Understanding Unlikely Alliances on Snake River Dam Removal through a Political Ecology Lens

Keywords: Water governance, collaborative governance, unlikely alliances, salmon wars, dam removal, Snake River Basin, PNW
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 52

Abstract

Dams have come under increasing scrutiny, with dam removal proposals growing in recent decades primarily because of impacts on fish, yet dam removal proposals are frequently controversial since they impact different stakeholders in different ways. In the Pacific Northwest, the lower four Snake River dams have long been criticized for their negative impacts on salmon. US Congressman Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) has recently proposed a comprehensive framework to deconstruct the lower four Snake River dams. After decades of seemingly endless salmon wars, the initiative plans to redesign Idaho’s energy landscape, change transportation pathways, and save critically endangered salmon species. Yet some stakeholders who generally support dam removal have concerns about aspects of the plan, particularly an accompanying 35-year moratorium on environmental litigation. Different groups in the basin, including various tribal nations, irrigators associations, farmers, and advocacy groups have conflicting views, and have developed unlikely alliances to protect their livelihoods and fundamental values. Through a political ecology lens, I examine how and why unlikely alliances have formed, the power they yield, and under what circumstances they may last. I analyze over 20 semi-structured interviews and media documents published from the rollout of Simpson’s Columbia Basin Initiative to President Biden’s Infrastructure Package in August 2021. As dam removal proposals increase throughout the world, this critical look at place-based water conflict and stakeholder alliances sheds light on how water governance can adapt for a climate-resilient future.