"With the Yakama Nation wanting to protect migrating salmon, and the Grant County Public Utility District seeking to continue using two Columbia River dams to generate power, there might have been little hope for these two apparent adversaries reaching agreement. That explains in part why they had been negotiating for two decades.

But the difficult goal was reached Monday when officials representing the tribe and the utility district announced an agreement on managing the Wanapum and Priest Rapids dams upstream from the Tri-Cities and east of Yakima. Difficult as the journey was, the shared destination is an excellent example for other apparent adversaries.

The tribe is understandably excited about the commitment from the utility district to spend about $800 million over the next 50 years in fish-protection measures. That includes a $150 million project to be completed by 2012 that will replace 10 turbines at the Wanapum Dam with turbines that are more efficient (14 percent more power, good for the utility district) and kinder to the fish (survival rate increases from 93 percent to 97 percent, good for the Yakama Nation)."

Get the Story:
In Our View - Refreshing Attitude (The Columbian 8/17)

Relevant Links:
Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission - http://www.critfc.org

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