WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) today demanded the Biden administration stop any eleventh-hour attempts to breach the lower Snake River dams.

“The incoming administration should be allowed the time and opportunity to carefully review and shape the management of the Columbia River System, including the lower Snake River dams. The river system is the backbone of the Pacific Northwest, providing essential benefits to the region, including energy production, agricultural support, recreation, and transportation,” wrote the senators. “We remain deeply concerned that key stakeholders from energy, agriculture, transportation, and other critical sectors have been consistently left out of the decision-making process regarding the future of the Federal Columbia River Power System, especially in regard to the dams on the lower Snake River…This failure to engage with affected communities and industries not only undermines the principles of fair governance but also increases the risk for devastating economic and social consequences.”

Risch is joined by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) in sending the letter to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

Read the full letter here.

Background: The four hydroelectric dams on the lower Snake River provide multiple benefits to Idaho and the region, including: 

• Transportation of agricultural products, including more than 15 million metric tons of wheat in 2020 with nearly 10% of all U.S. wheat moving out on the Snake River alone;
• $686 million in jobs and businesses associated with Idaho’s Port of Lewiston, the furthest inland port on the West Coast;
• A 95% emission-free power portfolio generated by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), allowing small public utilities across the Northwest tolead in clean energy production; 
• Clean, always-on energy that can uniquely keep the lights on during extreme weather events where relying on wind and solar would cause blackouts; and
• Irrigation.

Risch has been a staunch defender of the lower Snake River dams and introduced the Northwest Energy Security Act to protect the operation of the Federal Columbia River Power System.

Following four years of comprehensive scientific study of the Columbia River System Operations, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration released a record of decision in September 2020 affirming the four dams’ critical importance to the region.

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