Biden Administration Announces 10-Year Plan to Restore Salmon Populations, Considers Removing Snake River Dams

The plan includes a $1 billion investment for wild fish restoration and development of tribal clean energy infrastructure, but removal of the dams could increase carbon emissions and impact agriculture exports.

The Biden administration, in coordination with Native American tribes and environmental groups, has announced a 10-year plan to restore salmon populations in the Columbia River basin, which includes studies into the possibility of removing the Snake River basin’s four dams.
The agreement includes $1 billion for wild fish restoration and a plan to develop new clean energy power operated by tribes.
The Biden administration will also support the development of 1 to 3 gigawatts of tribal clean energy infrastructure through the Energy Department to replace the power generated by dams in the lower Snake River basin, should the government remove them.
The dams, constructed in the 1960s and 1970s, provide about 8% of the state's electricity, enough to serve millions of residents, and have a large total capacity of 3,000 megawatts.
Removing the dams would likely increase carbon emissions by up to 2.6 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of 421,000 passenger cars, and harm agriculture exports.