SPOKANE — Indian tribes from Washington and Idaho who live near the upper Columbia River are beginning a study of whether salmon runs can be restored above Grand Coulee Dam, which blocked those runs more than 70 years ago.
The tribes want to study what it would take to restore salmon runs to the 100 river miles between the dam, the nation’s greatest producer of hydropower, and the U.S.-Canadian border.
The study proposal was released this week by the Upper Columbia United Tribes, which represents the Colville, Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Kalispel and Kootenai tribes of Idaho and Washington.
“Grand Coulee Dam should have been built with fish passage,” said John Osborn of Spokane, a leader of the local Sierra Club chapter who supports the return of the salmon. “Justice and stewardship compel us to return salmon to these rivers.”
D.R. Michel, executive director for the Upper Columbia United Tribes, said the return of salmon would restore tribal cultural and religious experiences, plus provide new revenues for the tribes.
“Since time immemorial, the creator gave all the Columbia River Basin tribes the responsibility to protect the water, fish and wildlife within their geographic areas,” the study proposal said.
The loss of salmon runs damaged the tribes’ “spiritual connection and identity,” the proposal said. “The removal of an iconic species from the ecosystem greatly impacted forest growth, water quality, Native American culture and the entire food chain.”
Salmon runs on the upper Columbia and its tributaries were blocked first by Grand Coulee Dam, which was built in the 1930s, and later by Chief Joseph Dam, which was built downstream in the 1950s. Both dams were built without fish ladders, and killed a 10,000-year-old Native American fishery.
The tribes have sent the study proposal to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council in Portland. The tribes will collect comments over the next 30 days before deciding how to proceed.
Major questions include whether salmon could survive in the greatly changed habitat above the dams. Tom Karier of the power and conservation council said researchers would have to confirm that salmon could survive before any restoration effort could begin.
While many dams on the lower Columbia and Snake rivers have fish passage facilities, engineers could not include them when the 550-foot-tall Grand Coulee Dam was designed.
In addition to generating electricity, Grand Coulee Dam provides irrigation water for hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland in the region.
The study proposal is for only the U.S. side of the border. But some of the adult fish would likely swim into Canadian waters, and that could become an issue as the two countries renegotiate the 1964 Columbia River Treaty, which governs hydropower and flood control on the river.
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