REPORTS
REPORTS IN HER ONGOING INVESTIGATION SKAGIT RIVER OF LIGHT AND LOS THIS IS THE
STORY OF THE POWER OF A RIVER
WHEN SHE STARTED BUILDING DAMS
IN THE SHADOW OF RIVER MORE
THAN 100 YEARS AGO.
NOBODY WAS TOO WORRIED ABOUT
SALMON.
THE PROJECT WAS A WIN COST
EFFECTIVE HYDROELECTRICITY FOR
THE PEOPLE OF SEATTLE.
ALL ABOARD LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
IS GOING TO TAKE YOU FOUR AND A
HALF MILES BACK INTO THE
MOUNTAINS.
THE OPERATION WAS AN
ENGINEERING MARVEL.
TOURISTS FLOCKED TO SEE IT.
THERE IS ROSTAM, ONE OF THE
HIGHEST IN THE WORLD.
BUT IN THE 80S A BIG CHANGE
CONGRESS PASSED A LAW MANDATING
DAM OPERATORS MUST THINK NOT
ONLY ABOUT GENERATING POWER BUT
ALSO HOW THEIR
HURT
HURT FISH
HURT FISH AND WILDLIFE AND FIX IT IF NECESSARY BUILD A SYSTEM TO
HELP FISH GET OVER THEIR DAMS.
BUT SEATTLE DIDN'T ENGINEER ANY
HELP TO GET FISH OVER THEIR
DAMS BECAUSE THEY LUCKED OUT.
THEY HELD UP SIGNS SHOWING BY
COINCIDENCE THEIR DAMS WERE
BUILT IN A PERFECT PLACE WHERE
FISH COULDN'T MIGRATE ANYWAY.
WE THINK WE'VE LOOKED AT THE
DATA OBJECTIVELY.
JEFF FISHER IS SITILIDES SENIOR
AQUATIC ECOLOGIST.
IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS HE AND
OTHER CITY OFFICIALS AGREED TO
STUDY THE IDEA OF FISH PASSAGE
FOR WHAT ARE KNOWN AS ANATOMIES
FISH LIKE SALMON SPECIES THAT
GO OUT TO SEA AND COME BACK TO
THE RIVER TO SPAWN AT THE SAME
TIME, HE WROTE BASED ON THE
CITY'S SCIENCE AND NATOMA'S
FISH ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THEIR
OPERATION.
THOSE REPORTS THEY ESSENTIALLY
ARE ONE OF THE LINES
OF EVIDENCE THAT INDICATE THAT
THERE WAS NO OBSERVATIONS
OF ANONYMOUS FISH NANIWA SALMON
OR STEELHEAD IN THE UPPER BASS
AND THE KING 5 INVESTIGATORS
HAVE FOUND THE CITY HAS BEEN
HANGING ITS HAT ON THIS SCIENCE
TWO STUDIES THE UTILITY PAID
FOR 33 YEARS AGO AND THIS ONE
FROM 100 YEARS AGO SMITH AND
ANDERSON 1921 SMITH ANDERSON
AND AROUND THE SKAGIT AND
OBSERVED LOW FALLS AND RAPIDS
IT COULD STOP SALMON AND LOCALS
TOLD THEM THEY'D NEVER SEEN
SALMON MORE THAN A MILE ABOVE
WHAT IS NOW THE TOWN OF NEW
HALEM.
THEIR STUDY FROM 1988 INCLUDES
INTERVIEWS WITH HOMESTEADERS
SUCH AS GLYN DAVIS WHO SAID
THERE'S AN AWFUL LOT OF RAPIDS
BELOW THE DAMS AND SALMON NEVER
MAKE IT TO A PLACE LIKE THAT.
STUDY AUTHORS ALSO INTERVIEWED
A SEATTLE CITY LIGHT TRAIN
CONDUCTOR WHO SAID TO THE BEST
OF HIS KNOWLEDGE ONLY A FEW
STEELHEAD HAVE EVER MADE IT
PAST THE BARRIERS IN THE RIVER.
IS THAT THE KIND OF SCIENCE YOU
THINK YOU SHOULD BE RELYING ON
WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT AS A
SPECIES DIFFERENT SPECIES
OF FISH THAT ARE HEADED TOWARD
EXTINCTION?
ABSOLUTELY.
EXTINCTION? ABSOLUTELY. IT'S IMPORTANT TO BE
INTERVIEWING THE LOCAL CITIZENS
THAT ARE LIVING IN THE BASIN
AND THAT HAVE SOME SOME HISTORY
AND UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WHAT
WAS THERE A HUNDRED YEARS LATER
WE CAN DO BETTER.
TOM O'KEEFE IS AN AQUATIC
ECOLOGIST WHO ALSO SITS ON THE
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY BOARD
FOR SEATTLE CITY LIGHT.
WE NEED TO SHIFT FROM THIS
PLACE OF JUST LOOKING STORIES
FROM 100 YEARS AGO AND PIVOT TO
A MODERN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW
FISH MOVING UP OR DOWN RIVER
SYSTEMS AND WHAT WE NEED TO DO
TO QUANTIFY.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE
SCIENCE THEY'RE USING?
