NEWPORT, Ore. — People in blazers and strapped-on booties waded through the dark intake tunnel of a dam, flashlights in hand, stirring rust-colored silt into the water. Spiders and large black crickets scurried across the wet walls. And water trickled from seepage holes — vulnerable breakage points inside the tunnel.

“This is the stuff nightmares are made of,” said Jenny Dresler, grassroots director of the Public Affairs Council.

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