American Rivers

Save salmon. Act on climate. Remove the Snake River dams.

The four federal dams on the lower Snake River are far from “clean” or “green”.

These four dams have pushed salmon in the Snake River – once the most prolific salmon-producing river in the Columbia River Basin – to the brink of extinction. Snake River salmon are sacred to Tribal Nations across the region and are the keystone species for ecosystems from the Salish Sea in Washington to the lower Columbia River estuary to the mountain streams of north-central Idaho.

The four lower Snake dams turned 140 miles of cool, free-flowing river into a series of slow-moving reservoirs that release methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The dams disrupt and slow natural river flows, create lethally high reservoir temperatures for salmon, while non-native predators thrive. The dams also impede migration of salmon to and from the Pacific Ocean and kill young salmon attempting to pass through the dams to the ocean. The threats posed by the four dams are exacerbated by climate change, which is warming the Snake River and making conditions even more dire for salmon.

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We can replace the energy produced by the four lower Snake dams with clean, affordable alternatives. Adding a balanced mix of clean energy resources can replace the power from the lower Snake River dams, provide the energy we need more reliably, and allow the lower Snake River to flow freely to support the protection and recovery of salmon. As we decarbonize the Northwest power system and address the critical need to restore salmon, we have the opportunity to create a more diverse portfolio of clean energy resources, combined with customer-side investments like energy efficiency.

The region’s congressional delegation and the Biden administration must take action to develop and implement a plan to remove the dams and replace their services. We have an unprecedented opportunity to restore Snake River salmon to healthy, harvestable levels, honor our commitments and treaties with Northwest tribes, boost clean energy, create jobs for rural economies across the region and modernize the infrastructure of the Pacific Northwest.