Excerpts: The Columbia-Snake River System (CSRS) provides an efficient and sustainable way to move agricultural products and other commodities from Idaho, Washington, and Oregon to global markets. Understanding the CSRS’s importance in agricultural trade is crucial for shipping, planning, and investment decisions. Such intelligent management of the CSRS is vital to preserving its function as a resilient, competitive transportation network and sustaining local economies that depend on it. This research assesses how changes in operating efficiency resulting from various levels of investment in CSRS infrastructure affect the Pacific Northwest’s shipping costs and regional economy. This research complements previous research, “The Importance of Inland Waterways to U.S. Agriculture,” which focused exclusively on the Mississippi River System (MRS).