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Study: Breaching Dams Would Not Hurt Economies of Asotin, Nez Perce Counties by Eric Barker Lewiston Tribune, July 26, 2026

Reduction of regional hydropower generation and the elimination
of tug-and-barge shipping from Lewiston and Wilma may be costly

Members of the pro-breaching environmental group Idaho Rivers United will hold public meetings in Lewiston and Clarkston early next month to highlight an economic study that shows restoring the Snake River to its free-flowing state to save salmon won't damage the economies of Nez Perce and Asotin counties.

The study commissioned by the group was compiled by Headwaters Economics of Bozeman, Mont. It says Nez Perce and Asotin counties have not kept up with the economic growth of northern Idaho and eastern Washington. According to the study, the two counties lag behind the greater region in population growth, employment, per-capita income and poverty reduction. They have aging populations and are attracting new residents at about half the rate of the greater region. Because of that, the study argues removing the dams would not significantly disrupt the economies of the two counties. In addition, it says local economies near other dam-removal projects have seen per-capita income and nonlabor income growth and it projects the same type of growth would happen here if the dams were breached.

While challenging, the study says replacing the energy produced by the dams would lead to just a $1 to $2 per month estimated increase in electricity rates (bluefish corrects: monthly bills, not electricity rates) and is achievable with transition planning.

Whether the four dams in eastern Washington should be breached as the centerpiece of a salmon recovery strategy has been debated for more than three decades. Snake River spring chinook, fall chinook and steelhead are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and Snake River sockeye are listed as endangered. Breaching the dams would eliminate a key source of mortality for the fish on their journeys to and from the Pacific Ocean and boost abundance as much as four fold, according to some studies, but would reduce the regional output of the Columbia River hydropower system by about 900 average megawatts and end tug-and-barge shipping between Lewiston and the Tri-Cities that many farmers rely on.

The Lewiston meeting will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Lewiston City Library. The Clarkston meeting will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Red Wolf Golf Club. The report is available at bit.ly/4fajf71.

Government agencies, industry groups and conservation organizations have produced different economic studies focused on breaching over the years with a wide range of determinations. In 2020, the federal government in the waning days of the first Trump administration, said breaching the four dams on the Snake River would benefit the fish but the resulting reduction of regional hydropower generation and the elimination of tug-and-barge shipping between Lewiston and the Tri-Cities would be too costly.

The Biden administration was more open to breaching but never endorsed the strategy. Instead, it entered into an agreement with Snake and Columbia River Indian tribes and the states of Oregon and Washington that led to a pause in salmon-versus-dams litigation, and promised investments in salmon recovery and tribal renewable energy projects and funded and a series of studies on the best way to replace the hydropower, irrigation and commodity transportation made possible by the dams.

President Trump killed that deal after returning to office and the issue is now back in court.

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