IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 184 

Expressing the sense of the Congress opposing removal of dams on the 

Columbia and Snake Rivers for fishery restoration purposes, supporting 

the renewable energy that the dams produce, and agreeing that their 

removal does not make sound environmental nor fiscal sense. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 12, 2007 

Mr. SALI submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Congress opposing removal of 

dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers for fishery 

restoration purposes, supporting the renewable energy 

that the dams produce, and agreeing that their removal 

does not make sound environmental nor fiscal sense. 

Whereas the dams on the Columbia and Snake River system 

provide tremendous economic and environmental benefits 

to the Pacific Northwest and California that should be 

retained; 

Whereas the dams on the Columbia and Snake River system 

provide renewable power to the Pacific Northwest and 

California and do not contribute ‘‘greenhouse’’ gases to 


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the environment as their replacement power sources 

would; 

Whereas plans for the recovery of federally protected fish species in the Columbia and Snake River System should only 

rely on relevant and scientifically verifiable causes such 

as predation of fish stocks, conditions of the ocean, 

hatchery and mitigation technology, passage around and 

through hydroelectric projects and ocean harvest levels 

and only after these options have been exhausted should 

removal of the dams as a means of ‘‘recovery’’ even be 

considered an option; 

Whereas the environmental impact of removing the dams on 

the Columbia and Snake river system would be devastating to salmon and steelhead stocks and would also 

negatively impact the surrounding communities which are 

strong supporters and advocates of improving fish stocks 

on the Columbia and Snake River System; and 

Whereas any comprehensive fish recovery plan for the Columbia and Snake River system must be based on sound 

science and proven data, taking into consideration the 

economic and social costs associated with changes to the 

management and use of the river infrastructure, focusing 

on new options and not wasting funding on politically 

sensitive options, such as dam breaching, that has historically been proven infeasible with an extensive amount 

of Federal taxpayers money and studies: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), 


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1 SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Preserve our 

3 Salmon and Renewable Energy Resolution’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO COM5 MERCE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that the dams on the Co7 lumbia and Snake Rivers are essential to commerce in the 

8 Pacific Northwest for the following reasons: 

9 (1) The Columbia and Snake River system, located 

10 in the States of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, is an 

11 essential transportation link for the United States, used 

12 to export all types of products, including annual transport 

13 of over $2 billion of agricultural goods for export overseas. 

14 (2) This inland system for barges supports $15 bil15 lion annually in international trade. 

16 (3) Breaching these dams would eliminate the ability 

17 to barge goods and would seriously affect the region’s 

18 economy. 

19 (4) Replacing the power currently generated by the 

20 dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers would result in 

21 significant increases in costs to consumers in the Pacific 

22 Northwest and California and would cause significant 

23 harm to the economy of those areas. 

24 (5) Producers who ship their products on the Colum25 bia and Snake River system save approximately 

26 $38,000,000 per year by avoiding more expensive land 


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1 based transportation, a savings which keeps United States 

2 exports competitive on world markets. 

3 (6) The Columbia and Snake River system allows 

4 large volumes of freight to be moved with negligible impact 

5 on air quality, and replaces transportation capacity that 

6 would require use of 120,000 rail cars or 700,000 trucks. 

7 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO SURVIV8 ABILITY RATE OF SALMON AND STEELHEAD. 

9 It is the sense of Congress that the survivability rate 

10 of salmon and steelhead has increased since the dams have 

11 been in place for the following reasons: 

12 (1) Recent studies by the National Marine Fisheries 

13 Service indicate that the survival rates of salmon and 

14 steelhead migrating down the Columbia and Snake River 

15 system (with 8 dams) are similar or greater than survival 

16 rates measured in 1961 when there were only 4 dams on 

17 the system. 

18 (2) Improved fish hatchery processes, including fish 

19 acclimation processes, have resulted in the first successful 

20 run of coho salmon on the Yakima River in 3 decades. 

21 (3) Based on current Corps of Engineers research, 

22 survival of adult salmon and steelhead at and between hy23 droelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers is 

24 averaging 98 percent per dam and reservoir. 


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1 (4) According to the Army Corps of Engineers the 

2 survival rate per dam on the Columbia and Snake River 

3 is averaging 91 to 98 percent for juvenile fish passage. 

4 (5) The survival rate on the Columbia and Snake 

5 River is between 98 and 99 percent for adult passage. 

6 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT BREACHING THE DAMS 

7 WILL NOT GUARANTEE RECOVERY OF SALM8 ON AND STEELHEAD. 

9 It is the sense of Congress that breaching the dams 

10 will not guarantee recovery of salmon and steelhead for 

11 the following reasons: 

12 (1) The Bonneville Power Administration has deter13 mined that the cost to replace the power and capacity ben14 efits of the Lower Snake River dams is between 

15 $400,000,000 to $550,000,000 per year. 

