Protection, maintenance of dams a priority for WW County
By Dan Thesman on Monday, January 20th, 2025 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA COUNTY – The Walla Walla County Board of Commissioners sets state and federal legislative priorities every year. Board Chairman Gunner Fulmer said that a major priority is the protection and maintenance of the four lower Snake River dams.
Fulmer points out that removing the dams would greatly disrupt the transportation system on the river, affecting companies that transport large quantities of products from Lewiston to Portland. He said replacing this with trucks would be counterproductive.
“We’re already having problems with state funding for our highways,” Fulmer adds. “Putting a ton more heavy equipment on the road daily makes it more unsafe for our citizens traveling those highways, but it also deteriorates those highways much, much faster.
Fulmer also mentions discussions with tribal leaders who are concerned about fish passage over the dams.
“It’s interesting that their main concern is when those dams were put in, that the fish passage through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was really, really good,” Fulmer said. “We’re talking 96 percent to 98 percent of fish getting over the dam, some of the best in the world.”
While the fish ladders were initially effective, Fulmer stated that federal funding is not maintaining them to necessary standards. He hopes the federal government will address these issues to improve the situation.
Editor’s note: Chairman Fulmer discussed issues regarding Walla Walla County on the Jan. 16 KUMA Coffee Hour. The podcast is available at https://omny.fm/shows/coffee-hour-podcast.
