Rep. Newhouse defends lower Snake River Dams, highlights benefits during Tri-Cities visit

Representative Dan Newhouse is visiting the Tri-Cities today talking on the long contentious subject of the Lower Snake River Dams. We caught up with him at Ice Harbor Dam. He tells us he believes the dams are vital to Central Washington.

This morning, joined by House Committee on Natural Resources members, the congressman toured Ice Harbor Dam. Newhouse says the four lower Snake Dams are a lifeblood for energy, agriculture, and the transportation of goods in the region.

In recent years, support has grown in favor of tearing down the dams. Scientists, tribes, and anglers argue the four dams destroyed the area's salmon and steelhead population.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, (R) WA, says. "The truth is, the returns of the salmon have been improving, they've been increasing, and that is with these dams in place."

Newhouse and his constituents argue there is no scientific evidence that removing the dams would bring back the salmon population, and say the problem lies in pollution of the Puget Sound and larger environmental issues in the oceans.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, (R) WA, says. "We saw today, the fish-friendly turbines that are being installed here at ice harbor. New technology that will make these dams nearly transparent to fish."

And this afternoon, at Richland High School a congressional hearing on the benefits of the dam. We heard from experts around the area who all say the benefits of the four dams outweigh the costs.

Rick Dunn, General Manager for Benton Public Utility District, says. "As more intermittent and variable wind and solar are added to the grid, flexible and controllable technologies like hydro-dams will be even more critical for maintaining grid reliability across a wide range of weather and temperature conditions."

In March, Newhouse and McMorris introduced legislation the Northwest Energy Security Act to protect the dams. You can learn more, and listen to today’s hearing here.