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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSenator Murray Snake River Dam Letter of Support DocuSign Envelope ID: EFCAC45C-992F-413B-AB3B-ODE66D25B583 %09////////9%".01 T T PORTA GELS 321 East Fifth Street c — WASH I N G T' O N , U . S . Port Angeles, WA 98362 Sent through the Washington Environmental Council link gj.,,r _n_. 2a �;��/�b lc 1a�,vx,, emailed, and via USPS July 11, 2022 Senator Patty Murray 154 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Governor Jay Inslee Office of the Governor PO Box 40002 Olympia, WA 98504-0002 Re: Lower Snake River Dams Benefit Replacement Draft Report Comments Dear Senator Murray and Governor Inslee, On behalf of the City of Port Angeles, I respectfully urge you to review and consider the following comments based on our review of the Lower Snake River Dam Benefit Replacement Draft Report. The City continues to encourage the removal of this infrastructure in support of regional environmental recovery. The City appreciates that the draft report conveys perspectives on how to replace the services currently provided by four dams on the Lower Snake River, and if those dams are removed,how to restore critically endangered salmon, steelhead and salmon-dependent Southern Resident orcas. The City is grateful for the opportunity to submit comments. We are suggesting the following information be taken into consideration during the comment period: • As our Congressman, Derek Kilmer has said, "...we have a moral obligation to effectively recover both salmon and Southern Resident Orca populations." • Sharing the North Olympic Peninsula with multiple Indian tribes,we recognize the nation's legal obligation to honor the fishing rights guaranteed to the Tribes under treaties signed with the U.S. government. • We also recognize that commercial fishermen and businesses relying on recreational fishing have suffered real harm from declines in salmon and steelhead numbers. • The City of Port Angeles municipal electric utility is committed to delivering reliable, affordable and clean energy, to our citizen owners. • Maintaining the status quo with the lower Snake dams in place will continue uncertainty about what resources BPA will have available to serve its utility customers and what its future costs of fish and wildlife recovery will be. Ongoing litigation would be a certainty. DocuSign Envelope ID: EFCAC45C-992F-413B-AB3B-ODE66D25B583 Page 2 July 11, 2022 Re: Lower Snake River Dams Benefit Replacement Draft Report Comments • While the draft report contains much valuable information,its summary of estimated costs of dam removal and replacement of the dams' services,needs to be balanced by an estimate of costs associated with keeping the lower Snake dams in place. It may well be that dam removal is the cheaper option. • ESA-listed Columbia-Snake Basin salmon and steelhead stocks, and salmon-dependent Southern Resident orcas, are genuinely in near-term peril of extinction. • For all listed salmon and steelhead populations that utilize the Snake River and its tributaries,the lower Snake dams are a primary source of endangerment. • There is broad agreement among salmon scientists that restoring a free-flowing lower Snake River is one essential component of a larger regional recovery strategy in order to prevent extinction and to recover abundant,harvestable Columbia Basin wild salmonid runs and support healthy southern Resident orca populations. • Replacement of the services these four dams now provide is feasible and affordable, can actually improve upon some of the existing services and can create new opportunities not available under the status quo approach. • The status quo is unsustainable. It has proven costly,illegal and inadequate, and it has perpetuated an atmosphere of uncertainty for all involved. As the draft clearly says, "Change in the Lower Snake River and the Columbia River System Is Inevitable". Thank you for this important opportunity for the City of Port Angeles to provide input on this important matter and please do not hesitate to reach out if you would like to discuss these points further. Sincerely, Qocusignea by- Mayor