Why I Think The Columbia River Should Be Natralized

           Columbia River Dams

   I think that the Columbia River should be naturalized.

  

 There are many dams along the Columbia River. Dams make it hard for salmon to return up river to lay their eggs, and for the young salmon going to the ocean. The backwaters of dams create unnatural water temperatures. When there is unnatural water temperatures salmon get sick. Some dams have fish ladders, which sometimes allow adult salmon and steelhead to travel through the dams. But, most of the time young salmon get stuck in the turbines and never make it to the  ocean. Only 8 out of the 14 dams on the Columbia River have fish ladders. Some salmon are becoming endangered.

 When construction on The Dalles Dam was completed March 10 1957 the backwaters flooded Celilo Falls. The water turned into what is now known as Celilo Lake. Native Americans have fished at Celilo falls for about 11,000 years. Other tribes would also travel there to trade and fish. When Celilo Falls was covered by water it also covered two ancient Native American villages, Wayam was on the Oregon side and S’kin was on the Washington side. In the late spring and summer native Americans would travel to Celilo Falls. The government and members of the Warm Springs, Yakama, Umatilla, and Nez Perce tribes negotiated a settlement of $26.8 million to ‘make up’ for the loss of their fishing site. The government tried to get the Wyam people who lived on a settlement to move to land on the Warm Springs Reservation. The settlement was also known as Celilo village. But many of their people refused to move from their home. The village was moved to old army barracks on a 40 acre property. The river is unreachable from their new village, it is separated by a highway, railroad tracks, bad wells and awful sewage treatment. In the 1980s Congress authorized the creation of nearly 30 treaty fishing sites near Celilo Lake where Native Americans could establish fish camps and put their boats in. And in 2007, the 50th anniversary of the dam's completion, the government renovated Celilo Village, spending $14 million to build a new 7,000 square foot longhouse, new homes for tribal families, and new wells and wastewater treatment facilities. Despite the renovations made, treaties when not kept. An important livelihood still remains underwater.

 The Dams on the Columbia River should be removed to restore salmon populations and bring back Celilo Falls. If the dams are removed salmon will be able to travel the river naturally, and native Americans will have their cultural fishing place back. All though dams are an energy source and allow goods to travel up and down river they also kill thousands of salmon each year. Dams hurt the indigenous people’s way of life by robing them of their fishing site. I think we can find others ways of providing energy like wind turbines and solar panels. Products could be traveled by train instead of barge. I believe we should bring back Celilo Falls.

Sources: historylink.org