IT'S NO GOOD.
IT'S OLD.
IT'S NOT TRUE.
JOHN PAUL SHANNAHAN IS A TOP
BIOLOGIST FOR THE UPPER SKAGIT
INDIAN TRIBE.
HE SAYS NEW SCIENCE COULD BE
EXPENSIVE FOR THE CITY BUILDING
A WAY TO HELP FISH GET OVER
THEIR DAMS WOULD COST MILLIONS
OF DOLLARS.
IT MAKES ME ANGRY BECAUSE WE'RE
NOT USING SCIENCE.
WE'RE USING FINANCIAL
INCENTIVES.
THIS IS WHERE CITY FOR YEARS
HAS SAID THEIR SCIENCE
CONCLUDES THE LANDSCAPE IS SO
ROUGH FISH CAN'T USE THIS
HABITAT ANYWAY MAKING IT
HARMLESS TO LET THE RIVER GO
COMPLETELY DRY, LEAVING TWO AND
A HALF MILE STRETCH OF THE
SKAGIT RIVER WITH NO RIVER IN
IT.
WHY IS THAT?
THE UTILITY BLESS THE RIVER
THROUGH A MOUNTAIN A MANMADE
TUNNEL 11000 YARDS LONG
CREATING MORE FOREST AND
ELECTRICITY AS WATER HITS THE
POWER PLANT BELOW.
BUT ONCE IN A WHILE FOR
MAINTENANCE REASONS OR WHEN
THERE'S A TON OF RAIN THE
UTILITY DOES THIS THEY SPILL
WATER INTO THE DRY RIVERBED
BELOW AND IN THE LAST FEW YEARS
WHEN THAT'S HAPPENED, GUESS
WHAT TRIBAL AND GOVERNMENT
SCIENTISTS HAVE SEEN THEIR AT
THAT BEAUTIFUL.
THAT'S RIGHT.
FISH THAT'S 20.
CELL PHONE VIDEO OF A CHINOOK
SALMON SPAWNING IN THE RIVER
WHERE NORMALLY SATELLITE
DOESN'T ALLOW THE RIVER TO BE
AND IN 2016 GOVERNMENT
BIOLOGISTS SNORKELING SPOTTED
THIS A STEELHEAD SWIMMING IN A
PLACE IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE
ABLE TO GET TO.
IT WAS HUGE.
I MEAN IT'S A IT'S A COMPLETE
AND UTTER GAME CHANGER.
IT FACILITATED A LOT
OF CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WHAT WE
KNOW AND WHAT WE DON'T KNOW AND
WHAT SCIENCE AND WHAT'S
FOLKLORE AND IT'S YEAH, IT'S A
IT WAS A BIG DAY.
THE CITY HOLDS UP ONE MORE
PIECE OF SCIENCE TO SHOW THEIR
DAMS AREN'T DAMAGING SALMON
THIS 2019 GENETIC STUDY BY
SCIENTISTS FROM U.S. FISH AND
WILDLIFE AND SEATTLE SATELLITE
WHO PAID FOR IT.
THEIR WORK SHOWS BARRIERS
LIKELY PREVENTED FISH PASSAGE
LONG BEFORE THE DAMS EXISTED.
BUT A SLEW OF GOVERNMENT
SCIENTISTS QUICKLY LINED UP
CRITICIZING THOSE RESULTS IN
PUBLIC RECORDS.
THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SAID
THIS IS AN ARTIFICIAL NARRATIVE
CONTRARY TO CURRENT STATE THE
SCIENCE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE
WROTE IT DOESN'T SHOW THE FULL
PICTURE AND THE STATE
DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
SLAMMED IT, SAYING THE REPORT
IS LADEN WITH INADEQUACIES AND
DOESN'T FORM ANY REALISTIC
CONCLUSIONS.
YES, SCIENTISTS CAN DISAGREE
AND THEY DISAGREE ALL THE TIME
.
NO ONE DISAGREES THAT MANY
FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO SALMON
DISAPPEARING ON THE SKAGIT
OCEAN CONDITIONS CLIMATE CHANGE
DEVELOPMENT PREDATORS.
AS FOR SEATTLE GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES AND TRIBES SAY THEY
JUST WANT THE CITY TO DO ITS
PART.
WE'RE NOT TRYING TO BLAME
EVERYTHING ON THEM THAT
WOULDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE BUT
WE'RE ASKING THEM TO COME TO
THE TABLE TO IDENTIFY THEIR OWN
IMPACTS AND HELP US FIX IT.
THOSE DAMS ON THE SKAGIT RIVER
PROVIDE ALMOST 20 PERCENT
OF THE ELECTRICITY HERE IN
SEATTLE AND THAT'S A GOOD THING
IN THE WAY THAT IT'S
CARBON NEUTRAL.
HYDROPOWER DOESN'T CAUSE AIR
POLLUTION BUT THE TRIBES AND
THOSE GOVERNMENT REGULATORS ARE
SAYING HEY, SEATTLE, WE'D LIKE
YOU TO ADD SOME ADDITIONAL
MITIGATION EFFORTS TO MAKE UP