lot there that this study just does not encompass and it really needs to be re-focused,” he said. “It’s a bigger conversa- tion than what this study has presented.” “The whole issue is about a lot more than just cut- ting a check to ‘reimburse’ people for their losses that could occur if the dams were breached,” said Sean Ellis, spokesman for the Idaho Farm Bureau. “Entire indus- tries, including agriculture, depend on the dams for their livelihood and those dams have provided the region with low-cost electricity for decades. Just writing a check and calling it a day does not come close to undoing the damage that would occur if those dams were removed.” Idaho Farm Bureau mem- bers “wholeheartedly” sup- port ongoing efforts to improve salmon runs but continue to “adamantly” oppose dam breaching, Ellis said. “There is no evidence to support the claim that breaching the dams would save the salmon but it’s quite clear that doing so would have a major negative effect on the region’s economy and put a lot of farmers out of business,” Ellis said. For Darryll Olsen, board member for the Colum- bia-Snake River Irrigators Association in Kennewick, Wash., the report boils down to one half-sentence on page 2 of the report’s executive summary: “Congressio- nal authorization would be needed for the Army Corps to pursue breaching the dams.” “If that’s their political position, they have effec- tively taken dam breaching off the table — it’s gone,” Olsen said. “Congress will not be approving dam breaching in any appreciable timeframe. Not going to hap- pen. It’s certainly not going to happen between now and November, and it’s not going to happen after November.” Murray and Inslee are slated to make their final rec- ommendation this summer. Murray and Inslee “know what they’re doing,” Olsen said. “These are not incom- petent people. They real- ize they’ve effectively taken dam breaching off the table.” Olsen expected “quite a bit more structure” in the report, to serve plaintiffs and defendants as environmental groups challenge NOAA’s biological opinion in court. “That’s missing, that’s kind of not there,” he said. Olsen also questioned the value of listing the potential cost range. But “it wouldn’t matter if you said $270 bil- lion as long as they have made that statement, they want congressional authori- zation,” he said. “That is not going to happen.” The draft report is avail- able to the public and for comment through July 11. “We continue to approach the question of breaching with open minds and without a predetermined decision,” Murray and Inslee stated. “We each remain firmly com- mitted to saving our salmon. We also know that the dams provide significant benefits to our region’s economy and communities. In the com- ing weeks, we will carefully review and consider pub- lic input, tribal consultation, and other engagement from stakeholders before making any recommendations.” LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 06/20/2022.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2016 LNDR RRV 4W VIN = SALGS2VF7GA246669 Amount due on lien $1535.00  Reputed owner(s) JEROME JOSEPH ROSE UNITUS COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 06/20/2022.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2012 TOYT CAM 4D VIN = 4T1BF1FK2CU030468 Amount due on lien $1535.00  Reputed owner(s) AIDEN DONG KIM LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  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JTDKN3DPXC3023307 Amount due on lien $1435.00  Reputed owner(s) JOHN H & JULIE A WIRZ TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORP LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 06/27/2022.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2015 CHEV SLV PK VIN = 3GCUKREC3FG159120 Amount due on lien $1415.00  Reputed owner(s) RYAN & SHELLY SIEGEL TOYOTA MOTOR CREDIT CORP LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 06/27/2022.  The sale will be held at 10:00am by  COPART OF WASHINGTON INC  2885 NATIONAL WAY WOODBURN, OR  2015 GMC YUK LL VIN = 1GKS2CKJ3FR226021 Amount due on lien $1535.00  Reputed owner(s) KARAH & CHASE MASON OREGON COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87  Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be  sold, for  cash to the highest bidder, on 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