I’m Bob Larson. Pacific Northwest salmon and dams on the Snake and Columbia rivers … Can they co-exist? That was the question at a recent hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee held in Pasco.

U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse says the testimony came from people on both sides of the argument …

NEWHOUSE … “As we have these important pieces of infrastructure in the Snake and Columbia River dams that provide us with so many benefits that drive our economy from clean, renewable, carbon-free power to irrigation water to transportation and recreational opportunities to flood control, all of those things, we can do those and still allow and provide for the Pacific Northwest salmon, which is an iconic species, to be able to continue to exist as well.”

Newhouse says a lot of work has been done on the dams to allow fish passage …

NEWHOUSE … “Success rates of fish passing through the dams is very high in the 90 percent area in so that a lot of testimony that would help make the case that we can continue to operate these dams in an efficient, environmentally sound way, and still derive the benefits that they provide to us.”

Worries for hydropower supporters have grown after a 2016 decision by a U.S. judge to overturn a bipartisan operating plan for the dams negotiated by scientists and other experts.

Listen tomorrow for more on the hearing and the judge’s decision.