Seattle’s Skagit dams harm salmon and orcas, but WA Dems focus only on the Snake. Why?

As the Legislature approves spending $375,000 for yet another study related to replacing the four federal dams on the lower Snake River, I am struck by the hypocrisy of those who claim to care about salmon and orca recovery yet seem blind to the proverbial 800-pound elephant in their own backyard.

Any new study related to the faraway Snake River will do nothing but rehash the same old claims, on the taxpayers’ dime. That money would be much better spent on addressing the salmon-recovery issues tied to the western Washington river that does more to feed Puget Sound and its orcas than any other: the Skagit River.

The Snake River dams in Washington support the irrigation of over 300,000 acres of otherwise arid land and generate more than 1,000 megawatts of clean renewable power — enough to provide electricity to 800,000 homes. These dams also make the river navigable for the barges which transport countless tons of grain in an environmentally responsible and economical manner. These barges eliminate the need for an additional 39,000 railcars, or 152,000 semi-trucks, and are 40 percent more fuel efficient.

The Snake River dams are orca-friendly, too, in that they incorporate highly effective, low-mortality fish-passage systems. For all those reasons, the perpetual state-level efforts to breach the dams — which are owned by federal government, remember — need to end.

By comparison, the largest river that flows into Puget Sound, which is therefore arguably most important to orca recovery — the mighty Skagit — has not allowed fish passage above the three Seattle City Light dams for a century! Why is there no acknowledgment that 40 percent of the Skagit River has been completely inaccessible to salmon just so the city of Seattle can have low-cost energy? Why do Seattle-centric lawmakers offer nothing but silence?

To be clear, I appreciate hydroelectric power and have no desire to see the Seattle City Light dams removed. However, the utility’s managers have failed to do their part for salmon recovery. At best, they’ve ignored their responsibilities. At worst, they’ve actively sought to obscure evidence of their dams’ impact on salmon runs, to the point of offering to buy out local tribes for their own financial gains, and playing residents against each other for decades.

Seattle City Light has contributed significantly less toward salmon-habitat mitigation than other dam operators in the area. Why, then, is the utility’s culpability not an issue for legislators? We have yet to see these issues addressed in Olympia, even after the KING-TV series “Skagit: River of Light and Loss” put a very bright light on these failures.

Unlike the Snake River dams, the Seattle City Light dams on the Skagit River provide no irrigation for crops, no navigation for commerce, no power to local residents, and no fish passage. Meanwhile, the Puget Sound Energy dams on the Baker River, a Skagit tributary, have accommodated fish passage for decades.

We know the dams on the Skagit River prevent salmon passage. I look forward to hearing my legislative colleagues who are so quick to speak of equity, and the need for people to pay their fair share — and whose constituents benefit from those dams — demand that Seattle City Light install fish passage systems. They should stop obsessing about the Snake River dam and start addressing the threats to salmon and orcas that are much, much closer to home.

This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Seattle’s Skagit dams harm salmon and orcas, but WA Dems focus only on the Snake. Why?."