NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Farmers skeptical about being made ‘whole’ if dams breached
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
SNAKE
RIVER DAM
WORKSHOPS
LEWISTON, Idaho —
Eastern Washington farm-
ers doubt that public sub-
sidies would offset higher
transportation and irriga-
tion costs caused by breach-
ing four Lower Snake River
dams, according to a prelim-
inary study released Dec. 20
by the governor’s office.
Without the dams, the
river would be too shallow
to barge wheat and other
farm goods the roughly 100
miles between Lewiston,
Idaho, and the Tri-Cities.
Lake Sacajawea, a reservoir
created by Ice Harbor Dam,
irrigates 47,000 acres.
Farmers are worried
about being “at the mercy
of railroads” and “skeptical”
about switching to crops
that use less water, accord-
ing to the study.
Washington Grain Com-
mission CEO Glen Squires,
one of nearly 100 people
interviewed for the study,
said he appreciated that the
report’s writers captured
different views on breach-
ing the dams.
“I think they genuinely
listened and began to real-
ize this whole thing is more
complicated than meets
the eye,” he said. “It’s not
as easy as giving a farmer
a nickel, dime, 20 cents a
bushel — case solved.”
• Jan. 7: 6-9 p.m., Quality
Inn & Suites and Quay
Convention Center, 700
Port Drive, Clarkston.
• Jan. 9: 6-9 p.m., Wash-
ington State University
Vancouver-Dengerink
Administration Building
(VDEN), 14204 NE Salm-
on Creek Ave., Vancouver
• Jan. 13: Tri Cities,
6-9 p.m., Red Lion Hotel &
Conference Center, 2525
N. 20th Ave., Pasco
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Photo
Ice Harbor Dam on the Lower Snake River holds back Lake Sacajawea, a source of irrigation
water for 47,000 acres of farmland. Farmers are skeptical the water could be replaced if the
dam were to be breached, according to a study funded by the state of Washington.
The study was recom-
mended by a governor’s task
force on reviving the orca
population in Puget Sound.
Scientists blame a declining
orca population on a lack
of chinook salmon for the
killer whales to eat.
All Snake River salmon
runs are federally threat-
ened or endangered spe-
cies. Gov. Jay Inslee and
the Legislature supported
the $750,000 study to cata-
log different perspectives on
breaching the dams as a way
to increase fish runs.
The preliminary study
represents the views of
people representing farm-
ers, tribes, environmental-
ists, fishermen, shippers and
government officials. The
public can comment on the
study through Jan. 24.
The final study will
incorporate the public com-
ments and the results of an
online survey. There will be
public workshops and panel
discussions on the study
Jan. 7 in Clarkston, Jan. 9 in
Vancouver and Jan. 13 in the
Tri-Cities.
The U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Bureau of Rec-
lamation and Bonneville
Power Administration are
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
expected to release in Feb-
ruary a draft environmen-
tal impact statement on the
Columbia River system.
Breaching the four dams
— Ice Harbor, Lower Mon-
umental, Little Goose and
Lower Granite — is one
option under study.
Inslee has said the study
will inform his response to
what the federal government
proposes.
“I encourage Washingto-
nians to get engaged in the
public comment period over
the next month and share
their input on what should
be done,” Inslee said in
Rather cloudy with
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Clouds giving way
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Rain and drizzle in
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PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
36° 27°
41° 29°
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HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
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OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
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PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
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Olympia
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Kennewick Walla Walla
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Astoria
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Pullman
Yakima 36/26
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Portland
Hermiston
43/34
The Dalles 39/26
Salem
Corvallis
40/32
Yesterday
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La Grande
35/25
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
41/32
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37/22
Ontario
36/25
Caldwell
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Albany
39/32
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through 3 p.m. yest.
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Pendleton 33/20
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
36/27
40/29
31°
22°
39°
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61° (1980) -16° (1924)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
41/35
Aberdeen
33/26
30/25
Tacoma
Yesterday
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Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
42/38
Today
Medford
43/26
Fri.
SSW 3-6
W 4-8
Boardman
Pendleton
WSW 6-12
W 7-14
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
38/18
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
7:35 a.m.
4:16 p.m.
8:04 a.m.
4:54 p.m.
First
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NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 84° in Falfurrias, Texas Low -4° in Stanley, Idaho
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
http://lsrdstakeholder-
process.org/draft-report-
comment-form/
“coast” didn’t understand or
respect their values.
Supporters of breaching
the dams said public subsi-
dies for new irrigation sys-
tems, roads and rail lines
could offset the harm to
agriculture. “It is important
to make agriculture ‘whole,’
so farmers do not suffer sig-
nificant economic losses if
the dams are breached,” the
study reported.
Farm groups said the dis-
ruption to businesses, com-
munities and families would
be significant, as would the
costs.
U.S.
Reps.
