Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has asked the Washington Legislature to allocate $10 million in its next session to develop detailed plans for replacing some of the benefits provided by the four lower Snake River dams.
The request, issued in December, is part of Inslee's proposed $872 million 2023-2025 budget to fund a wide range of actions related to salmon recovery.
About half the proposed $10 million allocation would go to the Washington State Department of Commerce to analyze replacing the energy generated by the lower Snake River dams. The Murray-Inslee Report, released in August 2022, determined that the four dams could not be removed until clean-energy alternatives are developed.
"This plan would lay out how to maintain the reliability and adequacy of the existing electrical power system, will be consistent with the Clean Energy Transformation Act, and can replace fossil fuels currently used in the transportation, industry and building sectors," Inslee's budget outline states.
The other half of the $10 million would help the Washington State Department of Transportation to analyze highway, road and freight rail transportation that would be needed to transport goods currently barged through the lower Snake River. "This analysis will evaluate existing freight volumes and traffic patterns as well as infrastructure needs, including costs, if the dams were removed," the outline states.
Also proposed is $3 million to support efforts by the Upper Columbia United Tribes to reintroduce salmon above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee dams.
Other funding requests include $1.5 million for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to reduce sea lion predation in the Columbia Basin, and $12.7 million to research, track and strategize the elimination of 6PPD—a chemical in automobile tires that breaks down to a substance that harms salmon.
Numerous other funding requests range from restoring riparian habitat and managing water supplies to addressing predation on salmon and food web issues.
The budget proposal for salmon recovery says it was developed following Inslee's 2021 decision to outline new and urgent investments to protect and restore salmon, steelhead and trout populations across the state. A work plan was finalized in November.
"The governor now proposes the strongest suite of budget and policy initiatives in Washington's history to help protect and restore vital salmon habitat and restore salmon populations," the budget proposal states.
