White House: to Help Salmon, Dams May Need to Be Removed

White House: to Help Salmon, Dams May Need to Be Removed

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS

Source: Associated Press

7/12/2022

Credit: AP Photo/Ted S. Warre

The Biden administration on Tuesday released two reports arguing that removing dams on the lower Snake River may be needed to restore salmon runs to historic levels, and that replacing the energy created by the dams is possible but will cost $11 billion to $19 billion.

The reports were released by the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

“Business as usual will not restore salmon,” said Brenda Mallory, chair of the council. “The Columbia River system is the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest.”

Many salmon runs continue to decline, which environmentalists blame on dams, Mallory said, and her office is leading multi-agency efforts to restore “abundant runs of salmon to the Columbia River Basin.”