Once Again, Federal ‘Listening Session’ On Columbia Basin Salmon Recovery Focuses On Breaching Lower Snake Dams

June 1st, 2023

Representatives of Columbia and Snake river ports and grain shippers, as well as Oregon, Idaho and Washington public utilities, lined up to oppose breaching the four lower Snake River dams last week in the fourth and, perhaps, the last listening session sponsored by the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Read the Full Article

Login to your account or Become a Member

Yakama Nation Reintroduction Programs Bringing Once Extinct Coho Salmon Back To Upper Columbia River Tributaries

May 26th, 2023

Once extirpated, coho salmon are making a rebound in two upper Columbia River tributaries. It’s taken nearly 25 years, but the year 2021 saw a record run in the Wenatchee and Methow rivers, a result of reintroduction work in the two basins by the Yakama Nation to bring the salmon back.

Read the Full Article

Login to your account or Become a Member

Basin Water Supply Forecasts Rising, 93 Percent Of Normal At Dalles Dam; Low Canada Snowpack Impacting Flows

May 10th, 2023

Water supply prospects in the Columbia/Snake river basin for summer are improving, although not consistently so throughout the basin. While supplies forecasted in May from the Snake River are generally above normal, the upper Columbia River in Canada is providing less water than normal.

Read the Full Article

Login to your account or Become a Member

WA Legislature Oks Transportation Bill That Includes Millions For Analyzing Lower Snake River Dam Breaching Impacts On Transport, Energy, Irrigation

April 26th, 2023

The Washington State Legislature this week approved a $14 billion 2023-25 transportation budget that includes $8 million for studying what would be necessary to maintain energy, transportation and irrigation services now provided by the four Lower Snake dams should they be breached to recover Snake River basin salmon and steelhead.

Read the Full Article

Login to your account or Become a Member

As Expiration Date Nears, U.S., Canada Pushing To Finish Columbia River Treaty Negotiations By June; Uncertainty Over Future Operations A Motivator

April 20th, 2023

Lead U.S. government negotiators vowed to intensify their work to conclude a new Columbia River Treaty with Canada by early summer as they held a public listening session this week. The two countries have been in negotiations for over four years and a new agreement to upgrade or modernize the Treaty must be reached by the end of summer 2024.

Read the Full Article

Login to your account or Become a Member

Tribes, Corps Studying Impacts Of Sediment Buildup (Deltas) At Mouths Of Columbia River Tribs; Impacts Temps, Predation, Salmon Survival

April 14th, 2023

The amount of sediment carried by Columbia River waters to the Pacific Ocean has declined by about half since Bonneville Dam was built in 1935. Much of the sediment no longer moved by the river has found a home at the mouths of tributaries, creating shallow sediment fans or deltas where warm water and predators impact juvenile salmon and steelhead, some listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Read the Full Article

Login to your account or Become a Member