Page 3 - Scott Simms News Today

(The Center Square) – Four Pacific Northwest lawmakers are pressing the Biden administration for more answers on a possible settlement of long-standing litigation over federal dams on the lower Snake

The Biden administration quietly entered into confidential negotiations with a series of environmental groups who have advocated for tearing down vital dams in the Pacific Northwest.

Four Northwest Republican lawmakers asked the federal government to share details of “secretive negotiations” between the government and environmental groups that have called for the removal of dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.

In Oregon, many endorse opening the Willamette river dams and letting fish coast the natural current as the best way to avoid extinction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has other ideas.

Wash. Rep. Dan Newhouse argues it’s the administration’s goal to breach the Snake River dams in Eastern Washington.

Sep. 27—President Biden ordered federal agencies on Wednesday to prioritize restoring wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin, including the Snake River.

Aug. 26—Northwest utilities are spoiling for a fight with Canada over an aspect of the Columbia River Treaty that sends power generated in the U.S. to British Columbia.

The U.S. pays premium prices to buy the Canadian power during peak heating and cooling seasons.

SEATTLE — A high-stakes negotiation between the U.S. and Canadian governments is underway in Seattle this week over the future management of the Columbia River.

For 60 years, the Columbia River Treaty has guided how water from British Columbia flows downstream in Washington and Oregon, for flood control and hydropower. Parts of that agreement expire