Tribal members who have lived in decrepit fishing camps along the Columbia River could move into new houses soon.

The U.S. Senate approved a bill late Friday that provides housing at Bonneville Dam and money to figure out how many houses to build at the John Day Dam.

Tribal members have been waiting 80 years for the government to deliver on pledges to build permanent homes. Pacific Northwest lawmakers promised action this year after The Oregonian/OregonLive reported on squalid conditions in fishing villages.

Oregon lawmakers tucked funding for tribal housing into the Water Resources Development Act, which now heads to President Barack Obama's desk to become law. The act sets the U.S. Army Corps' budget priorities, and includes relief for the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan, among other things.

The bill directs the Corps to build 41 to 49 houses at Bonneville Dam for members of the Warm Springs, Yakama, Umatilla and Nez Perce tribes whom the dam displaced from the banks of the Columbia.

The provision also calls for the Army Corps to study how many people are owed homes around the John Day Dam.

Charles Hudson, director of government affairs for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, praised the passage. He called for a quick signature from the president.

"It allows an important regional infrastructure project to move forward with direct benefits to one of the Northwest's most vulnerable communities," Hudson said. "The bill is one of the rare and genuinely bipartisan pieces of legislation passed this Congress."

The homes in this bill are just a first step.

Oregon Democrats Rep. Earl Blumenauer and Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced several bills, or slipped provisions into others, ordering more houses, safety measures and better facilities at the fishing camps. None have passed both houses except for Friday's Water Resources and Development Act. The Corps already has authorization to build houses to replace what was lost when a third Columbia River dam, at The Dalles, was built.

When the Army Corps built the three dams, starting with Bonneville in 1937, the agency flooded fishing villages home to hundreds of members of the Warm Springs, Yakama, Umatilla and Nez Perce tribes. In November 2013, the federal government recognized that the Army Corps was supposed to replace those houses, but never did. And it still hasn't.

After The Oregonian/OregonLive reported on the camps where tribal fishing crews now live -- none have electricity or suitable bathroom facilities, and many lack access to sufficient drinking water -- Merkley and Blumenauer promised make on the 80-year-old promises.

"Leaving our tribes displaced without safe, reliable housing is simply wrong," Merkley said Friday. "These provisions bring us one step closer to making good on our commitments."

Finishing the work could be a bigger lift once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. But Northwest politicians have pledged to keep pushing.

"I'm proud we're on our way to righting this wrong," Blumenauer said Friday. "We will not stop fighting until the federal government meets its basic responsibilities to improve the conditions of these sites and deal with unmet tribal housing needs."

-- Molly Harbarger

mharbarger@oregonian.com

503-294-5923

@MollyHarbarger