Congressman hopes politics align on divisive Northwest dams

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A Republican congressman has proposed removing four hydroelectric dams in the Pacific Northwest as part of a sweeping plan to save salmon populations and provide aid to farmers and others.

The $33.5 billion proposal from Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho was announced earlier this month.

Now the question is: Can it win approval from Congress and the Biden administration and help save an iconic Pacific Northwest species from extinction?

The plan calls for removing one dam in 2030 and the other three the following year. The dams were built in the 1950s and 1960s to provide power, flood control and irrigation water.

Other Republicans are vowing to save the dams. Democrats have come out in support of Simpson’s plan, which calls for spending $33 billion to breach four dams, replace the lost hydroelectric energy with other sources and ensure that irrigation, river navigation and flood control will continue as before.

The issue of what to do with the Snake River dams has long divided the Pacific Northwest, with Democrats generally siding with saving the salmon and Republicans saying it’s foolish to remove hydropower resources in the era of climate change.

But Lindsay Slater, Simpson’s chief of staff, said the political winds are blowing in favor of a solution to this decadeslong controversy.

For one thing, the Biden administration is preparing a massive economic relief package for the nation, and Simpson wants the Northwest to designate this solution to the salmon issues for the region’s share of the package, Slater said. For another, Democratic control of the Senate has propelled numerous longtime senators from the Northwest into committee leadership positions for the first time in years, he said.

Read more at: https://apnews.com/article/mike-simpson-spokane-dams-fish-salmon-4faa591c3a7bd32a3f7a43dc94164adb