16 (2) The Independent Economic Analysis Board 

17 (IEAB) issued analysis of the recent ‘‘Revenue Stream’’ 

18 report in February 2007 and determined: ‘‘We note that 

19 if the Corps replacement power costs (which the IEAB 

20 considers to be the more credible numbers) were inserted 

21 into the Revenue Stream report in place of the power costs 

22 estimated by Save Our Wild Salmon (SOS)—this change 

23 alone would be enough to reverse their results. It would 

24 be cheaper for the region to keep the dams’’. 


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1 (3) Salmon runs between 2001 and 2004 were some 

2 of the highest in history, with the dams in place. 

3 (4) Salmon returns in 2000 were about 400,000, and 

4 in 2004 returns were more than double that amount at 

5 846,000. 

6 (5) Historically and currently 90 to 95 percent of the 

7 juvenile salmon that reach the ocean die in the ocean eaten 

8 by predators or failing to find food. 

9 (6) The conditions in the ocean that the juvenile fish 

10 encounter have a huge effect on their success. 

11 (7) Conditions can be right in fresh water, sending 

12 healthy juvenile fish down the river and assuring their safe 

13 passage, but, if ocean conditions are poor, the returns are 

14 poor, but if conditions are right in fresh water and ocean 

15 conditions are good, returns will improve. 

16 (8) Some of the best returns ever counted at Bonne17 ville Dam, which began counting fish in 1938, were re18 corded in the past few years. 

19 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO THE ENVI20 RONMENTAL IMPACT OF REMOVING THE 

21 DAMS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that the environmental 

23 impact of removing the dams will be extremely damaging 

24 for the following reasons: 


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1 (1) Breaching the four Lower Snake River Dams 

2 would allow the annual sediment load of 3,000,000 to 

3 4,000,000 cubic yards to be carried downstream to Lake 

4 Wallula, where the majority of incoming sediment would 

5 likely be deposited. 

6 (2) The Corps of Engineers Lower Snake EIS/Feasi7 bility Study indicated breaching would result in the release 

8 of 75,000,000 cubic yards of silt, expose fish to increased 

9 toxins and higher turbidity levels and have an effect on 

10 fish. 

11 (3) The Corps of Engineers estimates that the flood 

12 control provided by the dams on the Columbia and Snake 

13 River systems prevented $4,600,000,000 in damages from 

14 potential floods in 1996 and 1997. 

15 (4) Water collected in the Columbia and Snake River 

16 system irrigates half the productive farmland in Oregon, 

17 Washington, and Idaho. 

18 (5) If the dams were breached the area would incur 

19 a yearly net loss of $13,900,000 to $16,900,000 of agri20 culture goods. 

21 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO RENEW22 ABLE FREE ENERGY, GLOBAL WARMING DE23 BATE, AND BACKUP ENERGY TO CALIFORNIA. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that the dams on the Co25 lumbia and Snake rivers provide renewable pollution free 


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1 energy to the Pacific Northwest and also helps backup 

2 California’s power grid for the following reasons: 

3 (1) The Pacific Northwest is uniquely positioned be4 cause more than 60 percent of its electricity is hydro5 electric power generated by dams on the Columbia and 

6 Snake River System and generation of that electricity does 

7 not create any air or water pollution and is vital for cre8 ating and maintaining jobs. 

9 (2) Replacing the dams would require building or 

10 buying energy generated from coal or natural gas plants, 

11 which are far more expensive and produce ‘‘green house 

12 gases’’ which some feel contribute to global warming. 

13 (3) When California reaches its peak power needs 

14 (primarily in the summer), the Pacific Northwest is, his15 torically, in a time of lower power demand (its higher de16 mand is in the winter) and the Federal hydropower system 

17 is positioned to provide California with the excess power 

18 from the Pacific Northwest, so taking out the hydropower 

19 dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers could have a det20 rimental effect on Southern California’s supply of elec21 tricity. 


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1 SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS WITH RESPECT TO PREVIOUS 

2 CONCLUSIVE AND EXHAUSTIVE STUDIES ON 

3 DAM REMOVAL. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that two conclusive and 

5 exhaustive studies have already been completed which con6 sidered removing the dams or reservoir drawdown on the 

7 Snake River and both came to the same conclusion that 

8 we need to keep the dams for the following reasons: 

9 (1) In 2002, during the Bush Administration, the 

10 Corps of Engineers Lower Snake River Juvenile Salmon 

11 Migration Feasibility Study was completed at a cost of 

12 $28,000,000 to the American taxpayers which rec13 ommended that the dams not be breached. 

14 (2) In 1995, during the Clinton Administration the 

15 Corps of Engineers completed the Columbia River Sys16 tems Operation Review at a cost in excess of $20,000,000 

17 to the American taxpayers which concluded that the dams 

18 should not be breached. 

19 (3) The review during the Clinton Administration 

20 studied major reservoir drawdowns on the lower Snake 

21 River, the study report did not recommend these 

22 drawdowns. 

23 (4) Since 1992, under two different administrations 

24 from two different political parties, at a cost of over 

25 $50,000,000 to the American taxpayer, there have been 

26 at least 5 studies that have investigated dam removal and 


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1 reservoir drawdown on the lower Snake River and none 

2 recommended the implementation of dam breaching or 

3 reservoir drawdowns. 

Æ 


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