Saving Snake River dams
With the possibility of breaching dams on the Snake River in eastern Washington, farmers and cooperative officials say dam removal would devastate agriculture and communities. The dams were built between 1955 and 1975 to provide safe, efficient river navigation; clean, renewable hydropower; irrigation; and recreation opportunities. But the dams have contributed to a drop in salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia River Basin, which includes the Snake River, despite efforts to help fish migrate from the ocean upstream to spawn and back again.