FISH COUNT STILL AT HISTORIC LOW; SEA LION GRATES NOT TO BLAME Posted on Friday, April 28, 2006 (PST)

An upriver spring chinook salmon has shown some signs of life in recent days but counts at the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam remain at historic lows for this point in the season. Read More...

MONTANA SAYS WILL CHALLENGE PROPOSED SPILL FOR STURGEON Posted on Friday, April 28, 2006 (PST)

One of Montana’s representatives on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council says the state will pursue a lawsuit if the federal government attempts to use “spill” at Libby Dam to help the endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon. Read More...

HARVEST REDUCTION, RESEARCH AIMED AT BOOSTING STURGEON Posted on Friday, April 28, 2006 (PST)

White sturgeon harvest management on the Columbia River is tightening to better protect a species besieged by sea lion predation in the waters below Bonneville Dam and plagued by relatively poor natural production in upstream pools. Read More...

FORECAST SHOWS RUNOFF ABOVE AVERAGE FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS Posted on Friday, April 28, 2006 (PST)

Widely spread precipitation during the first half of April totaled as much as 300 percent of normal in some parts of the Columbia River Basin, virtually assuring that the region's rivers have above average flows this spring and summer for the first time in six years. Read More...

COUNCIL SEEKS COMMENT ON PLAN TO COORDINATE BASIN M&E Posted on Friday, April 28, 2006 (PST)

The Northwest Power and Conservation Council has released for comment its plan for developing a basinwide system for evaluating the success of its fish and wildlife mitigation and restoration projects. Read More...

CORPS AWARDS $15 MILLION CONTRACT FOR THIRD SPILLWAY WEIR Posted on Friday, April 28, 2006 (PST)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week awarded a $15 million contract to an Oregon City, Ore., company to build a surface-bypass structure to improve passage conditions for out-migrating juvenile salmon and steelhead at Lower Monumental Dam on the lower Snake River. Read More...

UMATILA TRIBES, OSU STUDY WATER DIVERSION IMPACTS ON FISH Posted on Friday, April 28, 2006 (PST)

Oregon State University researchers in collaboration with scientists from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are researching what happens to fish and invertebrates when water from the Umatilla and Walla Walla rivers is diverted for irrigation purposes in neighboring basins. Read More...

REDDEN EXTENDS DEADLINE TO FEBRUARY FOR NEW SALMON BIOP Posted on Friday, April 28, 2006 (PST)

Federal officials say that, despite a remand extension to February, their agencies must maintain an "aggressive" pace if they are to meet their goal -- assembling a Columbia/Snake hydrosystem protection plan for salmon and steelhead that will be legally and scientifically sound. Read More...