Dam Spill Changes Pt 1

I'm Bob Larson. It's like flushing money down the river. Those were the words chosen by U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse to describe the court mandated spill increase order that began last week on eight lower Snake and Columbia river dams.

Newhouse was joined in the Tri-Cities by representatives from several stake holders to express serious concerns ...

NEWHOUSE-1 = 12 ... "We're all here together to testify to the importance of maintaining the Columbia and the Snake Rivers system. But, unfortunately our dams and the clean energy that they provide are in jeopardy today."

Newhouse says water spilled over the dams can't be used to produce incespensived electricity, resulting in higher power bills ...

NEWHOUSE-3 = 22 ... "What's the impact of increasing spill or breaching the dams? What would that impact be? And, the response I got, I have to say, is pretty sobering. It has an estimated price tag of over $40-million in higher electricity rates from increasing spill in just this one year alone. To me, that's just totally unacceptable and avoidable."

And, he says this may not be the end of the assault ...

NEWHOUSE-4 = 14 ... "Today, we're standing here not just to say we will work together to prevent further spill increases and rising electricity rates due to this order, but we are working to save our dams from the prospect of being breached."

The order took affect last week after a ninth circuit court of appeal rejected an appeal of the order that more water must spill over dams to protect salmon migration.

More on what's being done tomorrow.