New Plan for Snake River Dams and Salmon

UNDATED (AP) — The Obama administration has offered its latest plan for making 14 hydroelectric dams that provide cheap electricity for the Northwest safe for salmon. The NOAA Fisheries Service on Monday released a 751-page draft of the court-ordered plan known as a biological opinion.

The last plan was struck down in 2011 for depending too much on habitat improvements and failing to consider the possibility of breaching four dams on the Snake River in Eastern Washington.

The new plan says that current dam operations are working fine, and habitat improvements are on track to be fully implemented by 2018. It does not consider the possibility of spilling more water over the dams to increase the survival of young salmon, or the possibility of breaching those four Snake River dams.