The Columbia/Snake River system is the largest wheat export gateway in the U.S. Almost half of the wheat exports arrive by barges moving through the Columbia/Snake River system. It is estimated that each year over 3.5M (4.2M in 2020) metric tons of commodities currently move through the lower Snake River locks.
The Pacific Northwest Waterways Association engaged our team on behalf of ports along the Columbia River and Snake River to quantify the economic impact of removing four dams along the lower Snake River. We conducted a USDOT compliant benefit cost analysis (BCA) to determine the net impact dam removal would have on regional and national transportation costs, air qualify, safety, water utilities, recreation and agricultural production.
In 1945, Congress authorized construction of four Lower Snake dams (Lower Granite, Little Goose, Lower Monumental, and Ice harbor) as multiple-purpose projects to serve the Northwest’s growing economy. The main objective of these dams was and continues to be the creation of hydropower, improve transportation of freight (via river barge shipping for commodities moving from farms to domestic and global markets) and to provide an adequate water table for irrigating the dusty but productive farmland along the Snake River. The four LSR locks and their dams were erected between 1957 and 1975 by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Our team found that removal of Lower Snake River Dams will cost the nation $8.1B over 30 years. This equates to a net present value of $4.2B (30-year analysis at standard 7.0% annual discount rate). In addition, removal of the LSR locks would have detrimental economic, climate and social justice impacts for the nation, Native American tribes, local governments, property owners, farmers and businesses in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
The findings presented to the client indicated that removal of the dams would fundamentally change the economic landscape of this tri-state region by eliminating the river barge freight transportation option and reducing the groundwater that over 7,640 farms in Washington, Oregon and Idaho depend on.