But the Public Power Council (PPC<\/a>) and Eastern Washington interests who rely on the four Snake River dams in Eastern Washington were not celebrating.<\/p>\n \u201cPPC is disappointed that the court adopted a sweeping operation injunction that will materially affect the region\u2019s clean hydropower system and the millions of people who depend on it,\u201d said Scott Simms, PPC\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Columbia River system already operates under some of the post protective fish measures in the nation, and public power utilities have invested billions of dollars over decades to support salmon recovery while producing reliable and affordable electricity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The federal lawsuit was on hold after the Biden administration reached an agreement to study dam removal on the Snake Rive<\/a>r while funding salmon recovery efforts and tribal renewable energy projects.<\/p>\n But the lawsuit resulted after President Donald Trump\u2019s executive order<\/a> in June 2025 that torpedoed the agreement.<\/p>\n The Biden administration agreement stopped short of a federal decision to remove the dams, but opponents of removing or breaching the lower Snake River dams called it a roadmap to breaching them.<\/p>\n \u2018Dams remain under attack\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cOur dams remain under attack,\u201d said Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., after the judge\u2019s order. \u201c… Once again, environmental activists are using judicial allies to threaten our hydroelectric system, which provides clean, baseload energy to millions in our region.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that salmon and dams are coexisting and that he remains committed to ensuring the hydroelectric dams have the resources needed to improve fish passage while spilling less water over the dams.<\/p>\n The judge\u2019s spill decision, along with lower reservoir levels, will have system-wide implications across the 465-navigation channel through eight lock and dam projects, according to the Inland Ports and Navigation Group.<\/p>\n Those lock and dam systems allow more than 60% of Washington wheat exports to be barged and the region to lead the nation in development strong international trade relationships, according to the Washington Association of Wheat Growers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Barging is the most efficient and lowest-emission transportation option for Northwest agriculture and commerce because it reduces truck and rail congestion, enhances transportation safety and is most protective of the environment, the inland ports group said.<\/p>\n The court\u2019s emergency order, while adopting most of the operational changes requested by the plaintiffs, did incorporate some reasonable operational approaches, according to the Public Power Council.<\/p>\n The judge ordered reservoir elevations in line with 2025 operating levels, which provide a larger operating range than the plaintiffs requested. And it adopted a summer spill regime at Ice Harbor Dam near the Tri-Cities proposed by the power council.<\/p>\n \u201cThese limited acknowledgements, however, do not offset the broader impacts this decision could have on the region\u2019s power supply, transmission operations, greenhouse gas emissions and customer costs,\u201d Simms said.<\/p>\n Water spills at Lower Granite Dam, one of the four dams on the lower Snake River in Eastern Washington. File Tri-City Herald <\/p>\n
Protesters march through downtown Tacoma to advocate for the removal of the Snake River dams in March 2022. Cheyenne Boone The News Tribune <\/p>\n