Feds OK Final River Management Decision, Admit It Does Not Recover Salmon

BOISE, ID- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bonneville Power Administration signed a joint Record of Decision(ROD) for the Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), finalizing a years-long process that ultimately left out Idaho communities and industries associated with salmon and steelhead. Idaho Wildlife Federation holds that the ROD fails to provide actions required to restore Idaho’s endangered salmon and steelhead – something the agencies admit themselves in the EIS - and reaffirms its’ commitment of providing more equity to Idaho’s salmon-reliant communities moving forward.   

The decision describes how the Action Agencies will manage the hydrosystem operations on the Columbia and Snake Rivers for the next several decades and largely relies on keeping the four lower Snake River dams in place while continuing flexible spill measures- what was meant to be a temporary solution to speed juvenile fish travel time on their journey to the ocean. 

“The release of the ROD is yet another turn in the perpetual cycle of analysis that tells us what is best for Idaho’s fish, yet the action agencies continue to turn their back to these iconic species in favor of perpetuation of the status quo,” said Brian Brooks, Executive Director of Idaho Wildlife Federation. “It is more evident than ever that the future of the Columbia River System must be determined in the halls of Congress as this decision fails Idaho’s fish, riverside communities, ratepayers, and sovereign nations. The agencies themselves state this document is not a fix- that they hope it spurs more conversation.”

While the Action Agencies decision attempts to manage the river system to achieve a balance of all uses of the Columbia River system such as energy generation, navigation, and water consumption, it fails to provide any equity to communities and industries that are being constrained by the Snake River dams in place today. Community leaders in towns along the Salmon and Clearwater Rivers raised these concerns throughout the decision process and traveled to D.C. in early 2020 to speak directly with the Idaho delegation on finding a regional solution that cannot be achieved through a record of decision. 

“We have seen that the Action Agencies cannot recover salmon and steelhead in our lifetimes with current hydrosystem operations,” concluded Brooks. “It is time for all Idahoans to support Congressman Simpson’s efforts to forge a new future that actually moves Idaho’s salmon away from an extinction trajectory and invests in new systems for farmers, water users, and energy consumers.”