COUNCIL TO CONSIDER B.C. MINE IMPACTS ON FLATHEAD DRAINAGE Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 (PST)

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., will headline one of two meetings Jan. 15 in Kalispell on coal-mine development in British Columbia’s Flathead drainage. In a significant development, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council is taking up the issue at its meeting this month. Read More...

LIBBY DAM WILL BE OPERATED UNDER STRICT ‘VARQ’ IN 2007 Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 (PST)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers intends to follow recommendations from Montana and the Northwest Power and Conservation Council in operating Libby Dam this year, one of Montana’s members on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council said Wednesday. Read More...

YAKIMA WATER STORAGE SUPPORTERS TO SUBMIT COST/BENEFIT INFO Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 (PST)

Proponents, and opponents, of new water storage options for the Yakima River basin, such as the Black Rock project, will get their say later this month when the Bureau of Reclamation and Washington Department of Ecology host open houses and public scoping meetings on the Bureau's Yakima River Basin Water Storage Feasibility Study. Read More...

STATE’S COLUMBIA WATER PLAN GENERATES FLOOD OF COMMENTS Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 (PST)

Concerns about dam building, fish and wildlife habitat losses and potential economic gains, and losses, as well as other issues, have flooded into the Washington Department of Ecology in response to the draft environmental impact statement on its proposed management strategy for developing new Columbia River basin water supplies. Read More...

WARM SPRINGS HATCHERY ACCIDENT RESULTS IN HIGH FISH LOSS Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 (PST)

The Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery experienced a significant loss of spring chinook fry in its incubators Tuesday morning. Read More...

NEW IDAHO GOVERNOR APPOINTS NEW MEMBER TO POWER COUNCIL Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 (PST)

New Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter announced one appointment on Wednesday to a key natural resources position in his administration, and another to an Idaho seat on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Read More...

EARLY BIRD RUNOFF FORECAST HAS BASIN AT 101 PERCENT NORMAL Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 (PST)

The Columbia River basin's mountains are holding a relatively normal early season snowpack with projections for a spring-summer water supply that is close to the 30-year average, according to the monthly "early bird" runoff forecast issued Dec. 28 by the National Weather Service's Northwest River Forecast Center. Read More...

CORPS SEEKS WATER QUALITY WAIVER FOR FISH PASSAGE SPILL Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 (PST)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with support from federal fish management agencies, has asked Oregon and Washington for a five-year waiver of the states' Columbia River water quality standards to accommodate spill at mainstem dams for migrating salmon and steelhead. Read More...

PREDATOR CONTROL EFFORT HAS PEND OREILLE KOKANEE IMPROVING Posted on Friday, January 05, 2007 (PST)

The future outlook for kokanee in Lake Pend Oreille is better today than it was a year ago. However, efforts to reduce predators must be sustained to restore the popular kokanee and rainbow trout fisheries, say Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials. Read More...