Cathy
McMorris Rodgers and Dan
Newhouse, both Eastern
Washington Republicans,
issued a joint statement say-
ing the study provided noth-
ing new and that taxpayers
should be outraged.
“We had no idea a year
ago when we said this study
would be a wasteful use of
taxpayer dollars just how
accurate we’d be — imagine
how far $750,000 could have
gone to directly support
salmon recovery efforts,”
according to the statement.
College Place High School
student sentenced in bomb threat
By EMILY THORNTON
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Mainly cloudy; ice
at night
a statement.
The study, conducted
by a private firm, does not
recommend retaining or
breaching the dams. It cites
previous reports on the
dam’s uses and effect on
salmon and summarizes the
views of “stakeholders.”
The study listed the peo-
ple who were interviewed,
but did not attribute specific
comments to individuals.
Some 5 million acres of
farmland,
approximately
one-third of the state’s total,
are in the eight counties sur-
rounding the dams, accord-
ing to the study.
Interviewers found East-
ern Washington residents
who supported keeping the
dams said people on the
ONLINE
COMMENT FORM
WALLA WALLA, Wash.
— A 17-year-old College
Place High School student
was sentenced to 18 months
of community supervision
and rehabilitation for felony
harassment and threatening
to bomb or injure property.
Isiah T. Levias pleaded
guilty Nov. 8 to two fel-
ony harassment charges of
domestic violence and one
charge of threats to bomb
or injure property after his
mother provided police in
September with his “dis-
turbing journal,” in which
he indicated he was planning
to attack the school on April
20, 2020, the anniversary of
the 1999 Columbine High
School shooting in Colorado,
records stated.
The youth had “no count-
able criminal history,”
according to Walla Walla
County Prosecuting Attor-
ney Jim Nagle.
However, on Dec. 20 he
was found to have “a high
likelihood to re-offend,”
court records stated, and
“failed to comply with condi-
tions of a recent dispositional
order or diversion agree-
ment.” He also was found to
have a substance abuse prob-
lem, records stated.
Because of five “aggra-
vating factors,” Levias was
given more than the standard
range of 12 months supervi-
sion on count three, as “the
standard range would fail to
provide necessary treatment
and supervision,” records
stated.
Levias’ sentence included
three months of community
supervision each for the two
harassment charges and one
year for the threats to bomb
or injure property charge,
running consecutively, and
ending on Dec. 6, 2020.
The sentence included
chemical dependency alter-
native treatment for the third
charge. His sentence also
included 40 weeks of rehabil-
itation with the Department
of Social and Health Ser-
vices Rehabilitation Admin-
istration, 20 hours of com-
munity service, staying away
from College Place High
School, and a mental health
evaluation.
Walla Walla County Cor-
rections Department Direc-
tor Norrie Gregoire wrote
in an email that Levias’
40-week rehab was sus-
pended “with the caveat that
if he violates any condition
of the disposition or the court
finds that he is making unsat-
isfactory progress in treat-
ment, the court may revoke
the suspension and impose
the 40 weeks in an RA (reha-
bilitation
administration)
facility.”
Gregoire also wrote that
Levias’ sentence may be
adjusted, as it appeared to
possibly have been written
incorrectly.
His disposition hearing
has been delayed several
times, including waiting for
evaluation results. It first was
scheduled for Nov. 22.
In the investigation,
police found other litera-
ture with the same kind of
material as the journal in the
College Place teen’s room,
records stated. The boy was
booked without incident in
Walla Walla County Juvenile
Justice Center.
“Based on the notebook
we recovered on scene,
the teen planned to harm
his mother and her boy-
friend before carrying out a
detailed plan of attacking the
school, using a combination
of bombs and guns,” College
Place officer Dylan Schmick
told the Union-Bulletin in an
earlier interview.
Police didn’t find any evi-
dence of explosives or guns,
but Levias’ mother told them
she had found items used to
make explosives and had dis-
carded them a month before
telling police.
BRIEFLY
Redmond boy found safe
after reverse-911
BEND — A 7-year-old boy was found
“safe and uninjured” in a neighbor’s house by
searchers six hours after walking away from a
facility in Redmond.
At about 11:45 p.m. Sunday, Redmond
Police were called to a care facility in the 2900
block of Northwest 19th Street to a report of a
7-year-old child who had run away.
Dispatchers performed a “reverse-911” to
enlist the assistance of residents within 2 miles
of the facility.
Volunteers and professionals with multiple
agencies searched the area. At about 5:19 a.m.
Monday, the boy was found in a home near
Northwest Spruce Avenue and Northwest
19th Street.
A woman had heard movement downstairs
in her home and walked down to find the boy,
according to Redmond Capt. Devin Cooper.
“The door was unlocked, and it looks like
he probably just went inside the house,” Coo-
per said.
The boy was taken back to the facility
where he was being cared for.
The woman asked police to not be identi-
fied to the media.
— EO Media Group
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