Lower Snake River - Impact Area Special Groups

Participating stakeholders will discuss, update and finalize this section. The Group’s objective is to discuss solutions on how to restore the Snake River while also meeting the impact area needs and, most times, improving on what is thought to be possible today. To add your voice, to discuss your concerns and to collaborate on a mutual solution, please Join Us.

Irrigation Experts - Call to Action

We have the opportunity to transform our irrigation practices by leveraging modern knowledge and technologies developed since the dams were built in the 1960s. Through collaboration, we call on all Irrigation experts to address the challenges with the urgency required to modernize our agricultural systems and restore the NW ecosystem for future generations. Increased droughts pose a challenge to reliable and sufficient irrigation from reservoirs.

Evaluate the feasibility and economic impact of alternative irrigation methods to replace those currently dependent on dam reservoirs, ensuring they meet regional needs efficiently.
Identify increased irrigation costs and logistical challenges that will arise from dam breaching, including the opportunity for additional investments in sustainable irrigation infrastructure. Call for immediate prioritization.
Consider phased approaches and innovative solutions to transition smoothly from dam-dependent irrigation to alternative methods, minimizing disruption to agricultural productivity.
Address the environmental impact of increased groundwater extraction and alternative water sources, including potential effects on aquifers and soil health, and explore sustainable practices to mitigate these effects.

By uniting our expertise, we can develop a comprehensive plan supporting both agricultural sustainability and ecological restoration.

Challenges & Benefits - Irrigation

A subset of topics included as starter - additional to be added by workstream leads and collaborators

Authoritatively, the Lower Snake River Juvenile Salmon Migration FS/EIS (2002 EIS) that governs the Lower LSR dams tells us that taxpayers and BPA ratepayers need not compensate irrigators for a loss of 80-feet pumping head, consequent to LSR Dam breaching. If not funded through Congress, then the State of Washington is welcome to do so.
“If a natural River is selected, Congress may or may not choose to fund these non-Federal modifications.” (CRSO EIS, Appendix D, Chapter 8)
That same 2002 EIS estimates that continuing to pump irrigation water to 36 farmers on Ice Harbor pool (after LSR breaching, 80-feet of additional pumping head would be required):
$436 million = Direct cost 267 + Contingency $100 + Escalation $69. Ref. Appendix D. See high level recap or Chapter 8: Non-federal Modifications for details.
Columbia/Snake River Irrigators provides a much lower estimate for continuing to pump irrigation to farmers:
$92-184 million for direct station-by-station reconstruction costs for around 92,500 irrigated acres served by the Ice Harbor and Upper McNary Pools.
Yet lower, is an estimated by engineer Rob Sampson, A brief review of the impacts to irrigated farmland from breaching the four dams on Lower Snake River:
$18 million providing an installed price for pipes and pumps for the 80-feet of additional pumping head for irrigators on Ice Harbor pool.
Washington State’s score for United States Sustainable Development Goals is 58.1%. Of 17 overall goals, breaching the four Lower Snake River dams will have a positive impact on the 3 below.