hydropower

U.S. District Judge James Redden lauded the Obama Administration's tweaks to his predecessor's deficient plan for improving salmon runs along the dam-studded Columbia and Snake Rivers.

The Idaho Statesman reports Redden said just "a little bit of work" would be needed to win approval for the federal hydroelectric system's salmon recovery plan along those rivers, whose power lights up most of the Pacific Northwest, after more than 10 years in court.

But Redden also said that the legality of the plan -- known as the biological option or BioP -- could be challenged unless the Obama Administration formally adds its changes to the plan or puts the science behind them through public review.  The Endangered Species Act forces the government to study and mitigate the impact of its hydroelectric system on salmon.

The state of Oregon, the Spokane and Nez Perce tribes and environmentalists disagree with the plan, which wouldn't breach four Snake River dams that have ravaged salmon runs unless the salmon were right on the brink of extinction.  The states of Washington and Idaho and other tribes back the plan and its more than $1 billion in federal recovery efforts over the next decade.

The Oregonian reports the federal government is so intent on hording all the power produced by the dams that it doesn't want to continue spilling water over the tops during peak salmon runs, despite their proven success at helping recover salmon runs by easing their downstream passage.

In yesterday's post we described the eight-nation investigation that found the tactics employed to fight climate-change legislation in the United States are being used across several continents.

Today we think we've found a kind of perverse example, a situation that serves as a harbinger of the hard choices ahead:

In Laos, Living On Earth's Mary Stucky recently spotlighted a dam whose construction has buried 19 villages, displaced some 6,000 people and covered 174 square miles with water.

That's the human cost. Consider, though, that this region is one of those rich repositories of rare and largely unexplored species of plants and animals. In a recent 10-year period, more than 1,000 new species were discovered there, including a rat thought to be extinct for 11 million years; a hot-pink, cyanide-producing dragon; and a species of spider that's as big as a dinner plate, according to a report by the World Wildlife Fund. And the Mekong is the home of about 80 Irrawaddy dolphins, a species that is declining rapidly.

Stucky interviewed the World Wildlife Fund's Stuart Chapman, who -- after treating her to Loa delicacies such as the cricket -- discussed the affects of the dam construction in an area where the dolphins come to feed:

Opponents say the dam at Siphandone would devastate the remaining dolphins and affect fish catches dramatically. The World Wildlife Fund's Chapman says areas like Siphandone should be avoided but he supports allowing some dams in less sensitive places and wants to be sure people are provided with a way to make a living. 

OK, so what does this all have to do with climate change? Just this: These folks are in need of jobs and economic growth.