Biden Administration Memo Orders Federal Agencies To Review All Columbia Basin Salmon Recovery Programs, Identify Needs, Prioritize Actions
September 28th, 2023
In a presidential memorandum released Wednesday, the Biden Administration emphasized salmon and steelhead restoration in the Columbia and Snake river basins and called for an all-hands-on-deck approach to recovery of the fish.
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Klamath River Reach Prepped For Post-Dam Removal Flows As Copco No. 2 Dam Being Removed; 3 More Klamath Dams Removed Next Year
September 28th, 2023
The Yurok Tribe and the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), in collaboration with the Shasta Indian Nation, started preparing a stretch of the Klamath River to flow freely for the first time in a century.
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Biden Administration Says BPA To Provide $200 Million Over 20 Years To Advance Salmon Reintroduction In Upper Columbia River Blocked Areas
September 22nd, 2023
The Biden administration this week announced that the Bonneville Power Administration will provide three Upper Columbia River Tribes $200 million over 20 years for ongoing efforts to reintroduce salmon above Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams, which have blocked fish migration since 1942. The Tribes have agreed to a twenty-year pause to existing litigation while these actions are pursued.
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Corps Information Sessions To Focus On Basin Power/Flood Control If No Agreement Reached On New Columbia River Treaty With Canada
September 22nd, 2023
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold four virtual listening-only sessions this month and in October to describe how it will operate the Columbia River system of dams after September 2024 if the Columbia River Treaty negotiations fail to reach an agreement.
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Draft 2023 Survival Study Says Substantial Gains In Adult Returns Of Imperiled Salmon, Steelhead Will Require Breaching Lower Snake River Dams
September 15th, 2023
A long-running annual report that evaluates salmon and steelhead survival in the Columbia and Snake rivers again this year concluded that removal of the lower Snake River dams poses less of a risk to recovery than allowing the four dams to remain in place.
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As Measures Implemented To Aid ESA Salmonids At Willamette Valley Dams, Corps Studying Whether To End Hydro Production
September 15th, 2023
By legislative requirement, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Portland District is assessing whether it should continue to produce hydroelectric power at its Willamette Valley project dams.
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Nez Perce MOA On Dworshak Water Helps Keep Clearwater, Lower Snake River Cool In September For Migrating, Over-Wintering Salmon, Steelhead
August 23rd, 2023
Throughout the summer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been using the cool water from deep within the Dworshak Reservoir to maintain a maximum 68-degree Fahrenheit tailwater temperature at Lower Granite Dam on the lower Snake River. Temperatures higher than 68 degrees can be lethal to both adult and juvenile salmonids migrating in the river, including endangered Snake River sockeye salmon arriving in late July and early August.
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NOAA Taking Comments On Ongoing Hatchery/Genetic Management Plan That Keeps Snake River Sockeye From Going Extinct
August 23rd, 2023
NOAA Fisheries is asking for comments on its existing plan that allows for take of hatchery and listed wild Snake River sockeye to help in the recovery of the fish, listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. Comments are due September 7.
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PNWA-Funded Study Says Breaching Lower Snake Dams Will Harm Most Vulnerable In 12 Counties; Farm Bankruptcies, Job Losses
August 23rd, 2023
A recent study funded by the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association concludes that breaching the four lower Snake River dams would impact the most vulnerable populations near the dams in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, leading to job losses, impacts to public services and degraded air quality.