NW energy security act

TO THE HONORABLE DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 1
AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF 2
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF 3
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO 4
THE HONORABLE J.D. VANCE, THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF 5
AMERICA: 6
We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of 7
the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, 8
respectfully represent and petition as follows: 9
WHEREAS, The United States Army Corps of Engineers was authorized 10
to construct, operate, and maintain four dams on the lower Snake 11
River for navigation, hydropower, fish and wildlife conservation, and 12
recreation; and 13
WHEREAS, The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is responsible 14
for marketing and transmitting the hydroelectric power generated by 15
the dams on the lower Snake River; and 16
WHEREAS, The lower Snake River dams' electricity output accounts 17
for a significant percentage of BPA's peaking capacity, according to 18
BPA; and 19
WHEREAS, The electricity produced by the lower Snake River dams 20
is essential to meeting the goals set forth in Washington's Clean 21
Energy Transformation Act; and 22
S-0932.1
SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8010
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senator Boehnke
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WHEREAS, The lower Snake River dams provide for supplies of water 1
that are used for irrigating vast tracts of land in Washington, 2
thereby supporting the state's critical agricultural sector; and3
WHEREAS, The lower Snake River dams facilitate the transport of 4
an average of 4,200,000 short tons of commodities, including exports, 5
each year; and 6
WHEREAS, Breaching the lower Snake River dams would eliminate all 7
barge navigation between the Tri-Cities and Clarkston, causing the 8
transportation of commodities to shift to rail and trucking networks; 9
and 10
WHEREAS, Barging on the Snake River is the most efficient and 11
environmentally friendly mode of commodity transportation because a 12
typical four-barge tow can move the same amount of cargo as 140 13
railcars or 538 semi-trucks; and 14
WHEREAS, The flatwater reservoirs and locks system resulting from 15
the lower Snake River dams provides a diverse range of recreational 16
opportunities and enables cruise boats to navigate between Tri-Cities 17
and Clarkston; and 18
WHEREAS, Continuous configuration and operations improvements, 19
including enhanced fish passage, have led to progressively higher 20
salmon and steelhead counts at the dams over time; and21
WHEREAS, The federal agency responsible for operating the dams 22
published a Record of Decision in 2020 identifying a preferred 23
alternative operation strategy that would benefit fish without 24
breaching the four lower Snake River dams; and 25
WHEREAS, Breaching any dam on the lower Snake River would 26
severely diminish hydroelectric power generation, irrigation, 27
navigation, recreation, agriculture, tourism, and fish and wildlife 28
benefits the dams currently provide to the people of Washington; and29
WHEREAS, S.182, "A bill to provide for operations of the Federal 30
Columbia River Power System pursuant to a certain operation plan for 31
a specified period of time, and for other purposes," also known as 32
the Northwest Energy Security Act, was recently introduced in the 33
United States Senate; and 34
WHEREAS, The Northwest Energy Security Act directs that the 35
Federal Columbia River Power System, which includes the lower Snake 36
River dams, must be operated in a manner consistent with the 2020 37
Record of Decision, also known as the Supplemental Opinion; and38
WHEREAS, The Northwest Energy Security Act prohibits any 39
structural modification, action, study, or engineering plan, that 40
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restricts electrical generation at any Federal Columbia River Power 1
System hydroelectric dam, or that limits navigation on the Snake 2
River in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho, unless such proposal is 3
specifically and expressly authorized by a later-enacted federal 4
statute; and 5
WHEREAS, The Washington State Legislature recognizes the 6
importance of the lower Snake River dams and the entire Federal 7
Columbia River Power System for the security and prosperity of the 8
state and expresses its concern that breaching any dam in the system 9
will be to the detriment of the State of Washington;10
NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that you pass 11
and approve S.182, the Northwest Energy Security Act.12
BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately 13
transmitted to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of the United 14
States, the Honorable J.D. Vance, Vice President of the United 15
States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 16
House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State 17
of Washington. 18
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