Newhouse hosts congressional dam tour

Rep. Dan Newhouse, speaking at the podium, is joined in front of the Ice Harbor Dam by representatives (left to right) Matt Rosendale, R.-Mont., Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and Marinnette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, following a tour of the dam and the powerhouse on Wednesday that highlighted the importance of the four lower Snake River dams to the Pacific Northwest.

Inside the powerhouse of the Ice Harbor Dam on Wednesday, where only turbine 1 is generating power, according to Army Corps of Engineers officials operating the dam. Workers at the dam are in the process of replacing turbine 3 with a new design intended to improve the survival prospects of fish that end up going through the power generating system.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Yakima, speaks with Alan Feister, a civilian manager with the Army Corps of Engineers, about the methods the corps has put in place at the Ice Harbor Dam to improve the survival prospects for salmon migrating upstream.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Yakima, speaks with Alan Feister, a civilian manager with the Army Corps of Engineers, about the methods the corps has put in place at the Ice Harbor Dam to improve the survival prospects for salmon migrating upstream.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Yakima, arrives Wednesday for a tour of the Ice Harbor Dam with California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson.

The spillway of the Ice Harbor Dam on Wednesday with the fish ladder in the back.

The Ice Harbor Dam spillway, with the six-unit powerhouse in the background.

The Ice Harbor Dam spillway, with the six-unit powerhouse in the background.