The City of Seattle is seeking a 50-year federal license for its Skagit dams, likely our last opportunity to require that Seattle help save Skagit salmon and steelhead from extinction.

Over the past couple decades, Seattle has contributed roughly 59 times less per megawatt to Skagit fisheries than our local power utility. Now, Seattle has pulled our community into a contentious federal process in an effort to avoid an equitable contribution.

We write to propose a better path forward.

There are five federally-licensed dams on the Skagit system – two owned by local power provider Puget...