Controversial Snake River Dam study underway

Information-gathering has begun for a report on the affects of keeping, or tearing down, the Snake River dams.

Jim Cahill with the state Office of Financial Management updated the timeline Monday at a meeting of the South Resident Orca Task Force in Port Angeles. He says a draft report will be done by December, with public hearings coming soon afterwards...and a final report due to the Governor and the Legislature in February.

"That is intended to time with the expected Environmental Impact Statement by the Corp of Engineers, BPA, and Bureau of Reclamation, who is also looking at the operations of the dams on the Columbia River system and will be making recommendations at that point", Cahill noted.

"The goal is not to develop a mitigation option here. We are trying to gather information on what stakeholders, communities and others feel are important things we need to consider, or possible mitigation options, but we are not trying to develop mitigation option of a breaching or removal recommendation at this time."

One of the public hearings will be in Vancouver, while the other will be EITHER in the Tri-Cities or Clarkston.