Page 33: of Marine News Magazine (September 2022)

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Feature

Inland Waterways t’s amazing to consider that a commercial vessel in the Council on Environmental Quality.

Paci? c Ocean, approaching the mouth of the Colum- • In June, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Washington bia River, can continue its eastward journey to ? nally Gov. Jay Inslee released a draft report to inform upcoming

I tie up at the Port of Lewiston, in Lewiston, Idaho, recommendations from their Joint Federal-State Process

America’s most inland West Coast port, 465 miles from regarding the Lower Snake dams and salmon recovery.

the Paci? c Ocean. • In February 2021, Idaho Congressman Mike Simp-

The Columbia and Snake Rivers form that critical east- son unveiled the “Columbia River Basin Initiative,” a west waterway, an economic powerhouse regionally, nation- $33 billion plan to at least start on compensatory costs ally and internationally. According to the Paci? c Northwest if the dams were breached and the costs to build alterna-

Waterways Association (PNWA), the Columbia-Snake Riv- tives for lost assets, including power and transportation, er System (CSRS) is the nation’s single largest wheat export i.e., new highways and rails.

gateway, second largest for soy and corn exports and in the In August, ACE’s Inland Waterways Users Board met in top ranks for wood products, autos, bulk minerals and a Walla Walla. Northwest issues were on the agenda – delib- growing market for inland river cruises. Eight dams – four erately so, commented Chairman W. Spencer Murphy, with on the Snake River (see sidebar) – create and maintain wa- Canal Barge Company. Murphy introduced Robert Rich, terway performance – importantly, not just for commercial VP Marine Services, with Shaver Transportation, based in navigation but for energy, ? ood control and recreation. Pe- Portland, Ore. Rich is a member of the Users Board.

troleum is a top commodity moved upriver. Rich provided the balance of comments, presenting re-

Now, this national asset is under critical scrutiny; it gional concerns about the increasing political intensity on could be scrapped. There are a number of concerns but dam breaching but without a full presentation of impacts – topmost, particularly along the Snake River, is the survival, to waterways operators, farmers and agricultural business- the sustainability, of northwest salmon and the impact of es, regional energy operations and markets, multi-modal dams on their storied lifecycle of river to ocean and their shippers and, really, food security for millions, worldwide, return upriver to spawn. There are suggestions now to who depend on a very dependable system.

breach the four Snake River dams. Otherwise, supporters Rich posed a rhetorical question to Board members: If charge, Snake River salmon face extinction. we were starting with a clean slate in 2022 what would

Obviously, such a drastic move does not proceed casu- be prioritized? His answers: green transportation – water- ally. Columbia-Snake River waterways operators are right ways. Clean, low-carbon energy – hydro. Irrigation and in the middle of these swirling currents, trying to keep one ? ood control. Multimodal – barges, trains and trucks each eye on immediate business demands and one eye on a hazy contributing best value across the supply chain. Accessible future. If the dams are breached, the Snake River is no recreation. All at a scale that expands from singular farms longer commercially navigable. to eventually encompass national and international mar- kets and consumers.

National-Federal issues and initiatives

Brie? y, there are three very high-pro? le Snake River ini- tiatives: • From the White House: On July 12 Administration of? cials released two studies, one focusing on salmon re- covery, the other on electric power replacement if hydro generation were lost. “Business as usual will not restore the health and abundance of Paci? c Northwest salmon.

We need a durable, inclusive, and regionally-crafted long-term strategy for the management of the Columbia

River Basin,” said Brenda Mallory, who chairs the WH

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