Simply removing four unneeded dams on Washington State’s Lower Snake River could save hundreds of millions of dollars at two out-of-control federal agencies. Instead, they want to waste more money in a doomed effort to fix the problems their dams created – all so Idaho can have its own seaport.

Removing the dams is an astoundingly simple plan that has gained mainstream support. In 1997, the Idaho Statesman newspaper ran a series concluding that breaching the dams would boost both the economy and the fish. The New York Times, Newsweek, and others have also reported favorably.

There is broad agreement that the four existing dams are driving economically valuable salmon toward extinction. What to do?

Two of the granddaddies of government waste — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bonneville Power Administration – say the answer is to spend more than $400 million over five years to gold-plate the current system. It features collecting baby salmon and carrying them by barge down past the generating turbines that otherwise turn salmon to mousse. And these expenses would continue forever.

But biologists say these boat rides for fish hurt their health and aren’t working. Hence the obvious alternative: remove the four dams. Then let the fish swim instead of getting a government-sponsored ride!

Here’s how to bust the dams: Each of these four small dams is part earthen. Poke a hole in the dirt and let the river run free. Each dam also has a concrete lock for barges and turbines for electricity. Leave those to rust and crumble. Up and down the river, help it adjust to flowing free again.

It’s politically doable. The dams don’t control floods or store irrigation water. Only with a massive taxpayer subsidy do the dams make it viable for barges to navigate from the Pacific Ocean to Idaho. But most Idaho farm products travel by rail or truck; barges and dams aren’t necessary. Finally, the dams generate heavily-subsidized electricity for Northwesterners, but many say they’d pay more if it saved salmon.