Columbia River dams are in the spotlight
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, June 19th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WASHINGTON, District of Columbia – Two news releases regarding dams on the Columbia River were issued Tuesday. One came from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the other came from the White House. Here they are in the order they were received. Reaction to the releases will be forthcoming in future stories.
WASHINGTON — (From the Department of the Interior) As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s unprecedented agreement to restore wild salmon in the Columbia River Basin, the Department of the Interior today released a report documenting the historic, ongoing and cumulative impacts of federal Columbia River dams on Columbia River Basin Tribes. The report also provides recommendations for how the federal government can further its treaty and trust responsibilities to Tribes by acknowledging and integrating these impacts in future actions. It marks the first time that the U.S. government has comprehensively detailed the harms that federal dams have and continue to inflict on Tribes in the Pacific Northwest.
Today’s report – which fulfills a commitment made by the Department as part of stayed litigation in National Wildlife Federation v. National Marine Fisheries Service, 3:01-cv-640-SI (D. Or.) – is part of a broader effort from the Biden-Harris administration to support Tribally led efforts to restore healthy and abundant populations of salmon and other native fish in the Columbia River Basin. In September 2023, President Biden issued a presidential memorandum to advance these efforts, and the Administration announced an agreement to restore salmon populations in the Upper Basin. In December 2023, the Administration also announced an historic agreement to restore salmon populations in the Lower Basin, expand Tribally sponsored clean energy production, and provide stability for communities that depend on the Columbia River System for agriculture, energy, recreation and transportation.
“Since time immemorial, Tribes along the Columbia River and its tributaries have relied on Pacific salmon, steelhead and other native fish species for sustenance and their cultural and spiritual ways of life. Acknowledging the devastating impact of federal hydropower dams on Tribal communities is essential to our efforts to heal and ensure that salmon are restored to their ancestral waters,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “As part of our ongoing commitment to honoring our federal commitments to Tribal Nations, the Interior Department will continue to pursue comprehensive and collaborative basin-wide solutions to restore native fish populations, empower Tribes, and meet the many resilience needs of communities across the region.”
The Columbia River Basin historically supported abundant wild salmon, steelhead and native resident fish, which contributed to thriving Tribal cultures and communities. Historically, up to 16 million wild salmon and steelhead returned to Pacific Northwest tributaries each year, providing food for over 130 wildlife species and sustenance to Tribal people. Since time immemorial, members of these Tribes and their ancestors stewarded these native species and relied upon their abundance as the staples of their daily diets and ceremony.
The construction of large multipurpose, hydroelectric dams throughout the Columbia River Basin beginning at the turn of the 20th century blocked anadromous fish from migrating into certain reaches of the Basin, flooded thousands of acres of land, sacred sites, and ancestral burial grounds, and transformed the ecosystem. As a result, many Tribal communities lost access to anadromous fish in their communities. The report outlines how these profound losses have had traumatic impacts on Tribal communities, including by altering traditional diets, depriving Tribal members of the ability to exercise traditional ways of life, and fundamentally changing how Tribal members teach and raise children in the cultural and spiritual beliefs that center around these fish.
Federal dams and reservoirs in the Columbia River Basin have impacted all of the Basin Tribes. Pursuant to commitments related to the litigation, the Department’s report considers the impacts of 11 specific dams from across the basin on eight of the basin’s Tribal Nations most immediately affected: Coeur D’Alene Tribe of Indians, The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Nez Perce Tribes, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation, and Spokane Tribe of Indians.
The report also offers several recommendations to further the federal government’s trust responsibility and achieve a healthy and resilient Columbia River Basin for generations to come. Recommendations to further these responsibilities include fully considering and integrating the unique inequities Tribes have suffered as a result of federal dam construction and operation into future National Environmental Policy Act reviews, as well as further pursuing co-stewardship and co-management agreements; continuing efforts to consolidate Tribal homelands; and incorporating Indigenous Knowledge into decision making.
WASHINGTON – (from the White House) The Biden-Harris Administration today announced the creation of a new interagency Columbia River Task Force and the release of a landmark report acknowledging the harms that the federal dams have inflicted and continue to inflict on Tribes in the region. These steps advance a historic agreement to work in partnership with Tribes and states from the Pacific Northwest to restore wild salmon populations in the Columbia River Basin and develop a long-term strategy to meet the clean energy, transportation, and other key needs of the region.
Established by the White House Council on Environmental Quality and co-chaired by three federal agencies, the new Columbia River Task Force will coordinate efforts across federal agencies to fulfill the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitments to restore native fish populations made through President Biden’s Presidential Memorandum, fulfill a historic agreement to support Tribally led efforts to restore salmon in blocked habitats in the Upper Basin, and deliver on a 10-year partnership with Tribes and states in the Lower Basin to restore wild salmon, steelhead, and other native fish populations, expand Tribally sponsored clean energy production, and provide stability for communities.
Federal dams in the Columbia River Basin have long delivered – and continue to deliver – renewable energy and many other benefits. But they have also inflicted – and continue to inflict – grave harms on Tribal communities. Delivering on a key commitment, today the Department of the Interior is releasing a report acknowledging and detailing the historic, ongoing, and cumulative damage and injustices that the federal dams on the Columbia River have caused and continue to cause to Tribal Nations. The report marks the first time the U.S. government has detailed these harms.
“The Columbia River Task Force will implement President Biden’s vision to develop affordable, clean, and reliable energy options for the region while working to restore wild fish populations and address the grave harms the federal dams have inflicted on Tribal communities,” said Brenda Mallory, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “President Biden recognizes that to confront injustice, we must be honest about history – even when doing so is difficult. The report released today is an important step to recognize and overcome the past together.”
“Since time immemorial, Tribes along the Columbia River and its tributaries have relied on Pacific salmon, steelhead, and other native fish species for sustenance and their cultural and spiritual ways of life. Acknowledging the devastating impact of federal hydropower dams on Tribal communities is essential to our efforts to heal and ensure that salmon are restored to their ancestral waters,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “As part of our ongoing commitment to honoring our federal commitments to Tribal Nations, the Interior Department will continue to pursue comprehensive and collaborative basin-wide solutions to restore native fish populations, empower Tribes, and meet the many resilience needs of communities across the region.”
Nik Blosser will serve as the first Executive Director of the Columbia River Task Force. Blosser brings more than two decades of salmon and energy-related experience to the role, including experience in state and federal government and the private sector.
“Establishing the Columbia River Task Force reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s deep commitment to the Columbia River Basin and the communities it sustains,” said Nik Blosser, Executive Director of the Columbia River Task Force. “I am honored to lead the new Task Force, which will coordinate efforts across the federal government and partner with states and Tribal governments to restore native fish populations while ensuring communities and businesses continue to have reliable clean energy in the region.”
The Task Force will be co-chaired by Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis, Deputy Secretary of Energy Dave Turk, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Janet Coit. Other agencies represented on the Task Force include the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation, the Office of Management and Budget, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
To further its commitments in the Columbia River Basin, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation last week also announced a formal partnership with the State of Washington to move forward with an expansive water supply analysis in the Columbia River Basin. The study will address ways to modernize and improve irrigation, municipal, and industrial water withdrawal systems in the Columbia River Basin that might be impacted if Congress authorizes the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams. A draft study is scheduled to be completed by late 2024.
Today’s actions build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s unprecedented commitment to Columbia River Basin, including investing more than $1 billion for wild fish restoration over the next decade and securing an agreement that allows for a 10-year break from decades-long litigation against the federal government’s operation of its dams in the Pacific Northwest.
File photo of McNary Dam
