The White House announced a $1 billion settlement agreement in its legal battle over 14 dams in the Pacific Northwest — including provisions geared toward the eventual removal of four of those structures — as it seeks to ensure the future of the region’s imperiled salmon and steelhead. The Biden administration will fund studies to determine how “transportation, irrigation and recreation services provided by the four Lower Snake River dams could be replaced,” at the same time the Energy Department works with Native American tribes to stand up new energy infrastructure in the region.

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