The federal government, possibly in partnership with regional governments, should foot the bill, said the group's report. An estimated 37,000 acres of farmland in Franklin and Walla Walla counties stand to lose access to water for their crops if the dam is breached.
Water currently is pumped from a series of pumping stations at the Ice Harbor pool.
If the dam is removed, the existing pumps would be left to suck on air and vast irrigation systems would be rendered useless. Without a new system, the value of the land would plummet. American Rivers did not propose what sort of system should be built to keep the water flowing. The same study noted the river would be shallow and meandering in that area, making it very expensive to operate any kind of pumping facility. But the report did not address how the irrigation systems would deal with the tons of sediment expected to cloud the river for years.