George and Simms: Repurposing Willamette dams would save money, aid salmon
About the writers: Kathleen George serves as an elected member of the Grand Ronde Tribal Council. She is a former director of the tribe’s philanthropic arm. Scott Simms heads the Public Power Council, which represents consumer-owned utilities in the Northwest’s federal hydro system ratemaking and revenue-setting process. He previously spent 13 years with the Bonneville Power Administration.
If your business was slated to lose nearly a billion dollars, would you stay the course?
A federal study projects that hydropower production at Willamette River Basin dams will lose a stunning $939 million over 30 years because the operating costs far outweigh the revenue.
The Public Power Council and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde may not agree on everything, but on this matter, they are aligned: It’s time to change how we operate the Willamette Basin dams.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates eight hydro-producing dams on the Santiam, McKenzie and Middle Fork Willamette subbasins. B
Built in the early 1940s, the primary purpose authorized by Congress was, and remains, flood control. But the Corps also operates the dams to produce a small amount of electricity, despite the outrageous economics.
The Corps could alter how it operates these dams to boost the success rate for salmon migrating through these dams.
Less than 3% of the once-great runs of Upper Willamette River Chinook remain. Federal scientists found that Chinook and steelhead — the only native salmonids that historically ascended the Willamette Falls in Oregon City — have a “very high likelihood” of extinction if action isn’t taken.
The salmon are an essential part of the culture and lifeways of the Grand Ronde Tribe and critically important to Oregonians. We will not allow salmon to go extinct on our watch, especially to produce extremely expensive electricity.
The Public Power Council and its nonprofit member utilities support hydro projects that power our communities with large quantities of clean power and provide effective and proven fish passage.
However, the high and climbing cost of producing a small amount of power at the Willamette projects simply doesn’t pencil out. Removing the power function from these dams and utilizing them for flood control purposes and for optimized fish migration is the opportunity upon us.
For anyone who cares about salmon or their electricity bill, the best solution would be to stop producing power at these Willamette projects.
The dams would stay in place, but the corps could lower the water level in the reservoirs to create more natural flow to help juvenile salmon complete their miraculous journeys out to the ocean. Lower reservoir levels are also good for flood risk mitigation.
Congress has already asked the corps — twice — to study the impacts of removing the hydropower function from these Willamette Basin dams.
It’s time Congress directed the corps to stop wasting money on expensive electricity production and transition to operating the dams to reduce flood risk while boosting salmon survival. We believe this is a win-win for salmon and ratepayers.
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