And a new poll says a majority of voters in Washington want the dams removed … Republicans included
Voting bloc: Lower Granite Dam is one of four dams on the Snake River that loom large in 2022 elections. Photo CC/NikonFDSLR
By Chuck Thompson. October 11, 2021. Earlier this year, Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson (R) made news when he unveiled a $33 billion federal infrastructure plan to breach four controversial dams on the Lower Snake River. The plan would help restore salmon habitat and spur economic development.
“In the end we realize there is no viable plan that can allow us to keep the dams in place,” said Simpson of his idea in February. “We can create a Northwest solution that ends the salmon wars and puts the Northwest and our energy systems on a certain, secure and viable path for decades and restores Idaho’s salmon.”
Now one of Simpson’s longtime political rivals, attorney Bryan Smith of Idaho Falls, says he’ll use the issue to unseat the veteran member of Congress in their 2022 Republican primary.
“I believe that this issue will be the dividing issue that will help me win this race,” Smith told the Idaho Statesman in a story published Oct. 10.
MORE: 140 Miles: Snake River stranglehold explained
Smith predicted Simpson’s “anti-Trump” voting record would contribute to his undoing in Idaho. He also said the dams proposal proves Simpson “has now joined with these radical environmentalists, and he wants to breach these four dams on the Lower Snake River.”
Simpson was first elected to the U.S. House in 1998. Running to the right of incumbent, fellow Republican Smith lost a primary challenge to Simpson in 2014.
Dams hot potato in Washington, too
Meanwhile, a new poll out of Washington, the state in which the four dams are actually located, says 59% of voters support removing the dams.
“This plan garners majority support among Democrats (71%) and independents (55%), with support even outstripping opposition among Republicans (44% favor to 42% oppose),” according to the poll summary. “There is significant support for dam removal to protect salmon across the state, with 63% in the Seattle market and 47% in Eastern Washington favoring the plan.”
Hot buttons: Red dots indicate dams. Ice Harbor is the first of four just past the confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers that would be breached if Simpson’s plan is enacted. Courtesy USACE
The poll of 800 registered voters in Washington was conducted in July by the Washington, D.C.-based Mellman Group and paid for by the California-based Water Foundation.
Whether or not it actually swings elections in either state, aside from climate change, breaching the Snake River dams is certain to be the hottest regional environmental issue in elections across the Columbia River Basin in 2022.
Chuck Thompson is editor of Columbia Insight.
